The What, Why and How of Sys Admin

Systems Administration Chapter 2: The What, Why and How of Sys Admin
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Chapter
The What, Why and How of Sys Admin
A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.
-- Frank Herbet (Dune)
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. A broken computer system implies some fault on
the part of the Systems Administrator.
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 (including programming).
The aim of this chapter is to provide you with some background to Systems
Administration so that you have some idea of why you are reading this and what you
may learn via this text.
What Systems Administrators do
Systems Administration is an old responsibility gaining newfound 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. Smaller companies usually aren’t large enough to justify a full-time
Systems Administrator and will likely share one (usually some form of consultant)
amongst a number of other companies.
It can be said that Systems Administrators have two basic reasons for “being”:

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

People who have studied operating systems may remember these two reasons as being
similar to the responsibilities of operating systems. You may also remember from
operating systems that these two responsibilities often conflict with one another.
Users will want things a specific way which may not be the best for the organisation.
For example, Joe Bloggs in accounting may want this program installed, however the
organisation may already have a site licence for another program. The Systems
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Administrator, with help from policies, documentation and a number of other
resources, must attempt to balance these two conflicting aims.
Why we need them
Every year some company (over the last few of years it is usually Microsoft)
announces some new product that is going to make Systems Administrators obsolete.
In fact a couple of the network devices mentioned in Chapter 1 rarely need any form
of intervention from the Systems Administrator, you set them up and they run.
The reason for this is that these types of devices are designed to do one job, for
example Mail/file/print servers, and nothing else. Their purpose is very specific.
However, most organisations cannot be that specific about what they want their
computers to do and chances are there won't be a computing device that does exactly
what the organisation wants.
A lot of the need for Systems Administration is to bridge the gap between what
people/organisations want to do and what the organisation’s computers can do.
What they do
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 fall into one of the four categories of users,
hardware/software, support and policy.
Users
Users, your colleagues and workmates that use computers and networks to perform
their tasks, contribute directly to the difficulty (or ease) of your task as a Systems
Administrator. Some of the characteristics of people that can contribute to your job
include:
· How many users are there?
Two hundred users are more difficult to help than two users and also require
completely different practices. With two, or even ten/twenty, users it is possible
to become well known to them and really get to know their requirements. With
two hundred, or in some cases two thousand users, this is simply not possible.
· The level of the user's expertise
This is a combination of the user's actual expertise and their perceived expertise.
A user who thinks they know a lot (but doesn't really) can often be more trouble
than a user who knows nothing and admits it.
Users who know what they know.
Picture it. You are a Systems Administrator at a United States Air Force base. The
people using your machines include people who fly million dollar weapons of
destruction that have the ability to reduce buildings if not towns to dust. Your users
are supremely confident in their ability.
What do you do when an arrogant, abusive Colonel contacts you saying he cannot use
his computer? What do you say when you solve the problem by telling him he did not
have it plugged in? What do you do when you have to do this more than once?
It has happened.
· What are the users trying to do?
If the users are scientists doing research on ground-breaking network technology
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you will be performing completely different tasks than if your users are all doing

word processing and spreadsheet activities.
· Are they responsible or irresponsible?
Do the users follow the rules or do they make their own? Do the users like to play
with the machines? Being the Systems Administrator in a computing department
at a University, where the users are computing students who want to play and see
how far they can go is completely different from working in a government
department, where the users hate computers and only use them when necessary.
· Who do the users know?
A user, who has a 15-year-old, computer nerd son can often be the cause of
problems since the son will tell the parent all sorts of things about computers and
what can be done. Very few people have an appreciation of the constraints placed
on a Systems Administrator and the computers under their control. Looking after
a home PC is completely different to managing a collection of computers at a
place of work.

Hardware/software
The computers, software, networks, printers and other peripherals that are at a site
also contribute to the type and amount of work a Systems Administrator must
perform. Some considerations include:
· How many, how big and how complex?
Once again greater numbers imply more work. Also it may be more work looking
after a large network of Windows XP machines and servers than a small collection
of Windows 98 computers. Some sites will have supercomputers, which require
specialised knowledge.
· Is there a network?
The existence of a network connecting the machines together raises additional
problems and further increases the workload of the Systems Administrator.
· Are the computers heterogeneous or homogenous?
Is the hardware and software on every machine the same, or is it different? A
great variety in hardware and software will make them much more difficult to

manage, especially when there are large numbers. The ability to specify a
standard for all computers, in both hardware and software, makes the support job
orders of magnitude easier.

