System administrator– a person responsible for the operation and maintenance of the organization’s equipment and providing technical support to users. In common parlance, the name of the profession is often shortened to “sysadmin”.

Computers have penetrated our lives so much that no organization can do without them in its activities. Each will definitely have at least one or more computers, and as the company grows, new needs appear in the form of its own local network or a small server for storing important documents or working with a 1C database. There is no need to talk about large or high-tech organizations; such companies simply require a large staff of system administrators at various levels with a mandatory division of duties and areas of responsibility. In addition, in addition to the computers themselves, the system administrator helps set up the operation of numerous office equipment in the form of printers, scanners, telephones, faxes and other things necessary for every modern office and production.

Possible places of work

Since almost all organizations and companies use technical devices to support their activities, the profession of a system administrator is always in demand and is in demand in the labor market.

Depending on experience and specialization, these can be either small firms or huge international companies with many branches and a large staff of system administrators.

In order to work as a system administrator in many organizations, it is not necessary to obtain a higher education; self-education by reading documentation and relevant literature, taking online courses or face-to-face classes, and gained experience is sufficient. Naturally, large companies and those where the life and safety of people, income or the functioning of other computer-based services depend on the normal operation of computer equipment try to recruit highly qualified professionals with international certificates from well-known IT companies. Smaller companies can easily hire a technical student or simply a person interested in and knowledgeable about computers and technology.

One of the main tasks of a system administrator is to maintain a huge fleet of computer and related equipment, maintaining its performance, correcting malfunctions to minimize downtime, installing and configuring the necessary software, connecting and setting up new equipment.

Determining the need for new equipment, both specialized and simply updating the old fleet, is also usually done by the system administrator, justifying and coordinating the lists with the people responsible for budget distribution.

The responsibilities of system administrators usually include technical support for users - employees of the organization. This can be either advice on using programs or equipment, or full-fledged technical assistance after users contact us when errors occur on their computers, the printer does not print, the Internet does not work, or they simply cannot figure out how to work with programs or equipment.

Another common responsibility of system administrators is to protect against internal and external cyber threats, ensure network security, protect against computer viruses or hacker attacks, build trade secret protection systems, and the like. It is worth noting that in places with declared increased requirements for information security, such as banks, they invite system administrators with a narrow profile specifically for protecting information and countering hacker attacks.

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Specialization of system administrators

Conventionally, all system administrators can be divided into the following categories:

Handyman or jack of all trades– the name comes from the phrase “Press any key” (“Press any key”). As a rule, this is a novice system administrator working in small organizations (up to approximately 50 jobs). Responsible for maintaining the functionality of a small network and a fleet of computers and office equipment. Alone and without assistance, performs all duties that are in any way related to computers or networks and provides technical support to users. In her work she uses knowledge of operating systems from Microsoft, office programs such as Microsoft Office, accounting programs from 1C and skills in laying local networks.

Database Administrator– specialist in design and maintenance of various databases. Requires excellent knowledge of database management systems (DBMS), such as MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, operating systems for their operation (Linux, FreeBSD, Windows Server, Solaris), design and implementation features, as well as the SQL language.

Web server administrator– specialist in installation, configuration and maintenance of web servers. Both in terms of software and hardware. Knowledge of Linux and FreeBSD, the ability to configure the most popular Apache web server and related services (Postfix, Exim, sendmail) are essential. A thorough understanding of the TCP/IP protocol stack and the OSI model is required. Knowledge of the Windows Server operating system and IIS web server will be a plus.

Network Administrator– specialist in the development and maintenance of organizational networks. Knowledge of network protocols (IPX, TCP/IP) and their implementation, routing, billing and VPN systems, network equipment (Cisco) and experience in physically building networks (Ethernet, 802.11, FDDI) are required.

Network Security Administrator– specialist in the field of information security. Well versed in issues of encryption and user authorization, access control systems, backup. Develops system policies and security regulations and monitors their strict compliance. Usually works in large companies or as an outsourced freelancer.

System Architect– also sometimes called a systems engineer. Specialist in planning and building the company's information infrastructure at the application level. He has excellent knowledge of the software on the market from large international companies: operating systems (Windows, Unix, Mac OS, FreeBSD), directory services (Active Directory, LDAP, Lotus Domino), common database management systems, web servers, document management systems, etc. much more. Deals with the connection of all of the above into one system within the framework of business process requests.

In fact, there are many more types of system administrators, and to those listed above you can add the following: 1C administrator, home network administrator, telephone and cellular administrator, mainframe administrator and others.

Requirements for a system administrator

There are no strict requirements for system administrators; everything very much depends on the expected scope of work and the size of the employing company. Of course, every system administrator needs to understand the principles of operation of computers, office equipment, networks, know or be ready to quickly learn the software used in the organization’s work and be able to solve technical and other problems that arise when using office equipment. Knowledge of technical English is almost mandatory when working as a system administrator, because... The vast majority of literature and instructions for complex technology are best read in the original. Also, such knowledge will significantly expand the ability to search for information to solve a particular problem, using foreign forums and sites where people from all over the world gather.

