system administration, you think you got what it takes?

Kudos for other system administrators out there!

Since one of my roles is a system administrator, would like to give an acknowledgment to fellow admins out there as I start this blog! :)

I picked up my passion for system administration 13 years ago, when one of my seniors conducted a talk on Linux and helped us made copies of Slackware onto a dozen floppy disks so we could play with it at home. Since then, I have also tried Gentoo, RedHat, CentOS (which is my favourite today), FreeBSD, Solaris 8 - 10 (never admin-ed live sites on Solaris yet), etc.

System administration is a tough job (you know I know but users don't), you have to know the hardware, software, network you are handling and take into account everything holistically . You have to know your users, how they access the server(s), what kind of environment they have, what kind of businesses they are running (dubious email marketers are the ones to avoid), their IT literacy level, etc. Troubleshooting requires a lot of eliminations and tests while users are screaming for their services to be up NOW!!!

The job demands a "big picture" understanding and a sharp eye on minor details. It's like being a car mechanic, when there is an extra rattle or squeak, you know something has got to give soon. Typically, you will have some preventive measures in place, but when it comes to the crunch, it all boils down to a quick identification of the problem and an even quicker fix. Who cares, as long as it works, right? ;) Actually, a quick fix doesn't work and in the end, we are ones who will have to solve the actual problem anyway.

When I start this blog, my intention is to use it to take notes on the problems I have and the way I go about solving it, maybe it would be of use to others should they stumble upon this blog.

Oh well, here goes...