Spotlight on…Fabian Garza, Senior Infrastructure Developer

Fabian Garza at SC24 Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

What is your role, and what does it involve day to day?

I joined ARC as a Senior Research Infrastructure Developer two years ago. My workday is pretty varied, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. There’s a balance between managing projects, learning new technologies, and solving problems that keeps me perpetually on my toes.

How did you get into the HPC field — what sparked your interest?

I got into HPC (High Performance Computing) primarily through my interest in Linux, which started around 12 years ago. That passion led me into the special effects industry, where I began as a Tech Runner—still my favourite job title, as it made me feel like a character in a William Gibson novel.
After a couple of years there, I decided it was time for a change. There are three main fields where you can apply Linux skills and make a living: Special FX, Finance, and Research. I didn’t think I could work surrounded by bankers all day, and I wanted my work to benefit society in some way, so naturally, I gravitated toward academic research.

How long have you been at UCL, and what was your previous role?

My first role at UCL was as an A/V Officer in SLMS (UCL School of Life and Medical Science) in 2017. From there, I moved into 1st line support at Population Health and then into my previous role as Linux Systems Manager in MAPS, where I stayed for five years. That was a great position—although I was the prototypical IT guy stuck in a windowless basement office with the hum of the machine room for company, I enjoyed being physically close to the machines.

Tell us about a project you are working on now, which is top of your to-do list?

Currently, I’m working on a project to develop our monitoring provision into a full observability platform. We see this as essential for building efficient and reliable systems. As ARC grows, this will be a necessary part of our infrastructure to save time and money by resolving and preventing issues more effectively.

If you had to explain your job to someone outside of tech in one sentence, what would you say?

I once saw my job almost perfectly described by a t-shirt: “Sysadmin – a person who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data derived from questionable sources…” or something like that.

What time do you usually start your day, and what’s the first thing you do?

I usually start my day at 9 a.m. by checking the monitoring system to see if there are more alerts than when I left the night before. If not, I check Slack to see if anyone has flagged anything that needs immediate attention.

Can you briefly walk me through a typical workday from start to finish?

Check the system health and fix it if it is failing (while trying not to break anything).

Break something.

Figure out how you broke it.

Fix it…No, but seriously- I identify issues and resolve problems. Develop processes to avoid those issues from recurring and implement solutions in a way others will understand.

What’s the most common unexpected issue that can pop up in your day?

The most common issue is a compute node that has lost connectivity or ‘fallen over’ and needs a kick to bring it back online. Most systems are stable—unless you’re making changes. That’s when you need to be especially alert.

What’s a recent moment where teamwork saved the day?

Teamwork always saves the day.

Is there a “rush hour” in HPC — a time when things get intense?

There are usually bursts of usage throughout the day, mornings, lunch, end of ‘school’ day and late evening. This doesn’t really translate to when things get intense, that’s usually when you are about to make system-wide changes, even after hours of testing.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

When I was looking to leave the special effects company, I really wanted to work at UCL. Now I’m here at ARC, and I’m quite proud of that.

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

If I could invite anyone to dinner, it would probably be Philip K. Dick, Georges Simenon, and my dad. That would be an epic conversation.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t worry so much… you’ll be fine.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I graduated from the University of the Arts London as a sculptor and spent a few years working in London and Mexico with marble, bronze casting and resins.

What is your favourite place and why?

This is probably quite biased, seeing as I’m Mexican, but my favourite place has to be Mexico. There are so many places there that are abundantly beautiful and magical—the deserts, the mountains, the coasts, the jungles…and the tacos too.