Hi, you might like to read this:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/...rd-hacker/all/

You don't say what sort of password lists you are hoping to generate. As I see it there are dictionary + default lists, random lists and rainbow tables, which are really just a variation on random.

For the first type I would be inclined to collect them off the internet and concatenate them. You may want to compile your own rainbow tables though?

You will need considerable computing power and a lot of storage space to generate anything reasonably effective IRL, as they grow exponentially with the number of characters.

As for Network Administration I guess that would depend on how much of your 25 years was actually working, and what you were doing. I don't know where you live and what the job market is like there, but over here you would need to think very carefully about a career change once you get into your mid-thirties.

The reason I say that is you might have to start pretty near the bottom and take a substantial pay cut as a result.

Please let us know what kind of lists/tables you are interested in.