System Administration:

What is a System Administrator?

A system administrator
(sometimes abbreviated as Sys-Admin or Sysadmin)
is a person who is responsible
for managing a multi-user computing environment,
such as a Local Area Network (LAN).

System administrators are responsible
for installing and configuring system hardware and software,
setting up and managing user accounts,
updating software,
and performing backups and restores.


The system administrator (m / f / d)
coordinates the IT infrastructure of his organization.
His challenging tasks include planning,
installing and configuring the systems and their security.
The administrator also defines and monitors
the access rights of all employees.
His responsible activities determine the functionlity of IT in the company.

Other typical tasks for the system administrator

The tasks of a system administrator include the conception,
administration and maintenance of the file servers.
The system administrator provides support for mail servers,
workstations and mobile devices such as
notebooks, tablets and smartphones.
He takes care of systems with
different operating systems

such as Linux, Windows or many others.
When new systems arrive at the company's location,
installation and configuration are his tasks,
regardless of whether it is Windows or Linux.
The company's network is also the responsibility of the system administrator.
Maintaining professional networks is part of the job of system administrators
Admins with good soft skills can avert business damage.

other functions include:

Assessing software for security and usability and keeping it up-to-date
with updates is also an everyday occurrence for Sysadmin.
He keeps himself informed about innovations
from the major hardware and software providers such as
IBM, SAP, Oracle.
Regular engagement in online communities
in the field of open source software is also recommended.

The reason:

If an application strikes or if the company wishes to
develop software in the open source area,
the system administrator is the first point of contact.
It is therefore important that
he knows in which forums, boards, blogs and social networks
he can find the right information and contacts.

System administrators need a sense of responsibility

That a sense of responsibility
is one of the outstanding features of a system administrator:
Finally, the administrator has insight into all of the
company's secret information and projects.
All employees and the management level
must be able to trust the admin fully.

The system administrator profession offers challenging,
exciting tasks and excellent career opportunities.

Due to the large number of
solutions in the areas of servers, software,
telecommunications and networks,
it cannot be assumed that the importance of
system administrators in the company
will decrease in the foreseeable future.

On the contrary:

The role of the administrator in the
company is becoming more and more important,
his tasks are becoming more and more interesting.

A system administrator should be
able to administer systems
on the basis of these concepts, if necessary on different
platforms with the appropriate tools.

Field of activity:
The field of activity of a system administrator includes

Administration of servers and workstations Adjustment,
measurement and setting of server systems

Support and advice for operators or advanced users,
support, close cooperation with the data center management,
IT management (regarding the use of information technology)
Administration of user rights

Administration of storage systems,
data backup and data recovery
Hardware and software maintenance
Network monitoring and planning, Software distribution

Not every administrator needs knowledge of
every part of the information technology infrastructure.
Depending on the size of the organization and the
complexity of the IT structures,
there are specializations with different focuses.
Many system administrators have several
of these priorities in their duties.

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A system administrator (from Latin administrare "manage";
also known as administrator or (informally)
admin, sysadmin, network administrator, network administrator,
network administrator, system administrator, system operator,
operator or sysop (from "system operator")
manages computer systems the basis of
comprehensive access rights to the system.
System administrators plan, install,
configure and maintain the information technology infrastructure
(IT infrastructure) of a company or other organizations.
As operators, they carry out the manual activities required
for the ongoing operation of the computer systems.

The IT infrastructure in many companies, organizations, etc.
the flow of business processes to such an extent
that it has become a business-critical factor.
For this reason, the smooth functioning of this
infrastructure is of great importance.

Technical skills:

A system administrator is expected to have a basic understanding
or mastery of general concepts in the IT environment.

These include:

relevant concepts of the operating systems to be administered
(processes, memory, input / output, file systems ...)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2008,
Microsoft Windows Server 2012
Unix / Linux server
MacOS Server
Basic services of operating systems (e-mail,
print services, user administration ...)
Authentication methods, security concepts
Diagnosis and correction of hardware errors

Network infrastructure
Network protocols and basic network services
(Internet protocol family and others)
Application architectures
(client-server, 2/3 / multi-tier, peer-to-peer ...)
Directory services and middleware
Script programming for administrative purposes
PHP , MySQL, Programming languages ​​(Perl, Java ...)
basic processes in data centers
(backup, change management, service levels ...)
Apache HTTP Server
Storage infrastructure (virtualization, SAN, NAS ...)
Discretion, integrity and loyalty
A system administrator should be able to administer systems
on the basis of these concepts,
if necessary on different platforms with the
appropriate tools in each case.

Focus on operating systems

A system administrator with a focus on operating systems
mainly takes care of the administration and installation
of workstation and server systems,
especially using the unattended mode.

Tasks include user support and user administration, management,
expansion and renewal of hardware and software, backup and recovery,
integration of systems into the network, performance
measurement and adaptation depending on the purpose. .

Focus on storage systems

A system administrator with a focus on storage systems
(also: storage) deals with the configuration and administration
of the central storage infrastructure (e.g. storage area network).
Storage space is managed in central pools, access rights must be controlled.
An important task is the configuration and management of central backup solutions.

Focus: (Relational) databases

A system administrator with a focus on databases
(database administrator or DBA for short)takes care of the installation,
administration and coordination of relational databases.
Backup and recovery of the databases are also part of the job.

Focus: web server / mail systems

System administrators with a focus on web servers and / or mail systems
configure and administer mail and groupware systems and web servers.

Focus: networks / infrastructure

System administrators with a focus on networks / infrastructure
deal with the network structure:
planning and setting up the physical structure,
monitoring and configuration of network components,
planning and administration of infrastructure servers and directory services
(e.g. DNS, DHCP, LDAP), planning and administration of company-wide print services.