CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM
ADMINISTRATION
WHAT IS SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION?
 Refers to the management of one or more
hardware and software systems ensuring that
the systems are running efficiently and
effectively.
 Branch of engineering that concerns the
operational management of human-computer
systems.
 The task is performed by a system administrator
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR MUST BE...
▪ Able to know how to communicate with
technical and non-technical users.
▪ Patient at all times and knows how to handle
pressure and has a customer service attitude.
▪ Able to solve difficult technical problems.
▪ Know how to document activities in order to
reproduce the results.
▪ know the risks of being a system administrator or
sysadmin
SYSTEM ADMIN TASKS
 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES
▪ The sysadmin has to think carefully about
computer security and whether or not to
allow access to certain users
 IT INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
▪ The services that are potentially used in an
organization like file storage, email, web
content.
 ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
▪ when managing machines for a company,
you don't just set it and forget it, you have to
constantly provide updates and
maintenance so that they run the latest
secure software.
 VENDORS
▪ Sysadmins must be sure to weigh their
option before purchasing anything. They
need to think about hardware supply.
Working with vendors or other businesses to
buy hardware is a common practice.
 USER AND HARDWARE PROVISIONING
▪ Sysadmins have to be able to create new
users and give them access to their
company's resources.
▪ They also have to remove users from an IT
infrastructure if users leave the company. It's
not just user accounts they have to worry
about, sys admins are also responsible for
user machines.
FOUR MAIN STAGES OF HARDWARE LIFECYCLE
▪ PROCUREMENT
o This is the stage where hardware is
purchased or re-used for any employee.
▪ DEPLOYMENT
o This is where hardware is set up so that
the employee can do their job.
▪ MAINTENANCE
o This is the stage where software is
updated and hardware issues are fixed if
and when they occur.
▪ RETIREMENT
o In this final stage, hardware becomes
unusable or no longer needed and it
needs to be properly removed from the
fleet.
 TROUBLESHOOTING AND MANAGING ISSUES
▪ When you're managing an entire IT
infrastructure, you'll constantly have to
troubleshoot problems and find solutions for
your IT needs. This will probably take up
most of your time as an IT support specialist.
 IN CASE OF FIRE, BREAK GLASS
▪ It's super important to make sure that your
company's data is routinely backed up
somewhere. Preferably, far away from its
current location. Being responsible for
keeping data available isn't easy.
ADDITIONAL ROLES
 Create and manage user accounts
 Configuring and maintaining hardware and
software
 Providing end-user support
 Perform backup and restore operations
▪ determine backup strategy and policies
▪ configure backup software
 ▪ perform backups
▪ monitor backup logs
▪ check backup integrity
▪ determine disaster survival plans
▪ perform restores
 Maintain documentation and licenses
 System planning
▪ Scaling the system
▪ Assessing new technologies
▪ Anticipate and avoid problems
 Security Management
 Monitor system usage and performance and
managing resources (disk, memory, CPU)
 Troubleshoot and repair system problems; and
determine, locate, and repair/replace problem
components
 Perform upgrades/patches, and test devices and
schedule downtime to manage devices.
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR CHALLENGES
▪ Poor quality control in software or procedures.
▪ Problems in operating systems and their
subsystems.
▪ Unfortunate clashes between incompatible
software
▪ Inexplicable phenomena, cosmic rays, viruses
and other attacks
APPLYING CHANGES
 WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT
RESPONSIBILITY
▪ The most important thing is to avoid using
administrator rights for tasks that don't
require them.
▪ Respect the privacy of others. Being an
administrator of an email server doesn't
mean you should read someone else's email.
▪ You shouldn't use your administrator rights
to bypass any rules.
▪ Mistakes like deleting the wrong set of files,
rebooting the wrong machine, or breaking
the connection that you're using to manage
a remote machine can all happen if you're
not careful.
▪ Reverting to the previous state is called a
rollback.
 RECORDING YOUR ACTIONS
▪ A common practice for system
administrators that work with bug queues or
ticketing systems is to include the
commands executed and the output
obtained in the corresponding bug or
▪ ticket.
▪ However, there are situations where you
don’t yet know which commands exactly
you’ll need to execute because there’s some
investigation that needs to happen. In cases
like that, it can be helpful to use a command
like script for Linux or Start- Transcript for
Windows.
 NEVER TEST IN PRODUCTION
▪ The key to safely making these changes is to
always run them through a test environment
first.
▪ The test environment is usually a virtual
machine running the same configuration as
a production environment, but isn't actually
serving any users of the service. This way, if
there's a problem when deploying the
change, you'll be able to fix it without the
user seeing it.
▪ Always use a test instance first and only
deploy the change to production after
verifying that it works.
 ASSESSING THE RISK
▪ We can assess the risk involved by
considering how important the services to
the infrastructure and how many users
would be impacted if the service went down.
▪ You can also use these criteria to establish
priorities for fixing a problem.
 FIXING THINGS THE RIGHT WAY
▪ The problem could be in a user's computer,
a server in your own infrastructure, a piece
of code running in the cloud or somewhere
in between.
▪ When looking for a reproduction case, there
are three questions you'll need to answer.
• What steps did you take to get to this
point?
• What's the unexpected or bad result?
• And what's the expected result?
▪ Make sure you document all your steps and
any findings. Having this documentation may
 prove invaluable if you ever have to deal
with similar issues again.
DATA CENTER
 a facility that centralizes an organization’s IT
operations and equipment, as well as where it
stores, manages, and disseminates its data.
7 KEY COMPONENTS OF A DATA CENTER
 SERVERS AND RACKS
▪ Server is a computer or system that provides
resources, data, services, or programs to
other computers known as clients over a
network.
▪ The rack contains multiple mounting slots
called bays, each designed to hold a
hardware unit secured in place with screws.
 POWER SUPPLY
▪ Power is needed to keep all equipment up
and running.
▪ Data centers usually have redundant
electricity and often a backup generator to
provide reliable power in case of power
outage.
▪ An uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
ensures that the quality remains constant
even after a power outage
 NETWORK CONNECTIVITY
▪ Computers and systems are connected to
the internet connection to enable the access
of IT solutions.
▪ Data is distributed to and from the server by
a system of network switches.
▪ Depending on the density, a data center can
have one or more switches per rack.
 SECURITY SYSTEM
▪ Data center security refers to the physical
practices and virtual technologies used to
protect a data center from external threats
and attacks.
▪ Data centers usually have a range of security
devices to limit access to the virtual
environment and physical building
 MONITORING SYSTEM
▪ Data centers usually have several monitoring
systems to help operators manage the
working environment.
▪Monitoring systems help monitor energy
consumption, temperature, and relative
humidity.
 COOLING SYSTEM
▪ Data center cooling technology is to
maintain environmental conditions suitable
for equipment operation.
▪ In a data center, computing equipment
usually emit a considerable amount of heat.
▪ In this case, cooling systems help prevent
overheating. Cooling systems can use water,
glycol, and chilled air to cool the room.
 POLICIES & PROCEDURES
▪ data center operators are guided by a set of
policies and procedures. That helps maintain
efficiency within the facility.
▪ data center are kept secure, the policies
apply to all personnel requiring access.
▪ Personnel who access the data center must
have proper authorization
HANDLING HARDWARE
▪ Read instructions
▪ Identify or use correct connectors/cables.
o Many manufacturers use cables which look
similar, superficially, but which actually are
different.
▪ Use safety gears
o Before touching any computer components,
make sure that you wear safety shoes and
gloves.
▪ Use correct memory modules and disk.