S A Skills Set

[Dave La Mar]

I have been tasked with putting together a list of requirements for the position of S A in an HP-UX environment.
I apologize if the forum is not the appropriate place to seek this information.
We are new to this environment (installed nearly a year ago) as a company.
Location Calif. USA.
The HP-UX 11.0 environment consists of two N9000's and one L-Class.
An HP Sure 10/180 tape library utilized via Veritas Netbackup.
An HP XP512 SAN (4 tb). All equipment is fibre channel connected.
My basic questions are as follows:
1. Level of competency expected in lvm work.
2. Level of competency expected in scripting.
3. List of any other duties and levels of compentency expected, i.e. networking, security, etc.
If there is a site someone would share for this purpose or if you have specific guidelines utilized by your company I would greatly appreciate the information you could share either via the forum or offline.

Thanks again, and my apologies if this is misuse of the forum.

[steven Burgess_2]

Hi Dave

Others may disagree

Certification plus 2 years commercial experience I think is a good starter for a sys admin. That way you know the candidate has proven skills and the ability to work in a pressured environment.

Steve

[harry d brown jr]

Dave,

# 3 hit it on the head --> competency

And I like to add --> problem solving skills ::= knowing when to use duct tape and knowing when to get the sledge hammer out.

Using this string below, click on the search feature to the left, and click on "forums"

+system +admin +duties

http://us-support2.external.hp.com/emse/bin/doc.pl/?todo=search&searchtext=%2Bsystem+%2Badmin+%2Bduties&x=39&y=3&searchcriteria=allwords&searchtype=SEARCH_FORUMS&searchcategory=ALL&rn=25&presort=rank


live free or die
harry

[Steve Post]

I do not think certification is a requirement if you can take the risk. I know guys that are not certified simply because they're working. Also don't limit yourself to just HPUX knowledge. If the person has used another large UNIX, (like SCO, SUNOS, AIX), they should be able to pick up the differences to HPUX.
Obviously you should have s/w and h/w support. I don't care how smart the person is. You can't know EVERYTHING.

[Jim Large]

Steve speaks some truth in his reply. . .I have neglected to pursue certifications in the 13yrs. I have been working with some variant of UNIX. . .Don't get tunnel visioned on certs/degrees to the point you may miss out on real talent. . .

I would make it a goal to get the candidate certified. Maybe make it a requirement within a "probationary period." He/She would definitely need at least that to demonstrate His/Her skills.

Is this position being created for you, or another body coming aboard?

[harry d brown jr]

Steve and Jim,

I personally think that certifications are about as useful as ebola. I can't tell you the amount of people that I have met that have cert's up the arse, yet can't problem solve a damn thing. Now mind you, there are great problem solvers out there with cert's, so I'm not blasting everyone. I'd rather weigh real world experience any day over "PAPER TIGERS".

Personally, I have a few cert's, but none of them in unix, hell, I don't even have a college degree of any type!!!


live free or die
harry

[Dave La Mar]

Thanks to those that have replied.
I really am looking for specific bullets. I.E. What would you specificly note in a job requirements portion for employment?
Administration of server, lvm work, patch maintenance, are all very broad.
Perhaps you could share your specific functions and responsibilities.
Keep in mind we are a new and small shop with only the three servers.
Thanks for any input.
dl

[harry d brown jr]

Dave,

There aren't any magic bullets, just a bunch of reading, playing, experimenting, and working:

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xc074abe92dabd5118ff10090279cd0f9,00.html

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xd3cca1abbac8d5118ff10090279cd0f9,00.html

live free or die
harry

[hpuxrox]

With a shop that small I would look for three things

1.) 4 year Degree
2.) 4 years SOLID Unix Experience ( any flavor )
3.) Solid job record ( does he/she keep a job for over 2 years.)

And last but not least, check his/her resume for FLUFF. So many people lying these days.

[John Payne_2]

Dave,

My job description goes something like this: Primary responsibility for support and maintenance of University HPUX systems.

This includes installation of new equipment, installation of operating system and toolbox, regular OS patching and maintenance. Also includes callout for hardware and OS problems that occur during regular use of systems. This often requires troubleshooting of problems, performance tuning, and new product testing (for OS or toolbox).

I agree with Steve. You need to have SW and HW support for your machines, especially if you guys currently do not have a Sys Admin. That way if the guy you hired has holes in his knowledge, HP can help him pick up the slack...

As far as what to put, look on something like monster.com and search on HPUX. There should be some companies that list what they are looking for in an employee. You problibly want to put that they need to have experience administering whatever OS level you are on.

Just make sure you ask appropriate questions when you get ready to hire. Then you can find the person whose experience best matches your environment.

BTW, I have HPUX admin cert, but it really was not THAT hard of a test. If they have the experience to back up the cert, or just the right experience, then they will most likely be a good fit...

