Who is a system administrator? What mistakes should you not make in the IT profession? A story about your own experience
Personally, I am a little depressed by the current situation with the name of the specialty. It's like at the dawn of development computer equipment everyone who at least somehow knew how to work with computers was strictly divided into two groups: “user” and “programmer”. You only know how to turn it on and poke it with one finger - a user. you understand what is happening inside - a programmer. So now everyone who is “not a programmer” is called a system administrator.
So, I would like to bring a little clarity to what it is System Administrator.
I would formulate this specialty only this way - the maximum position for managing all information systems of an enterprise.
A system administrator is a person whose job is to:
First of all - in building policy and planning the organization of all information systems and networks in the company.
In everyday life - the implementation of this plan, recreating it in hardware, device configuration, software configuration, tuning, monitoring the state of networks, suppressing accidental violations, attacks and other threats.
In the future - planning for development and modernization, studying new opportunities and trends.
This position is only half “technical”, and the other half “political”. A system administrator is a senior IT manager who determines how and where all IT in the company will move, and ultimately how easy and convenient it will be for each individual user to use the “benefits of IT”. Below the level there are individual “narrow” administrators, such as database administrators, user support services, and possibly programmers writing some local modules. A higher level remains only “not technical manual" - top management and heads of the company. For example, management, due to the lack of necessary technical knowledge, is simply not able to know what equipment is needed to build a network, where there are narrow places and how much each of them affects or can affect business processes. As a rule, superiors only need to have information “how much it will cost us money and time” and “how much it will simplify the work/increase reliability.” And how and what technologies will be used, how and what users will receive, what they will be able to do and what not - these are the decisions of the system administrator.
What many (and even amarao in his article sins with this:) call an admin is often an “enike person” (system engineer, shift engineer, technical support engineer), his tasks are really to deal with buggy Windows, printers and other small junk of the user . I understand that in a company with a couple of hundred jobs there is practically no point in hiring a separate system administrator (as a rule, such tasks do not arise there), so it turns out that an Enikey person sits and, to the extent of his free time and experience, does the same thing tasks for setting up servers and hardware. There is nothing scary about this; after all, almost all system administrators started working as Enikey specialists, but they are not real system administrators.
I worked several times as a system administrator in companies where more than a thousand jobs are distributed over a large territory. For example, in one of them, in two years of work, I have never seen end user, and only spoke to them on the phone a couple of times. But for this, responsibility for the correctness of the chosen network construction policy, procurement planning for further development, the performance of all information systems, software, servers, data safety is the responsibility of the administrator. No one will be held accountable to an Enikey employee for lost data or a broken line - but for a system administrator this will immediately be disqualification if it was not provided for in the structure backup paths, ensuring uninterrupted operation in the event of failure of individual components and quick options restoring the functionality of any structure. And the decisions that a system administrator makes usually affect all employees who work with computers in one way or another. It is the system administrator who sets the tasks for programmers to write the necessary modules, and introduces the rules for working with software for the entire company.
I would like to give an analogy with city sewers - the system administrator is the chief engineer of the city, who plans how and where pipes should be laid, where to build and how to connect substations. But the bearded man in a sweater is most likely a local plumber who changes the pipes in the house and does the wiring around the apartment. Without in any way detracting from the need for all professions, but these are very different things in terms of level of knowledge, education and tasks to be solved.
I also do not agree with the division into “core” and “non-core” employers. Here it is rather worth talking about whether there is a demand for serious IT for each specific business. For example, if you look at trade in general, they essentially don’t need computers; they set up a cash register and collect the money. But nevertheless, I observed one of the most interesting and developed IT infrastructures in a large retail chain. And they didn’t skimp on development, because they understood that this was the “lifeblood” of the business and when the network went down, there would be no sales, and these were huge losses, both direct due to standing equipment and indirect from loss of trust.
