J. Forlanda

About Me

I've been around long enough to have seen the evolution of the personal computer back when a computer with 16KB of RAM (e.g. the TRS-80 Level I) was more than enough for personal computing, to now where you should probably get a computer with no less than 4GB of RAM, and dual or quad core processors to boot.

My first exposure to computers and the fun things you could do with them happened in my high school years. My first exposure was from a trip to University of California--Berkeley (in California) where they demonstrated the use of mainframes in simple game applications. I enjoyed the games, so that is what got me hooked.

In my high school junior year, my math teachers allowed me and a friend to tinker with one of the first true personal computers--the Sol computer. I can't remember how much memory it had, but it used an audio tape recorder to store programs and data.

For Christmas during my high school senior year, my parents bought me a TRS-80 Level I. It had whopping 16KB of RAM, and used an audio tape recorder for permanent storage. That is when I got my feet wet with BASIC and Z80 assembly programming.

During my undergraduate years, I majored in Electrical Engineering with focus in digital design. Back then all engineering students were trained in FORTRAN. That is also when I got my first formal BASIC programming class.

After I graduated, I joined the US Air Force and was exposed to the next generations of computers and local area networks (LANs). We used Zenith Z248 desktop computers. Those computers had 32KB or 64KB of RAM and dual floppy disk drives--one to typically boot the MS-DOS operating system and applications, and the other to store data for the various applications we used. During that time there were no such thing as a laptop, but there were transportable computers, and a 10MB hard disk drive was huge!

My interest in computers and networks grew during my time in the Air Force that I decided to apply for graduate school. I graduated from the USAF Institute of Technology (the MIT of the USAF) in 1988, and was assigned to the Air Force Space Command where I really put my graduate degree in Computer Systems (with emphasis in computer networks and relational databases).

I left the military in the early 1990's and entered the private sector as an automation test Engineer at a company called Network General--the maker of the original Network Sniffer. What is a Network Sniffer? Well it is a tool used to tap into the network and capture network traffic, it then decodes them for ease of interpretation. It was really the state of the art in network troubleshooting at that time.

I got deeper into network security when the company decided to look into creating a network security monitoring tool. At that time, Network General branched out a Network Security business unit, where I headed the QA team. I got my first exposure to network security monitoring tools called the Net Ranger from a company called Wheel Group--composed of some of the smartest network security engineers in the field at that time--most of which came from the USAF. Before Network General got deep into the network security business, they were acquired by McAfee, and the technology from Net Ranger were acquired by Cisco.

In the late 1990s I joined Network ICE corporation--the high tech company that revolutionized the personal computer security field by introducing a personal firewall called "BlackICE". I served there as the Director of QA and Tech Support. That was an awesome experience, working with the greatest networking talent in the Industry.

As with any successful startup companies, it got acquired by an Atlanta based high tech security company called Internet Security Systems (ISS). These were the guys that were the first to commercialized network vulnerability scanners. Remember SATAN? It stood for Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks. It caused some major fear in the industry at that time. I hung around ISS until around 2004.

In 2005, I decided it was time to leave the fast pace high tech industry and the private sector. I joined Stockton Unified School District as the Network Supervisor of the Information Services department, responsible for the technology infrastructure of one of the largest school districts in the Central Valley. As part of the IT management staff, this job has now put me on the other side of the fence with respect to technology. I am on the end-user side instead of the product development side. It is good to see both sides of the fense, having worked there now for the past several years.

Most people don't know this, but a poor school district like Stockton Unified, is still rich when it comes to technology, as they have various means of funding technology needs with the help of the Federal government.

The infrastructure I manage include over 12,000 desktop computers, 700+ wired network devices, 2200 wireless network devices, and 250 servers--supporting 3500 employees and 37,500 students. All this with only 9 technicians. As such, we are constantly busy--fighting fires on a day-to-day basis. Such is the nature of IT.

My Awards & Certifications

• BS Electrical Engineering, San Jose State University, CA
• MS Computer Systems, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
• Certified Network Expert (CNX)

My Experience

• Self-starter and a goal oriented problem solver
• Effective written and verbal communicator
• Director of QA & Tech. Support for Network ICE before the Internet Security Systems acquisition; also served as the Director of QA & Tech. Support for ClickNet Software (an asset management and auditing software company which later became Entercept) before Network ICE
• Operations experience as an IT Network Support Supervisor at a school district supporting around 4,000 employees and around 38,000 students, interspersed across 40+ geographically separated sites but interconnected by T1 and ATM WAN circuits
• Proven leadership skills as a manager, with over 14 years of experience
• Experienced in building and establishing strong SQA and Technical Support teams
• Solid software testing/engineering knowledge and experience (both theoretical and practical approaches)
• Broad knowledge and understanding of the Internet protocols, Web technology, and network security issues/solutions
• Excellent technical background ranging from an the TCP/IP protocol suite, network technology and security, network-based products, to a good understanding of computer systems both in Windows and UNIX platforms.

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