Support
One other area which makes a difference to the difficulty of a job as a Systems
Administrator, is the level of support in the form of other people, time and resources.
The support you do (or don't) receive can take many forms including:
· Are you alone?
At some sites there is one administrator who does everything from installing
peripherals, fixing computers, doing backups, maintaining the network, helping
users find the enter key and a range of other tasks. At other sites these tasks are
split amongst a range of administrators, operators and technicians.
· Are you a full-time administrator?
In some cases the administrator looks after the machines in addition to performing
their "real job".
· What are the feelings of staff and management towards the Systems
Administrators?
In many companies the management and staff see Systems Administrators or
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other computer support people as overhead. This impression of Systems
Administrators as an unnecessary expense influences how the users will act.
Similar feelings can occur if previous Systems Administrators have been
unprofessional or unable to perform their duties.
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Policy (management)
As you read through this text you will be introduced to various forms of policies
required about the use of computers and networks. These policies define what, why

and how things are done within an organisation. These can be as trivial as always
using a specific template for letters, memos and faxes through to something as
important as whether or not management can order the Systems Administrator to read
another employee's email…
Official policies are usually the responsibility of management. It is they who should
define the rules and the Systems Administrator who puts them into action. Obviously
policy shouldn't be made in a complete vacuum without any knowledge of what is
possible (but it often is). Additionally these policies should exist and the people using
the systems should be aware of them. If this isn't the case, you, or the organisation,
can be in trouble legally if you wish to enforce a rule (for example, “You can't send
pornographic material to the staff mailing list”).
Home and the real world
Chances are that your only experience with computing is what you have gained
maintaining your computer at home or perhaps helping out a few friends. While
useful, this experience does not prepare you for what computing is like in the real
world, especially in a largish organisation. This small section, along with repeated
attempts throughout the remaining chapters of this book (see the Computers and the
Real World section in Chapter 1), attempts to provide you with some idea of what is
involved with computing in the "real world".
Some of the differences you will face in the real world include:
· Number of users
Most Systems Administrators will be responsible for looking after organisations
with somewhere between 10 and 1000s of users. Looking after a small number of
users who you know is simple. You can let each person do their own thing and
the workload won't be too great. However, with 100s of users you have to
implement standards and policies, otherwise you will spend all your time trying to
remember the differences and be unable to do some real work.
· 24x7 operation
Increasingly, organisations are finding that they must have computer systems
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Maintaining this sort of availability

requires a number of special steps, and rules out a lot of practices which are okay
when 24x7 operation isn't an issue. As you progress through the text think about
what implications a 24x7 operation have on the concepts you are reading about.
What Systems Administrators need to know
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.
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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 involve installing new hardware, cleaning old hardware so that it
continues to work, calling in hardware support or diagnosing problems with
hardware.
· documentation
An essential part of Systems Administration! Not only must you write
documentation for the users of your systems so that they know how to do things,
you must also write documentation about what it is you are doing and how you are
doing it. This documentation will be used by you and your fellow Systems

Administrators.
· testing
Testing is not an ad hoc process where you try a few things. It is an in-depth field
on its own. Systems Administrators have to have some idea about testing. You
can't put together a system for 1000 users without performing some sort of testing.
· Human Computer Interface
Writing GUI or web-based applications are common tasks for Systems
Administrators. Both require some sort of idea about HCI issues to produce
interfaces that are intuitive and meet the requirements of the users.
· networks and computer communication
Networks are an essential part of any computer system these days. You must be
aware of the network and data communications.
· user education
When the next version of MS Office comes out, do you think all the workers in an
organisation teach themselves how to use it? Chances are the Systems
Administrator will have to perform some form of training. If you are lucky, your
organisation might have professionals who look after this form of training. If you
are really lucky your organisation might recognise the importance of paying for
this training. I wouldn't hold my breath.
· diplomacy
What happens when the second-in-charge of an organisation tells you that you're a
$%&*!@ idiot and shouldn't be working here? Scream back, resort to violence, or
run away? A Systems Administrator must be a good talker and able to deal with
stressful situations.
· licensing, legal issues and contracts
Unlike many University students, most organisations pay for their software (and
hardware). This usually involves dealing with some form of licence and legal
contracts. Familiarity with these can be very helpful.
· detective work and problem solving
Following the virtual crumbs to find the cause of a problem can be a lot like

