Chris Kluka

Principal Infrastructure Architect live

Chris@Kluka.Email

+1(204)955-9072

kluka.email

Executive Profile

Highly technical Infrastructure Architect with over 18 years of success designing and deploying highly-available, large-scale underlay environments (L1–L4). Exceptional technical strategist recognized for translating complex physical and logical topologies into concrete, C-suite ready roadmaps through master-level visual execution. Expert in orchestrating dark fiber infrastructure projects, SD-WAN migrations, and enterprise multi-vendor hardware refreshes that significantly decrease OPEX while vastly scaling bandwidth. Proven capability to organically scale a firm’s engineering footprint while delivering mission-critical underlay solutions for crown corporations, major health networks, and landmark facilities.

Technical Mastery

Networking & Protocols: BGP, VXLAN, EVPN, OSPF, VLANs, MPLS, IPv4, IPv6, SD-WAN, IPSec, SSL
Security & Edge: Palo Alto (Panorama), Fortinet FortiGate, Checkpoint, Aruba ClearPass, NGFWs, VRFs, Security Contexts and ZTA
Compute & Hypervisors: VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, HPE BladeSystem, Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant Servers.
Construction Process: Document Review, Blueprints, Site Safety, Staging, Commissioning, Materials Management, Building Rapport with Tradespeople
Storage Infrastructure: HPE 3PAR, High-Availability Clustered Storage, iSCSI, Fibre Channel (FC), FCoE.
Cloud & Hybrid Underlay: AWS Direct Connect, Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute, Equinix, Cologix Co-location.
Management, Data & Scripting: PowerShell, Bash, Aruba Central, SolarWinds, PRTG, Wireshark, Windows Server, Linux, Master-Level MS Visio.
Project Execution: Completed 15+ projects over the last 14 years totaling over $2 billion. Average length 4 years, average concurrency 5 projects. Average IT Budget $5m (800k-15m).

Professional Experience

IT Systems Infrastructure Architect | Daemon Defense Systems
2012 — Present
  • Enterprise Scaling & Mentorship: Instrumental in driving organizational growth from an initial core team of 4 staff to a high-performing firm of 50+. Mentored 6 Technical staff to accelerate career trajectory and elevate architectural delivery standards.
  • Developed technical standards, architectural baselines, and cross-vendor engineering standards across multi-million dollar portfolios.
Enterprise Directive: Shared Health Manitoba (600+ Sites)
  • Architected a comprehensive, provincial-scale multi-hub SD-WAN migration for 600+ medical and administrative sites leveraging Silver Peak EdgeConnect, transitioning environments from legacy MPLS circuits to DIA circuits consisting of DOCSIS, DSL, Direct Fiber, Starlink, Microwave, and 5G circuits.
  • Slashed connectivity inter-site OPEX by 80% while effectively augmenting bandwidth by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude.
  • Designed a resilient tri-site 200Gbps dark fiber triangle core integrating Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute and AWS Direct Connect for electronic patient records and critical line-of-business software.
Infrastructure Architecture: Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR)
  • Engineered and deployed the foundational end-to-end LAN/WAN underlay infrastructure for the landmark national facility.
  • Successfully mapped and delivered thousands of network drops, hundreds of enterprise Wi-Fi APs, and dozens of isolated firewall security contexts and VLAN configurations.
  • Designed the high-compute virtualization matrix comprising 28 hypervisor nodes (each utilizing 4x 12-core Xeon processors, 256GB RAM, 4x 10G interfaces, and 2x 16G Fibre Channel HBAs) supporting 1.8PB of highly available clustered storage.
Core Network Overhaul: Winnipeg Convention Center (260,000 sq ft Exhibit Space)
  • Orchestrated an extensive network refresh consisting of an HPE Comware core with 70 HPE Procurve Access switches in the northern facility, paired with seamless expansion design of 28 new HPE Procurve into the southern expansion building.
  • Designed, Procured, and Deployed Hyper-V clusters, SAN Storage, Microsoft VDI, and Application Servers.
  • Executed a zero-downtime core migration to full building-scale, high-availability Palo Alto Next-Gen Firewalls utilizing multiple HA BGP peers across physically diverse building entry points.
IT Manager | Fabris Milano
2011 — 2012
  • Directed corporate network operations and set structural procurement and architecture requirements for internal IT assets and data services.
  • Built and maintained network and server infrastructure
Network Technician | Boeing Technologies of Canada
2009 — 2010
  • Maintained physical layer architectures, handled complex layer 2 switches, and resolved core infrastructure service tickets.
IT Manager | Formashape
2008 — 2009
  • Oversaw physical infrastructure, switching hardware deployments, and security perimeters for waterslide fabrication facility environments.

Education

  • Bachelor of Computer Information Systems
    Okanagan College • 4-Year Degree (2012)
  • Computer Information Systems Diploma
    Okanagan College • 2-Year Diploma (2010)
  • Information Systems Technology Diploma
    Red River College • 4-Year Diploma (2007)

Certifications & Training

  • Aruba: Implementing Aruba CX Switching
  • MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure
  • MCSA: Windows Server
  • Foundational (Legacy Portfolio):
    Cisco CCNP Routing & Switching, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice
  • Safety: WHMIS, Class 5F MB License, Red Cross Wilderness First Responder / BLS / Standard First Aid