To advance up the career ladder, in addition to gaining experience, there are many specialized courses and certificates for system administrators from renowned international companies, the successful completion of which directly reflects the professionalism of a specialist and allows you to apply for a salary increase or a new career step.

Such certificates for system administrators include:

Cisco Company:

• Entry level – CCENT
• Specialist – CCNA
• Professional – CCNP
• Certified Expert – CCIE

Microsoft Company:

• Beginning specialist – MTA, MCT
• Professional – MCP, MCTS, MCSA, MCITP

Red Hat Company:

• Certified System Administrator - RHCSA
• Chartered Engineer – RHCE
• Certified Safety Specialist - RHCSS

And many other companies related to software development or computer hardware production: Juniper, CompTIA, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Mikrotik, Dr.Web, ESET, D-Link.

A specialized technical higher education in the field of information technology, applied computer science or computer systems would also be useful, but most employer companies will look at the experience, the availability of international certificates and the number of successfully completed projects at previous places of work.

Personal qualities

A system administrator needs to be able to analyze a situation, identify cause-and-effect relationships, concentrate and quickly switch attention. You also need to be a sociable, patient and tactful person, because... part of the job is interacting with people who, especially older people, are not very computer savvy and have a harder time absorbing technical information.

System administrator salary

The approximate salary level is indicated. Depending on the region and employer, it can vary significantly.

Interesting facts about the profession of system administrator

System Administrator Day is celebrated on the last Friday of July.

Most system administrators are self-taught or have taken online courses.

Since 2006, the All-Russian meeting of system administrators has been held near Kaluga on the last weekend of July. The official logo of the rally is a crossed out teapot, stylized as a road sign.

A successful series about system administrators, Geeks, was filmed in the UK.

The most common breakdown of work computers is liquid (water, tea, juice, soda, etc.) getting on the keyboard. Power surges in the network are only in second place.

5 / 5 ( 2 votes)

Let's talk in detail about what he has to deal with, what knowledge he needs to have

There is no way to hide from new technologies; you need to learn how to manage and use them both for business and for personal purposes. This doesn't always happen quickly (or cheaply). An IT specialist has to study a huge amount of material and test the product before its full implementation (if an integrator is not invited), in a non-standard situation, approach the implementation of a task creatively, look for answers on the Internet and visit all kinds of forums.

The responsibilities of a system administrator can be divided into two parts: those performed daily and those performed infrequently. The solution to the tasks assigned to him depends on the level of training, the availability of automation tools for changing settings, convenient management of any processes and other factors.

Let's talk about the nuances and specifics of working in the administration of different systems. I will give a list of requirements (tasks) that have been facing us for several years, thereby giving an overview of the work performed by the system administrator.

Task 1. Display on the web page the contents of folders located on the FTP server (CentOS)

Basically, monitoring systems are used to solve this issue; their function also includes a warning about the full space of the specified disk. However, such programs do not provide information about the user and the file type, and you have to search manually. In our case, a recursive search through folders was implemented, which is based on the use of the Perl language. The result can be seen in Fig. 1.

Requires advanced knowledge of Linux systems.

Task 2. Ability to work remotely

Since we have a hybrid IT infrastructure, connection to different servers occurs in different ways: to Windows servers - via the RDP protocol, using the Remote Desktop Connection Manager program, and to Linux servers - via the SSH protocol, running Putty.

Task 3. Separate work bookmarks from personal ones in the browser

Services with a web interface were added to browser bookmarks, which became more and more numerous, and separate groups had to be created to separate work and personal. In order to move work bookmarks to another location, it was decided to create a separate page on the corporate website for system administrators.

With each new task, the quick navigation page for the service becomes bloated, but remains convenient, since large pictures with inscriptions are used (see Fig. 3).

Task 4. Monitor Microsoft OS and software versions and apply necessary updates

Updating the OS and software is an important task. After all, updates to server and client systems are often released that help “patch holes” or improve functionality. With the release of new versions, it is necessary to plan actions to minimize costs during business downtime. Here you need to take into account the availability of free disk space and the server’s occupancy with user applications in order to find the most favorable moment to perform work.

Knowledge of setting up the WSUS role is required.

Task 5. Transition to another domain

Switching to another domain will add a lot of hassle, since this procedure is very, very rare, and a lot of attention will have to be paid to planning. The main problem is migrating Active Directory, because migrating computers and users with passwords is not a trivial task, and there are not so many automation tools here.

The migration process can be described as follows: an additional server is deployed, then the AD DS role, trust relationships are established between two forests/domains, a SQL server is installed, and the Active Directory Migration Tool program is launched. which allows you to migrate users between domains. After this, the User Profile Wizard utility is installed on the user’s computers, with the help of which their profile is transferred.