detective work.
· management and policy setting
· public relations


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Reading
The Systems Administrators Guild (SAGE, is a
professional association for Systems Administrators. SAGE has developed a job
description booklet that helps describe what Systems Administrators do and what they
need to know.
A summary of this book is available from the course website/CD-ROM under the
Resource Materials section for week 1.

This text and the course aims to develop Junior Systems Administrators as specified
in the SAGE job descriptions booklet, without the 1 to 3 years experience.
Why UNIX?
Some aspects of Systems Administration are independent of the type of computer
being used, for example handling user complaints and getting along with
management. However by necessity there is a great deal of complex platform-
dependent knowledge that a Systems Administrator must have in order to carry out
their job. One train of thought is that it is impossible to gain a full understanding of
Systems Administration without having to grapple with the intricacies of a complex
computer system. This is something I believe.
This text has been written with the Linux operating system, a version of UNIX that
runs on IBM PC clones, in mind. To get the most out of this book you will need
access to the root password of a computer running the latest version of RedHat Linux.
The reasons for choosing UNIX, and especially Linux, over any of the other available

operating systems, have been outlined in Chapter 1. Here are some more:
· UNIX has a long history both in industry and academia
· Knowing UNIX is more likely to help your job prospects than hinder them
· UNIX/Linux is one of the current industry buzzwords
· With its growing acceptance as an enterprise server platform, demand for
knowledgeable administrators continues to grow
· It is hardware independent
· Linux is free
A CD with RedHat Linux can be purchased from the CQU bookshop, the
supermarket or a newsagent for less than $(AUD)30. You can also get it free with
many books, magazines or from the web.
· Linux runs on a cheap, popular type of computer
A 386 with 16Mb of RAM can provide mail, web, print and file services for up to
25 users. 486 with 32Mb for up to 100 users.
· Linux provides the operating system and almost all the other software you require
to set up a computer system for a small organisation
With Windows NT based machines you will have to spend a few thousand dollars,
on top of what you spend for the operating system, for a database, web server and
other necessary software.
· If you can learn Linux then learning Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 is a piece of
cake (and uses many of the same ideas).
Just as there are advantages in using UNIX there are also disadvantages. "My
Operating System is better than yours" is a religious war that I don't want to discuss
here.
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Unix past, present and future
The history of UNIX is an oft-told tale and it is sometimes hard to pick the correct
version. The story has been told many ways and the following is one version. Being
aware of the history can provide you with some insight into why certain things have

been done the way they have.
Unix History
These readings are on the course website (or CD-ROM) under the Resource Materials
section for week 1.
At the current point in time it appears that UNIX has ensconced itself into the
following market niches:
· Server operating system
Machines running UNIX are acting as file servers and network servers for local
area networks (LANs) of smaller client machines (running MS-DOS, Windows, or
Macs).
· Workstation operating system
Workstations are nominally powerful computers usually used by a single user.
Engineers, scientists and other people who require a lot of computing power
generally use them.

Both these roles are being challenged by Microsoft’s Windows based server platforms
with varying degrees of success.
Linux is slowly making inroads into the personal computing environment. Several
companies and governments around the world now use PCs running Linux, X-
Windows and Gnome/KDE as the standard desktop. However, the most common
place you will find Linux is still on the server.

Even though Linux has come of age as an operating system, many users still resist it
as a desktop OS replacement. As X-Windows matures, support for GUI programs
grows and platform independent web applications continue to be delivered, Linux has
a better chance of becoming a more widely accepted desktop OS.
Linux
This book has been specifically written to focus on the Linux operating system.
Linux was chosen because it is a free, complete version of the UNIX operating system
that will run on cheap, entry-level machines. The following reading provides you

with some background into the development of Linux.
Linux: What is it and a history
These readings are available on the course website (or CD-ROM) under the Resource
Materials section for week 1.