SysAdmin Show

By Dustin Reybrouck: IT System Administrator

A podcast focused on the Information Technology workplace. We discuss career opportunities, education/training and the technologies used today.... more

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FAQs about SysAdmin Show:

How many episodes does SysAdmin Show have?

The podcast currently has 58 episodes available.

SysAdmin Show episodes:

February 27, 2019SAS 018 – Patch Management
In today’s episode I talk about patching various types of systems and my recommendations for each.
Workstations
BIOS/Firmware
Update at deployment then as needed
Drivers
Update at deployment then as needed
OS
Update monthly
Delay one month from release date unless critical
Applications
Enable auto-update if available
Update monthly if reasonable, otherwise as needed
Level of effort
Cost
Servers
BIOS/Firmware
Update at deployment then as needed
Drivers
Update at deployment then as needed
OS
Update monthly
Delay one month from release date unless critical
Applications
Deploy stable version and update annually or as needed
Networking
Firmware
Deploy stable version and update annually or as needed
Printers
Firmware
Deploy stable version and update annually or as needed
Drivers
Deploy stable version and update as needed
Mobile
Smartphones
Update major version as stable
Enable auto-update for minor version if historically stable
Apps should auto-update, delayed if necessary for testing
Tablets
Update major version as stable
Enable auto-update for minor version if historically stable
Apps should auto-update, delayed if necessary for testing
Misc
IOT
Try to deploy only if reputable manufacturer
Enable auto-updates
Intrusion Prevention
Deploy stable version and update annually or as needed
Access Control
Deploy stable version and update annually or as needed
Fire Alarm
Deploy stable version and update annually or as needed
Final Thoughts
Keeping systems updated is typically around 25% of your time as a SysAdmin
Depending on the system much of this work will need to be completed after hours
Choosing how often a system is updated is an important balance between required up time, stability and security
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37min
January 31, 2019SAS 017 – Interview with IT Client Support Specialist Jack McCarthy
This episode is an an interview with Jack McCarthy. He has been working in IT for 6 months and it currently an IT Client Support Specialist.
Some takeaways from my conversation with Jack are:
Don’t be afraid to try different things
Get a job that is close to what you want, even if not the exact field
Be read for opportunities, they often come unexpectedly
Once you find what you like, make a 5 year plan/goal
GCIH Certification:
https://www.giac.org/certification/certified-incident-handler-gcih
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22min
January 23, 2019 SAS 016 – I Know How It Feels
I today’s episode I explain how it feels to learn a new technology and my process for getting past uncertainty.
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19min
January 04, 2019SAS 015 – Why I Love Being A System Administrator
In this episode I talk about why System Administrator is my favorite IT role.
Today’s Show
This following is highly influenced by my own opinions and experiences
The System Administrator role is my favorite in the IT field
Education & Experience requirements
4+ years with 4 year degree
8+ years without degree
Responsibilities
Wide range of technology
Highly transferable skills
High impact on business goals
Compensation – https://www.glassdoor.com
Privately owned company with < 1000 users
IT department isn’t too large
Company more likely to care
More able to move the needle
Company culture/IT culture is important
Limited on call work
Reasonable approach to maintenance, projects and budgeting
Employee success encouraged
Training available
Mentoring available
Why
I can provide for my family of 6
I get to do work that I enjoy and is challenging and rewarding
I am proud of my job and the company I work for
I can focus on my family when I’m not at work
Final Thoughts
Don’t focus only on technical skills. Take time to grow your people skills, public speaking and project management abilities.
You may need to switch employers a few times to get the necessary experience, or to land your desired role
No one should be holding you back, but don’t rush it. Be realistic about your experience level.
You are in control of your own career. Yes you can just coast and it won’t really effect you much up front, but what do you want to be doing in 5 years, or 10 years. If you are not working towards that now it will most likely never occur. Prepare now, so that you will be ready when the opportunity arrives.
You can email me with any feedback [email protected]
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46min
December 16, 2018SAS 014 – Disaster Recovery
In this episode I talk about the importance of being prepared for a disaster that takes your primary data center offline.
Being prepared to keep IT systems operating during or after a disaster is critical
What is DR, how does it work?
How will you offer IT services if a fire destroys your data center?
Email
Voice
Business Software
Billing
Accounts Payable
Payroll
CRM
What servers will you use?
How recent will the data on them be?
What services and data will be available?
This should be driven from management as a part of business continuity
It should be driven by IT even if BC isn’t in place
Hosting
On premises, separate facility
Up front cost
Maintenance
Space
Data center
Ongoing cost
Maintenance
Cloud
Scope
What needs to be included?
Is restoring from nightly backups enough for some servers?
RPO – recovery point objective
RTO – recovery time objective
Budget
Testing
Soft failover
Hard failover
Final Thoughts
DR should be considered a critical part of every IT infrastructure, make sure you have it, that the scope is accurate and that it works.
You can contact me by email [email protected] and twitter @sysadminshow.
Thanks for listening!
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43min
December 05, 2018SAS 013 – In the Lab – Installing Exchange 2016
In today’s show I add email to the lab with Exchange 2016.
Follow Up
From last show
Grounding bar
Conduits and ladder rack
Airflow
Data Closet Specs
Today’s Show
