Administrator To-Do List
From espinola.net
As a network or system administrator, unless working on a specific project, the work is... well, let's face it... mundane. That is not to say it is not important. In fact, a mundane routine is vital to well running systems and equipment - and this, in-turn, is vital to the company bottom line.
Since keeping track of the mundane is usually a task in itself, I have put together the following list as a generalized outline of the most essential elements of that routine. I hope that it will be as useful as it has been to me and my staff. Please feel free to comment, critique and offer suggestions to the task list! The discussion tab is open for business!
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First, let us take a brief look at the textbook definitions of a network and system administrator. Having an accurate job description as a base to work from is fundamental to understanding what it is that needs to be achieved, managed and overseen. It is essential to always have and work from a well written job description, so all parties involved have an understanding of where responsibility and accountability reside. It is also important to review and check for accuracy and significance on a semi-annual or annual basis.
The Network Administrator
n. The person in charge of operations on a computer network. The duties of a network administrator can be broad and might include such tasks as installing new workstations and other devices, adding and removing individuals from the list of authorized users, archiving files, overseeing password protection and other security measures, monitoring usage of shared resources, and handling malfunctioning equipment. See also system administrator.
The System Administrator
n. The person responsible for administering use of a multiuser computer system, communications system, or both. A system administrator performs such duties as assigning user accounts and passwords, establishing security access levels, allocating storage space, and watching for unauthorized access to prevent virus or Trojan horse programs from entering the system. Also called sysadmin.
Now that we have the basic description established, let us look at what almost certainly will have to do on a daily, weekly, monthly and ad-hoc basis:
Daily routine
Where you show everyone that you have "mad skillz"...
Review physical hardware status
- Generator
- HVAC
- Network equipment indicator lights
- Phone system indicator lights
- Server indicator lights
- UPS indicator lights
Review logs
- Anti-virus logs
- Applications logs
- Backup logs
- Firewall logs
- Mail logs
- Monitoring logs
- Phone system logs
- Router logs
- Server event logs
- Spam filter logs
- Web logs
Review queues
- Email queues
- Printer queues
Monitor information
- Distribution lists
- Forums
- Monitoring Software:
- Ping
- RBL listings
- Return codes for specific IP services
- Specific port availability
- Windows Services
- Network status
- News feeds
- User groups
Nightly and/or early-morning routine
Where things that go pump in the night meet protection or a rollback...
Automated
- Anti-virus updates
- Backups
- Rebooting
- Security Patching
Manual
- Anti-virus updates
- Rebooting
- Repairing
- Security Patching
- Software Updates
Monthly and/or ad-hoc routine
Where automated and scheduled change management becomes your mistress...
- Account change management
- Active Directory change management
- Archive application and system logs
- Create/update drivers disks
- Create/update emergency recovery disks
- Create/update network instillation points
- Create/update scripts for task automation
- Create/update slipstream installations
- Databases change management
- Directory shares change management
- Directory structure change management
- Disaster recovery testing and change management
- Distribution groups change management
- Documentation
- Drive defragmentation
- Intrusion Detection System change management
- Firewall change management
- Free space check
- Mailbox change management
- Name resolution change management (DNS, WINS)
- Off-site archiving and storage
- Phone system change management
- Public folders change management
- Security change management
- Security and penetration testing
- Server load testing
- Software installation
- Spam filter change management
- Testing
- Troubleshooting