P.S. And another interesting thing that I have noticed over many years, which is the highlight of all the things I have seen excellent system administrators have an almost manic passion for organizing everything that is under their control, from equipment configuration, documenting infrastructures and laying patch cords in wiring closets, to in perfect order on your own desktop. And by the way, there were no bearded people with a sweater among them; a good system administrator really looks like a manager.
P.P.S. I leave outside the scope of this article all “narrow” administrators, such as administrators of web servers, databases, email, domain, storage systems, network and so on. Although even the average system administrator should have a clear understanding of the essence of these specialties and in their work regularly consult and take into account the opinions of specialists or dive into the area themselves (if they have the strength and capabilities).
UPD: Well formulated my thoughts
What kind of profession is a system administrator? Duties and responsibilities. Social bonuses and cash fees.
About the specialization of a system administrator.
To put it very crudely, sysdamins come with specialization and without specialization. Usually they start a career without specialization, then have several “bent” development branches and one or two or three in which their further life takes place (classic “builds” of characters in RPGs correspond very well to this). A system administrator without specialization is an overgrown Enikeyist (I will discuss this thesis a little lower). However, the demand for system administrators with a narrow specialization is lower (if we count vacancies in units) than for generalist system administrators (I will also expand on this thesis below). However, with fewer vacancies, the real need for qualified specialists is much higher than the number of specialists themselves, that is, the higher the qualifications, the less competition. At some point you will have several offers lying around from different companies, even though you don’t plan to leave your current one.
(Looking ahead a little - the higher the qualifications, the longer it takes to find new job, for a top specialist, looking for a job for half a year is quite normal. This is typical not only for administrators, but also for other professions with high responsibility and narrow specialization).
Who needs system administrators?
Since a system administrator is a profession, they pay money for it. The money is usually paid by the company to the employees. This means that companies need system administrators.
So, in accordance with the above classification, there are two important types of employers - core and non-core.
Let's start with the non-core ones. A non-core employer is a company that is NOT involved in IT, or is involved in it in an area far from the system administrator. Bright “antipodes” of IT-things: travel agencies, real estate companies, car dealers, etc. For them, an administrator is a kind of “electrician/computer caretaker.” They don’t need a complex infrastructure; they don’t know what system administrators do, what’s complicated and what’s simple. They cannot control the quality of the system administrator’s work, and the only sign of his success is “it works” or “it doesn’t.” Accurate level The development of a company varies greatly and can come down to “set up printers and ICQ” to maintaining rather exotic programs (this is especially common medical institutions). In any case, the IT complexity of their configuration is most often minimal, and there is no need to talk about the real “management” of the system administrator. This level fits into IT outsourcing.
Special mention should be made of companies with high degree ITization of non-IT business. ( A striking example- retail chains, banks). Most often, in such a company there is a person who is able to evaluate the quality of work and the complexity of the solution, he is usually able to speak with the system administrator in normal language, and not express himself in bird words about “the Internet is not working,” “the processor under the table is beeping,” etc. d. However, despite possible complexity configuration, it is quite limited by the budget and needs of the company, and usually does not require going beyond the minimum to work. The needs of the IT department are perceived as a pure burden that needs to be defended in this very bird language.
The second type of employers are specialized companies. Most large Internet sites are like this, this also includes hosters, data centers (if they do something other than renting units/dedicated), companies whose business is tied to Computer techologies (cellular companies, processing centers). Note that specialized companies also have non-core administrators (who are involved in maintaining workstations in the back-office); when applying for a job, you need to find out for yourself exactly what you will be doing.
Such companies usually look for employees “for tasks”, that is, they need a person who can work in some area of their activity.
An important feature of specialized companies is the constructiveness of what you do. You are no longer a “computer electrician”; you are the person who determines how well the company’s core business tool will perform. There is usually no concept of a “technological ceiling” or bird language.
In fact, such a profession does not exist. It so happens that many companies want to have a person on staff who will be responsible for “everything computer-related.” Usually these are non-core companies. Moreover, they want one or two, not three dozen certified specialists. (For those who want to talk about their brilliant present in the person of an Oracle administrator, etc. - I repeat, we are talking about the situation on the market). Hence the simple rule: they will want everything from you right away. Moreover, in the future you will find that superficial knowledge about everything is not particularly valued. However, these types of jobs are a great place to start - you can try everything and see what you like best.
