Happy sys admin! Postcard with meaning
Sysadmin is a favorite character of IT anime jokes and cool stories. Who among us does not remember the cherished 4 words, mandatory for a successful quotation on the bashorg (if anyone does not remember - “cat, Schröder, admin, x * yase”) and did not empathize with Ithappens stories, who did not wear chocolates and beer in order to quietly expand office limit. Well, in general, we have already given out our age, so further - only about the heroes of today's holiday, the Day of the system administrator. Or rather, how are we here in 2018?
Snob.ru
Our article will be written in a rather joking manner, more like a postcard to all of us, but remember - in each joke there is only a fraction of a joke. The rest is true.
For many years we have been creating solutions for the Service Desk and IT-assets management , therefore, we often have been and have been to various kinds of meetings and conferences on the subject of near-admin and all ITSMs there. Almost 10 years ago, experts predicted the imminent demise of the post of system administrator, telling fascinating stories about eternal printing devices, total clouds at every workplace, super secure networks and powerful scripts that can do everything (exclusively on Powershell, yeah, who else the world grab). Someone listened to it with wide-open eyes, and someone more experienced smirked - such noodles on the ears did not linger.
Perpetual printer
We were particularly anxious - not, well, but, like the truth, everything is virtualized to the limit and there will be nothing special to monitor, but we have a release on the nose ... Of course, we didn’t believe in the full world of an ideal IT infrastructure, but some moments could have tensed us.
The world has indeed changed - but not in the way that the bright minds of theorists predicted. It has become incredibly more difficult, and the IT infrastructure of even relatively small companies has become a monstrous system that tends to chaos:
And this chaos needs a superhero. Namely - a system administrator who is able in each company to solve combinations of these tasks, and sometimes all tasks at once.
Today, the system administrator, even in a small company, is not a guy with a beard and a stretched sweater, this is a specialist who is obliged to ensure the smooth operation of the entire IT park at least, otherwise the work of the rest will simply rise, because now absolutely all processes are tied to the use of technology: IP - telephony, networks, work PCs, mobile equipment, cameras, physical security circuit, etc. Of course, gibberish and uneducated eternal enikeev is enough everywhere, but in 2018 its incompetence is almost impossible to hide.
So, what the admin should know and be able to be productive and competitive (except for his immediate professional knowledge).
And of course, superpowers will not save any sysadmin from stranded wires, packaged layouts, unplugged forks of sistemnik, disconnected by playful pens of antiviruses, native to pain 1C and perturbed accounting, chewed on paper clip printers, spilled toners, broken mice, flooded keyboards. Well, are we in these moments thinking about the eternal and our great destiny? Trivia affect only the weak.
On the Day of the system administrator, we will leave the wishes of colleagues and colleagues in the iron-and-software battles at the end, and in this section we’ll tell you that it is worth being a bit more attentive and wiser to facilitate the life of a person who ensures your work and keeps the first line of defense of all techno business ecosystems.
In short, the recipe is simple: be human and respect the work of the system administrator.
And to you, dear colleagues-sysadmins, we wish you successful work, calm nerves, thoughtful and rational users, not burning front-breakers, reliable equipment, great music in headphones, tasty and hot (!) Coffee in a mug, cold beer and eager pizza.
Chin-chin, friends, we drink for you and for us!
If you need an ITIL Service Desk system or IT infrastructure management and inventory system, contact AlloySoftware - Alloy Navigator 8.1 is fiery, and even in Russian (with documentation together). Users seem satisfied :-)
Our article will be written in a rather joking manner, more like a postcard to all of us, but remember - in each joke there is only a fraction of a joke. The rest is true.
Waited for clouds, and the heat came
For many years we have been creating solutions for the Service Desk and IT-assets management , therefore, we often have been and have been to various kinds of meetings and conferences on the subject of near-admin and all ITSMs there. Almost 10 years ago, experts predicted the imminent demise of the post of system administrator, telling fascinating stories about eternal printing devices, total clouds at every workplace, super secure networks and powerful scripts that can do everything (exclusively on Powershell, yeah, who else the world grab). Someone listened to it with wide-open eyes, and someone more experienced smirked - such noodles on the ears did not linger.
Perpetual printer
We were particularly anxious - not, well, but, like the truth, everything is virtualized to the limit and there will be nothing special to monitor, but we have a release on the nose ... Of course, we didn’t believe in the full world of an ideal IT infrastructure, but some moments could have tensed us.
The world has indeed changed - but not in the way that the bright minds of theorists predicted. It has become incredibly more difficult, and the IT infrastructure of even relatively small companies has become a monstrous system that tends to chaos:
- iron went down in price, and companies began to buy their own servers, organize tiny server servers in order not to spend money on the very virtualization
- Companies still do not refuse desktop software due to its reliability, greater security and lower cost of ownership (the license is bought once, no need to pay a slave monthly rent for SaaS, which from 880 p. on a developer’s landing page turns into a couple of years hoo th)
- users are not so much smarter, but they are armed to the teeth and carry flash drives, external disks, smartphones, tablets, laptops, all connected to working PCs and networks - and these are potential security holes
- individual users who learned how to use the corporate IT infrastructure for their own needs from PCs and networks: from innocent games during working hours and changing video cards to serious theft of commercial information and other unpleasant plums
- peripherals fell in price, and companies began to buy office equipment in lots: printers, scanners in each office, projectors in each meeting room, interactive screens, multimedia systems, wall-mounted monitors and so on.
