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I am trying to get into the Network Admin field, and I was wondering if some of you admins on here could tell me what your typical day looks like. What are some of the things you need to do? What exactly does being an admin entail? Any answers would definetly help me figure out which part of IT I will decide to pursue. Thanks
xmaddness
I would have to say it really depends on what "type" network admin you are...
I'll give you my daily life...or up until 5:30 today when I become unemployed.
8:30-9:00am - Check voicemails/emails regarding evening problems
9:00-9:30am - Check AO for new posts
9:30-9:45am - Smoke break
9:45-10:30am - Work on 1000 last minute requests from people who seem to think that giving us new user creation forms a day or two in advance is a dumb idea
10:30-10:45am - Smoke break
10:45-12:00pm - Take phone calls from people who are complaining the new user they have that starts today doesn't have an account, even though they sent me the request form at 10:30
12:00-1:00pm - Lunch (Anywhere but at the office)
1:00-2:30pm - Explain for the 1000th time what the DESKTOP is to idiot users who can't figure out that it's where all the icons are.
2:30-2:45pm - Smoke break
2:45-4:00pm - Answer 15 tech support calls from people who can't understand that you have to put paper in the printer before you can print
4:00-5:00pm - Work on "project of the day" - Won't be project of the day tomorrow, but still must be worked on today
5:00pm - GO THE HELL HOME
Hmmmmmm I know I'll do today ....
9:00 am arrive at work, and switch on my PC (after finding it under all the junk on my desk)
9:15 read the emails that people have decided to send to me. (usually rubbish, but today is a contentious one from a manger about secrecy, and there is one accusing me of not working hard enough, and it's from the user admin team!! sheesh)
9:20 reply that i cannot keep his F**K up secret to the manager, and "bollocks" to the user admin team.
9:30 start tracking down the source of the virus infection we got yesterday.
11:30 find the unpatched NT machine that some dumbass has stuck on the network.
11:55 first smoke break of the day (it's going to be a long one)
12:00 say goodbye to all the people leaving after redundancy today (about 50, i'll expect the next batch of cheap overseas labour to arrive tomorrow from india)
12:30 talk to my supervisor about the ongoing feud that i'm developing with user admin, watch him wander off like a lamb to the slaughter, snigger.
12:45 attend a crisis meeting about some poor software that the cheap labour is installing. and promise to help fix it (snigger)
13:00 return to desk.
13:05 It turns out that some software scripted by one of the permies leaving is utter crap, and doesn't work. (I rolled it out to the company, and now I have to fix it)
14:30 Consider resigning for the 18th time that day
15:00 explain to an access developer that I'm not going to disable A/V protection on his PC
15:05 repeat last step.
15:20 ring tecnical support for a database we have that isn't running properly. (get really embarrased when I've forgotten which server it runs on)
15:30 attempt to find said database (fail)
16:00 Lunch (late as per)
16:45 take stock of the day, and realise that I've achieved nothing. write TTD list for tomorrow
16:55 arrange overnight reboot for 24x7 server that is abending.
17:00 leave.
:loop
Wake up at 2:00
- Eat Breakfast
Right after that Eat Lunch
2:15 pm - Get on the the net and do nothing for a couple of hours
3:30 pm - Watch Yu-gi-Oh (pretty cool anime cartoon on the WB)
4:00 pm - After Yu-Gi-Oh is done bet back on the net to do nothing.
5:30 pm - Watch Dragonball Z (I'm into that stuff now. :) )
6:00 pm - Watch The Drew Carey show... or get back on the net and do nothing.
12:00 am - Get off the net. Go watch TV
3 or 4:00 AM - Go to sleep.
Goto Loop
except on fridays and saturdays... I actualy go out those days!!!
X, like an X BTW cause one of my son's name starts with one. Typical day, humm well actually the day begins in first understanding who it is you work for. If it is a private company will the owners if you are given the task to set policy follow it? Often times you will be the only one that fully understands the scope of what you do and how hard it is to make it all happen. Learn of your users they will cover from expert, to people calling you asking where the any key is at, smile and enable and empower them to take control of what they do on their computer. Learn to speak non geek and in the language of your country, hold back on the abstracts of the layers of how stuff works cause if you say transport layer they will think a car or bus or how they got to work. Hard part is you see and know everything about all users on a netowrk like it or not so your morals, standards and ethics will tear at you sometimes between what is right and just doing the job. Spend the hours you must but do not let them take you away from family, friends and just sitting at a meal to enjoy the food. Do not let it come between you and your family or kids or HEALTH, cause if you get sick chances are the consultant will sell you on how they are cheaper then you and how much better. Keep all logs take them home cause you always have to cover your butt cause that's how life is and you did not invent the rules. Do not get caught up thinking you are the best cause anyone can be replaced. Learn how to duck and cover cause the email server activity exceeds capacity and no one will listen nor pay for an upgrade. Take legal classes so you can grasp a basic EULA, and then a transulation class to explain how you cannot exchange Win 95 licenses for W2K. Some of my typical days :) Then again I truly hope this helps code is code, servers are hardware and between all of it are people. Admin is a people job, much more lays beyond the config of any network or server learn also this part and your gonna do OK :)
I maybe have about 2 hours of admin work a day, and that is usually attending to our test server. The rest of my day is filled with odds and ends..