Lecture 01 Introduction to SA
Summary
TLDRThis video introduces the role of a systems administrator (SA), who ensures the smooth operation of computing systems. It covers SA tasks like user and hardware management, software installation, security, and troubleshooting. The script emphasizes the importance of patience, tenacity, and strong organizational skills for SAs. It also discusses the challenges, such as dealing with user frustration and long hours, and highlights the value of documentation and the Systems Administrators Guild. The video concludes with insights on SA training, certifications, and key principles like policy, predictability, and scalability.
Takeaways
- 👨💻 Systems Administration (SA) involves managing computing systems to ensure they run smoothly and efficiently for users.
- 👥 SA tasks include user management, hardware and software management, security management, system monitoring, and troubleshooting.
- 🛠️ SA professionals are expected to perform backups, maintain documentation, and manage licenses.
- 💡 Automation and planning are crucial for system scalability, assessing new technologies, and avoiding potential problems.
- 🔑 Essential qualities for an SA include patience, tenacity, strong organizational skills, logical reasoning, and ethical behavior.
- 🌟 Benefits of being an SA include job variety, challenges, employability, and the opportunity for continuous learning.
- 😕 Downsides may include occasional user frustration, long working hours, and the expectation to solve every problem.
- 🤝 The Systems Administrators Guild (SAGE) is a professional body that promotes the visibility and recognition of SA as a profession.
- 📚 SAGE provides resources like job descriptions and guidelines to help SA professionals at various levels.
- 🏆 Certifications and trainings, such as those from Microsoft, Red Hat, and LPI, can be beneficial for SA professionals to enhance their skills.
- 🛡️ Key principles in SA include policy foundation, predictability, scalability, and the principle of minimum privilege.
Q & A
What is the role of a systems administrator?
-A systems administrator, also known as an SA, is a professional responsible for ensuring that computing systems work effectively. They manage, maintain, and troubleshoot systems to ensure they run smoothly and efficiently, facilitating user productivity.
What are some key tasks of a systems administrator?
-Key tasks of a systems administrator include user management, hardware and software management, maintaining resources like disks, memory, and CPU, security management, system monitoring and troubleshooting, documentation, and providing help desk support.
Why is automation important in systems administration?
-Automation is crucial for systems administrators as it helps to streamline repetitive tasks, increase efficiency, reduce human error, and free up time for more complex problem-solving and strategic planning.
What are some personal qualities that are beneficial for a systems administrator to possess?
-Systems administrators should have patience, tenacity, strong organizational skills, well-developed logic, reasoning, and critical thinking skills, and ethical behavior. These qualities help them handle the challenges and responsibilities of their role effectively.
What does the Systems Administrators Guild (SAGE) do?
-SAGE is a professional body for practicing systems administrators, established to increase the visibility and recognition of systems administration as a profession. It provides resources, guidelines, and a community for systems administrators worldwide.
What are the different levels of systems administration as per the Systems Administrators Guild?
-The Systems Administrators Guild categorizes systems administration into four levels: Level 1 (Novice), Level 2 (Junior), Level 3 (Intermediate), and Level 4 (Senior). Each level represents increasing experience, education, and responsibilities.
What are some certifications that can be helpful for a systems administrator?
-Certifications such as those from Microsoft, Red Hat, Novell, Linux Professional Institute (LPI), CompTIA, and O'Reilly School of Technology can be beneficial for systems administrators, providing specialized knowledge and industry recognition.
Why is ethical behavior important for a systems administrator?
-Ethical behavior is important for systems administrators to ensure honesty, fairness, and equity in their professional and academic relationships. It also helps in maintaining the privacy and rights of individuals and groups within the organization.
What is the significance of the 'mantra' for a systems administrator?
-The mantra for a systems administrator, 'The computer environment does not exist solely for the amusement of the systems administrator,' serves as a reminder to prioritize the needs of the users and the organization over personal interests or amusement.
How does a systems administrator manage the life cycle of a computer system?
-A systems administrator manages the life cycle of a computer system by moving it through states such as new, build, clean, configured, unknown, debug, rebuild, and retire. Each state represents a phase in the system's life, from initial setup to eventual decommissioning.
Outlines
💻 Introduction to Systems Administration
This paragraph introduces the concept of systems administration, defining it as the management of computing systems to ensure they operate effectively and efficiently. It highlights the role of a systems administrator (SA), who is responsible for user and hardware management, software installation, security, system monitoring, and troubleshooting. The SA also handles documentation, user support, and automation. The paragraph outlines the tasks of an SA, which include adding or removing users and hardware, configuring and maintaining systems, managing resources like disks and CPU, and ensuring system security. It also touches on the need for SAs to have patience, tenacity, organizational skills, logical reasoning, and ethical behavior.
