I can speak to groups about various System Administration topics. Here are some, if you are interested in these, or others, let me know.
note:
The terms “System Administrator” and
“System Administration” are sometimes seen as limited
to a particular family of operating
systems, and in fact, to compters. That is not the case: What we as
IT professionals do in terms of support, planning, and
administration of IT systems (regardless of operating system, and
including network devices and services) is to serve the IT needs of
our organization. The specifics may vary from one device, operating
system or software system, but the core of our job, and the issues
we face are the same.
A simple approach to automating system administration tasks is to script any task done more than twice. This leads to the classic collection of random scripts, followed by more scripts that attempt to automate the scripts. Sometimes followed by yet more scripts, automating the automation of the original scripts. While each layer may be a short-term improvement, the advantages are soon lost as the system becomes more and more fragile, and more organized around the scripts and their capabilities than around the operational needs of the organization.
A comprehensive approach looks at all the business and organizational needs and operations of the organization, and builds management tools around the available data, organizational needs and business processes. The result can be a very efficient, high-performance, high-reliability computing system that provides what the users (and management) expect, with few surprises.
Common -- and uncommon -- issues when interviewing for a system administration position. We will discuss this from both the candidate and the hiring perspective.
For at least a decade, an active portion of the system administration community has been raising the issue of ethics. Talks were given, and BOFs were held. Tutorials are offered. Eventually, a code of ethics was adopted.
Having participated in several of the more recent activities, it seems that everyone now knows the easy answer to the classic system administration ethical dilemas: refer to your policy documents.
This presentation will review the The System Administrators' Code of Ethics, and then try and get beyond the "easy" situations, to some more interesting questions and issues.
David has been a system administrator at the University of Wisconsin Computer Science Department since 1991, serving as Associate Director of the Computer Systems Lab since 1995. At the Lab he has worked as a manager; been involved in campus committees; and collaborated with other groups on campus. In the CS Department he works with faculty, staff and graduate students to support and contribute to their research projects. He also trains, manages and work with undergraduate students who work in the lab. Areas of responsibility and experience include policy development, security, network administration, liaison with the research projects, and a technical leadership role for the lab staff overall. At various times he have been part-time staff to specific research projects.
David is currently on the Board of Directors of LOPSA, The League of Professional System Administrators.