A few questions about careers in Unix

[Arkitech]

I've been strongly considering moving into Unix administration. In fact I plan on starting up my studying this week, I'll probably install linux on a machine and learn the commands through a few textbooks.

I have a few questions though about obtaining certifications and salaries. Just to shed a little background on myself, I live in the Chicagoland area and I've been working in IT for a little more than 5 years. For the last 2 years I've been working as a System Administrator/Application Tester in a NT workstation enviorment that runs from Unix servers. I earn about 60k a year and basically I'm ready to make a move and learn some new things and hopefully make some more bucks as well. 8^) I'm thinking maybe I should work as a contracter for about a year or so and then look around for a full-time position once I have some experience under my belt.

My questions are:

Whats the most popular version of Unix these days? (Solaris, Aix, etc..)

Are there any industry recognized certifications that I can take once I get a good understanding of Unix?

For those of you who might deal with Unix on day to day basis what are some of the duties a Unix admin will perform?

What kind of salary can I expect to make as a Unix administrator?



I have a pretty good idea already of what some of these answers will be but I'd just like to hear from actual Unix gurus.

Thanks for any info you can share

 

[AmigaMan]

Good luck! While I don't have the answers to your questions, I do know that the Unix admins we have here are extremely smart and I'm sure they're well paid. We use HPUX here, at my old job they used a combo of HPUX and AIX. I'm a software developer so I don't get too involved in the unix administration part but I do know that any questions I may have about how my software will run under Unix is usually answered very well.
As far as how well they are paid, lets just say I'm hoping it's less than me. Unix administration was an area I was interested in while in college before I decided to go full time into software development. DOH!

 

[aimn]

I was going to tell you some things untill I read the "gurus" at the end of your question. I am far from a guru but, I do administer a Unix environment. I would suggest going to the HP forums (community) and posting in there. Those guys are gurus and could tell you way more than you want to know. I only make 40k, but Unix admins with a lot of experience make 80 to 100k. There is SO MUCH to learn, good luck!

 

[Arkitech]

thanks for the info guys

sysadmin - do you have a link for that hp forum

 

[Nitemare]

There is a Solaris certification and I would think Solaris would be the most popular...with HPUX and AIX close seconds.

I'm on AIX now

UNIX admins...do basically what NT admins do on a different platform, plus they normally deal with more savvy users.

create and maintain an adequate security model for your users inside..secure your network from the outside against prying eyes. Might have to maintain a name server or print server..If you use NFS or DFS, you have to maintain something akin to global users/profiles under NT/2000. Do system backups. Upgrade equipment(software/hardware). Undo what the users that know just enough to get them in trouble...etc

 

[Arkitech]

Can anyone recommend a good version of Linux to download and play with?

 

[nord1899]

One of the problems I've found with Linux compared to the other Unix's out there, is that its too easy. The RedHat, Mandrake and other distro's make it very easy to use, which is not the experience I've had with Solaris and AIX. That said, I would recommend checking out the Debian distro of Linux as, I believe, it comes with the least amount of holding-hands. Slackware is another good one.

I'm far from a guru, but I do administer my development groups Solaris, AIX, and Linux machines. But those are test beds, none are production.

 

[wyvrn]

Why don't you just download the Solaris version for x86 platform? A friend of mine did this and I am strongly considering it. I run Mandrake now and yes it is very newbie friendly.


Edit: Never mind, Solaris discontinued their free download program for Intel platform :| . You can pick up a cd for $45 here

 

[rahvin]

[opinion]Something to keep in mind: Linux will eventually crush all the other non-free Unixes. Linux server market share has been growing extensively at the detriment to the old school Unix's. IBM has fully embraced Linux because they recognize this is going to happen.[/opinion] Redhat offers a certification program, the test is pricey and you have to go to their headquarters to take the tests. In addition I've heard they are HARD tests.