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A system administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin, is a person employed to maintain and operate a computer system and/or network. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. A computer network is a group of interconnected Computers. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics System administrators may be members of an information technology department. Information technology ( IT) as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA is "the study design development implementation support

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. Technical support (also tech support) is a range of services providing assistance with technology products such as mobile phones televisions Computers A server is a Computer dedicated to providing one or more services over a computer network typically through a request-response routine 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. "Scripting" redirects here For other uses see Script. Project Management is the discipline of planning organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives Technical support (also tech support) is a range of services providing assistance with technology products such as mobile phones televisions Computers A System Administrator must demonstrate a blend of technical skills and responsibility.

Contents

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. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination 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 Troubleshooting is a form of Problem solving. It is the systematic search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved

However, perhaps the most important skill to a system administrator is problem solving -- frequently under various sorts of constraints and stress. Problem solving forms part of thinking. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions problem solving has been defined as higher-order Cognitive 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. Software engineering is the application of a systematic disciplined quantifiable approach to the development operation and maintenance of Software. Software development is the translation of a user need or marketing goal into a Software product 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. A programming language is an Artificial language that can be used to write programs which control the behavior of a machine particularly a Computer.

Particularly when dealing with Internet-facing or business-critical systems, a sysadmin must have a strong grasp of computer security. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks This article describes how security can be achieved through design and engineering 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. A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system An Intrusion detection system ( IDS) is software and/or hardware designed to detect unwanted attempts at accessing manipulating and/or disabling of computer systems

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.

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, information technology, computer engineering, information system management, or even a trade school program. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Information technology ( IT) as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA is "the study design development implementation support Computer engineering (or Computer Systems Engineering) encompasses broad areas of both Electrical engineering and Computer science. 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. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, is a Nonsectarian private Research University located in Troy, New York Marist College is a private Liberal arts college of 180 acres (72 ha located on the east bank of the Hudson River near Poughkeepsie, New York, on Drexel University is a private Coeducational University located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

As of 2007, only three U. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. S. universities, Rochester Institute of Technology[2], Tufts, and Michigan Tech have graduate programs in system administration. Michigan Technological University ( abbr Michigan Tech or MTU) is an American Public university with a range of degree offerings A graduate school or ("grad school" is a school that awards advanced degrees such as doctoral degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned 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". Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Oslo University College (OUC, Norwegian Høgskolen i Oslo (HiO is the largest state university college in Norway, with more than 11000 students and approx The University of Oslo (Universitetet i Oslo Universitas Osloensis is the oldest and largest University in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital 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 is 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. Open source is a development methodology which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge A server is a Computer dedicated to providing one or more services over a computer network typically through a request-response routine

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, Novell CNA, CNE, Cisco CCNA or CompTIA's A+ or Network+, Sun Certified SCNA, among others. Microsoft Certified Professional ( MCP) refers to the broad certification program for Microsoft, although it can also refer to an individual candidate who had Microsoft Certified Professional ( MCP) refers to the broad certification program for Microsoft, although it can also refer to an individual candidate who had For other uses of the CNA term please see the disambiguation page Certified Novell Engineer ( CNE) is a certification which is designed to show that an individual possesses in-depth knowledge and skills related to administration and troubleshooting Cisco Career Certifications are IT Professional certifications for Cisco products The Computing Technology Industry Association ( CompTIA) a non-profit trade association, was created in 1982 as the Association of Better Computer Dealers Sun Certified Professional ( SCP) is a Professional certification program by Sun Microsystems. SCNA stands for Sun Certified Network administrator.This certification is for experienced system administrators who are or will be responsible for administering Sun

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 the system administrator 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(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 Engineering and Manufacturing, quality control and quality engineering are involved in developing systems to ensure products or services A technical writer is a professional writer who designs writes creates maintains and updates technical Documentation &mdashincluding Online help, User guides

In smaller organizations, the system administrator can also perform any number of duties elsewhere associated with other fields:

System administrators, in larger organizations, tend not to be system architects, system engineers, or system designers. Technical support (also tech support) is a range of services providing assistance with technology products such as mobile phones televisions Computers A database administrator ( DBA) is a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a Database. Network administrator is a modern profession responsible for the maintenance of Computer hardware and Software that comprises a Computer network. In the USA an application analyst is someone whose job is to support a given application or applications This article describes how security can be achieved through design and engineering A programmer is someone who writes Computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist In Systems engineering, the systems architect is the high-level designer of a System to be implemented Systems engineering is an Interdisciplinary field of Engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed Systems design is the process or art of defining the architecture components modules interfaces and Data for a System to satisfy specified Requirements However, like many roles in this field, demarcations 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 are the people who know how the computer systems work and can respond when something fails.

See also

References

External links

Certification Organizations

Periodicals

Conferences

Books

Online Resources

Technology Unions and related links

Articles

Computerworld is an IT magazine that provides information to technology managers
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