Hope it helps

John

[MANOJ SRIVASTAVA]

Hi Dave

Since you are looking for a senior / middle level guy I would look for the following :

1.Sound Technical background in terms of experience , qualification , last projects done , ofcourse no genreal Unix but worked on HPUX 10.2/11.00 for a min of 3-4 years , ahndled midsized projects independently.Atlease have worked on the XP array or EMC array .

2.Since the person is critcal I will aslo look at soft skills and team handling traits.

Most of the job sites would ahve atleast some sound Unix Admins resume which can form a basis for you work .

Manoj Srivastava

[Roger Baptiste]

hi,

This should be another good reference doc for unixadm skill sets:

http://www.usenix.org/sage/jobs/jobs-descriptions.html



-raj

[Dave La Mar]

Thank you to all who responded.
Since you all were pointing along the same line, I awarded 8 on the last response to close the thread.
Will use your responses and search of job postings to formulate what upper management is requesting.

Thanks again.
dl

[Jim Large · Accepted solution]

Sorry Dave,

I know I side tracked the question. . .here's an list of job duties that my boss wanted me to review. They're updating my job description here and I'm supposed to look at his list - I haven't revised it yet.

Hope this is what you're looking for. . .

?? Unix installation & configuration (HPUX/Solaris/AIX and Linux)
?? TCP/IP network installation/configuration in Unix environment
?? Installation, configuration and upgrading of Oracle/Sybase server software and related products
?? Evaluation of Oracle/Sybase features and Oracle/Sybase related products
?? Establish and maintain sound backup and recovery policies and procedures
?? Take care of the Database design and implementation
?? Implement and maintain database security (create and maintain users and roles, assign privileges)
?? Perform database tuning and performance monitoring
?? Perform application tuning and performance monitoring
?? Setup and maintain documentation and standards
?? Plan growth and changes (capacity planning)
?? Work as part of a team and provide 24x7 support when required
?? Perform general technical trouble shooting and give consultation to development teams
?? Unix file system mgt (LVM)
?? OS installation (Ignite)
?? Patch Management
?? Troubleshooting Unix in a Database Environment ??? Software and Hardware
?? Kernel config
?? Adding Hardware
?? Package administration/failover (MC/ServiceGuard)
?? Backup procedures
?? Network services and admin
?? Print services
?? Create Stored procedures for Report Developers and Interfaces to and from Oracle and Sybase.
?? Configuration and Maintenance of Apache and web server related products.
?? Creation of custom programs and User Web Interface Services

?? Good understanding of the Oracle/Sybase database, related utilities and tools
?? A good knowledge of the physical database design
?? Ability to perform both Oracle/Sybase and operating system performance tuning and monitoring
?? Knowledge of ALL Oracle backup and recovery scenarios
?? A good knowledge of Oracle/Sysase security management
?? A good Knowledge of Oracle Networking and Nameserver Management
?? A good knowledge of how Oracle acquires and manages resources
?? A good knowledge Oracle/Sybase data integrity
?? Sound knowledge of the implemented application systems
?? Experience database change management
?? A sound knowledge of both database and system performance tuning
?? Sound communication skills with management, development teams, vendors and systems administrators
?? The ability to handle multiple projects and deadlines
?? A good knowledge of PL/SQL
?? A good knowledge of Perl, Java, XML, TCL and COBOL

[Dave La Mar]

Excellent Jim.
Thank you.
dl

[Steve Post]

hello Jim Large,
Your description has a lot of Oracle/Sybase DBA in it. I would hope that's not typical. It's too much stuff. It would be nice. But I think it is too optimistic. It looks like 2 jobs, not one.

To bring the point home....We also would want the sysadmin profficient in progress, informix, sap, baan, xml, and all Microsoft products?

Usually you would have a DBA and/or programmers who know that application part of the computer. There would have to be some overlap.
My boss is our Sybase DBA. I guess it depends on the size and details of the business.

Steve

[Jim Large]

Steve,

It is too much on some days!
This is actually a portion of my current job duties. In addition to wearing the hat of System Administrator and DBA, I also code interfaces for the hospital's Interface Engine and Admin our Lawson ERP software. I was originally hired to do interfaces specifically, but somehow inherited the DBA and Sys Admin positions. They are in the process of hiring a new interface specialist and I'm training existing staff on how to admin Lawson. I've only been here for two years and I hate idle time! That's why I have so much on plate. . .I agree though, your best situation has every position "touching" a bit but allows your staff the opportunity to specialize as much as possible. You want experts, not mediocrity! My case in pretty rare and hopefully will improve in time. I just walked into an IS staff that's allowed themselves to get outdated in many respects, but they are talking steps to resolve this and distribute workload. . .I just posted that to get Dave some ideas, I wouldn't consider it a guideline. . .

Thanks,
Jim