Network admins please reply

[ivwshane]

I should have been a little more specific in requesting admins with windows based networks but if you have something to share please do.

I'm wanting to get into networking and I've already got my mcp, I would like to get an mcse as well but I don't want to get it just to be a paper mcse so I've been practicing with my 6 computer network running a win2k domain, DHCP, AD, and DNS. I've already been playing with RIS and terminal services as well as experimenting with GPO's and and various related aspects of GPO's like app publishing/assigning, however I'm looking for something new to do and I thought that the best way to get a feel for the real world would be to ask the people who are in it.

So that's where everyone comes in. I would like to know what everyones day to day tasks are so that I can get an idea of what to focus on. I would like to know what kind of projects you guys are currently working on or have/will be working on as well.

I'm mostly interested in windows type stuff but I don't mind hearing from some of the other specialist (cisco, novell, etc) and what they do day to day because it might give me an idea of what direction I should go in suplementing my windows training.

Thanks in advanced to all who reply!

I'm not looking for too much detail just enough to see what you do day to day and some of the projects you are working on.

 

[chsh1ca]

Well, if it's excitement you're worried about, then you're not going to have a lot to do. 😀

The dark side of administration is that generally, unless you have a network whereby you are constantly 'putting out fires' as it were, it consists largely of server maintenance, and surfing bulletin boards such as this ( 😀 ). Most configuration and setup is one-offish, and only in larger corporations are you actually going to be challenged with regularity. That being said, if you know how to use any firewall software, etc., a lot of your time can be taken up simply by going over firewall logs, monitoring incoming connections to non-open ports, etc., etc.. That is, however, largely beyond the scope of Network Administration. The day to day stuff is generally the simplest stuff of all. It's not like you're going to be constantly adding and removing domains, reloading servers, etc.. More than likely your time apart from server maintenance will be filled (at a larger place) with modifying user permissions, creating shares, and troubleshooting desktop issues, all of which are rather mundane.

You're better off (IMHO) concentrating on finding odd things to try, and to set them up. Not only that, but if you can get some experience with dealing with WinNT/Win2K and legacy apps that use other server software (Netware, Unixes), that is the more difficult stuff than say, setting up an Exchange server.

 

[reicherb]

Originally posted by: chsh1ca
The day to day stuff is generally the simplest stuff of all. It's not like you're going to be constantly adding and removing domains, reloading servers, etc.. More than likely your time apart from server maintenance will be filled (at a larger place) with modifying user permissions, creating shares, and troubleshooting desktop issues, all of which are rather mundane.

I'll second that.

 

[Saltin]

You'll really want to learn as many mail systems as you can as well. Email is the be all and end all from the user's point of view. You'll hear about email problems immediately; people cannot live without it.

Be an expert with Exchange, both 5.5 and 2k. When you finish with that, getting a strong grip on other mail systems like Domino and Groupwise is much easier. Learn them all and be an expert in at least one. Know the various clients (Outlook, Notes, etc) like the back of your hand as well.

If you have your thing together and know your stuff, your network will run itself. My servers require almost no attention now that everything is set up my way ,ie the right way 😉 haha.

Don't waste too much time with some of MS's more esoteric stuff (example RIS). While the exams do focus on it, you won't be using it much in the real world (in my experience anyhow).

Know DNS, AD, DHCP, TCP/IP, Routing, Switches, and cabling like the back of your hand.

After all that....good luck finding work, it can be tough.

 

[ivwshane]

Ok thanks for the info. This is the kind of info I'm looking for.

So exactly how would I go about playing around with legacy applications on my own network?

I would love to learn exchange but it seems like one of the more difficult apps to setup but I'm sure like all ms products, after the initial setup everything else is a breeze.


Oh and what sort of desktop issues are you guys dealing with? I'm guessing most problems are user errors?


Ok everyone keep 'em coming😀

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: ivwshane
Ok thanks for the info. This is the kind of info I'm looking for.