🔧 The Roles and Challenges of a Systems Administrator
Paragraph 2 delves into the benefits and challenges of being a systems administrator. It mentions the variety and challenges that come with the role, making it a fulfilling career. It also notes the high employability of SAs and the importance of independent learning and organized work habits. The downsides include potential frustrations with users, management, and tech support, as well as the expectation to have immediate solutions to problems. The paragraph also discusses the 'ugly' side of the job, where SAs may go unnoticed when things run smoothly but are heavily relied upon during crises. It emphasizes the importance of documentation, which helps in system reconstruction, decision-making narratives, and maintaining service quality.
📜 The Systems Administrators Guild and Ethical Standards
This paragraph introduces the Systems Administrators Guild (SAG), established in 1992, which serves as a professional body for systems administrators worldwide. It discusses the guild's goal of increasing the visibility and recognition of systems administration as a profession. The SAG has published a series of handbooks, including job descriptions for SAs at various levels. The paragraph also presents the SAG's creed, which includes a commitment to high ethical and professional standards, personal integrity, and adherence to laws and policies. It outlines the ethical responsibilities of SAs, emphasizing the importance of education, social responsibility, and the well-known adage 'with great power comes great responsibility.'
🛠 Systems Administration Levels and Certifications
Paragraph 4 discusses the different levels of systems administration, ranging from novice to senior, each with increasing responsibilities and experience. It mentions that new hires are expected to operate at the guild's level one. The paragraph also covers the various certifications and trainings available for systems administrators, such as those from Microsoft, Red Hat, Novell, LPI, CompTIA, and O'Reilly School of Technology. It stresses the value of certain principles in systems administration, including policy as the foundation, predictability, scalability, minimum privilege, and community considerations.
🔄 Systems Administration Processes and Lifecycle
The final paragraph outlines the processes and lifecycle of systems administration, including the states of machines and the transitions between them. It describes the stages from a new machine to a retired one, with states such as build, clean, configured, unknown, and off. The paragraph explains the transitions, such as initialization, update, entropy, debug, rebuild, and retirement. It also touches on the importance of understanding these states and transitions for effective systems administration.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Systems Administration
💡User Management
💡Hardware Management
💡Security Management
💡System Monitoring and Troubleshooting
💡Documentation
💡Automation
💡Ethical Behavior
💡Systems Administrators Guild (SAGE)
💡Certifications
💡Policy
Highlights
Introduction to systems administration and the role of a systems administrator (SA).
SA responsibilities include user management, hardware and software management, and security.
The importance of system monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization for performance.
Documentation and help desk support as key tasks for a SA.
Automation and planning policies as part of a SA's job.
The necessity of patience and tenacity for a successful SA.
Strong organizational skills as a requirement for effective systems administration.
The significance of logical reasoning and critical thinking in problem-solving for SAs.
Ethical behavior in systems administration, including respect for user privacy and rights.
Benefits of being a SA, such as job variety, challenges, and employability.
Challenges faced by SAs, including long hours and the expectation to solve all problems.
The 'ugly' side of systems administration, where the job's importance is often overlooked.
Strategies for dealing with problems and stress in systems administration.
The role of documentation in systems administration for maintaining system integrity.
The Systems Administrators Guild (SAGE) and its resources for professional development.
SAGE's code of ethics and its importance for professional conduct.
The importance of certifications and training for SAs for career advancement.
Principles of systems administration, including policy, predictability, and scalability.
The concept of minimum privilege and its role in system security.
The significance of communities and uniformity in systems administration.
Resource mapping as a strategy for effective systems management.
The five-state submachine model for understanding systems administration processes.
