Responsibilities of a sysadmin or sysop.
🧰 Core System Administration
- Install, configure, and maintain operating systems (Linux, Windows, macOS)
- Manage physical and virtual servers
- Ensure high availability and performance tuning
- Apply patches and software updates
- Configure and manage all system services (e.g. DNS, DHCP, FTP, SMTP)
🔐 Security and Compliance
- Implement and monitor firewalls, IDS/IPS, antivirus
- Manage user access policies and authentication protocols
- Conduct vulnerability assessments and apply remediation
- Monitor security alerts and respond to incidents
- Ensure compliance with security standards (ISO, GDPR, HIPAA, etc.)
🌐 Network and Connectivity
- Configure routers, switches, and wireless access points
- Set up and manage VPNs and VLANs
- Troubleshoot network outages and latency issues
- Monitor traffic and bandwidth utilization
- Maintain IP address management and DNS configurations
📦 Software and Application Support
- Install and manage business applications
- Troubleshoot software issues and manage vendor escalations
- Maintain license compliance
- Support application integration and automation
🧑🤝🧑 User and Access Management
- Create, modify, and remove user accounts
- Manage roles, groups, and permissions (e.g., Active Directory)
- Set up user workstations and remote access
- Train users on IT policies and best practices
- Provide helpdesk support
🔁 Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Develop backup strategies and implement schedules
- Perform regular data and system backups
- Test and document recovery procedures
- Manage offsite or cloud-based backup solutions
📊 Monitoring and Documentation
- Use monitoring tools (e.g., Nagios, Zabbix, Grafana) to track system health
- Maintain logs for system, network, and security events
- Create runbooks, configuration documentation, and change logs
- Analyze metrics and recommend optimizations
🧠 Automation and DevOps
- Write and maintain scripts (Bash, PowerShell, Python)
- Automate deployment and maintenance tasks
- Integrate with CI/CD pipelines if working alongside DevOps teams
- Use configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, Chef)
☁️ Cloud and Virtualization
- Administer cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Manage virtual environments (VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox)
- Monitor cloud performance and costs
- Enforce cloud security policies and controls
🔄 Change and Asset Management
- Track and manage IT assets (hardware/software inventory)
- Document changes and manage service requests
- Evaluate and implement new technologies and tools
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