So exactly how would I go about playing around with legacy applications on my own network?

I would love to learn exchange but it seems like one of the more difficult apps to setup but I'm sure like all ms products, after the initial setup everything else is a breeze.


Oh and what sort of desktop issues are you guys dealing with? I'm guessing most problems are user errors?


Ok everyone keep 'em coming😀

A far as I am concerned, they are ALL user errors 🙂

 

[Fatt]

ummm....locked out users, hard drives that are full, weird software you didn't even know existed, NEVER being able to keep up with updates, mapping a LOT of damn drives, gizmos like iPaqs, PC Anywhere, too damn many machines still on NT4, not even using AD yet and there's something NEW coming out?, Exchange and multiple accounts and hodgepodge domains, trying to deploy a PDA and your user doesn't have hardware install rights on his machine, turning in machines, stripping the HDs out and destroying them, looking for paperwork that nobody can find, travelling to remote locations and not having any point of contact anywhere you can find them....

That's just off the top of my head.

 

[ivwshane]

Originally posted by: Fatt
ummm....locked out users, hard drives that are full, weird software you didn't even know existed, NEVER being able to keep up with updates, mapping a LOT of damn drives, gizmos like iPaqs, PC Anywhere, too damn many machines still on NT4, not even using AD yet and there's something NEW coming out?, Exchange and multiple accounts and hodgepodge domains, trying to deploy a PDA and your user doesn't have hardware install rights on his machine, turning in machines, stripping the HDs out and destroying them, looking for paperwork that nobody can find, travelling to remote locations and not having any point of contact anywhere you can find them....

That's just off the top of my head.

That's sounds like a fun place to work😛

 

[Transition]

Originally posted by: ivwshane

Originally posted by: Fatt
ummm....locked out users, hard drives that are full, weird software you didn't even know existed, NEVER being able to keep up with updates, mapping a LOT of damn drives, gizmos like iPaqs, PC Anywhere, too damn many machines still on NT4, not even using AD yet and there's something NEW coming out?, Exchange and multiple accounts and hodgepodge domains, trying to deploy a PDA and your user doesn't have hardware install rights on his machine, turning in machines, stripping the HDs out and destroying them, looking for paperwork that nobody can find, travelling to remote locations and not having any point of contact anywhere you can find them....

That's just off the top of my head.

That's sounds like a fun place to work😛

I'll second that. 😉

 

[Diaonic]

"ummm....locked out users, hard drives that are full, weird software you didn't even know existed, NEVER being able to keep up with updates, mapping a LOT of damn drives, gizmos like iPaqs, PC Anywhere, too damn many machines still on NT4, not even using AD yet and there's something NEW coming out?, Exchange and multiple accounts and hodgepodge domains, trying to deploy a PDA and your user doesn't have hardware install rights on his machine, turning in machines, stripping the HDs out and destroying them, looking for paperwork that nobody can find, travelling to remote locations and not having any point of contact anywhere you can find them....

That's just off the top of my head. "

You sure we don't work at the same place? 🙂

 

[chsh1ca]

I think it's universal.

And people wonder why Netadmins are such outright bastards. You can only deal with idiots for so long without becoming jaded you know.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: chsh1ca
I think it's universal.

And people wonder why Netadmins are such outright bastards. You can only deal with idiots for so long without becoming jaded you know.

Oh the truth is so bright and blinding!

I spent ten minutes today, TEN!! trying to get some jack@ss to spell his own username and password right so he could get on the network. Scary thing is that he's a sales guy and if he does poorly I won't get a bonus this year. Oh well, lost money on taxes this year too...