Transcripts
hi hello there welcome to introduction
to systems administration
what is a systems administration
when you say systems administration
there should be a systems administrator
aka sa for short
someone who takes good care of the
systems others are using
the professional responsible for making
computing systems work
effectively
so one can be an essay at home
or at work
they are responsible
for balancing systems running smoothly
and efficiently with the users able to
work in an easy and efficient manner
if you own and maintain a computer
then you are a systems administrator for
that computer
what are the system administration tasks
first would be user management
add and remove users from the systems
hardware management
add and remove hardware and software
configure and maintain hardware and
software
maintain resources like disks
memory and cpu
and
sa should be able to retire a hardware
software management
install software
or reinstall software
security management meaning the sa have
to secure the entire environment
system monitoring and troubleshooting
perform backup and restore operations
monitor system usage and performance
detect and correct problems
and optimize system performance
next would be documentation and help
desk
so general user support is answering
users questions
and maintain documentation and
licenses
sa should be able to perform backup also
next would be automation
planning policies and auditing
this includes system planning
scaling the system
assessing new technologies
anticipate and avoid problems
also under automation and planning
the sa write programs to automate as
many tasks as possible
determine and enforce usage policy
educate users
role model a liarson between user needs
and the budgetary
resource and technology limitations
and
sa should negotiate with
vendors
systems administration requirement
the first one would be patience
the first person that you need to have
patients with when you are administering
a system is yourself
systems administration is hard and
sometimes
you will have bugs or difficult problems
to overcome
if it's always easy
then you aren't challenging yourself
and you aren't growing as a system
administrator
next would be tenacity
most people will tell you that tenacity
is a great quality to have
especially if you're trying something
challenging
that takes a while to complete
next would be
strong organizational skills
organizational skills are the abilities
that let you stay focused on different
tasks
and
use your time energy
strength
mental capacity
physical space and others
to effectively and efficiently in order
to achieve the desired outcome
next would be well-developed logic
reasoning
and critical thinking skills
so try to anticipate the outcome for
your decisions
the ability to read and comprehend
technical information
also ethical behavior
ethical behavior is characterized by
honesty
fairness
and equity in interpersonal
professional and academic relationships
and in research and scholarly activities
also
so ethical behavior respects the dignity
diversity and rights of individuals and
group of people within the organization
okay
so what are the good about
being a systems administrator
so good ideas for systems that means
lots of variety
okay challenging
fulfilling
and face well
also
it's very employable
so learn
to learn independently
okay develop systematic and organized
work habits
find balance between reality problems
happen take note and utopia
next would be the bad
okay bad ideas for systems admin
annoying at times
to the users
management
vendor tech support
expect a single right answer to every
problem
okay
so
get stuck due to frustration
okay so long hours of
work
and this may not be your only job
so expect the manual internet co-worker
to be able to accurately and completely
answer every question
okay so these are the bad ideas for the
systems admin
now let's take a look at the ugly side
most people don't understand the job
okay so understand that you're not alone
when things go well
go unnoticed
okay
they don't do anything be like a game
player like a webster uh surfers
it's important to document everything
okay
so don't panic
see the problem as a challenge
not a deal breaker
okay so fake it till you make it if you
have encounter problem
then admit it if you don't know
you can also find an ally
ask specific questions
and then check in with others
okay so these are just some of the
strategies
for what you can do
if it's happening to you at work
next
when there is a problem
well
everyone is looking for you
okay that's highly stressful
some blame
you
for that problem
and may graduate to miracle worker
status once problem is fixed
okay
now for the documentation
documentation help ensure
consent and expectations
okay so it enables you to recreate
system
it helps to tell the narrative for
decisions made
and how yourself or the client responded
to different situations
in the same manner
it is important to record information
that can help support the proper
treatment plan and the reasoning for
such services
now the contents include
configuration information
policies and procedures
useful commands and resources
daily lag of modifications
okay you could also have wikis
and a request ticket system
systems admin guild or the search
okay so this is the systems
administrators guild
it was established in 1992 out of usenix
license conferences
large installation
systems administrators
so for almost a decade
such has served the needs of systems
administrators around the world
so this is a professional body for
practicing systems administration
so one of the such main goals is the
increase of visibility and recognition
of systems administration
as a profession
so such is made up of sa organizations
from all over the world
okay so if you want to know more about
this sags
you could go ahead and check them online
via http www.such.org
so to this end
such has published a series of short
topics handbooks all of them are
excellent
so a good one to start with is a job
descriptions for systems administrators
so this work provides detailed job
descriptions
for systems administration's position
in various levels so as such
it is very useful for evaluating both
your skills
and your present position in light of
general practices
let's talk about the such guidelines
so they have creed
god of essex
and mantra
let's go to it
let's start with such grid
okay so the sunscreen states that we
as professional systems administrators
do hereby commit ourselves to the
highest standards of ethical and
professional contact and
agree to be guided by this code of
ethics and encourage every system
administrator to do the same
code of ethics
first would be professionalism
must display professionalism in the
performance of duties at all times
contact with clients and colleagues must
be kept to the highest standards of
professional behavior
next would be personal integrity
integrity must be beyond reproach
privacy do not unnecessarily infringe
on the rights of others
maintain an exemplary work ethic
