Before Amazon EC2, Azure Virtual Machines, and Google Compute Engine were mainstream, we were building and selling public cloud compute at Network Redux — powered by Citrix XenServer clusters, marketed as Enterprise Virtual Servers.
Context
Network Redux needed a scalable, reliable compute platform to offer enterprise customers on-demand virtual machines with dedicated resources, network isolation, and SLA-backed availability. This was the era before hyperscalers dominated — and we built it ourselves.
What I Did
- Took over platform operations from Brian Shore — the original architect and brain behind the platform — and evolved it for scale and reliability
- Designed, built, and maintained Citrix XenServer clusters — the foundation of the Enterprise Virtual Server product
- Created VM templates for rapid, consistent provisioning and Ansible playbooks for VM hardening and deploying ready-to-use stacks — LAMP, LEMP, MySQL, Percona Database Clusters, Magento, Drupal, and WordPress
- Executed cluster upgrades and patching seamlessly with zero customer impact
- Worked closely with the upstream XenServer team, reporting bugs and contributing to fixes
- Managed live VM migrations between clusters for maintenance and load balancing
- Designed secure, isolated, highly available compute environments for enterprise customers using virtual machines
- Implemented VM backup, restoration, and BCP/DR drills for customers
- Owned capacity planning and forecasting — ensuring headroom for growth
- Planned and designed the underlying network infrastructure — public and private interfaces, VLANs, and network segmentation for VMs
Results
| Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cloud platform | Production-grade, SLA-backed virtual machines |
| Upgrades | Zero-downtime — cluster patching without customer impact |
| Lifecycle | Full provisioning, backups, DR drills, capacity planning |
| Timeline | Built and operated before AWS was mainstream |
Stack
Citrix XenServer · Linux · Networking (VLANs, Public/Private) · VM Templates · Backup & DR · Capacity Planning