hpux sys admin

[Shivkumar]

Hi,

When we say HPUX system administration, does it mean administration of applications running on HPUX or administration of os, network, storage, and other hardware etc ?

I am asking this question because i have observed there is some confusion with the word HPUX sys admin.

I am under the impression that unix administrator's job is to manage os,networking, storage and hardware etc.

I just wanted to know what unix gurus thinks on this ?

Thanks,
Shiv

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

Shalom Shiv,

Strictly speaking it means the HP-9000/Integrity System, OS issues and the like.

In reality it is all of the above.

I very often find myself configuring Oracle Applications and doing everything that is mentioned on your list.

I've had to deal with network issues, storage issues, almost anything. I may not like every aspect of these duties but it comes with the job. I imagine in really large shops there is more segmentation.

I used to be able discuss and specify networking needs in the US. Now I negotiate with a networking department.

SEP

[sajeer_2]

Hi shiv,
I think it really depends on the site we are working also.If the site not running a large application and does not have a dedicated administrator for that,then unix admin is taking care of it.
In general HP-UX admin is responsible for mainly administering hp-ux (OS) and the other things necessary to run the OS (like netwok,storage and all)

[A. Clay Stephenson]

When we say HPUX system administration, does it mean administration of applications running on HPUX or administration of os, network, storage, and other hardware etc ?

The answer to all of this is generally, yes. Very seldom do UNIX admins just do UNIX administration. You will have to have some knowledge of the applications although in larger environments there are often application specialists but even there, the UNIX admin often has to configure the accounts before the applications adminstrator then assigns duties and permissions with the application.

Perhaps the area that overlaps the most is backup. Unless you have some knowledge of the applications, you may very well have backups that are perfectly accurate in that they reflect the data as some points in time but they might also be perfectly useless because they can't restore a running, sane system.

[Mel Burslan]

In a perfect world, the sysadmin is the person, who builds the system, configures it according to the end user requirements, then hands it over to the end users. After this time, his/her only job is to perform day-to-day functions, like monitoring how the system is performing, watching the logs for a possible hardware or software failure and from time to time, patching the server.

In real life, usually, end users are clueless and they read from a vendor suggestion list which was written when hp-ux vesrion was 10.xx, which makes what they really want and what they are telling you, two separate things. At this point, sysadmin becomes a partial application admin. He/she needs to understand, how the application works, what it expects from the system and most of the time, some bizzare tuning that makes or breaks the system performance.

And later in life, sysadmin, inadvertently makes a very good suggestion, saving the day for the application admins and at this moment, he or she officially becomes an application admin in addition to being a sysadmin.

After all, in today's world, it is very hard to discriminate the functions of sysadmin and application admins as they are closely intertwined, despite how much we want to segregate them for the audit purposes. Especially in small shops, this is financially unfeasible.

[DCE]

Hello Shiv,

When we say HPUX system administration, does it mean administration of applications running on HPUX or administration of os, network, storage, and other hardware etc ?

Yes to all of the above. It has been my experience that the smaller the shop, the more the sysadmins are asked to do. In some shops they do all of the above. In the larger organizations (such as where I currently am) they only do OS and server hardware. storage is another group and networking still another group and applications are handles by still another group. Most shops are somewhere in between.

The big shops allow you to focus on your core HPUX skills, but then you miss some of the learning opportunities available in the areas.

[inventsekar_1]

Hi Shivkumar,

in HP unix teams, they have L1, L2, and L3 support teams. L1 is the entry level support. like monitoring file systems.
L2 and L3, u can assume their function.

So, Theoretically, HP-UX sys admin will administer HP-UX systems.
but, practically, depending upon the interests, environment, HP-UX sys admins will do applications administration also.

i think its better to be a hpux sys admin + DBA admin. A good DBA should be a OS admin also. i think.

[Arunvijai_4]

Hi Shiv,

Generally speaking, System administration includes everything of OS, Network, Security, storage. In fact, You don't need to know everything in detail but, you should be able to understand and analyze the problem wherever it occurs.

In my opinion, you should have basic knowledge of everything in a HP-UX.

-Arun

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Shiv:

I am reminded of Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' when he said,

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."

So, the term 'System Administrator" can represent many things. As already mentioned, the size of your organization, the number of servers it has, and the heterogeneity of operating systems present, may dictate a division of roles; usually into networking, database management, storage (and backup) and operating system support.

As Clay noted, it's rare to find oneself only doing things that are purely Unix, though. As Mel noted, the Unix system administrator needs to understand what the *application* demands of the system and to a some extent how it works with the underlying system.

To this I'd add that a system administrator is often a bit of a programmer, at least insofar as one who can automate his/her tasks; read and understand operating system and application-related "scripts"; and create his/her own processes to manage the marriage between the operating system and the application. Perhaps that view grows out of what our industry used to describe and label a "systems programmer".

A good Unix system administrator understands something about Unix internals and the philosophy of Unix. A good system administrator is curious, has a keen eye to detail, and is an observer in all senses.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Cem Tugrul]

Shiv,

i am fully aggree with the other replies
just for an addition once upon a time
i found a document over internet describing
"System Administrator"

Good Luck,