System Admin is a person responsible for maintaining all the activities on the server and is an integral part of information technology. The role of system admin is wide-ranging and requires a lot of commitments to accomplish those. Their role may include maintaining the server, installing software, supporting, writing scripts and small programs, checking peripherals, create a file system, documentation, password management and even project management for system projects.
With the rise of cloud computing, even more, computers are getting connected through a network, making the job of system admin more complex. In order to cope up with cloud computing, the system administrator must make himself familiar with automation software, the infrastructure of cloud, source control, network services in the cloud, and revising best practice for backup.
The job of system admin is crucial because he has the rights to perform any operations. He has access to the most critical files in an organization which if gets deleted can paralyze the flow of many applications. There is a huge amount of responsibility when you are wearing a hat of system administrators.
There are some languages like Perl and Python which allows writing scripts and automates the task of the system administrator. Some common tasks that can be accomplished using scripts are lock/ unlock accounts, create new users, monitor security on the server, monitor special services, reset passwords etc.
The job of a system administrator requires him to solve real-time problems quickly as he can be called to solve any issue. To solve these problems the system admin must have sound knowledge and must be able to relate to them. For example, let’s take a scenario where an application is badly written and is eating up too much memory or is consuming a lot of time to start. The developer of the application has left the company and no one has any idea how to handle it. The application is business critical and needs a fix then it becomes the administrator’s responsibility to fix the issue of whether he has any idea or not. Moreover working as a system admin you need to work in shifts and it becomes very hard to manage your personal and professional life.
So when we sum up all the hardships you have to face as a system admin, the job is very stressful and even after devoting himself to the organization he hardly gets any appreciation. So let’s give a huge round of applause to this unsung hero called system admin who surely deserves some accolades.