Headline

Principle Engineer @Western Digital | Ex- Dell Technology | Patent in USPTO | AI Test Automation | Claude/Copilot| Nvme-oF | HSIO | Platform Validation | RoCEv2/RDMA

About

With 12+ years of hands-on experience in platform and firmware validation, I specialize in end-to-end testing for high-performance data center storage and enterprise server architectures. Currently serving as a Principal Engineer at Western Digital, I focus on designing, deploying, and managing OpenFlex Data24 NVMe-oF platforms and Ultrastar storage systems in low-latency, high-performance environments. My technical expertise spans the full NVMe-oF stack, RoCEv2/RDMA fabrics, and lossless Ethernet architectures purpose-built for AI and GPU-dense infrastructure. I regularly lead complex PoC engagements—from system configuration and fabric tuning to protocol-level root-cause analysis—to deliver precise, actionable performance insights for enterprise and hyper-scale environments. Core Technical Expertise: -Storage & Platform Validation: NVMe-oF, disaggregated NVMe flash, OpenFlex Data24, Ultrastar platforms, SAS/SATA/NVMe SSDs, and storage enclosures (JBOF/JBOD), Pre & post Silicon validation, silicon bringup - Fabric & AI Infrastructure: RoCEv2/RDMA fabrics, PFC/ECN configuration, lossless Ethernet, high-speed NICs/RNICs, and large-scale N-to-N testbed design. - Enterprise Hardware Architecture: Deep background in Dell PowerEdge enterprise servers (monolithic and modular), RAID controllers, HBAs, and system interconnects. - Management & Quality Assurance: Western Digital Resource Manager (Data Center Edition), GUI testing, API testing, health monitoring, firmware updates, and capacity planning. - I collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, firmware, and platform architecture teams to resolve fabric convergence challenges and deliver robust, repeatable, production-ready validation outcomes.

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

claude code

gemini

Work experience

Principal Engineer at Western Digital, Aug 2025 - Present · 1 yr 2 mos, Karnataka, India, Results-driven lead and Firmware Validation engineer with hands-on experience designing, deploying, and managing Western Digital OpenFlex Data24 NVMe-oF storage platforms in high-performance, low-latency environments. Skilled in configuring disaggregated NVMe flash across Ethernet fabrics to deliver shared storage performance comparable to locally attached NVMe SSDs for virtualized, database, and analytics workloads. As a lead, experienced in guiding teams to use Western Digital Resource Manager to monitor, configure, and maintain Ultrastar and OpenFlex platforms, including health monitoring, firmware updates, and capacity planning through an intuitive GUI and RESTful workflows. Strong background in end-to-end validation, performance tuning, and ensuring reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient storage services for modern data centers while mentoring junior engineers and coordinating cross-functional stakeholders. Passionate about optimizing infrastructure, aligning storage architectures with business needs.

Staff Engineer at Western Digital, Jan 2022 - Aug 2025 · 3 yrs 8 mos, Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India, I am an individual contributor with expertise in platform firmware validation for NVMe-oF product line. My work involves testing and ensuring the proper functioning of firmware for NVMe-oF products, which enable high-speed data transfer over networks. With my experience and knowledge, I am able to identify and troubleshoot issues that arise during the validation process, ensuring that the product is of the highest quality and meets customer expectations.

Test Engineer-2 at Dell EMC, Dec 2016 - Jan 2022 · 5 yrs 2 mos, Bengaluru Area, India, As a dedicated QA/Software Tester, I specialize in validating enterprise hardware and storage solutions, with hands-on experience across modular chassis and server platforms such as VRTX, Fx2, M1000e, and MX7000 and PowerEdge product line, along with software RAID and PERC RAID controllers. I work end-to-end on quality assurance activities, including firmware validation, detailed test case design, and execution of manual and automated test suites covering system, integration, sanity, regression, ad hoc, and functional testing. I also manage defect reporting, tracking, and closure to ensure issues are resolved effectively and releases meet expected quality standards. With a strong focus on test coverage, reliability, and risk-based testing, I aim to deliver stable, high-performing products that align with business and customer expectations.

Senior Test Engineer at Mphasis, Mar 2016 - Dec 2016 · 10 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Worked as Senior Test Engineer. Performed Firmware Testing/Validation for RAID controller card of Microsemi (formally known as PMC Sierra).

Member of Technical Staff-Contract Emp at LSI, an Avago Technologies Company, May 2015 - Feb 2016 · 10 mos, Greater Bengaluru Area, Worked on Firmware testing of LSI RAID controller card in which the focus was on to perform testing or validate RAID card on different vendors of servers like CISCO, DELL, NEC, Fijutsu, Intel. Job Type- Parmanent Job Location - Client (Avago Technologies) Payroll company - Graphene Semiconductors PVT LTD,Bangalore.

Testing Engineering Analyst-Contract Emp at Dell, May 2014 - Apr 2015 · 1 yr, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Worked on Dell PowerEdge server(Rack/Tower servers and iDRAC Application) testing. And dealt with different storage devices like server, RAID, Enclosure, HDDs, FC, iSCSI etc. Main focus of testing was on to validate Dell Dell PowerEdge server and iDRAC functionality. Job Type-Contract Payroll Company - Zyopa Connexions

Education

CDAC ( PG Diploma in Advanced Computing), Computer Science, SunBeam Institute of Information Technology, Pune-Karad

Bachelor of Engineering (BEng), Computer Software and Engineering, Truba Group of Institutes, Bhopal