Everything about System Administration totally explained
A
system administrator,
systems administrator, or
sysadmin, is a person employed to maintain and operate a
computer system and/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 isn't 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.
- A web administrator maintains web server services (such as IIS or Apache) that allow for internal or external access to web sites. Tasks include managing multiple sites, administering security, and configuring necessary components and software. Responsibilities may also include software change management.
- 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.
Training
Unlike many other professions, there's no single path to becoming a system administrator. Many system administrators have a degree in generic fields:
computer science,
information technology,
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(External Link
) 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(External Link),
Tufts, and
Michigan Tech have
graduate programs in system administration. In
Norway, there's a special English-taught MSc program organized by
Oslo University College (External Link) 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.
One of the primary difficulties with teaching system administration as a formal university discipline, is that the industry and technology changes much faster than the typical textbook and coursework certification process. By the time a new textbook has spent years working through approvals and committees, the specific technology for which it's written may have changed significantly or is now obsolete. For example, this problem is visible in children's public school textbooks, which often include supplemental CDROM software written for Windows 95/98/NT, but not Windows XP or Vista.
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's expected to manage. In some cases, candidates are expected to possess industry certifications such as the Microsoft
MCSA,
MCSE, Red Hat
RHCE, Novell
CNA,
CNE, Cisco
CCNA or
CompTIA's
A+ or
Network+,
Sun Certified SCNA, 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 isn't unusual for a mathematics or computing teacher to serve as the system administrator of a secondary school.
Duties of a system administrator
A system administrator's responsibilities might include:
Analyzing system logs and identifying potential issues with computer systems.
Introducing and integrating new technologies into existing data center environments.
Performing routine audits of systems and software.
Performing backups.
Applying operating system updates, patches, and configuration changes.
Installing and configuring new hardware and software.
Adding, removing, or updating user account information, resetting passwords, etc.
Answering technical queries.
Responsibility for security.
Responsibility for documenting the configuration of the system.
Troubleshooting any reported problems.
System performance tuning.
Insuring that the network infrastructure is up and running.
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(s) 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:
Technical support
Database administrator (DBA)
Network administrator/analyst/specialist
Application analyst
Security administrator
Programmer
System administrators, in larger organizations, tend not to be system architects, system engineers, or system designers. However, like many roles in this field, between systems administration and other technical roles often are not well defined in smaller organizations. 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're the people who know how the computer systems work and can respond when something fails.
Further Information
Get more info on 'System Administration'.
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