Thus, there is a clear contradiction between the work of a novice system administrator (more precisely, the requirements that are placed on him) and further career growth. This contradiction does not appear immediately, but after some time, when a person gets used to the job.
However, let's return to the work of a system administrator. Here is a list of areas that are most commonly encountered by a system administrator. Please note - these areas are far beyond the bounds of reason, but - see above, they want everything from you, right away, and preferably for little money. Example: how much can a system administrator earn in Minsk.
What do you mean by system administration?
(we’re talking about generalist system administrators, of course)
Network administration. IN minimal form this is the “desktop configuration guru” wi-fi router", at the maximum - a person who will plan a network for 1000 people with branches in five cities. This includes: network topology (which piece of hardware to plug into which and why), SCS planning (where and how many outlets), configuration of nat and vpn, etc. All sorts of Internet access control services go into the same pile - squid, IIS, smart and stupid firewalls, IDS, etc.
Administration of workstations. Burnt-out power supplies, solving a problem with another bank client, fixing a broken seal, solving the problem of “how should I open this file,” fighting viruses for, with, working with, etc. The minimum level is to install an office, the maximum is to develop group policy for automatic rolling new version software that does not have (you will have to do it yourself). At the same time, problems with automatic deployment of workstations, backups, safe removal etc.
Centralized authorization. Usually in this capacity it acts Active Directory. One of the “cleanest” disciplines, it is also one of the most difficult. Minimum level - add/remove users, add workstation to the domain. The maximum is to implement automatic assignment of policies to users of a given OU in case of access to a computer in one of the nodes of a neighboring tree in the forest (we all love this terminology, yes).
Mail. Conditionally divided into three worlds: small windows postal server (Kerio class), the mighty and terrible Exchange, a normal linux/freebsd server with any sane mail server(postfix, exim, sendmail, etc.). Minimum level: add Mailbox, add another domain and add an additional email to the user. Maximum level: set up a mail ticket system, mailing list, spam filtering, automatic mailbox creation, etc.
Databases are most often part of another infrastructure. Specialized database administrators are in a league of their own. Minimum level: install, restart, connect in application, add/remove database. Usually the same is the ability to make a backup and restore it (which is more difficult). There is no maximum level, because... if you know any DBMS well, SQL, and are able to deploy a server with an active asynchronous subscription to another database, then this is no longer quite a “universal system administrator”. The conditional ceiling can be considered the ability to repair a broken MyISAM database.
1C. Despite the fact that 1C is a company that produces toys and educational disks, “1C” usually means 1C: Enterprise, 1C: Accounting and other nightmarish products of the perverted intercourse of accounting and programming. A person who knows a lot about “this” is called a “1C programmer” (not to be confused with normal programmers). Minimum level: create new base, create/delete a user. Maximum level: correct the configuration, add a field to the report, understand how 1C deals with SQL.
Websites. This can mean almost anything - from “order shared hosting” to “solve a performance problem in django-orm when working with postregsql.” This area could easily include copywriting, search engine spam (SEO), web design, web programming, etc. Minimum level: be able to do a little layout in html; there is no maximum level, because different professions are listed. By the way, among them there is also a real system administrator: web server administrator - load ballancing, failover, high availability, clusters, etc., which again goes beyond the category of “versatility”.
Access control systems and video surveillance. Most often they are done by specialized organizations, however, it happens that the system administrator also has to tinker. Minimum level: pick up another camera, register an access card. Maximum level: auto export of video to archive, synchronization of all types of control. The future is most likely not admin; as far as I know, administrators usually don’t like this area.
ATS. Another area that falls into system administration accidentally. Minimum level: add forwarding, connect an additional incoming line. Maximum level: raise your Asterisk with a voice menu by 300 points, a sip-skype gate, routing that can switch between IP, copper and E1 depending on conditions. This is also where legacy telephone services often come in, “tapping the crowns”, understanding all sorts of plesiosynchronous incoming lines, E1, etc. I repeat, this is not an administrator’s specialization - in general, telephone operators do this.
