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Information about System Administration

A system administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin, is a person employed to maintain, and operate a computer system or network. System administrators may be members of an information technology department.

The duties of a system administrator are wide-ranging, and vary widely from one organization to another. Sysadmins are usually charged with installing, supporting, and maintaining servers or other computer systems, and planning for and responding to service outages and other problems. Other duties may include scripting or light programming, project management for systems-related projects, supervising or training computer operators, and being the consultant for computer problems beyond the knowledge of technical support staff. A System Administrator must demonstrate a blend of technical skills and responsibility.

Skills

The subject matter of systems administration includes computer systems and the ways people use them in an organization. This entails a knowledge of operating systems and applications, as well as hardware and software troubleshooting, but also knowledge of the purposes for which people in the organization use the computers.

However, perhaps the most important skill to a system administrator is problem solving -- frequently under various sorts of constraints and stress. The sysadmin is on call when a computer system goes down or malfunctions, and must be able to quickly and correctly diagnose what is wrong and how best to fix it.

System administrators are not software engineers or developers. It is not usually within their duties to design or write new applications software. However, sysadmins must understand the behavior of software in order to deploy it and to troubleshoot problems, and generally know several programming languages used for scripting or automation of routine tasks.

Particularly when dealing with Internet-facing or business-critical systems, a sysadmin must have a strong grasp of computer security. This includes not merely deploying software patches, but also preventing break-ins and other security problems with preventative measures. In some organizations, computer security administration is a separate role responsible for overall security and the upkeep of firewalls and intrusion detection systems, but all sysadmins are generally responsible for the security of the systems in their keep.

Related fields

Many organizations staff other jobs related to systems administration. In a larger company, these may all be separate positions within a computer support or Information Services (IS) department. In a smaller group they may be shared by a few sysadmins, or even a single person.
  • A database administrator (DBA) maintains a database system, and is responsible for the integrity of the data and the efficiency and performance of the system.
  • A network administrator maintains network infrastructure such as switches and routers, and diagnoses problems with these or with the behavior of network-attached computers.
  • A security administrator is a specialist in computer and network security, including the administration of security devices such as firewalls, as well as consulting on general security measures.
  • Technical support staff respond to individual users' difficulties with computer systems, provide instructions and sometimes training, and diagnose and solve common problems.
  • A computer operator performs routine maintenance and upkeep, such as changing backup tapes or replacing failed drives in a RAID array. Such tasks usually require physical presence in the room with the computer; and while less skilled than sysadmin tasks require a similar level of trust, since the operator has access to possibly sensitive data.
In some organizations, a person may begin as a member of technical support staff or a computer operator, then gain experience on the job to be promoted to a sysadmin position.

A related role is the forum administrator, a user who manages the operational aspects of an Internet forum, although this role is often performed outside of the professional context.

Training

Unlike many other professions, there is no single path to becoming a system administrator. Many system administrators have a degree in generic fields: computer science, computer engineering, information system management, or even a trade school program. Other schools have offshoots of their Computer Science program specifically for systems administration.

Some schools have started offering undergraduate degrees in Systems Administration. The first, RIT[1] started in 1992. Others such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Marist College, and Drexel University have more recently offered degrees in Information Technology.

As of 2007, only three U.S. universities, Rochester Institute of Technology[2], Tufts, and Michigan Tech have graduate programs in system administration. In Norway, there is a special English-taught MSc program organized by Oslo University College [3] in cooperation with Oslo University, named "Masters programme in Network and System Administration". However, many other schools offer related graduate degrees in fields such as network systems and computer security.

In addition, because of the practical nature of systems administration and the easy availability of open-source server software, many systems administrators enter the field self-taught.

Generally, a prospective administrator will be required to have some experience with the computer system he or she is expected to manage. In some cases, candidates are expected to possess industry certifications such as the Microsoft MCSA, MCSE, Red Hat RHCE or Novell CNA, CNE or also the Cisco CCNA or Comptia N+, among others.

Sometimes, almost exclusively in smaller sites, the role of system administrator may be given to a skilled user in addition to or in replacement of his or her duties. For instance, it is not unusual for a mathematics or computing teacher to serve as sysadmin of a secondary school.

Duties of a system administrator

A system administrator's responsibilities might include: In larger organizations, some tasks listed above may be divided among different system administrators or members of different organizational groups. For example, a dedicated individual may apply all system upgrades, a Quality Assurance (QA) team may perform testing and validation, and one or more technical writers may be responsible for all technical documentation written for a company.

In smaller organizations, the system administrator can also perform any number of duties elsewhere associated with other fields: System administrators, in larger organizations, also tend not to be system architects, system engineers, or system designers, however, like many roles in this field, between systems administration and these other roles are often not well defined in smaller organizations. However, even in larger organizations, senior systems administrators often have skills in these other areas as a result of their working experience.

