any linux network/system admins out there who could answer a few questions ?

[djmh]

well,im from a smaller town so i dont really have anyone that i can ask about what its like to be a network/system admin. i hope this is an ok spot to ask a few questions,i figured where better than the ubuntu boards to ask.

anyways,ill be going to college in the fall...but just community college for basic classes and after i have my basic classes in i will go to a regular university. i want to go for something with computers,and i was thinking network/system administration would be great, especially if i could use linux.

so i was wondering what sort of stuff can i be doing while in community college to be prepared for regular college and courses on network/system administration. im just looking for some things i can do on my own time so that i will be more prepared (like projects that i can do on my linux machine that would give me some ground in admin work,or maybe a language that can be learned on my own on my ubuntu machine?).

but also i am wondering about the job itself, is it hard to find a job ( i realize that it depends on the area ) but im just wondering about in general is it difficult to find a job in it right out of college?

and i was also wondering about how much i can expect to make right out of college?

and how about job security, is network administration something that will likely be around for a while ?

[Cyberpenguin]

You do have some loaded questions.

Being a network or system administrator varies from job to job. In smaller companies you may do both networks and systems. In larger you will probably either be in networks or systems, not both. I've worked in both small (30 employees) to medium (750 employees plus 5,000 students) and what I do varies greatly, while still being an admin in both.

My advise is to either get an internship in IT or trying to find a part-time IT job (might be hard to find right now). I started out as an intern working with the system administrator. If you make a good impression you may have a job after the internship. Some of the equipment you'll be working with on the job will be inaccessible (e.g. too expensive) for you to learn on at home. Not very many people will have enterprise-class Cisco routers and blade servers at home. I learn best by doing, so the internship was just perfect for me.

At home you can build LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) boxes. Be sure you learn about Apache and MySQL (especially the advanced stuff). MySQL can prepare you for Oracle and MS SQL on he job. Get comfortable with the server edition of Ubuntu. If you can live on the command-line (especially via SSH) you'll be a more efficient admin.

What languages to learn? If you aren't going to be a developer, stick with scripting languages and environments. Make sure you can right good bourne shell/tcsh scripts, learn sed (and regular expressions), grep and perl and/or php.

If you learn better by reading then read as much as you can about networks, Cisco gear, storage devices (SANs/RAID arrays) and the like.

It's been long enough since I was just out of college that I don't know any more how hard it will be to find a job, especially with the current economy. Job security can sometimes depend on your personality. Employers want personable people-persons who can talk at their level (without making them feel dumb) and can get the job done. If you are a people person and are efficient you will have more job security than others.

Another key to being an admin is never stop learning. I pick an application or language, learn it until I feel comfortable with it, rinse and repeat. I'm always in a state of learning.

I hope this helps.

[sandyd]

well,im from a smaller town so i dont really have anyone that i can ask about what its like to be a network/system admin. i hope this is an ok spot to ask a few questions,i figured where better than the ubuntu boards to ask.

anyways,ill be going to college in the fall...but just community college for basic classes and after i have my basic classes in i will go to a regular university. i want to go for something with computers,and i was thinking network/system administration would be great, especially if i could use linux.

so i was wondering what sort of stuff can i be doing while in community college to be prepared for regular college and courses on network/system administration. im just looking for some things i can do on my own time so that i will be more prepared (like projects that i can do on my linux machine that would give me some ground in admin work,or maybe a language that can be learned on my own on my ubuntu machine?).

but also i am wondering about the job itself, is it hard to find a job ( i realize that it depends on the area ) but im just wondering about in general is it difficult to find a job in it right out of college?

and i was also wondering about how much i can expect to make right out of college?

and how about job security, is network administration something that will likely be around for a while ?
1. You can rig up your own network of computers at home and run different servers on them. FOr example, (as the user above suggested) make one of the computers an apache server, MySQL for another, maybe a mail server for the third.

