Ram Kumar — DevOps Engineer

16+ years of experience in managing Enterprise & Trading infrastructure. * Setup new co-locations optimized for Trading (HFT/MFT/LFT). Collaborate with brokers, colo providers, exchanges, and internal trading teams to ensure an optimal setup tailored for best trading performance. * Manage systems and network infrastructure across various exchanges, work with traders and support engineers to address production issues impacting trading. * Optimize WAN connectivity (wired and wireless) through telco service providers to enhance trading opportunities across exchanges. * Partner with local vendors to design bespoke connectivity solutions optimized for low latency, redundancy, and high availability. * Set up GPS antennas and PTP GrandMaster to ensure precise time synchronization across colo devices using PTP, NTP, and White Rabbit. * Capture and analyze ingress and egress traffic to the Exchange, measuring various latency components (T2T, Strat, exchange, and individual applications) to identify optimization opportunities. * Manage low-latency network infrastructure, including switches and NICs such as SolarFlare, Xilinx FPGA, Cisco Nexus SmartNICs. * Build custom overclocked servers utilizing the latest CPUs and fine-tuned hardware configurations for peak performance in low-latency trading. * Setup a PXE-based automated build system leveraging technologies like DNS, DHCP, Apache HTTP, TFTP, and Kickstart. * Implement configuration management and version control processes using Puppet and Git. * Setup configuration management and revision control using Puppet and GIT respectively. * Create scripts and automation tools using Python and Bash to improve monitoring and operational efficiency. Additional technical Expertise: Virtualization using VMWare ESXi and RedHat Virtualization AWS and Google Cloud Platform

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Fintech Infrastructure Specialist with extensive experience in low-latency trading systems.

Location: Singapore, Singapore

Experience: 16 yrs 2 mos

Skills

Trading Systems
Networking
Infrastructure

Career Highlights

16+ years in Enterprise & Trading infrastructure management.
Expert in low-latency network optimization for trading.
Proven track record in co-location and vendor collaboration.

Work Experience

Grasshopper

Senior Platform Engineer (1 yr 10 mos)

Jump Trading LLC

Trading Infrastructure Engineer - Jump Trading (2 yrs 9 mos)

AlphaGrep Securities

Vice President - Systems (11 mos)

AVP - Systems (11 mos)

Infrastructure Engineer (1 yr 10 mos)

The D. E. Shaw Group

Project Lead (6 mos)

Senior Systems Engineer (4 yrs 11 mos)

Systems Administrator/Datacenter Technician (2 yrs 5 mos)

Education

PGDBA at SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

GNIIT at NIIT

B.Sc at Loyola College

Ram Kumar

DevOps Engineer

Singapore, Singapore16 yrs 2 mos experience

Highly Stable

Key Highlights

16+ years in Enterprise & Trading infrastructure management.
Expert in low-latency network optimization for trading.
Proven track record in co-location and vendor collaboration.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Fintech Infrastructure Specialist with extensive experience in low-latency trading systems.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Trading SystemsNetworkingInfrastructure

Other Skills

Active DirectoryBackup managementBashCentOSCisco ASACo-location setupCo-location setupsCross-location coordinationData Center DesignData Center ManagementDatacenter managementDisaster RecoveryDomain Name System (DNS)Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)Email Security

About

Experience

Grasshopper

Senior Platform Engineer

May 2024 – Present · 1 yr 10 mos · Singapore · On-site

Jump trading llc

Trading Infrastructure Engineer - Jump Trading

Jul 2021 – Apr 2024 · 2 yrs 9 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India · Remote

o Work with different teams to fine tune co-location setups for best performance.
o Manage Systems & Network infra design and deployments.
o Work with vendors and Telco service providers for Network connectivity.
o Work with external teams to understand the latest developments and improve our setup to ensure that
we maintain a competitive edge in the market.
o Investigate any PnL or hit rate Performance impact with trading teams and provide solutions.

Co-location setupsSystems & Network infrastructure designVendor managementNetwork connectivityTrading SystemsNetworking

Alphagrep securities

3 roles

Vice President - Systems

Promoted

Jul 2020 – Jun 2021 · 11 mos

o Setup new co-locations and network connectivity in co-ordination with brokers, vendors and trading teams.
o Manage servers and low latency network between different trading sites.
o Manage the team of other Infra Engineers and mentor them in different projects.
o Troubleshoot and perform RCA on high/critical issues that affect the firm's business.

Co-location setupNetwork connectivityTeam managementTroubleshootingTrading SystemsNetworking

AVP - Systems

Promoted

Jul 2019 – Jun 2020 · 11 mos

o Manage monitoring on the servers to ensure that we are pro-actively alerted in case of any issues.
o Enhance systems & network security to protect IP.
o Interact with the vendors to keep abreast on the latest technological developments.

MonitoringNetwork securityVendor interactionNetworkingInfrastructure

Infrastructure Engineer

Aug 2017 – Jun 2019 · 1 yr 10 mos

o Setup PXE based build management system after implementing essential services like DNS, DHCP, Apache, TFTP and Kickstart.
o Customize server hardware according to the business needs.
o Ensure servers in different sites are synced via PTP to ensure time synchronization.

PXE-based build managementServer customizationTime synchronizationInfrastructureNetworking

The d. e. shaw group

3 roles

Project Lead

Jan 2017 – Jul 2017 · 6 mos · Hyderabad Area, India

o Work on maintaining e-mail, Storage, Backups and Linux infra to ensure that it’s stable and up to date.
o Explore new tools or products available in the market and evaluate them to check if they can be used in our environment.
o Interact with Quant developers/traders to understand their potential bottle necks and ways to improve the same.
o Provide L3 support for critical issues which affects the business of the firm.
o Conduct periodic training/knowledge sharing sessions within the team.

Email infrastructureStorage managementBackup managementInfrastructureNetworking

Senior Systems Engineer

Promoted

Jan 2012 – Dec 2016 · 4 yrs 11 mos · Hyderabad Area, India

o Administer operating system, hardware and other components of 2000+ Linux servers. Analyze and resolve problems and perform root-cause analysis for recurring issues.
o Install/upgrade software packages and patch the servers monthly to ensure they are secure.
o Provide L2/L3 support for critical issues which affects the business of the firm. Also, handle escalations from Helpdesk/NOC team regarding infrastructure issues.
o Fine-tune monitoring and alerting to avoid false positives and ensure we are pro-actively alerted for important issues.
o Write scripts in Python, Perl and Bash for automation and monitoring.
o Mentoring the new joinees in the team and conducting sessions on Linux/Storage/E-mail infrastructure.
o Work along with other engineers in planning and implementing projects, primarily in the areas of Linux, Storage, Backups, Cluster and e-mail infra to ensure that the infrastructure is stable and up to date.

Linux administrationSoftware installationMonitoring and alertingInfrastructureNetworking

Systems Administrator/Datacenter Technician

Jul 2009 – Dec 2011 · 2 yrs 5 mos · Hyderabad Area, India

o Provide technical support for hardware, software, servers and other peripherals spanning across different domains (Windows/Unix/Networking) .
o Datacenter Technician responsible for managing servers/switches/routers and other hardware in our datacenter.
o Visited offices across different locations in Delhi, Mumbai, New York and Hong Kong for supporting our trading infrastructure and to provide KT to fellow team mates.
o Co-ordinate with other engineers and worked on projects in the areas of Linux and messaging.
o Been a mentor/buddy for the juniors to help them on board into the team.

Technical supportDatacenter managementCross-location coordinationInfrastructureNetworking