Rather boring admin stuff to get familiar with:
Printers, printers printers. Get familiar with point and print, especially how to divvy out drivers to various operating systems.
Backups - "Your job is only as secure as your last backup" - Do a test restore as well - it has to go 100% smooth the first try every time.
Login scripts - know how to do them and know how to use kix32 to handle the old 9x os's.
Make yourself familiar with the management tools from various vendors: Compaq insite, Dell Openmanage etc. Not sure about the compaq or ibm stuff but the dell openmanage should be downloadable and will work with non-dell servers and pc's
Time services - know how to get every pc on a network to have the same time down to the second.
Permissions - If you already have an mcp you're not clueless here but be sure you can do this stuff in your sleep.
Profiles and system policies - be able to throw the lockdown on your PC's from your servers.

That's all that came to me for now.

 

[groovin]

i have to deal with the usual type stuff that everyone had already mentioned. small fires, adding a mail account, etc, etc. my network isnt a pure MS windows network... actually im trying to get our servers off its MS dependency. too much $$$ keeping up with licenses, "subscription advantage", and worrying about security holes. by the end of this year, i hope to have a unix/linux network with windows workstations. I'll still keep some windows servers around doing small things like pushing virus defs to clients and fax services.

i say supplement your windows training with a unix/linux. one day when youre out in the net/sys admin world and your boss tells you he/she doesnt want to spend any money on a desperately needed file server, taking a PIII-500 you have lying around and installing linux&samba on it will solve your problem (for the time being). after diving into the opensource world... i found MS products were cake.

 

[ivwshane]

Thanks for the info again guys!

I was really hoping to avoid scripting but I guess it's a necessary evil🙁 What are some things that you guys use scripting for? Desktop settings? mapping drives?

Exactly what does that dell software do?

 

[randal]

What do I use scripting for? Name it. I use it for *everything* because it makes my job sOoo much easier. I work at an ISP, and I've got a couple of scripts that do tons of things for me: for example, with one script, I can add multiple domains to our DNS servers, build those same domains on the Win2k web servers, add the domain to our mail server and setup mail boxes, administration uid/pwds and FTP accounts. Something that used to take me 6-8 minutes per domain can now be done in about 10 seconds. You're right, that's not a huge improvement, but do that 20 times a day and it really makes my day a lot shorter and less repetitive.

If I'm going to be doing something more than 5-6 times, I script it. I think that every "good" sysadmin needs to know how to script quickly for their platform(s), be it WSH/VB/Perl/shell.

$.02
randal

 

[ivwshane]

Originally posted by: randal
What do I use scripting for? Name it. I use it for *everything* because it makes my job sOoo much easier. I work at an ISP, and I've got a couple of scripts that do tons of things for me: for example, with one script, I can add multiple domains to our DNS servers, build those same domains on the Win2k web servers, add the domain to our mail server and setup mail boxes, administration uid/pwds and FTP accounts. Something that used to take me 6-8 minutes per domain can now be done in about 10 seconds. You're right, that's not a huge improvement, but do that 20 times a day and it really makes my day a lot shorter and less repetitive.

If I'm going to be doing something more than 5-6 times, I script it. I think that every "good" sysadmin needs to know how to script quickly for their platform(s), be it WSH/VB/Perl/shell.

$.02
randal

That doesn't sound like a newbie script job to me😛 I'm guessing I'll have to start smaller😉

 

[Saltin]

That doesn't sound like a newbie script job to me I'm guessing I'll have to start smaller

Obviously you have to apply yourself, but scripting isnt that tough. VB Script is a good introduction.

 

[chsh1ca]

Definitely knowing a scripting language for your servers' host OSes is a requisite to being able to properly admin and maintain them.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: ivwshane


Exactly what does that dell software do?

Every server manufacturer has some sort of tool that lets you remotely monitor your servers and receive popups if a drive is failing or the cpu is overheating or the thing kicked over to UPS etc..

Being able to get these tools setup so you get notifications when something happens is quite the usefull skill. In smaller shops (say <50 servers) you can get by without it. In the larger shops it's essential.

 

[Saltin]

Being able to get these tools setup so you get notifications when something happens is quite the usefull skill. In smaller shops (say <50 servers) you can get by without it. In the larger shops it's essential

My favourite is an email notification that the email system is down....





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