Job of the System Administrator

User support

• Highly visible aspect of the system administrator's job but must be relegated to the background in favor of systemwide issues
• Gather information about the problem from the user
• Rule out possibilities, theorize, and tweak things till they work

Maintain hardware

• Computers, X terminals, printers, modems, other peripherals

Maintain software

• Operating system, applications, services
• Install upgrades of operating system and applications
• Provide support for installation and maintenance of various packages, such as TeX, MathCAD, and elm
• Maintain user accounts, including logins, files, and printer access

Maintain computers and networks

• Physical network
• Server configurations

Maintain security

• Monitor the network, servers, and other workstations for suspicious access
• Install security patches on different operating systems
• Install security features on the network to deny access
• Install virus protection software on PCs
• Upgrade all the systems to guard against any perceived threats based on advisories and other information

Maintain information services

• E-mail
• News
• Gopher
• World-wide web

Train users

• Resolve problems associated with system use (restoring lost files and answering questions about email)
• Give seminars to users on the use of newly installed software
• Prepare small handouts on newly installed software and upgrades to be distributed to the users

Maintain system documentation and library

• Maintain local documentation and records on
  • Hardware installation or removal
  • Software installation or removal
  • Documentation on new software and hardware installation and troubleshooting
• Keep track of manuals and documentation in the system library

Miscellaneous

• Order new hardware and software
• Perform backups