Print/scan. Most often, a trivial task until you have to make printers networked and solve all sorts of problems industrial printers. Minimum level: pick up the printer; Maximum level - solve the problem color profiles, connect the label printer as a network printer, automatically assign printers when the user logs on to the computer.
In addition there are many specific areas: terminal servers, various ERP/CMS, utility software for network maintenance, etc.
To summarize: it is impossible not only to be a professional, but to at least know all this more or less well. But you need to know. It is on this contradiction that the career of a novice administrator is built.
Separately, it is necessary to say about those with whom you will encounter during the interview. Unlike other cases, with a 99% probability you will be interviewed by people who are far from computers. And they will not test your knowledge, but your adequacy and “glibness of answers.” If you bombard them with smart words, you will not be perceived adequately.
The same one is an Enikeyist. (from the English expression “press any key" - press any key)
This is the person on whom all the poorly formalized and tedious work, communication with users and fiddling with hardware is blamed.
The main things that an Enikey person usually does:
helpdesk - help desk. Answer to phone calls employees, show how to press any key, help find the column sort button and pick out a disk stuck in the drive.
Preparation of workstations - installation, connection, laying of wires, installation of OS and software, etc.
The solution to any non-wordable bullshit with custom applications- This is especially true for software from tax and bank clients.
Correction of SCS (new sockets, transfer of existing ones), diagnostics of problems, switching, if there are cross-connections, then their embroidery.
If the company does not have an operator, then his duties are performed by the system administrator.
Note that “assistant system administrator” is most often practically consumables with high turnover. In one company, it got to the point that the head of the department did not know the names of all the assistant administrators (3 pieces), because at least one left once every month or a month and a half.
From the point of view of an employee, such work is a springboard into system administration, but not the main profession.
We will talk about the profiles of specialized system administrators a little later, but for now about careers within these two professions.
Who is joining Enikey?
My experience says that people usually go there without specialized education. Most often they are young, although I interviewed a 42-year-old uncle for the position of “system administrator assistant.” Despite the fact that the responsibilities described above seem almost trivial, for many this is the most difficult step. Becoming an administrator from an administrative assistant is easier than becoming an assistant system administrator.
The main reason: they will want knowledge from you that is comparable to an administrator. Moreover, half of this knowledge is not presented anywhere in books and is a passing experience (for example, fiddling with bank clients). One more important feature is the “sense of computers”, I met many people at interviews, they simply could not appreciate the naturalness of what was happening in the computer, which greatly hindered them in analyzing the situation. This is a non-verbal experience, it appears after long work with computers.
A typical career looks like this: assistant system administrator (or administrator in a small company with 5-8 people), administrator, administrator (maybe 2-3 more times administrator), the beginning of real specialization. Specialization can be of two types: promotion technical level(instead of superficial knowledge of everything, deep knowledge of a little), and an administrative career - head of the IT department, CIO (IT director), etc. These are two completely different areas - the first is related to computers, the second is related to people, personnel management, planning, budgeting, meetings, etc.
The transition from stage to stage is determined by several factors: 1) Theoretical knowledge 2) Practical skills 3) Knowledge of realities 4) Connections and relationships with other people (both within the company and outside it).
Among this, the third point does not seem very clear. What are “realities”?
Knowledge of realities.
It's about knowing what companies usually use, how much it costs and how it works. Relatively speaking, this is a person who knows that modern offices install 5e, and not ThickEthernet (as was described in a 1993 book), that installing category 6 is unjustified (even though the manufacturer’s booklet advises this), that programmers need an eye and yes eyes, otherwise the company will be tightly tied to specific person etc. In other words, knowledge of the realities is the ability to say what exactly is needed in terms that will be understandable to both the supplier and others.
Skills and their application.