In smaller organizations, IT/computing specialties are less often discerned in detail, and the term "system administrator" is used in a rather generic way — they are the people who know how the computer systems work and can respond when something fails.

Organizations

Professional Organizations

Unions

See also

References

External links

Certification Organizations

Periodicals

Books

  • Essential Systems Administration (O'Reilly), 3rd Edition, 2001, by Æleen Frisch
  • Principles of Network and System Administration (J. Wiley & Sons), 2000,2003(2ed), by Mark Burgess
  • The Practice of System and Network Administration (Addison-Wesley), 2001, by Thomas A. Limoncelli and Christine Hogan
  • The Practice of System and Network Administration (Addison-Wesley), 2nd Edition (July 5, 2007), by Thomas A. Limoncelli, Christine Hogan and Strata R. Chalup
  • Time Management for System Administrators (O'Reilly), 2005, by Thomas A. Limoncelli
  • UNIX System Administration Handbook (Prentice Hall PTR), 3rd Edition, 2000, by Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Scott Seebass, Trent R. Hein

Online Resources

Technology Unions and related links

Articles

computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.

Computers take numerous physical forms. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (around 1940 - 1941), although the computer concept and various machines
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as a college campus, industrial complex, or a military base. A CAN, may be considered a type of MAN (metropolitan area network), but is generally limited to an area that is smaller than a typical MAN.
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Information technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware.
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Server Computer

The inside/front of a server computer

Connects to:
  • Internet via one of

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Scripting redirects here. For other uses, see script.


Scripting languages (commonly called script languages) are computer programming languages that are typically interpreted and can be typed directly from a keyboard.
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Computer programming (often shortened to programming or coding) is the process of writing, testing, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. The source code is written in a programming language.
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Project management is the discipline of organizing and managing resources (e.g. people) in such a way that the project is completed within defined scope, quality, time and cost constraints.
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Technical support (also tech support) is a range of services providing assistance with computer hardware, software, or other electronic or mechanical goods. In general, technical support services attempt to help the user solve specific problems with a product—rather
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An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the
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Application software is a subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with system software which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities,
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Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving. It is the systematic search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved. Troubleshooting is often a process of elimination - eliminating potential causes of a problem.
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Problem solving forms part of thinking. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills (Goldstein & Levin, 1987).
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Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software.[1] The term software engineering
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Software development is the translation of a user need or marketing goal into a software product.[1][2] Software development is sometimes understood to encompass the processes of software engineering combined with the research and goals of software marketing
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A programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages, like natural languagess, are defined by syntactic and semantic rules which describe their structure and meaning respectively.
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Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government
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Computer security is a branch of information security applied to both theoretical and actual computer systems. Computer security is a branch of computer science that addresses enforcement of 'secure' behavior on the operation of computers.
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firewall is a hardware or software device which is configured to permit, deny, or proxy data through a computer network which has different levels of trust.

Function


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intrusion detection system (IDS) generally detects unwanted manipulations of computer systems, mainly through the Internet. The manipulations may take the form of attacks by crackers.
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A database administrator (DBA) is a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database. In general, these include:
  • Recoverability - Creating and testing Backups
  • Integrity - Verifying or helping to verify data integrity

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database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system so that a computer program or person using a query language can consult it to answer queries. The records retrieved in answer to queries are information that can be used to make decisions.
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Overview

The terms network administrator, network specialist and network analyst designate job positions of engineers involved in computer networks, the people who carry out network administration.
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A network switch is a computer networking device that connects network segments.

Low-end network switches appear nearly identical to network hubs, but a switch contains more "intelligence" (and a slightly higher price tag) than a network hub.
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router is a device that extracts the destination of a packet it receives, selects the best path to that destination, and forwards data packets to the next device along this path.[1] They connect networks together; a LAN to a WAN for example, to access the Internet.
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Computer security is a branch of information security applied to both theoretical and actual computer systems. Computer security is a branch of computer science that addresses enforcement of 'secure' behavior on the operation of computers.
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Technical support (also tech support) is a range of services providing assistance with computer hardware, software, or other electronic or mechanical goods. In general, technical support services attempt to help the user solve specific problems with a product—rather
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A role within IT, computer operators oversee the running of computer systems, ensuring that the machines are running and physically secured. The traditional role of a computer operator was to work with mainframes which required a great deal of management day-to-day.
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Raid or RAID may refer to:
  • Redundant Array of Independent/Inexpensive Disks, or RAID, a system of multiple hard drives for sharing or replicating data.

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Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, (electronic) discussion groups, discussion forums,
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Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems.
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