coUnix » SysAdmin

Open Source Business

Mark Turner — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:45:13 +0000

I feel like writing a series of posts talking about various pieces of software that are great replacements for many of the classical closed/costly software packages that companies tend to purchase. Over the past year I have been able take a close look at a few great open source solutions out there. During my experimenting, testing, breaking and re-building I grew fond of quite a bit of software out there and I want to make sure that businesses know they have choices.

I plan on writing about some new services(IM) that businesses are starting to rely on, as well as the old classics(Email). It will be a discussion of the various pieces of technology that I have used and how they work well within a company, so if I don’t talk about something it probably because I have not used it. But please do comment if you have ideas. I will also talk about the Operating Systems that I prefer to run

I plan on hitting the following topics:

Communication
- Corporate IM
- Email/Groupware
- Wiki’s
- Document Management/Collaboration
- Telephony
- Issue/Request/Ticket Tracking
Business Intelligence
- Reporting
- Analysis
Network Management
- Security
- Monitoring
- VPNs/Firewalls

Stay tuned… they are coming soon.

System Administration Growth

Mark Turner — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:11:31 +0000

More and more I find myself helping my co-workers. I help them with coding, troubleshooting, configuration, and even networking on all sorts of devices from the Server to the Desktop. Every bit of knowledge I share with them just makes them that much more valuable to the company.

This mentoring as I like to think of it is great for them, they learn new things and every time they don’t have to ask for help makes them feel that much better.

There is a problem with this though, companies RARELY offer promotions in our industry. We want to learn more so we offer to do more things. Over time the things that we do piles up and we are still doing our original job AND the stuff we wanted to learn to do to get away from our other tasks. Even with the increased level of knowledge and responsibility you wont get a promotion. The company has you doing more for the same amount of money. It is easier and cheaper for the company to hire a new outside person to fill the role then hire from within. This is why we move from company to company so many times as Sys Admin’s. I would find it rare for an actual skilled system administrator to stay at a company for more then 5 years without promotions… or increased pay.

Most sys admins should always worry about their next job. Use your current employer as a step to the next. Learn as much as you can, make some friends and find a place where you get to use your new skills.

Nobody grows up wanting to be a Sys Admin?

Mark Turner — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:09:37 +0000

I was a little surprised when I was reading “How do I get my sysadmin to do anything” by Paul Boutin. Everyone is entitled to their opinion I guess but I disagree with this line:
“No one sets out to be a professional systems administrator — do you ever see kids wearing toy pagers playing sysadmin?”
I would say that if he was looking for a person like that he can find one here. From my freshmen year in high school I was destined to be a Sys Admin. I spent hours every day messing with the farthest reaches of my UNIX machines. I dreamed of working on big computers, like crays and sun… but I dreamed of one other thing. I wanted to be a great system administrator. That is a goal that I still have until today.

Paul also talks about system administration as if there is no path of promotion, or growth. The only way that is fact is if your have no motivation to learn or grow professionally. I plan on being a SA for may years to come, this is not just some job that I will do for a few years because I am young. The system administration path is full of jobs/titles from Junior SA’s to Senior SA’s, then to Directors and CTO’s. I have no idea how a person that hasn’t been doing this job for years could be a reliable director or CTO.

The people that tend to fall out of System Administration seem to be people that cant handle dynamic jobs that require them to never stop learning, and realize that our careers revolve around our ability to maintain high levels of education. The way I see it my value is in what I know and what I am capable of doing, the minute that someone(a SA that is) thinks they know enough about their job I suggest that you browse some news groups or open a book.

Contrary to what Paul says, being a SA is a career and a very rewarding one at that. A challenging one but for those of us that have passion for technology it is exactly what we want to do with our lives and it what I plan on doing for the rest of mine. I know that I “grew” up wanting to do this and I am proud to say that I have made the right choice!