Before certain moment solve almost everything. Without some set of skills, no amount of theoretical knowledge will help. It simply includes “many kilometers behind the wheel” - solving many problems, skills in working with the console and standard software, knowledge of the symptoms of problems, knowledge standard solutions for typical cases.
Theory in the life of a system administrator.
At first, theoretical knowledge is not very important, since you do not have the proper feel for computers to perceive them correctly. However, if you do not invest your time and effort into theoretical knowledge, you will quickly become stuck at your level. Salaries will grow a little, perhaps there will be a career, but the IT world around will stop changing. Same technology, same glitches. The lack of theoretical knowledge does not prevent you from working - it prevents you from understanding how it works and how to fix what doesn’t work. Experience greatly replaces theory in the sense of solving problems, but does not give the strength to see the situation in general, to find the real reason(instead of a reason).
Yes, they mean a lot, especially in the case of a career as an IT director. The only method to avoid the need to have many acquaintances and play office games “king of the hill” is professionalism (read, experience and theory). If not, then only personal connections, knowledge of people, the ability to sense them, the ability to order them and lead in every other way. According to my observations, approximately 30% of Enikey workers find their first job through an acquaintance.
For highly specialized administrators, communications mean something completely different. The narrower the specialization, the smaller the range of employers, the greater the likelihood of knowing everyone or almost everyone. Having a familiar name greatly reduces your job search time. In this case, we are not talking about “connections” in the everyday sense, but about professional fame.
Many people have heard that there is such a position, such a profession as a system administrator. But to be completely frank, not even all employers understand what kind of person this should be and what responsibilities should be assigned to him. But, as practice shows, those who have achieved some heights in this field are in demand specialists, and good large companies are willing to pay a smart system administrator very good money, because a true master of the matter is worth his weight in gold today.
How did this profession appear...
Ten to fifteen years ago, no one could have imagined that in the future there would be such a profession as a system administrator. Then computer users were divided into two large categories: ordinary users (to become them it was enough to learn how to independently turn on and off the computer, and even understand a little the essence of the most simple programs) and real programmers (these are those who already knew how not only to open programs, but also understood what processes occur in the computer).
Today, such a classification is absolutely inadequate, since even a child can understand the simplest programs. To the first stage important characteristics Instead of a simple understanding of processes, it became the ability to use and manage them so that the company in which the specialist works is completely confident that all the information stored in electronic format, will be kept and confidential. A good system administrator can be compared to a conductor who must set up his orchestra (that is, the computer network of an enterprise or company and its equipment) in such a way that there simply cannot be any failures in sound and operation.
Responsibilities of a system administrator - we will understand it step by step
As has already become clear, today in all large companies and enterprises you can find a system administrator. Smart managers of small companies, who cannot yet afford such a full-time employee, use the services of external specialists, thereby guaranteeing the uninterrupted operation of the entire management system for the enterprise.
The responsibilities of a system administrator include many tasks, the most important of which are:
- maintenance, installation and reinstallation office equipment, ensuring its highly productive activities;
- search for good software, its installation, adjustment of its activities;
- ensuring constant uninterrupted operation company networks, guaranteeing data confidentiality;
- data copying (backup);
- fast and full recovery data in case of loss of part or all information due to the fault of any of the employees;
- assistance to user-employees of the company for whom a computer or other office equipment is difficult to understand (here it is very important human factor, such duties of the system administrator should be performed calmly and as clearly as possible for the user);
- generation of reporting documentation for management.
The first requirements that will be presented to the applicant for such a position
A system administrator must not only know his duties, but also fulfill them, which is why letters of recommendation for many companies are one of the main characteristics of a potential employee’s skill level. Experience is what any manager today wants to see in their employee. That is why more than one young and motivated system administrator began to learn their responsibilities at small enterprises, for a nominal fee, so that they could then get the desired job in a promising company.
It is also important to understand how the technology itself works. That is, if necessary, the system administrator must correct problems in the operation of certain devices. The responsibilities of a system administrator in an office will include replacing cartridges in a printer, setting up a scanner, and repairing a poorly functioning computer power supply in the accounting department.
