What does a freelance systems administrator do anyway?
Everyone who uses the internet relies on systems administrators, and yet one of the biggest challenges of being a freelance systems administrator is explaining what I do.
Well, the shortest answer is, “A systems administrator takes care of servers. Not all companies who rely on servers have a need for full-time sysadmins, which is where freelancers like me fit in. I work primarily with small companies who need someone to take care of their servers, but don’t have enough work to justify a full time employee. ”
But this explanation inevitably leads to two questions: “What is a server?” and “What do you have to do to take care of them?”
The inside of a server
You can read the wikipedia article about servers, but in short, a server is a computer that, well, serves: that is, it gives out data. Just like a waiter in a restaurant serves you the food you order (usually), a server sends you the data you want (usually). If you want to view a website, your browser asks the appropriate web server to deliver the website to your computer. If you are using a file server at your office, your computer asks the server to let you work with certain files. If you check your email, your email client asks the server if you have any new messages. The internet is made of servers, all of them busily pushing out the data that users request of them, over the internet or over local networks.
Of course, just like a waiter in a restaurant, sometimes servers screw up. Sometimes it’s because you simply ordered the wrong thing. But sometimes they trip and spill the tray, sometimes they forget your order, sometimes they try to carry too much, and sometimes they come to work sick and just aren’t capable of doing a good job.
This is where systems administrators come in. We take care of servers to make sure they are healthy and always ready and willing to do their job correctly. There are lots of activities involved in making sure they are working correctly:
- Make sure that the hardware is functioning properly – if a hard-drive is acting like it might die soon, a good sysadmin will detect that and replace it.
- If a hard-drive does fail, make sure there are other hard-drives ready to pick up the job with no downtime, or if not, that there are backups available for as little downtime as possible.
- Monitor servers to make sure they aren’t working too hard: if website suddenly starts getting twice as much traffic, the sysadmin might need to make some adjustments to make sure the web server can handle the traffic.
- Install updates to software to make sure the server is always running the newest, most secure versions. And sysadmins keep servers secure and safe from hackers.
Servers run lots of different software. There are many different operating systems on servers: but perhaps the best-known are Windows and Linux. I have some experience with Windows servers, but I specialize in Linux and other Unix-like operating systems such as Solaris and NetBSD.
Why a Freelance Sysadmin is a Good Choice
Many sysadmins have full-time jobs, usually working for fairly large companies. However, not all companies who rely on servers have a need for full-time sysadmins, which is where freelancers like me fit in. I work primarily with small companies who need someone to take care of their servers, but don’t have enough work to justify a full time employee. For some of my clients, I do regular monitoring (checking on the status and health of the server) and updating, to make sure their servers are constantly happy and healthy. Some clients ask me to set up a server and get it running, and then they take care of it themselves. And some clients call me in for special projects such as upgrades or disaster recovery.
Being a good sysadmin requires a lot of vigilance, foresight and experience. It involves careful monitoring of servers, and preventing problems before they happen. If a sysadmin is doing his job well, you will never know he is there: servers will run smoothly and quickly, and always be available and responsive when you need them. This is why we can all rely on sysadmins without ever knowing who they are or what they do: they work quietly behind the scenes, making sure that your internet experience is speedy and seamless.
