What are system administrator roles?
System administrators are crucial for the reliable and successful operation of an organization and its network operations center and data center.
Sysadmin must have knowledge of the underlying system platform (i.e., Windows, Linux), as well as knowledge of several domains, including networks, backup, data recovery, IT security, database operations, fundamental basics, load balancing, and others.
Sysadmin’s activities are not limited to system administrator jobs, maintenance, and repair, but also all tasks supporting the smooth operation of the production environment with a minimum of complaints from customers and end-users.
Although sysadmins have a seemingly endless list of duties, some are more diligent than others. If you work as a sysadmin (or hopefully one day), make sure you are ready to follow these best practices.
Documentation
In documents, system administrators keep records of assets such as hardware and software types, numbers, licenses, etc. If a problem occurs in a production environment, the documentation can help to identify potentially suitable hardware, virtual machines, appliances, software, etc.
Backup and disaster recovery planning
Communicate with the backup team and specify data and client priorities for the backup. Here are the recommended backup criteria for production servers:
- Incremental backup: Daily from Monday to Friday
- Full backup: Saturday and Sunday
Patching
Packages need to implement a known vulnerability operating system quickly. There are many types and levels of pieces, including:
- Security>
- Critical
- Medium
Once a patch is released, check the sensitivity or vulnerability data to see how it applies to your system (e.g., does the vulnerability affect the hardware in your order?) And take the steps needed to activate the folders when needed. Make sure you cross-check app compatibility with folders or updates.
Compatibility of application
Before you go live with any app, check if it is compatible with your hardware and operating system, and be sure to perform load testing (with the support of the application team).
Hardening the server
Linux:
- Set BIOS password: This prevents users from changing the BIOS settings.
- Set GRUB password: This prevents users from changing the GRUB bootloader.
- Denying root access: Denying root access reduces the likelihood of interference.
- Sudo users: create Sudo users and assign limited privileges to import commands.
- TCP wrapper: this is the weapon to protect a server from hackers. Implement a rule for the SSH daemon to allow only trusted hosts to access the server and deny everyone else. Apply similar rules for other services such as FTP, SSH File Transfer Protocol, etc.
- Antivirus: installs antivirus software and updates virus definitions on a regular basis.
- Safe and Monitor Logs: Check logs regularly and when needed.
- Ride logs: keep logs for a limited time such as “for seven days” to maintain sufficient disk space for seamless operation.
Windows:
- Set BIOS password: This prevents users from changing the BIOS settings.
- Antivirus: installs antivirus software and updates virus definitions on a regular basis.
- Set up firewall rules: prevent unauthorized parties accessing systems.
- Denying access to an administrator: limiting the ability of users to make changes that can increase system vulnerability.
Use Syslog server
By configuring Syslog server in the environment to keep records of system logs and apps, if imported or exported, the sysadmin can check previous logs and on time. find and solve the real problem.
Automation
Many sysadmin tasks (such as server health monitoring, resource usage, backup triggers, transfer files, and logs, etc.) need to be satisfied at certain times.
Monitoring tools
Install and configure live monitoring tools like Nagios, HP, etc. to monitor your IT infrastructure and issue warnings about potential problems.
Conclusion
While these are the main tasks responsible for sysadmin, the role involves much more than the jobs on this list.
For example, the system administrator must coordinate with multiple teams to resolve problems, communicate and update with customers, maintain 100%, hold conversations with the audit team, create weekly / monthly / quarterly reports, and perform continuous servers and services with the right tools.
Hold the hardware console and respond to activation alerts. The sysadmin is always a single content point (SPOC) in the data center or network activity center for problems related to web hosting, server applications and applications, and other crucial IT functionality issues.
ivy kriste