I have a shot at an NT Administration position, I have a question...

[SlickWilly]

I have a very likely shot at Administering an NT network for a local office of a global company. Microsoft told this company that they need access to a "library" which I'm guessing would be a Technet subscription. While I'm not sure, I'd like to know what I might need to be prepared for this, other than the certifications. Any ideas?

 

[BaDaBooM]

I am an NT administrator consultant. It depends on what you already know. What is your experience level?

 

[damien6]

A lot also depends on the company, size, type of equipment, location, type of support, etc.... Most likely you'll find out in the first three to four months or so

 

[SlickWilly]

As far as level, I'm not sure what you would rate it. I don't have any of my certifications yet, and I know there is much for me to learn. I am, however, very proficient in computers, Windows 9x, and NT. And what I don't know, I usually learn extremely fast. I'm sure I could slide into this position fairly easily, lock down the network, and get sh!t running smooth within a month. I'm just a little worried. I've always underestimated my own ability, which is why I'm not in an admin position right now. The network is fairly small, about 50 computers, so it would be a good start.

 

[Electric Amish]

NT stands for "New Technology"

amish

 

[BaDaBooM]

Yea, good starter... but be careful. I'm still not sure how much experience you have (tech support or what kind, # of years?). NT Administration is not just tech support with using User Manager. If it is a straight NT Domain with standard file servers, etc. you may be ok. However if there is anything funky like Alpha hosts, multiple network protocols, routers, T1s, WANs, VPNs, etc. You may want to think about it. Would suck to go into something like that un-prepared and get in over your head.

 

[SlickWilly]

I've worked in tech support, and gradually making my way up. Latest was a contract networking company where we did commercial networks. For the most part this network will be straight forward. It's a big company who hosts huge websites, but the NT network is just the internal network.

 

NT Administrator in a Nutshell:

Ingredients
1) One monkey, 20 - 30 lbs. in size.
2) One Mach3 Razor.
3) One can of shaving gel.

Directions
Shave monkey. Repeat until monkey is hairless. Place monkey in from of NT terminal.



Just kidding around. I hope I didn't offend anyone.

 

[teknoid]

HMMMMM.... Guess that makes me a "shaved monkey"

 

[Double Trouble]

Be careful what you step into. For one thing, find out if the company thinks being an NT Admin also means being 'tech support' for their 50 boxes. That can quickly get VERY cumbersome.

Also, find out if the company is doing any Novell nasty or has any nifty Unix flavor servers you have to integrate with their NT network - that can get a little hairy too.

Best thing is to do a little up close and personal inspection of their networking infrastructure. If you're not comfortable with any aspect of it, you're better off not getting in over your head. If you feel comfortable that you can handle it, go for it!

 

[jsm]

At the same time, running an NT network is not that tough. Microsoft wants it to be easy. Now, try putting together a mixed Mac, NT & Linux network with multiple protocols supporting dial up, firewalls, web / cold fusion servers, VPN.. all the while supporting multiple engineering & test groups - that's the definition of work. Of course, I'm sure that someone else has it worse than that.

Are you going to be the only person administering or are there other folk there as well? If there is already a senior person there, then your life is just grunt work for a while until you're up to speed on the established infrastructure.

 

[Double Trouble]

jsm: Yep, just when you think that's bad, you see the poor folks that have to integrate old mainframe platforms with existing networks (VMC, AS400, System 36 or 38-type ugly stuff ).