TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT
British-American architect with 20+ years designing resilient enterprise infrastructure — from data center foundations to cloud-native BCDR solutions. Currently shaping private cloud IaaS at ark data centers.
HEADSHOTAndrew Barber
// Zap-Robo
20+
Years in IT
MSP
Specialisation
IaaS
Focus Area
BCDR
SME
ABOUT ME
Born in Derby, UK — now based in Youngstown, Ohio — I'm a Technology Architect who has spent over twenty years navigating every layer of enterprise IT. My career began in Technical Support and systematically evolved through Network Operations, Systems Administration, Systems Engineering, and on to full Architecture.
My professional home has consistently been Managed Service Providers and Internet Service Providers, giving me a broad lens across many client environments and architectures — physical, virtualised, and cloud-native. Today I serve as Technology Architect at ark data centers (formerly Involta), where I define logical and physical designs for private cloud IaaS environments. A key current initiative is the design and build of a national Nutanix infrastructure network centred on Prism Central and the AHV hypervisor, alongside deep specialisation in Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery.
Outside of work you'll find me gaming — particularly MMO titles — running tabletop RPG campaigns as GM and player, or livestreaming on Twitch. I've channelled that passion into community leadership too, co-founding and running major gaming fan sites over the years.
// CURRENT ROLE
Technology Architect
ark data centers (formerly Involta)
// ORIGIN
Derby, UK → Youngstown, Ohio
British-American dual citizen
// CAREER PROGRESSION
Tech Support → Network Ops → Sysadmin → Systems Engineering → Technology Architecture
// BEYOND THE TERMINAL
MMO gaming · Tabletop RPGs (GM & Player) · Twitch streaming · Fan-site editor
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
Specialising at the intersection of virtualisation, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise resilience engineering.
Designing and deploying private cloud IaaS environments across both Nutanix and VMware platforms. Architectural lead for logical and physical design of cloud platforms serving enterprise clients nationally.
Subject matter expert in Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery — responsible for design and deployment of national DRaaS networks.
Deep expertise across leading hypervisors — from bare-metal deployment to managing complex multi-tenant virtual infrastructure at enterprise scale, on both Nutanix AHV and VMware vSphere.
Foundation built in Network Operations and Systems Administration across ISP and MSP environments — physical and virtual network design at scale.
Hands-on background progressing from data center operations through engineering to architecture — deep understanding of physical infrastructure layers.
Published author on security topics including password hygiene and email security. Security-conscious approach embedded in all architecture and design work.
CAREER HISTORY
Over 20 years across Managed IT and Internet Service Providers — always expanding architectural scope.
FEB 2022 – PRESENT
Technology Architect
ark data centers (formerly Involta) · Youngstown, Ohio
Architectural lead within Cloud and Hybrid Services, reporting to the Director of Cloud Services. Defines the logical and physical design of private cloud IaaS environments — with a current focus on building a national Nutanix infrastructure network using Prism Central and the AHV hypervisor. Also serves as subject matter expert for national BCDR deployments using VMware Cloud Director Availability and Zerto DRaaS.
FEB 2017 – FEB 2022
Infrastructure Engineer (Architectural Lead)
Involta · Youngstown, Ohio
Architectural lead defining design elements of private cloud IaaS environments. Focused on BCDR systems design and deployment, building toward full architectural responsibility across a five-year tenure.
JUN 2015 – FEB 2017
Senior Systems Engineer
Involta · Youngstown, Ohio
Advanced systems engineering with a focus on virtualisation platforms and cloud service delivery in the managed services environment.
JUN 2014 – JUN 2015
Systems Engineer
Managed IT / ISP Sector · Youngstown, Ohio
Systems engineering roles across managed IT and internet service provider environments, developing expertise in physical and virtual infrastructure architecture.
PRE-2014
Technical Support → NOC → Systems Administration
ISP / MSP Sector · UK & USA
A decade of progressive IT growth beginning in Technical Support, through Network Operations Center roles, into Systems Administration. Broad exposure to corporate and end-user architectures across physical and virtualised environments on both sides of the Atlantic.
CERTIFICATIONS & CREDENTIALS
Professional credentials across virtualisation, cloud, and resilience platforms — verifiable on Credly.
NCP – Multicloud Infrastructure 6
Nutanix
NCP – Multicloud Automation 6
Nutanix
VMware Certified Professional
Broadcom / VMware
VCP – Data Center Virtualization
VMware
Zerto DRaaS Certification
Zerto / HPE
Network & Infrastructure Certifications
Various Vendors
Full Verified Badge Portfolio
PROJECTS
// PROFESSIONAL · LINKEDIN PULSE
A practical guide to secure internet passwords, born from a personal brush with account compromise. Covers the most common password hygiene mistakes and how to avoid them — written for a general audience.
Read on LinkedIn →// PROFESSIONAL · LINKEDIN PULSE
Originally a Network Abuse Team training document, adapted for public consumption. A deep-dive into how email headers reveal the true path of a message — invaluable for identifying spam and phishing.
Read on LinkedIn →// PERSONAL · COMMUNITY · 2010–ARCHIVED
Founded and led as Editor-in-Chief. MMO Central was a full media operation — website, social channels, and editorial team — dedicated to covering the Massively Multiplayer Online gaming genre.
View on Wayback Machine →// PERSONAL · COMMUNITY · 2009–ARCHIVED
The first fansite for NCSoft's WildStar Online, founded in 2009. At its peak it hosted forums, livestreaming, video and download directories — and was frequented by the game's own development team during beta.
View on Wayback Machine →// LIVE ON TWITCH
For ongoing gaming content across MMO adventures, strategy titles, and tabletop sessions — catch me live at twitch.tv/zaprobo.
CONTACT
Whether you're exploring enterprise cloud solutions, have an architecture project in mind, or just want to talk IT — feel free to reach out directly.
// CURRENTLY OPEN TO
// LOCATION
Youngstown, Ohio, USA
Available for remote engagements globally. Open to in-person consultations in Greater Ohio / Northeast US.
// RESPONSE TIME
Professional enquiries: within 48 hours via email or LinkedIn. For gaming community matters, find me on Twitch or Bluesky.