Exchange 2016 Cu11 install files
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=57388
The 2016 trial will not install on server 2016, but the CU is a full installer and will go into trial mode
VCC 2013: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784
UCMA Runtime 4.0: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34992
.Net 4.7.1 Web Installer: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56115
Office 365 ProPlus Evaluation
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-office-365-proplus
VMware Snapshots
Email Server VM
Client workstation VMs
Create User1 & User2 accounts on the domain
Add Email accounts for them
Exchange Admin Center
Web based
https://lab-email01/eac
Ignore self-signed certificate
Setup Outlook on both workstations
Send test email from user1 on workstation01 to user2 on workstation02
Final Thoughts
Exchange is a fairly advanced topic, so it is great to have access to it in the lab. I could easily dedicate this podcast to only Exchange and never run out of things to talk about. I expect to go future episodes it.
Building a DAG would be the next logical step
Where should we go from here in the Lab
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1h 26min
November 27, 2018SAS 012 – Building a Server Room
Server Room Diagram
In today’s episode I go over all the requirements for building or remodeling a server room.
Today’s Show – Building a Server Room
New construction or remodel
Project Management
Depending on the scope IT maybe expected to manage this project
If not managed by IT you will want to ensure you are involved as early as possible
Communication
Email is best to communicate instructions
It’s good to review, debate and plan in person or on the phone, but follow meetings up with emails outlining what is being done, by who and by when
If possible have someone take meeting notes
Room location
1st floor or above, not a basement if possible
Opening to an office area, not a shop or garage
Away from outside walls
No windows
Room size
2 racks minimum, 10′ x 10′
Will provide at least 3′ on every side
Floor, walls, ceiling
9′ drop ceiling
Full height walls, no crawl spaces above the ceiling to other rooms
Painted drywall
Anti-Static floors
Door
Metal if possible
Open out
Locking
Lightning
LED if possible
Above from and rear of racks
A/C
Dedicated split unit
Calculate size
Power
Input power requirements
Hard line / Plug Type
Amps
UPS, Calculate size & run time
PDU
Generator backup
Racks
7′ H, 3′ D, 2′ W
Cable management 6″
KVM
Console & KVM Switcher
Demarc
3/4 Plywood, Painted
Outlets fed from UPS
Access Control
Unique key or electronic lock
Environmental Monitoring
Report of Temp, Humidity, Water
Storage
Cabinet
Safe
Budget
Sometimes dictated, sometimes generated by IT
Should include all materials and labor
Include time required by internal resources, so you can plan accordingly
Final Thoughts
Many companies will not see the value in building a proper server room, do research to advocate for it
If you do not get involved early in the conversation it will be an afterthought and very difficult to do it properly
Server rooms don’t change very often, so expect that you will need to make it work for the next 5-10 years of growth
As with any negotiation divide you requirements into needs and wants. Don’t fight so hard for what you want that you cannot get what you need
Email me with any questions or comments on this episode: [email protected]
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1h 1min
November 24, 2018SAS 011 – In the Lab – Server 2016 Configuring AD, DNS, DHCP & File Server
In today’s show we will continue working in the lab. I walk through the process of deploying Active Directory on a new Server 2016 VM with DNS and DHCP. We also setup a file server with a basic network share.
Follow-Up
One way conversation so far, I want to hear from you
[email protected]
@sysadminshow
Some upcoming topics include server room specs, DR, patch management
I got VMRC working on Linux Mint
Download the linux .bundle file from VMware
Run sudo sh, follow install instructions
If you want to catch up go back to episodes 7,8,10. So far we have
Setup VMware ESXi
Setup Server 2016 & Windows 10 templates
Setup dedicated VLAN for the LAB Follow Up
Today’s Show
Cloning VMs in ESXi
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/
Psgetsid
Setup domain controller, new domain
I setup my lab root domain as corp.sysadminshow.com, but I should have done it just sysadminshow.com. No real harm, just more to type.
Setup DNS
Setup forward and reverse zones
Set DHCP
Setup IPv4 scope
Setup VMware client network
Set our lab VMs to use the Lab network we created earlier
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1h 17min
November 12, 2018SAS 010 – In the Lab with pfSense, Networking & VMware
We continue getting the lab setup. Configuring a dedicated network with internet access for the lab using pfSense and VLANs on a managed switch.
https://www.pfsense.org/download/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network
Configure VLANs on pfSense
Home
Public
Lab
Reset and Configure managed switch
Patch in and test
Configure VMware networking
Testing
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53min
November 06, 2018SAS 009 – Managing IT Vendor Relationships
Follow-Up
Missed from SAS 006
Testing Hardware/Software
Test everything, try to break it
Don’t assume anything
Testing backups
Monthly backup tests
Quarterly disaster recovery tests
Annual business continuity tests
Today’s Show – Managing IT Vendor Relationships
Everyone will need an IT vendor at some point, so build good relationships for when you need them
Staffing help
Emergencies
Technical assistance for core infrastructure
Evaluation process
Reputation
Size
Cost
Price is important, but isn’t everything
Core competencies
Availability
Location
Qualify engineer who will actually be doing the work – these are often the best relationships
Contract Review
Larger companies won’t budge much
This is the basis of the relationship
Fixed price vs T&M vs Not to Exceed
Final Thoughts
Implement changes over time
They work for you, you can override their recommendations

You can send feedback and ideas for future episodes to [email protected].
...more
39min

FAQs about SysAdmin Show:

How many episodes does SysAdmin Show have?

The podcast currently has 58 episodes available.