Overview

System administrators are very important for the reliable and successful functioning of the data center, IT infrastructure and network operational center.

It is necessary to have experience in several areas such as networking, backup, operating systems, databases, IT system security, middleware basics, peripheral setup, etc.

Responsibilities may include the following:

• Defending systems against unauthorized access
• Performing vulnerability and penetration tests
• Monitoring traffic for suspicious activity
• Configuring and supporting security tools (firewalls, antivirus, and IDS/IPS software)
• Implementing network security policies
• Analyzing and establishing security requirements
• Identifying threats and working on steps to defend against them
• Training employees in security awareness/procedures
• Developing and updating disaster recovery protocols
• Conducting security audits
• Making policy recommendations
• Providing technical security advice
• Consulting with staff, managers and executives on best security practices.

Although it seems that system administrators have a large list of responsibilities, we will single out some that are the most important in practice:

Documentation

Keeping records of computers, borrowing, software, licenses, failures, hardware, servers (physical and virtual), open and closed ports, IP addresses, passwords, etc.

Software

It excludes software that consumes more resources in the background, checks CPU usage, and resets software that uses it too much. memory usage and, if necessary, clears the cache or increases it if it is necessary for some processes to use more memory. You should check the list of processes in the table in the task manager that still exist after shutdown and that additionally consume resources.

Backups

Depending on whether the company has a backup solution or not, the administrator should take care of whether the third-party software he uses works smoothly or devises a solution to back up data and, if necessary, the operating system as a whole.

If it is possible to simulate a situation where disaster recovery is needed as soon as possible.

Patching

regularly download operating system furnaces to increase security against known vulnerabilities.

Test software installation

Before installing any software, it is best to do a virtual machine test to avoid possible file loss and poor system setup.

Syslog server

Configure the syslog server to keep track of system and application records, to check for previous records in real time in the event of an unauthorized or other intrusion, and to diagnose and fix the problem.

Automation

Writing scripts to automatically complete tasks to save employees time and help them complete tasks on time.