SysAdmins are the unsung heroes of any organization. But even superheroes need a little help every once in a while. On the occasion of SysAdmin Day, Scalefusion shares a list of dynamic fellow sysadmins and must-have certifications to help professionals power up with new skills to fight evil and protect the realms of servers from downtime and security threats and everything in between.
Godspeed, SysAdmins!
10 System Administrators You Need to Follow (2022)
Thanks to social media, you can now connect firsthand with a lot of thought leaders from the tech community. Some of them may not have worked as system administrators, but their contribution and willingness to support other sysadmin professionals deserve praise.
Understanding their perspective should undoubtedly help you learn new concepts and even develop necessary skills. In no particular order of preference, we share some of the admirable folks to follow in 2022.
1. Thomas Limoncelli (@yesthattom)
Thomas is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and system administrator. His best-known books include “Time Management for System Administrators” and “The Practise of System Network Administration”. He works at StackOverflow and regularly blogs at EverythingSysadmin.com
2. Anoop C Nair (@anoopmannur)
A multiple Microsoft MVP award winner and mobile device management expert, Anoop tweets and writes about Microsoft technologies. His blog, at Anoopcnair, provides step-by-step guides and news on Microsoft technologies like Intune, SCCM, Azure, Azure AD, Windows, VDI, and other interesting technologies.
3. Jess Dodson (@girlgerms)
The purple-haired sysadmin’s passions lie in cleaning up Active Directory environments, improving the security of systems wherever possible, and streamlining technical processes to make life easier for everyone. The two-time Microsoft MVP award winner’s blog is filled with technical posts on system administration.
4. Chris Titus (@christitustech)
For systems administrators that work on Windows and Linux operating systems, Chris Titus Tech covers both. His website is a repository of helpful articles, file downloads, and technical guides. Now a content creator, his videos cover help content on phones, websites, networking, storage, and other useful topics.
5. Julia Evans (@b0rk)
Julia is a computer engineer and writer. She combines her sysadmin skills with her talent for drawing to explain tech concepts. Her blog, jvns, talks about computer networking, Kubernetes, tech comics, and new tools she builds.
6. Francios Xavier Cat (@lazywinadmin)
Francois-Xavier Cat works as a Systems Engineer, primarily with Microsoft and VMware technologies. He blogs at LazyWinAdmin, where he chronicles his day-to-day work as a system administrator. He is also active on Twitter and shares content related to Powershell, technology, news, and science.
7. Brian Krebs (@briankrebs)
Brian Krebs is the author of “Spam Nation”, an NYT bestseller. As an independent investigative journalist, he covers in-depth stories on cybersecurity and cybercrime on his blog KrebsOnSecurity. He has also appeared in the NetFlix documentary series “Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet”.
8. Joab Jackson (@Joab_Jackson)
Joab is the editor-in-chief of The New Stack and covers emerging developer technologies for scalable operations. He regularly tweets useful articles and interviews on technology.
9. Jenelle Crothers (@jkc137)
Jennelle Crothers spent 15 years as a Systems Administrator overseeing Windows domains, networking, desktops, telecommunications, and other IT systems. As an IT evangelist at Microsoft, she shares what’s new with Microsoft technologies and helps IT professionals understand the cloud successfully. She blogs at Techbunny.
10. Chris Wahl (@ChrisWahl)
Chris covers a wide range of technologies that constantly challenge systems administrators. He is the founder of the Wahl Network – An independent source for industry-validated subject matter expertise focused on cloud architecture, infrastructure as code, continuous integration, APIs, and containers. The website has over 700 in-depth articles.
Here’s a simple but explanatory infographic we made to help you appreciate system administrators
Must-do Certifications for SysAdmins (2022)
‘Upskill or perish’ seems to be the new mantra for the tech industry these days. For any IT professional, it is not only important to stay updated with the latest trends in their respective fields, but it is equally important to have the relevant skills to distinguish them from the competition.
Some employers prefer sysadmins with certifications because it proves that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform the required tasks. If you are a sysadmin or pursuing this role, you may find it beneficial to seek the following certifications.
1. Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA)
This certification demonstrates the sysadmin’s knowledge of command-line environments, basic shell scripts, user administration, configuring user file systems, security and access control, firewalls, and SELinux. It’s also a requisite for professionals seeking to become Red Hat Certified Engineers.
2. AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
This certification is specific and role-based and covers all the information and tools sysadmins need to become an AWS system administrator. This certifies that IT admins can install and deploy AWS and manage all day-to-day tasks of system administration in the cloud environment. The certification also covers handling migration, security, backups, and fault control ensuring the AWS system is highly available.
3. Linux Professional Institute LPIC-1 Linux Administrator
The LPIC offers a few levels of certification, starting with LPIC-1 Linux Administrator. This certification proves that the professionals can install, configure and maintain Linux systems. LPI certifications consist of progressive levels of certifications. For example, The LPIC-1 is mandatory for the LPIC-2 Linux Engineer exam, and the LPIC-2 for the LPIC-3 Mixed Environments, Security and Virtualization, and High Availability exams.
4. CompTIA Server+
The CompTIA Server+ certification is vendor-neutral and designed for administrator-level professionals who install, manage and troubleshoot servers. The CompTIA Server+ test verifies knowledge and ability in four broad domains – server hardware installation and management, server administration, security and disaster recovery, and troubleshooting. Earning a Server+ certification will almost certainly add value to your resume.
5. Microsoft Azure Administrator
Like AWS Certified SysOps Administrator, this is also a role-based certification. The Azure Administrator Certification is necessary for any system administrator working with Azure-based enterprises. Azure is a cloud computing platform that supports business activities and management. Skills validated by this certification include:
- Management of Azure identities and governance
- Storage system implementation and management
- Deployment of Azure resources and tools
- Virtual networking configuration and management
- Implementation of backup and recovery processes
Say Thanks to Your SysAdmin!
This SysAdmin Appreciation Day, please take a moment to thank your system administrators who keep your systems up and running. A simple thank you goes a long way.
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