Most computing facilities are now based on a wide variety of different hardware, ranging in size from portable PCs to powerful workstations and servers. These machines are usually interconnected as part of a complex network using many different protocols and software packages to provide the required services. Systems Administration is the task of integrating, managing and developing these complex systems to enable an organization to fully exploit the potential of the technology.
Systems administrators must be aware of a wide range of different products and packages, but good administrators are usually guided by a number of important general principles that do not depend on the rapidly changing details of the technology. Efective systems administration also requires a wide range of techniques including procedural and management issues, as well as technical solutions.
The aim of this tutorial is to present some of these fundamental principles and to illustrate them by discussing several practical areas in more detail. It is likely that many experienced systems administrators will find this material interesting, but it should also be accessible to novice administrators, and even those with a part-time responsibility for systems administration.