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Many people do not understand what it is that I do for a living. Rather than try to explain it to them, I just point them here. If you work in IT, jump down here for a technical description. In general, I am responsible for large number of server computers that provide resources to different people in the large company where I work. What is a server? A server is simply a computer that provides resources such as files, websites, databases, email or applications. Sometimes servers run applications which perform monitoring or measurement of other servers. I work with a group of other technicans who is in charge of servers that provide resources such as email and calendering data, tape and disk backup, network-located files, antivirus services for servers, spam and virus filtering for email, and several others. On a day in, day out basis I do a number of different tasks. Much of the work involves maintaining the hardware, software, and configurations on the servers themselves. Hardware-related issues include replacing failed disk drives, installing new servers in datacenters, installing additional storage, and decommissioning old hardware. Software-related issue include patching security holes in various software and configuring things in the operating system. The complexity of such systems means that all kinds of things go wrong. Our environment contains over 1200 servers so there is plenty of work to be done. My work also involves handling specific types of support tickets from our support center. These issues revolve around the specific technology for which I'm responsible, and typically include issues such as granting access to resources such as shared folders, application, or tracking down the source of problems. Another part of my time involves working on specific projects such as the deployment of new messaging (email) servers or upgrade of antivirus and hardware monitoring software across hundreds of servers. Because of the number of servers in the environment, a certain amount of time is spent devising ways to deploy software or make changes to all servers in an automated manner. This is companred to a small business which may have 2 or 3 servers that could be maintained one at a time on an individual basis. Microsoft releases software patches every month, and I am in charge of deploying these patches to 1200+ servers. This process is generally automated, but my department is measured in part by the precentage of servers that receive the monthly patches on time, so I have to take time to ensure the process runs correctly. I spend a fair amount of time testing new software and upgrades. Deploying a bad piece of software or wrong change to 1000 servers is a bad idea, so changes of this scope must be tested beforehand. Much of my time is spent working with red tape that goes along with the environment in which we work. This involves planning, scheduling, and getting approval for work done. This is called change control and it helps ensure that everyone's butt is covered if an upgrade or change causes a problem. I participate in a 16-person on-call rotation which requires me to spend about 1 week every 4 months standing by 24x7 to accept urgent technical issues. One time my aunt asked me what a server looks like. I will provide some photos eventually, but in general most servers range in size from pizza-box to suitcase size. They are generally really heavy because of the density of the components in them. Any server is created with similar components: mainboard or motherboard, one or more power supplies, hard disk drives, RAM, cooling fans, one or more CPU chips, and interfaces to networks for data transfer or storage. In this regard, a server is similar to the computer you have at hom, but one of the main differences between a server and a home PC is that servers are designed with fault-tolerant components so that the failure of something won't cause the server to stop running. Because most servers are a higher profit margin item for vendors, vendors can afford to put neat blinky lights and small information display panels on them that make them appear cool to technical people. These extras offer little real value but are important because bright blinky ights are fun. For you technical types, here's what I do: My title is Network Administrator and I help support server infrastructure that provides enterprise-wide resources. Specifically, I work with:
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| Wednesday, August 20, 2008 |
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