It is necessary not only to understand what it is network protocols, but also be able to build local computer networks. The functional responsibilities of a system administrator in large enterprises will necessarily include building such a network and upgrading it as necessary.
Without education today - nowhere
As practice shows, in order to work in a good company in such a position, you cannot do without an appropriate education. Despite the fact that today there are many online trainings that help you understand the basics, this is not enough to be a real specialist.
Although, there are exceptions - real nugget talents who have not even completed courses perform the duties of a system administrator, but these are still exceptions that are possible only with vast experience and a wealth of self-acquired knowledge.
Big cities are where system administrators need to look for work
As already mentioned, the responsibilities of a system administrator include installing office equipment and software. Therefore, large enterprises and organizations need system administrators. Most often they live in megacities and cities where there are similar organizations. The higher the demand for specialists in the region, the more realistic it is to find a job that will be suitable both in terms of pay and scope of responsibilities.
Today, system administrators are also needed in hospitals...
Many organizations that are not related to economics and business still have their own system administrator. This is due to large volumes of information that need to not only be systematized, stored long time, but also at the first need to be able to use it without lengthy fuss and searching. This is how positions such as system administrator began to appear in the hospital. His responsibilities are slightly different from those of, for example, a system administrator of a commercial enterprise, because here special attention will be paid to archival information databases that need to be made as mobile as possible.
Great prospects
Today, a system administrator is a sought-after profession, the relevance of which is only increasing every year, so the decision to become a real specialist in this field is very correct and will bring prosperity in the future. In order to become a good system administrator, you need to be prepared for the fact that the usual responsibilities of a system administrator in an enterprise will include the ability to manage and change computer networks, the desire to learn new things, and the ability to communicate well with people. The system administrator must understand what his immediate superiors want and be able to bring it to life.
The article turned out to be a little philosophical. And I don’t write very often for this blog at all. Unfortunately.
September 2016 turned out to be a bright month for me. Clenching my will into a fist, I said goodbye to the work to which I had devoted the last 4 years. And I simply realized in horror that this was a road to nowhere.
I don’t know whether it’s a midlife crisis (I turned 31 this year) or the understanding that the family needs much more serious financial support, but the fact remains that I broke up with work and what I’ve been doing all these years. And now I can give you, dear readers, some parting words so that you do not repeat such mistakes.
So, as I already wrote, last years I worked with someone whom I had previously vehemently ridiculed even on my blog. I worked system administrator. Moreover, the position had an “amazing” entry in the work book - systems engineer. And only 4 years later I only found out that, it turns out, this is such a veiled name for enikey in normal offices. Yes, exactly normal ones, because I can’t call my last office that word.
I will remember the beginning of 2013 for a long time. I had the choice to get a job as an Android developer, 1C programmer, or system administrator in an office about which I can’t say anything good except swear words. Greed won. Since the developer offered me 25 thousand everywhere at first (Rostov-on-Don). I understand that a programmer, even before a year of work, is just a junior. Moreover, I gave up Android before, and only worked on 1C for as long as I could. But in a year the prospects would have increased. The skill would grow, and with it the salary level. But I took the path of least resistance, since they offered me 35 rubles! In your arms! White! And this was the beginning of my professional collapse.
The office was incredibly small. Peer-to-peer network, without AD or even a hint of LDAP at least on Samba. With ancient computers running no less ancient XP. One video surveillance server, one file dump and one gateway configured in one place on the 5th Centos...
When I saw all this “economy”, I had a reasonable question - why pay such a sum? I received an answer immediately - for business trips. It was me who was hired for commissioning work on business trips. I was wearing video surveillance systems, servers and switching equipment. In 2014, all this came back to haunt me - I spent almost the entire year in Sochi, starting with the Olympics, where I worked without sleep or days off for two months, and then lived constantly in conditions in which migrant workers would not always agree to be, due to the greed of the director offices.
