My job title is, UNIX Systems Manager. What is that? Well, that's most of what this particular page is all about.
First, let's define UNIX. UNIX is a term that describes a family of operating systems (OS). An OS is a piece of computer software that allows users and other application software to interface with the "hardware" part of a computer. Most people are familar with Microsoft's (MS) family of OS's: Windows 95/98 and Window NT. MS Windows 95/98 can most commonly be found on the typical home computer. MS Windows NT comes in two versions: Workstation and Server and both are usually reserved for the business computer primarily because of the higher purchase cost. Even so, I run MS Windows NT Server at home for my ftp services and sometime soon, our family website (running Sambar) will be located there as well. (If you are interested in what I provide on my ftp server (using WAR FTP Daemon), drop me an email. I can set up an account for you and let you take a look!). Back to UNIX. The version of UNIX I support most is Sun Solaris 2.6. I also run RedHat Linux 6.1 on my work computer, but am not actually required to support Linux to my users. Linux is a UNIX version that runs on inexpensive PCs instead of proprietary machines costing tens of thousands of dollars (such as Sun Microsystems. Solaris will only run on machines made by Sun. However, there has been a recent version of Solaris that runs on PC hardware, but it is not as widely supported as Linux). I also run MS Windows NT Workstation 4.0 in a virtual machine of my Linux workstation. Check out VMWare. VMWare is a software application that mimics a real computer. You can then load a fresh OS such as Windows NT inside this virtual machine and switch between the two at will without rebooting. Linux is my host OS and NT runs inside the virtual machine. Both are "booted" at the same time and to each OS, no other OS is actually running. I love anything that can trick a MS product into believing it is running on hardware that doesn't really exist!! Most sysads will argue that any UNIX derivative is better than any MS operating system ever available. I would tend to concure. MS OS's cannot support enterprise level companies spread geographically around the globe with thousands of users. As a touch of humor, MS owns Hotmail.com, the free internet mail provider. MS software could not support the millions of accounts that Hotmail supports so they still run UNIX mail services.
Parago currently has over 60 Solaris servers in Seattle running on Sun Microsystem hardware and we are planning the deployment of a mirror image of the Seattle data center for the east coast. A company called Exodus provides us with a top-notch data center in Seattle and UUNet provides us with our data links to the Internet. The east coast data center will probably be hosted by another company such as AT&T for redundancy (and you thought AT&T only provided long-distance). Anyway, the new data center will double our number of servers and, as a nifty result, more than double our ability to respond to web browser (such as Netscape) requests. A downside will be double the work. We are also right in the middle of building our Research and Development lab next to our current office building in Coppell, TX. That's where we will get to test out new hardware and software. It will also allow us to bring in potential investors and clients and give them the old "dog and pony show".
It is my job, and the job of my team, to keep all these cool machines up and running. We do it all.
We maintain hardware and software.
If a user needs access to something, we can give it to them.
We add users when they get hired.
We delete users when they get fired (or quit).
We automate backups of that 2 terebytes worth of data (for an explanation of terabytes, check out my "What does Parago do?" page).
We restore those backups in case of operator error.
We maintain two e-mail servers utilizing Sendmail for approximately 400 users running on the Mandrake Linux OS.
We upkeep Domain Name Service (DNS) tables (DNS is the Internet service that allows a user to type something like, www.sun.com, and actually get to the correct website. Technically, it resolves plain-language hostnames or computer name as we know them, to IP addresses such as 192.168.10.1. An IP address is a unique number assigned to all computers on the Internet and allows computers to communicate).
We install OS software like Solaris 2.6, RedHat Linux 6.1, Mandrake Linux, etc. Sorry, no MS products here!!
We install computer hardware.
We upgrade servers with more memory, more harddrives, etc.
We install application software like Brio.Enterprise for data mining, Netscape Enterprise Suite 3.6(NES) for web servers, Legato Networker for backup solutions, Weblogic for application servers, etc.
We upgrade software (OS and application).
We update security patches (software updates) for all the servers.
We review new hardware and software for future implementation in our production enviroment.
We make network cables.
We prevent viruses such as ILOVEYOU and MELISSA from ever getting into our network (we do this using PROCMAIL) on the UNIX Sendmail side and Trend Micro ScanMail on the NT side).
We monitor harddrive usage (it's not good when a harddrive gets full).
We monitor CPU, memory, and swap file usage.
We monitor internal and external temperatures.
We move web site content from our development environment to our quality assurance (QA) environment for testing.
We move web site content from our QA environment to our staging environment for furthur testing.
We move that same content from staging into production for our external customers to see.
We move JAVA code in the same manner we move web site content. Parago uses JAVA for everything.
We build new NES webserver instances on various webserver machines (a single physical server can hold virtually an unlimited number of webservers).
We start and stop NES webservers.
We start and stop Weblogic.
We design new server infrastructures to support business needs.
We manage a tape library of backups.
We provide physical and logical security for all machines. We use several products to do this. A firewall (software and/or hardware that prevents outside internet users from gaining access to your internal network) provides logical security.
Physical security, well, that's a no-brainer.
We monitor network traffic.
We respond to all UNIX user requests.
We work some really stupid hours.
I can't imagine I've even come close to covering everything that I do on a day to day basis. Notice I used "we" instead of "I". That's because most of the work I do requires a team effort.
However, "I" am a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) (although I don't use much of that knowledge anymore, I've graduated to a "real" OS!!).
"I" am a Microsoft Certified Trainer (but if I don't do some training, I won't be after 2001).
"I" am a Certified UNIX Administrator.
"I" am a Certified Linux Administrator.
"I" am a Certified Computer Technician.
"I" am a Certified MS Windows Workstation Administrator.
"I" am even a Certified Keyboard Typist!!
(Check out Brainbench for fairly good certification tests).
I am working on the Sun Certified Solaris Administrator and Certified Network Administrator. I am also currently studying to upgrade my MCSE credentials to Windows 2000 just in case I get a job in the future that requires Win2K knowledge.
I would also like to gain Cisco certification. Cisco is the networking equipment used in a large percentage of computer networks.
That is all