- Finally, the development has changed and DevOps appeared in IT companies.
And this chaos needs a superhero. Namely - a system administrator who is able in each company to solve combinations of these tasks, and sometimes all tasks at once.
Superheroes superhero superchaos
Today, the system administrator, even in a small company, is not a guy with a beard and a stretched sweater, this is a specialist who is obliged to ensure the smooth operation of the entire IT park at least, otherwise the work of the rest will simply rise, because now absolutely all processes are tied to the use of technology: IP - telephony, networks, work PCs, mobile equipment, cameras, physical security circuit, etc. Of course, gibberish and uneducated eternal enikeev is enough everywhere, but in 2018 its incompetence is almost impossible to hide.
So, what the admin should know and be able to be productive and competitive (except for his immediate professional knowledge).
- IT asset management techniques (ITAM, SAM, ITSM, ITIL, etc.). This does not mean that you should learn all the ITIL books and get the badge, but you need to know the principles and logic of asset management - simply because these are the best practices and there really are good things to do.
- Ways to save money by optimizing the IT infrastructure: managing licenses, optimizing the use of software, combining virtualization and in-house capacity, ways to manage printing in a company (especially with active workflow), etc.
- Software ownership for monitoring IT infrastructure, networks, server load, etc.
- Methods of ensuring security without completely tightening the screws in the workplaces of users, promptly responding to information security incidents (without on-site executions).
- Knowledge and understanding of the principles of DevOps - this is true more for employees of software companies.
- Automation of the routine work of the system administrator and the automation of user management - if the system administrator does not know how to write cool and useful scripts (Powershell, Python, etc.), then he is either not lazy or simply not a superhero.
Suffering, pain, hell
Windows Powershell
- Ability to work with virtualization and various * aaS. A sysadmin superhero must possess administrative skills that combine hardware, software, and the ability to work with application programming tasks (APIs).
- Advanced routing and switching skills . This skill requires communication networks and IP telephony, which in any office and at any scale should work with a minimum failure threshold.
- Desire and ability to learn. New technologies and ways of working with them appear continuously, and you need to be able to study them, to understand whether it is worth implementing it into work and making an objective decision. No one knows where the fate of a sysadmin will take tomorrow: in the world of distributed computing, in Kubernetes or in the Docker.
- Understanding business - the system administrator should be a supporter of the business, not a pest in the name of his laziness. Decisions on software implementation, virtualization, equipment supply, inventory, etc. must be taken precisely on the basis of the real objective needs of the company. You should not abandon the equipment or software just because you do not want to increment the zoo. Be professional.
And of course, superpowers will not save any sysadmin from stranded wires, packaged layouts, unplugged forks of sistemnik, disconnected by playful pens of antiviruses, native to pain 1C and perturbed accounting, chewed on paper clip printers, spilled toners, broken mice, flooded keyboards. Well, are we in these moments thinking about the eternal and our great destiny? Trivia affect only the weak.
How to help a sysadmin?
On the Day of the system administrator, we will leave the wishes of colleagues and colleagues in the iron-and-software battles at the end, and in this section we’ll tell you that it is worth being a bit more attentive and wiser to facilitate the life of a person who ensures your work and keeps the first line of defense of all techno business ecosystems.
- Do not lie to the admin. If there is a problem and you know what the reason (or exactly) is, be sure to tell us how it was. You are unlikely to be fired for this, and the admin will not wrestle with how it turned out.
rm -fr Removes all French files from the system.
- Do not leave it without tools. If you are a CEO, CTO, CIO, and it depends on you which antiviruses, application applications, monitoring tools, inventory, equipment should be purchased for the operation of the IT infrastructure, discuss this with the system administrator. If only because it is he who will work with this. Admins rarely want to have software, because it's cool (unlike commerce), most often they want this or that software or hardware, because it can do a lot and is as functional as possible.Imgur
Everything works: Hey, IT specialist, and only then do we pay you?
Something broke: Hey, IT specialist, and why are we the only ones paying you?
- Try not to break what is already broken. If you feel that the files have disappeared, the mail is not working, the virus has appeared, the crash has crashed, the test server is not working, do not try to fix the problem yourself - call a professional, he will cope. Standing over your head and giving advice is also not necessary.Imgur
- What is your internet browser?
- Pfff, what a stupid question. Windows xp
- Describe the problem in human language and accurately. No need to speak in broken technical language or words that you read in funny stories about admins. Describe the problem clearly, in the case and without fantasies.
- Use the ticket system (if, of course, you have it) - give the admin a chance to prioritize tasks and plan working time and resources. From one hundred calls in a row, the Internet will not appear and the server will not rise.
- Let the admin have lunch! No, well, really - be people, do not call and do not interrupt the messengers, if he said that he wants to eat or drove off for consumables. This kind of attitude annoys you.
In short, the recipe is simple: be human and respect the work of the system administrator.
And to you, dear colleagues-sysadmins, we wish you successful work, calm nerves, thoughtful and rational users, not burning front-breakers, reliable equipment, great music in headphones, tasty and hot (!) Coffee in a mug, cold beer and eager pizza.
Chin-chin, friends, we drink for you and for us!
If you need an ITIL Service Desk system or IT infrastructure management and inventory system, contact AlloySoftware - Alloy Navigator 8.1 is fiery, and even in Russian (with documentation together). Users seem satisfied :-)