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A system administrator, or sysadmin, is a person employed to maintain and operate a computer system or network for a company or other organization. System administrators are often 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 equivalent of a handyman for computer problems beyond the knowledge of technical support staff. 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. Sysadmins 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. 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 and afterwards an IT Manager. Training Unlike many other professions, there is no single path to becoming a system administrator. Few colleges or universities have specific programs for system administration, so many system administrators have a degree in generic fields: computer science, computer engineering, information system management, or even a trade school program. As of 2006, only four U.S. universities, Rochester Institute of Technology, Tufts, Florida State University, Miller-Motte Technical College in AAS in Microcomputer Applications Systems Network Engineer and Michigan Tech have post-graduate programs in system administration. In Europe, Norway, there is a special English-taught MSc programme organized by Oslo University College * in cooperation with Oslo University, named "Masters programme in Network and System Administration". The founder of the programme is the creator of cfengine, Mark Burgess. 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 or Red Hat RHCE. At the same time, some employers consider reliance on such certifications to be a sign of a poor candidate, or 'paper cert' - someone who has trade-school "book learning" rather than formal theoretical knowledge or hard practical experience. 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. Duties of a system administrator A system administrator's responsibilities typically include: 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, demarcations 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. Professional Organizations Unions See also Certification Organizations Periodicals Books Online Resources Technology Unions and related links | |||||||
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