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A system admin is an essential part in the IT department in every company. They are highly regarded, well paid, and also have a national day named after them! Learn how to become a system administrator in this article.
What Is A System Administrator
Lets begin with determining exactly what a system administrator actually is.
A system administrator performs in the operations part of an IT department. This section is liable for monitoring the companys IT systems, providing a help desk or support purpose, and setting up and upgrading various parts of the system.
The system administrator is responsible for building and supporting the computer system for a business. They update it whenever it gets out of date, they repair it when it crashes, they make it run better if its having problems.
Like some of the roles in the IT sector, there isnt really a particular degree you can acquire to become a system administrator. Quite a few system administrators have degrees in computer science or computer engineering. Several system administrators dont possess a degree - they have gotten their positions from internships or promotions from other areas. Its a role which you dont always need a degree for, nevertheless it certainly helps.
Other than getting a degree in computer science or computer engineering, the next best way to become a system administrator may be to work your way up. A number of system administrators start off at service desk jobs or desktop support roles. This can be an effective move for the long term - the expertise of handling user issues, figuring out system issues, offering solutions and researching a computer system is a big help to anyone planning to eventually be a system administrator.
Im actually in the process of putting together a certification guide eBook which will get into even more detail about which certifications are perfect for which roles (and much more information) - but until I can provide that, you can consider certifications from vendors such as CompTIA, Cisco, Red Hat or Microsoft.
What Should I Learn To Become A System Administrator?
A system admin has a great deal of accountabilities and knowledge. In order to learn how to become a system administrator, there are several areas that you need to be knowledgeable in:
Network technologies - areas which include TCP/IP, routers and switches and common network structures should help a system administrator
Web servers - Apache and IIS technologies along with their capabilities
Operating systems - Unix, Linux and Windows operating system understanding is helpful for system administration
General Troubleshooting - the way to identify, test and correct various problems in a system
Understand more about these areas by going to web sites, gaining knowledge from other co-workers or people in the industry, reading through forums, magazines, along with other industry publications. The more you know, the better youll be at your job!
I really hope this information proves helpful to those of you planning to move into a system administrator role, and shows you how to become a system administrator. Good luck!
