This document discusses the role and responsibilities of a system administrator (sysadmin). It is presented as confessions from a sysadmin based on their 10+ years of experience. The summary discusses managing systems, people, and projects as the key responsibilities of a sysadmin. Sysadmins must prioritize tasks, have backup and automation strategies, and learn to manage users, bosses, and consultants. The document emphasizes the importance of planning, documentation, and being able to say "no." It also notes that while the job can be tough, sysadmins have some perks and must find a way to manage themselves.

1. Sex, lies & magnetic tapes
Confessions of a sysadmin

2. Based on a
true story.

3. Some names have been
changed in this book to
protect the identity of
computers, users, and
suspected human beings

4. Antonio Sanz
I3A - IT Manager
10+ years as a sysadmin
ansanz@unizar.es
@antoniosanzalc

5. 600+ computers
150 servers
150Tb storage
10Gb network
20+ web apps
600+ users
IT Staff : 3 techs

6. What is a sysadmin ?
1.

7. A sysadmin makes things run smoothly

8. With great power
comes
great
responsibility

9. Users are a necessary evil

10. We work wonders…
Ask her about miracles

11. Sysadmin is a shitty job

12. It’s something between this …

13. … and this

14. A sysadmin
is a
Happiness
Manager

15. Managing systems
2.

16. Prioritize your tasks

17. Plan everything
in advance

18. Things eventually fail. Live with it

19. Monitor everything

21. Get remote (and secure) access

22. Do backups

23. Have a sound
backup strategy

24. If you lose data, not even Chuck will protect you

25. Make your systems uniform

26. Have spares onsite

27. Virtualize as much as you can

28. You can’t have enough automation

29. Document everything

30. Don’t make major changes on Friday

31. Do extreme
sysadmin

32. Managing people
3.

33. Managing users

34. Users always lie

35. Learn to
translate
user/sysadmin

36. Should I give the user what
they want or what they need?

37. Deploy a ticketing system

38. Educate your users

39. Assess the real impact

40. Define support levels

41. Learn to say NO.
Learn to say NO.

42. Give solutions, not excuses

43. Get a FAQ and tell
users to RTFM

44. Managing bosses

45. Know your boss

46. Learn to
translate
boss/sysadmin

47. Ask for email / signed docs

48. Brown deactivation tactics

49. Skunk tactic (expert mode)

50. Manage consultants

51. Assess their expertise and attitude

52. Use ITIL against them

53. Zero tolerance tactic

54. Manage yourself
Manage yourself

55. Play dirty. Very dirty

56. Use Zen.
BOFHzen, actually.

57. Never act in anger

58. Be nice

59. Managing projects
4.

60. Manage expectations

61. You get what you pay for

62. Think long term

63. Learn to say NO. Again.

64. Don’t fix what ain’t broke

65. Beware of ultra
shiny & new stuff

66. Make everything scalable

67. Give yourself broad margins

68. Don’t tie yourself to a vendor

69. Vendor Lock-In
They will
have you by
the balls

70. Don’t tie yourself to a vendor

71. Vendor Lock-In
They will
have you by
the balls

72. Don’t tie yourself to a vendor

73. Be nice to suppliers … to a limit

74. Be noticed

75. Learn !

76. Wrapping it all up
5.

77. Sysadmin can be
tough… but it has some
perks

78. Plan a lot

79. Be a people person

81. http://www.theregister.co.uk/data_centre/bofh/

85. Sex

86. Lies

87. Antonio Sanz – ansanz@unizar.es / @antoniosanzalc
http://slideshare.net/ansanz