Yes, I learned a lot. I studied Cisco at the CCNA level, I wanted to move up to CCNP, but I changed my mind. I learned a lot of related technologies such as setting up radars (yes, exactly radar) and much more. I learned so much about fiber optic lines and all switching equipment that I could safely go to work in telecoms after that. And at the same time I became dumb. From monotony, from routine, etc.
I quit this blog. I quit programming. I got used to the idea that I was just a system administrator. I get paid and that's fine.
But every year the anxiety grew. First, on New Year’s Day 2015, I received the first news from Superjob that it was necessary to retrain as a system administrator at the age of 30. Then everything went from strength to strength.
I watched technology digests and was literally blown away by what happened over these 4 years. Xamarin, in iOS development went to SWIFT, many new frameworks appeared on the web, Rust appeared and immediately made a challenge to C++. And the latter has undergone changes - C++ 14 was released, which began to resemble java more.
There were a lot of changes. And all this passed by. And when two more admins, much older than me, got a job in the office, then I realized what a dead-end branch this was. And he quit.
Moreover, without regretting it at all. And to you, dear readers, I can simply convey from my own experience what I encountered after my dismissal.
So, in your hands employment history with such a “disgusting” record, two resumes - for a programmer and a system administrator. Here are the input details. And then it started.
Out of curiosity, I started sending out sysadmin resumes, while simultaneously reading books on what I had missed over the past time. The result was, to put it mildly, not so hot. No, I was invited to many places. I had frequent interviews. But behind my back I often heard: “God, the man is 31 years old and he came as a system administrator!” But there were still a bunch of places where the resume was thrown into the shredder with the diagnosis - “Grandfather. Too old for this position." Moreover, the network is heterogeneous in such organizations. There are also virtual servers on ESXi, web servers running on Apache and Nginx under Debian and Centos 7, a bunch of PBX on Asterisk, complex AD, MS forests SQL Server 2014, Exchange, scripts perfectly written in bash and powershell, Cisco, Huawei, Microtik - you can’t take everything into account. And the experience for all this is from 3 to 6 years. But not older than 30 years for the applicant. So, whoever indulges in skills will often go against you with the main document - your passport. So on at least This is the situation in Rostov.
It was a total circus with the programmer - they often saw that he had been working as a system administrator for the last 4 years and immediately put his resume into the shredder or began to get hysterical. There are more than 100 1C franchises in the city, but almost all of them had one thing as a standard for recruiting a programmer - to be an intern. And it doesn’t matter how much experience you have - no experience at all or 10 years behind you. And then the question arose about salaries, which traditionally do not exist in the French. As for other programmers, besides the web and a tiny share of C#, again, there is nothing for ASP.Net. And even C#, which I knew version 4.0, was already using 6.0. Even teach him again. Although on the blog I conducted webinars on it (or rather, on 5.0). But it was easier with him, but again, age did not make it into the team. Young guys up to 25 years old are sitting and a 31-year-old uncle walks in on them...
However, I did not fall into pessimism at all. I was looking for a lot of related things and within a week after my dismissal I found java work developer. Yes, the salary is gray. But the entry “software engineer” will appear on the employment record again. And one thing I know for sure is that I will never set foot in system administration again. And age won’t allow it).
I hope that this article with such groans was interesting and useful to someone. Most importantly, always improve. The world does not stand still. And IT – even more so. Otherwise, you risk being left behind, like I once was.
So, today we will try to answer the question: “Who is a system administrator?” In addition, we will figure out how much such a person earns, what he does, and how good and important his work is in modern world. After all, every profession has its place. Let us quickly begin to analyze our topic today.
Concept
System administrator - who is this? Let's try to answer this question, but first we'll decipher this concept. After all, the name of our profession today is far from a Russian abbreviation.
The thing is that “sysadmin” stands for “system administrator”. That is, this person is working with some kind of networks. And since this is a computer profession, then, as you might guess, such people will work with these machines.
System administrator - who is this? Once we have learned the full name of the position, revealing his responsibilities and profession as a whole will be several times easier. So let's try to do this. After all, before starting work, it is always important to know what lies ahead.