laws and policies would be next
you also have communication
system integrity
education
responsibility to computing community
social responsibility
and
ethical responsibility
so according to edmund burke the greater
the power
the more dangerous the abuse
okay so from the spider-man you still
remember that with great power comes
great responsibility
how about the mantra mantra of a systems
administrator
the computer environment does not exist
solely for the amusement of the systems
administrator
okay so mantra is a mystical words of
our sounds used to facilitate
a meditative conscious state
next
what are new
to systems administrators training
okay
so new hires are expected to be
operating at systems administrators
guild level one
okay so that is level one is novice
junior level two
level three is intermediate
and then level four is senior so higher
such levels have more experience more
education
more responsibilities and then maybe
they are managers
so for the systems administrator levels
okay so you will each be responsible for
running one of the following small or
complex sites
so when you say small small uniform site
less than 50 computers
all running the same operating system
and 20 or
fewer users
that is small
now for complex site that would be up to
100 systems
running more than two different
operating systems and up to 100 users
you even have the large complex site so
that is greater than 100 computers
potentially running more than one
operating system and
more than 100 or more users
now what are the certifications
available and trainings available for
systems admin
so certifications are not required for
your current position but may be helpful
especially the first two
okay
so microsoft so i know a specific
approach
to systems administration
and then you also have red hat having
the same thing
next would be
novell
okay
so linux professional institute or the
lpi
comptia
o'reilly school of technology
principles of systems administration
so our organization strongly believes in
the value of the following principles
first
policy is the foundation
policy is a law
regulation
procedure
administrative
action
incentive
or voluntary
practice of governments and other
institutions
so policy decisions are frequently
reflected in resource allocations
okay health can be influenced by
policies in many different sectors
all right
next would be predictability this is the
goal
predictability is the degree to which a
correct prediction or forecast of system
state
can be made either qualitatively or
quantitatively
next would be scalability
this is often important
so scalability is the measure of systems
ability to increase or decrease in
performance
and cost in response to changes in
application and systems
processing demands
enterprises that are growing rapidly
should pay special attention to
scalability
when evaluating hardware and software
next
minimum privilege restriction of
unnecessary privilege protects a system
from accidental and malicious damage
okay so that comes with the corollary
don't work
as administrator
root
okay so something like 95 percent of all
businesses today
okay
uses their computers
running as administrator root on their
computer at all time
i upload the businesses
who have successfully removed elevated
privileges from non-admin employees
although it isn't easy to do
making this one security change can
significantly reduce the risk of
malicious exploit
okay so the most common issue is that
end users want to install and remove
their own software and configure their
own settings
so developers often need to debug
programs and load and unload device
drivers
right
next would be
communities so each member needs to
consider
ramifications of actions
sixth would be uniformity so increases
predictability
it may decrease costs
variety
so used as needed for risk management
and flexibility
it may increase costs
delegation aka specialization so develop
experts
who can do tasks more efficiently
and more costly effective
and
resource map
so mapping our hardware and software
resources increases the predictability
and removes ambiguity of the complete
system
okay it displays parts of the system
and their inter relationships so
contingencies can be made
for expected problem areas
some crude
model what is a sample model so the
basic components of our organization
and the system administrators
responsibilities can be summarized as
some good
okay
first
software users
machines
that's for some
create
read
update
delete that's for root
so when you say systems admin
it's a sum root
average pipe state of machine so being
assistance admin
you should know
this five state submachine
okay so the first one would be
new
when you say new it's a new machine
okay
so build
this is moving between states okay so
when say build
that is during the build process the
operating system is installed on the
machine
okay
next would be clean
what is clean a computer with the os
installed but not configured
to work in the environment
you also have configured
configured a computer that is configured
correctly according to the requirements
of the computing environment
next state is
unknown a computer that has been
misconfigured or
gotten out of the or perhaps been
borrowed by an intern and returned with
stains on it okay so that's unknown
and then off is or
surplus
okay now let's go over moving between
states we are done already with build
okay
let's go to initialize what is
initialize this is the state
or the movement from clean to configured
when you say initialize
often directly after or part off
build the process
this will typically include things like
network configuration
naming
and may include os patches and other
changes
okay
the next one would be update
okay
so update at some point after the
initialization the computer will
probably have to be modified in order to
bring the machine into conformance
with the current requirements in most
cases
this will happen continually
for the lifetime of the computer
right
next from configured to unknown you've
got entropy there
okay so entropy refers to the gradual
process of change
that results in a computer
that has an unknown state
the causes for this are numerous they
include for example undisciplined
changes made to the machine
major changes in the environment
or unexplained problems
okay
next would be debug debug is from
unknown to configured
so this refers to the process of
debugging an unknown machine and getting
it back
into specification
right next would be rebuild so from
unknown to clean
okay so rebuild
in some cases
a machine will need to be rebuilt
either because of some kind of problem
or for a large scale change
okay
and the last one would be retired okay
retire
from unknown to off
retire this is the process of turning
the machine off in some sites
there is an official process for this
matters
it merely involves turning the computer
off or forgetting it exists
right so that's the end of this video
have a great day see you on the next
video
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