Meet Robert McFredries, Data Center Floor Engineer

 

Robert McFredries is the Data Center Floor Engineer at FastServers.Net. The Westwood College graduate earned his degree in Information and Systems Security and has over seven years of related experience in the Internet Technology field. If you are familiar with the energy drink Red Bull, "It gives you wings," you may also be aware of an event they sponsor every year called the Flutag. "The Flutag is a drunk's great quest." Robert said the Flutag is a way that we can all get drunk and get on television doing what we do best - stupid stuff. "Imagine a bunch of drunk people with pseudo wings attached to their arms or back, jumping off into a lake. That's the Red Bull Flutag." Well Robert, does it give you wings?

Prior to FastServers.Net, Robert was a help desk technician at Law Bulletin Publishing. He also worked as a network consultant. Now he spends his time working on DELL servers, building them from the ground up. Installing operating systems, racking servers, and troubleshooting issues are all part of his daily routines. "I think the most challenging aspect of my job is the paperwork. Learning the FastServers.Net way is definitely going to challenge me the most." Robert feels confident he can do a superb job, just like the rest of the FastServers.Net team. "They need us NOC technicians to fix any issues that may come up during normal operation of a server. Fixing them in a proactive, quality-ensured process is the only way to make sure issues are resolved quickly."

Robert has a love for music. He has been a percussionist and drummer since the third grade and can play most anything you can name in a percussion section. He has participated in a marching band, jazz band, metal band, and a symphonic band. "I love all types of music. I have favorites from each genre." His favorite metal band is Sepultura, but apparently they are no longer together as a group. Robert also claims Metallica's albums prior to their self-titled album are the greatest. "My favorite DJ is Mixin Marc for progressive and euro house, while Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) is my favorite for trance and drumnbass. There is also a group called Rabbit in the Moon that I like." That's just the tip of the iceberg Robert said.

Another FastServers.Net sports fanatic, Robert loves the Chicago Cubs. The day we interviewed Robert, he actually yelled out loud "I LOVE THE CUBS!" All Chicago office fans unite! Then he followed his enthusiasm of the Cubs with something about a Sox shirt. "I only wore that White Sox shirt to the party because I didn't have anything else to wear that day." Regardless of what shirt he wore to the party, he said any team in Chicago is his favorite. "I love the Bears, Cubs, Bulls, Hawks, and Wolves. The Sox are at the bottom of the list - sorry Sox fans.

Not only does Robert enjoy watching sports, he enjoys playing sports. Well, not exactly on a team, but individual sports such as skating and riding snowmobiles. "As a skater, I used to do a lot of grinds and jumping off of things. Falling was a natural part of it all." He prefers anything with an engine that goes fast, rather than using his feet. "I have a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 with bags and pipes on it. But I have plans for getting some quads, dirt bikes, snowmobiles, and jet skis."

Like most FastServers.Net employees, Robert can list out several things he likes about his job. "Where do I start. The hours, the commute, the people, the work, the environment - I am sure there are things I am missing." Robert claims he has never felt at home so quickly. His previous jobs did not give him the same "welcomed" feeling as FastServers.Net. "This is really what I have wanted to do since I was younger and started messing around with computers. This job is really a dream come true." We hear that a lot from our employees. Robert is no exception. And we appreciate the fact that he considers this a dream job.