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Brian Sakal

Main Skills/Technologies

  • Javascript/Typescript
  • React
  • Next.js
  • Node.js
  • Express.js
  • Docker
  • MySQL
  • Clickhouse
  • DevOps
  • Kubernetes
  • Linux
  • Cloudflare
  • Vercel
  • S3

Have Used

  • PostgreSQL
  • Elasticsearch
  • Redis
  • RethinkDB
  • Helm
  • nginx
  • React Native
  • Swagger

Employment (Most recent)

  • Lead Developer (Full-Stack),TorahAnytime.com, Flushing, NY
    June 2022-Present
    • General full-stack work (frontend implementation in Next.js, adding endpoints to api, running database migrations in MySQL, updating Clickhouse with those schema changes, etc.)
    • Architected and implemented an in-house transcoding/content-delivery system based on Temporal, Cloudflare, and Backblaze B2 to replace Vimeo; saving $70k/year.
    • Setup generic events analytics system in Clickhouse to replace MySQL, Redis, and (eventually) Google Analytics, for faster and more granular analytics over arbitrary events and event payloads; significantly improving query times from minutes to milliseconds
    • Legacy code maintenance/incremental refactoring
    • Consolidated various async jobs (e.g. notifications, daily/weekly digest, delayed release, etc.) into type-safe Temporal workflows, enhancing developer experience and setting conventions for easy implementation of future workflows
    • Designed and deployed a multi-instance tRPC server for type-safe endpoints for the frontend
    • Adapted Agile/Scrum to accomodate stakeholder expectations of simultaneous planned and unplanned (i.e. during a Sprint) throughput and turnaround, while keeping longer-term goals predictable.
    • Crafted multi-stage Dockerfiles to leverage layer caching in various projects
    • Reduced deployment time from 5 minutes to 15 seconds by implementing locally-runnable deploy scripts, besides setting up Github Actions CI/CD pipelines.
    • Developed a custom IVR phone system for dynamically browsing our content.
    • Deployed and configured various supporting services in Kubernetes such as Grafana, private Docker & NPM registries.
    • Implemented OpenTelemetry tracing visualized in Grafana, resulting in 50% decrease in legacy transcoder troubleshooting time.
    • Designed various parameterized Grafana dashboards for at-a-glance analysis of user stats.
    • Implemented two integrations: MySQL-Clickhouse sync (using Clickhouse primitives), and MySQL-Salesforce sync (on Temporal).
    • Transitioned legacy Cloudflare/nginx TLD site to Vercel, while maintaining custom nginx routes on the TLD and hosting the entire legacy site under a subdomain.

Projects/Hobbies

Education

  • B.S. in Aerospace Engineering,University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
    Sept. 2006–April 2009, Sept. 2010, April 2011