The Portal to Administering your Computer Systems and Networks

Unix/Linux Administration


Unix administration for the most part can be broken up into these core sections – software/application management (installation, testing and updating software/applications), account management (managing of user accounts ie adding and deleting accounts, management of user access and permissions), server management (monitoring the systems health and performance tuning, hardware installation troubleshooting and replacement, reviewing system log files, system data backup and restore ), security management (managing access to server and it's files, manage host-based firewalls and ACLs, checking file permissions and changes), storage management (manage disk space requirements, manage disk fault tolerance ie RAID, manage NFS, SAMBA, SCSI and iSCSI configuration) , network management (setup / configuration of the server network interfaces, manage network bonding/trunking, manage traffic routing

Software/Application Management

installation, testing and updating software/applications

Account Management

managing of user accounts ie adding and deleting accounts, management of user access and permissions

Server Management

monitoring the systems health and performance tuning, hardware installation troubleshooting and replacement, reviewing system log files, system data backup and restore

Security Management

managing access to server and it’s files, manage host-based firewalls and ACLs, checking file permissions and changes

Storage Management

manage disk space requirements, manage disk fault tolerance ie RAID, manage NFS, SAMBA, SCSI and iSCSI configuration

Network Management

setup / configuration of the server network interfaces, manage network bonding/trunking, manage traffic routing

Storage Administration


Storage Administration is a job description that one can easily equate to the maintenance and provisioning of storage. However, in recent years this title is rapidly fading away due to cost cutting within Corporate IT and the tasks of the Storage Admin is being spread out to the Systems Administrators and Network Administrators. So you SA's and NA's need to have a good understanding of terms like NAS, SCSI, iSCSI, RAID, SAN, Solid-State, Zoning and Switches. You will also need to have knowledge of what vendors provides the storage requirements your enterprise needs: such vendors like DELL/EMC, HP, NetApp, Oracle, etc.

DELL/EMC Storage

Digging into Dell/EMC storage arrays. Lets discuss and review the different product offerings and configuring EMC using Unisphere.

HP Storage

Look closer into HP Enterprise storage solutions. Lets discuss and review the different product offerings and how to best configure them from beginning to end.

NetApp Storage

Digging into NetApp storage arrays. Lets discuss and review the different product offerings and configuring Data ONTAP using 7-mode and cluster mode.

Network Administration


Network Administration is the task of managing all traffic to and from a compute device. This would include switches, routers, firewalls and more. Network Administration requires at least the basic skills of a CCNA and the familiarity of Network vendors like Cisco, HPE, Dell and Juniper. This section will help you understand and configure some of these Network products.

Basic Networking

Discuss basic Networking including the OSI Model and how each layer is used. The Network vendor of choice is Cisco so we’ll talk more with the focus on Cisco’s CCNA and CCNP certifications.

Network Security

Without Network Security you might as well hand all of your intellectual property over to the bad guys. Lets discuss how to secure your networks and talk about what tools hackers use to breach your infrastructure.