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Systems Administration Introduction

Systems Administration is one of the most complex, fulfilling and misunderstood professions within the computing arena. Everybody who uses the computer depends on the Systems Administrator doing their job correctly and efficiently. However the only time users tend to give the Systems Administrator a second thought is when the computer system is not working.

Very few people, including other computing professionals, understand the complexity and the time-consuming nature of Systems Administration. Even fewer people realise the satisfaction and challenge that Systems Administration presents to the practitioner. It is one of the rare computing professions in which the individual can combine every facet of the computing field into one career.

Systems Administration is an old responsibility gaining new found importance and acceptance as a profession. It has come into existence because of the increasing complexity of modern computer systems and networks and because of the economy's increasing reliance on computers. Any decent size business now requires at least one person to keep the computers running happily. If the computers don't work the business suffers.

What Systems Administrators do

It can be said that Systems Administrators have two basic reasons for being

1. ensuring that the computing system runs correctly and as efficiently as possible, and
2. ensuring that all users can and do use the computing system to carry out their required work in the easiest and most efficient manner.

These two reasons often conflict with one another. Management will wish to restrict the amount of money spent on computer systems. The users on the other hand will always want more disk space and faster CPUs. The System Administrator must attempt to balance these two conflicting aims.

The real work required to fulfil these aims depends on the characteristics of the particular computing system and the company it belongs to. Factors that affect what a Systems Administrator needs to do come from a number of categories including: users, hardware and support

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© Lee Stretton 2005 |