Tomorrow (today in some places) is the last Friday in July, meaning it is http://www.sysadminday.com/.

The countless hacks that went on this year just shows we need them more than ever before. The PSN hack may have actually never happened http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/06/lawsuit-sony-laid-off-security-staff-was-unprepared-for-ps3-hacks.ars.

Sysadmins are what allow us to communicate right here, right now. They also make sure your corporate network stays up allowing you to get your work done. So today/tomorrow at work, be nice to your sysadmin. Say thanks and maybe buy them lunch!

Special thanks to Henning (thanks for keeping the IP Board theme around!) and TS7 (Wasn't even sure you were still here until I double-checked) for making these forums as great as they are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3YQBPzFfqE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB8QWv_dBc4&feature=related

As for me, personally, being an aspiring sysadmin who takes care of a small network, I think I'm going to be getting myself http://store.xkcd.com/xkcd/#SysAdmin tomorrow to appreciate myself

I know there are a couple of other sysadmins on here, so pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

I have nothing to do with the administration of any system, but for those that do, thanks and happy System Administrator Appreciation day.

I am the fix it dude in this house. If something is wrong, i fix it (i have been working on my little bro's mindset for MONTHS now...) I plan to thank my friend and his grandpa as they are sysadmins of their own website.

On an unrelated note: http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisix/generic/8f52/

It is quite a SAAD day...

Come on, someone had to say it!

Happy sysadmin day!

Also, on a side note...

C:/ DOS
C:/ DOS RUN
RUN DOS RUN

Happy 30th birthday DOS! Where would we be without you?

ba-dum-chh

MERRY SYSADMIN APPRECIATION DAY!!!

Gstaff and company

My older brother fixes everything I have when it breaks.

I'm starting to explore the field but, yeah.

I'm pretty much the system admin of my computer though.

Happy System Administrator Day.

Slightly off topic, but what exactly do sysadmins do? Aside from the, you know, obvious.

What I mean is, on average, what goes on in a sysadmins daily life? And what skills are needed to be a sysadmin?

My general day involves the following:

1. Ensuring the backups are going smoothly
2. Ensuring all the computers stay updated
3. Make sure no one is trying to break into our network*
4. Pulling awesome stuff out of my butt
5. Reading my tails
6. Auditing our passwords
7. making sure our DR sounds good
8. Making the troublesome machines behave again

Less frequent tasks include:

1. Setting up new PCs
2. Imaging hard drives
3. doing a DR test
4. basic pen testing

*I once had someone ask me why our wireless password wasn't our phone number. Apparently they commonly just try out the phone number to gain access to wifi networks when waiting around, and it actually works more often then not

Interesting, what sort of education was required for this?

I'm still getting my education. I'm only part-time and make my big bucks in consulting, I've gotten everywhere through networking so far.

As for education: some computer-related degree for starters. My major is Information Systems and I have a minor in Computer Science (I also reeeeaaally want to get a computer engineering degree, though whether I actually will go for that is a different story).

The other thing is your certs. Your certs can make or break you. CompTIA and Cisco certifications are the most valuable from what I see out there. You gotta be careful, though, to not look like a cert junkie (which is gonna probably be a problem for me )

It's here again Time to appreciated those who are unappreciated stuffed in the back small server room at work. Bring them donuts, bring them coffee, and don't bring them complaints about the Internet being down

I'm not so sure about certs: I remember a lot of staff tended to look at people with certificates (particularly MCSEs) with quite a lot of suspicion... possibly because we saw a lot of expensive contract staff who weren't all that hot. The best guys tended to be known by their reputation and results (no, I don't consider myself among them.)

I think I learnt the most satisfying evidence of a job well done is that the infrastructure was "invisible" and nobody complained about it!

Certs get you through automated resume screening, which is there value if you have the good certs, beyond that they don't hold too much value. Still, getting the interview these days seems to be the hardest part.

Happy happy happy day !

Me?
>>>

Oh, yeah, that's a different matter altogether. I saw a huge change in recruitment policy at the beginning of the last decade: prior to that it was fairly easy to directly get in contact with a potential employer; afterwards, suddenly everything went through agencies which seemed to operate as a highly effective "employment prevention system". As a potential hireling, it was frustrating trying to find openings that were even vaguely appropriate (one particularly stroppy agency droid becoming annoyed that I wasn't prepared to take a 30% salary cut so he could shove me into a position that had nothing to do with my experience to date), but also speaking to people on the other side, it was becoming impossible to find prospective staff: not because there were none there, they just weren't being put forward. It's bizarre and frankly insane that the same situation is continuing.