However, one important thing that i believe is the most important is being openminded and be inspirational. Weird unexpected things always happen on the job and youve gotta be ready for that. Some of the things are really obvious and stupid though... (I work at a business in Canada where they use computers A LOT. Ive seen all sorts of weird & dumb stuff. sandwiches in computers, some idiot decided to put a SD card into a cd drive and it wouldn't come out again... that kind of stuff. Even saw a random guy wondering why he couldn't login after *some random blue cable* fell from the back of his computer).

How much you expect to make is entirely dependent on what sector you work in. Youll get different pay if you work in an office, or a datacenter.

job security? IT staff is always needed, but.... at the state of the economy right now, everyone is cutting costs.... people..... and salaries... if you wonder why your salary **might** be lower than expected

[djmh]

this really answered my questions guys - i appreciate you taking the time to answer them. and that really was what i was looking for just a basic idea of what its going to be like.thanks

[LEO_Servers]

There are some great tools out there being packet tracer devloped by cisco giving you the ability to emulate all kinds of routers and networks the 2nd thing i would tell you that helped me the most was VMware having a network in a box make it possiable to learn on the fly, And defently learn some php and perl ;) 2 things that made me great was looking things up befor asking quistions and reading books there great, :popcorn:

[pookiebear]

As far as the job is concerned. In school you got 2 avenues that really will help you out down the road.
1. Work study for the school. They usually knock off some of the tuition. or pay you minimum wage too. This looks good on the resume IF you can get into the work study for the IT dept. I did this in 1992 by accident and ended up in a career as an IT guy. Go pester computer services (make an appt) to talk to the director about the intern/ work study. Mine paid full tuition because I had good enough grades.

2. Get a job at a local IT resource company. You can start out by being the part time spyware cleaner, new computer setup guy. Pay won't be good but you can get a discount on parts or old computers that are headed to the recyclers. We pay our summer part timers about $10 an hour to do new computer prep and format spywared up computers or make ghost images, or install printers in customers locations. It is grunt work but if you like it you can do some networking and meet some good people to know down the road. Being a microsoft shop we do ALOT of spyware cleaning each week. It is over 10% of our revenue if I was guessing for the company.

[djmh]

pookie, i really think that sounds like a great idea.
aside from at a school what places would you suggest i ask if they need someone to do grunt computer work? best buy maybe ? uhhm, maybe some office stores? any other suggestions ?

oh, and all these languages and different things with routers, do i need to know this before going to school? because as of right now i am familiarizing myself with Linux, and i know HTML and i can clean machines of viruses and put a new copy of an os on...also i plan on learning php this summer.
but really i wont be very prepared going into school for this sort of job,i have little to no knowledge of any networking or anything of that sort. will that affect me much for getting the proper training and then a job ? or will i be able to learn it, and then move onto having it as a job?

[LEO_Servers]

One Word "Internship"


i knew nothing befor school onaly thought i did, dont make the same mistake its ok not to be prepeared for school, somt times its easer that way, not all ways knowing more is better start off with simple things and work your way up go to school and take it a chapter at a time,

you can learn everthing fast and not be that good at what you want out of life or take it slow and be very good its up to you so far 7 years of school tought me that and im still attending the more you know the more you know nothing,

:p

[djmh]

wow, i really appreciate everyones well thought out answers - this helps me so much, and now i really feel more confidant going into this particular field.
but are there any suggestions for places to see if they need someone to do grunt work, like spyware cleaning, putting on a clean os... that sort of stuff
im thinking of asking best buy and maybe some office stores ? - any other ideas, maybe even places that could get my feet wet in the admin type stuff ?
i guess im wondering where you more experienced guys would recommend getting a part time, or even full time job. to just get my foot in the door so to speak, and familiarize myself with some of the everyday computer type stuff - like i said even if its grunt work, like cleaning spyware.

and thanks again for the great responses,

[pwnst*r]

i didn't read all the responses, but as a previous network admin (now an IT project manager) i can tell you this: learn to wear many hats, and not necessarily strictly technical ones :) today's network admin is not some greasy haired geek hidden behind his desk. you need to have those social skills that an executive should have (at least in the corporate world).

good luck!