The work of a systems administrator is usually not visible to other IT departments or by end-users. Most of the time, they look at system administrators wondering why they do not seem to be doing much.
When you see a systems administrator who is always running around, trying to put out the fire, continually dealing with production problems, you might think that he is working hard and doing a job well. But in reality he is not doing his job well.
When you see a system administrator (UNIX / Linux, database, network), who does not seem to be spilling a lot at the office, always appears relaxed and does not seem to have an activity visible, you can be sure that he is doing his job well.
Here are 12 reasons that make a passive systems administrator the best of systems administrators:
se1. Who is the leader? The main reason that a lazy system administrator is the best possible system administrator is his attitude. They do not quite see machines like other IT services. The developers think they are there to serve the tools by writing code. There is nothing wrong with this approach since the developers have a lot of fun writing code. But system administrators think otherwise. On the contrary, they believe that machines are at their service.
2. Write scripts for recurring tasks. To be lazy is to be smart. An intelligent systems administrator has mastered all scripting languages (bash, awk, sed, etc.). Every time he has to do a task, and if there is a vague possibility that he may need the same job later, he will write a script to do the job. So when asked later to do the same position again, he will not have to think; he will have to execute the script and then return to idle.
3. Save everything. Being lazy means backing everything up. A sluggish systems administrator knows that he needs to give some time in creating backup processes, and therefore write backup scripts for all critical applications and systems. When disk space is not an issue, it plans backup for all apps even if they are not essential. Thus, as soon as something goes wrong, he does not start to sweat from stress, he needs to restore a backup to be able to return to the quiet stuff he was doing just before.
4. Plan a recovery plan. System administrators do not like to move in all directions in an emergency. If all goes well, they will need some time to create a recovery plan and data recovery. That way, if things go wrong, they can follow, go back to normal and then regain their lazy administrator pace.
5. Set up a high discharge system. Sloppy Server Administrator doesn't like being in the middle of the night due to a stupid hardware crash. It makes the devices very redundant. This includes hardware as well as software: they have two configured networks, a dual power source, two hard drives, all
duplicated. In the event of equipment failure, the system can still focus on repairing faulty equipment if it gets up in the morning, at the same time as everyone else. Morning.
6. Leave room for unexpected growth. A lazy system administrator never lets his system run at full speed. He always keeps free space in case of unforeseen events. It ensures that the system has enough CPU, as well as available disk space and RAM when the sales department decides to drop tons of data overnight, no need to think about how to handle this astonishing development.
7. Be proactive. Being lazy does not mean that you have to sit down and turn your thumbs. Being lazy means being proactive. Lazy system administrators hate being responsive. They always anticipate difficulties and expansion. When they have free time available (and so they have a lot), they keep a close eye on projects to manage future growth and prevent unplanned problems.
8. Adore keyboard shortcuts. The lazy systems administrator knows all the keyboard shortcuts of all his favorite applications. If he spends a significant amount of time on an application daily, the first thing he does is to master the keyboard shortcuts of this app.
9. Master the command line. All lazy system administrators are command-line pros. It applies to Linux system administrators, database administrators, network administrators, and so on. If you see a systems administrator running a graphical interface while the same task can done at the command line, then you know he is not a lazy systems administrator. And it gives him the impression that he is the boss and not the system. When you use the command lines, you have control; you know what you want to do. When you use a graphical interface,
10. Learn from your mistakes. Sluggish system administrators never like to make the same mistakes twice. They hate working on unforeseen problems, but when they do appear, they work to fix it, think about how it happened, and immediately put the necessary in place so that it does not happen again. Working on the same problem twice is considered a real sin for a lazy system administrator. He likes to work on the issue once, do what it takes to prevent the same mistake from happening in the future, and return quietly lazy.
11. Learn continuously about new technologies. There is nothing wrong with learning new techniques to have a better job or to keep up with progress in the field. But a lazy systems administrator does not discover new technologies for this reason. He trains there because he likes to keep control of the systems all the time. He knows he's the boss and not the machine. Thus, when a new technology arrives, he takes the time to study it. Now he has new tools to occupy the system as he continues to idle. It is laziness that is the primary motivation for his training.
12. Document everything. This distinguishes good system administrators from the best system administrators. You see, the lazy systems administrator hates being disturbed while on the beach enjoying his vacation. So, what is he doing? He forms everything so that when he is not there, others can do the primary job in his place, and make things turn around without disturbing him during his vacation. There is another reason why the passive systems administrator documents everything: because he forgets things. As he is lazy, he tends to forget what he did the month before. Since he does not like to think twice about the same subject, he documents everything, and when he needs to do the same thing in the future, Here. Being a sluggish systems administrator is not that easy; it's even a lot of work. If you are not, you will recognize them now. If you are and you are still running everywhere, you now know what you have to do.
