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Systems Adminstrators Knowledge

The short and sweet answer is that to be a really good Systems Administrator you need to know everything about the entire computer system including the operating system, hardware, software, users, management, network and anything else you can think of that might affect the system in any way.

Failing that lofty aim the System Administrator must have the ability to gain this all-encompassing knowledge. The discovery process may include research, trial and error, or begging. The abilities to learn and problem solve may well be the two most important for a Systems Administrator.

At some time during their career a Systems Administrator will make use of knowledge from the following (far from exhaustive) list of fields, both computing and non-computing:

• programming: Systems Administrators have to be able to program. They might have to write scripts that automate regular tasks or a Visual Basic program to help users perform certain tasks.
• hardware maintenance and installation: This may range from installing new hardware to cleaning old hardware so that it continues to work
• documentation and testing
• Human Computer Interface
• networks and computer communication
• user education
• diplomacy
• legal issues and contracts
• detective work
• management and policy setting, and
• public relations

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© Lee Stretton 2005 |