What does he do?
After we have explained the concept a little and figured out the question: “Who is a system administrator?” - need to know about job responsibilities such workers. Especially if you are interested in this profession. Maybe they will “tear your skin” and demand huge amounts of work?
Not at all. In fact, the job of “sysadmin” is what almost every user dreams of. You will have to do some setup operating systems, reinstallation, software installation and equipment connection. This also includes setting up an Internet connection, treating your computer for viruses, and protecting the system from various infections. In general, everything that the average user can do now.
In truth, a system administrator, programs and computers are three integral components of this profession. Sometimes particularly advanced system administrators even engage in programming. This gives them a significant advantage over other workers. Let's now see what the pros and cons of this profession are. After all, everything can’t be that good, right? Then everyone would aspire to be a system administrator.
Minuses
Well, let's start with the negative aspects. After all, it is they who, as a rule, make us think about whether this or that place is suitable for us or not. Notes “is a system administrator good or bad” can often be found in many articles on the topic of work.
The first thing that should be noted is that a person must have perseverance. Working as a system administrator, you will have to spend most of your time at the computer, without looking away from it. Fortunately for most modern users It's not such a big deal.
In addition, system administrators are endowed with enormous opportunities and, as a result, responsibility. After all, the work within the company, which is performed on computers, will depend on you. Something will break - and you will have to fix it quickly and efficiently. In cases where you know exactly what you are doing, there is no need to be afraid.
The monotony of work and its monotony is another significant disadvantage of the chosen profession. Every day everything will come down to the fact that you come to check the operation of the computers, configure the equipment if necessary, and then go to work on your workplace and carry out the boss’s instructions regarding PC setup. Many people get very tired of this schedule.
pros
True, our current profession also has a number of advantages. These are the ones you can meet when reading the notes “sysadmin - good or bad”. In fact, positive aspects there are much more negative ones here.
The first point is the work schedule. Very often, system administrators are hired with a flexible schedule, that is, on call. When services are not needed, you come to the workplace, then check the operation of all equipment and leave. And sometimes you stay in your office and mind your own business until your services are needed. But the salary still drips.
The second point is the ease of operation for most users. Modern people very advanced in computers. That's why you can without special problems fix most of the difficulties encountered on computers. If the work is “not dusty and simple”, and also brings in a good income, then the employee will perform it at the highest level.
It is also worth noting that in most cases, system administrators are left to their own devices after conducting daily equipment checks. You can drink coffee, play games (especially if your bosses are not watching you, but have provided you with a separate office), work on the Internet, or chat with friends. All this has a very beneficial effect on your lifestyle. The main thing is not to “go too far” and start “working to the detriment”.
Plus, working on a computer is predominantly mental work. You don't have to carry bricks, work in bad weather conditions, and so on. Typically, employees are provided with their own offices where they can drink tea, warm up and just feel comfortable.
If you are not a supporter of communicating with people, then a system administrator is your profession. All you will do is work at the computer. There is minimal contact with living people here. Thus, it is a goldmine for introverted individuals.
How much does he earn
Here's another pretty one important point. After all, any profession and position must be paid somehow. System administrator salary is a connection on which, as a rule, the quality of a person’s work depends.
The point is that if you are required to do a lot of work for a small salary, then, of course, you should refuse. A freelance system administrator (they called - they came and fixed it, went home) receives from 10,000 rubles a month. But employees of even the smallest companies with full-time or flexible hours - from 20,000 rubles.
With all this, the higher the salary, the better the system administrator will perform his duties. After all, then he will be interested in it. Thus, we can say that our profession today is quite a profitable occupation.
Conclusion
Our conversation has now come to an end. Today we found out who system administrators are, what they do, what the pros and cons of this profession are, and also how well the work of such workers is paid.
As you can see, this "place" can be suitable for most advanced computer users. To be honest, you have to learn to be a system administrator. For example, in addition, you can complete specialized courses to get a “crust”. But sometimes you can do without it. That's it.