Knowledge of DNS and Active Directory administration is required.

Task 6. Avoid FTP servers on Windows OS

In a hybrid IT infrastructure, it may be necessary to abandon shared folders and an FTP server on Windows systems in favor of Linux systems. Here you need to understand how users are granted rights to files and folders.

Knowledge of setting up Linux systems is required.

Task 7. Planned transition to new versions of Windows OS

Migrating client machines to new versions of the OS can require a considerable amount of time for IT specialists. This process can be automated and accelerated several times.

To do this, you will need to enable and configure the WDS role on the server, add a reference image of a freshly installed OS and driver there. This will help you install new Windows systems on several computers over the network at once by pressing just a couple of keys.

To get additional functions for automating processes, it is convenient to use MS SCCM, with which you can centrally manage the download and installation of updates, installation of operating systems and applications, connect to the desktop of a remote computer, take into account licensed software, compare required settings with existing ones, and take inventory of computer equipment and other.

Knowledge of configuring DHCP protocols is required. WDS.

It so happened that I spent this spring searching/interviewing people for as many as four vacancies related to system administration. I talked to several dozen people and noticed common mistakes and problems they encounter. I present what I noticed, as well as my thoughts on how to solve these problems.

Scope: aspiring system administrators, assistant system administrators, etc. Experienced administrators, as well as those who have a very specific specialization, will find it interesting, but useless.

The approximate structure of a series of articles - I will describe how I see the profession of a system administrator, analyze the current attitude towards the profession on the part of the employer, then try to give general information about where to start and where to move next.

What types of system administrators are there?

To put it very crudely, sysdamins come with specialization and without specialization. Usually they start a career without specialization, then have several “bent” development branches and one or two or three in which their further life takes place (classic “builds” of characters in RPGs correspond very well to this). A system administrator without specialization is an overgrown Enikeyist (I will discuss this thesis a little lower). However, the demand for system administrators with a narrow specialization is lower (if we count vacancies in units) than for generalist system administrators (I will also expand on this thesis below). However, with fewer vacancies, the real need for qualified specialists is much higher than the number of specialists themselves, that is, the higher the qualifications, the less competition. At some point, you will have several offers from different companies, although you do not plan to leave the current one.

(Looking ahead a little - the higher the qualifications, the longer it takes to look for a new job; for a top specialist it takes half a year to look for a job - this is quite normal. This is typical not only for administrators, but also for other professions with high responsibility and narrow specialization).

Who needs system administrators?

Since a system administrator is a profession, they pay money for it. The money is usually paid by the company to the employees. This means that companies need system administrators.

So, in accordance with the above classification, there are two important types of employers - core and non-core.

Let's start with the non-core ones. A non-core employer is a company that is NOT involved in IT, or is involved in it in an area far from the system administrator. Bright “antipodes” of IT-things: travel agencies, real estate companies, car dealers, etc. For them, an administrator is a kind of “electrician/computer caretaker.” They don’t need a complex infrastructure; they don’t know what system administrators do, what’s complicated and what’s simple. They cannot control the quality of the system administrator’s work, and the only sign of his success is “it works” or “it doesn’t.” The exact level of development of the company varies greatly and can be reduced to “setting up printers and ICQ” to maintaining rather exotic programs (medical institutions especially suffer from this). In any case, the IT complexity of their configuration is most often minimal, and there is no need to talk about the real “management” of the system administrator.

Separately, it is necessary to mention companies with a high degree of ITization of non-IT business. (A striking example is retail chains and banks). Most often, in such a company there is a person who is able to evaluate the quality of work and the complexity of the solution, he is usually able to speak with the system administrator in normal language, and not express himself in bird words about “the Internet is not working,” “the processor under the table is beeping,” etc. d. However, despite the possible complexity of the configuration, it is quite limited by the budget and needs of the company, and usually does not require going beyond the minimum to work. The needs of the IT department are perceived as a pure burden that needs to be defended in this very bird language.

The second type of employers are specialized companies. Most large Internet sites are like this, including hosters, data centers (if they do something other than renting units/dedicated), companies whose business is related to computer technology (cellular companies, processing centers). Note that specialized companies also have non-core administrators (who are involved in servicing workstations in the back-office); when applying for a job, you need to find out for yourself exactly what you will be doing.

Such companies usually look for employees “for tasks”, that is, they need a person who can work in some area of ​​their activity.

An important feature of specialized companies is the constructiveness of what you do. You are no longer a “computer electrician”; you are the person who determines how well the company’s core business tool will perform. There is usually no concept of a “technological ceiling” or bird language.

What is a generalist system administrator?

In fact, such a profession does not exist. It so happens that many companies want to have a person on staff who will be responsible for “everything computer-related.” Usually these are non-core companies. Moreover, they want one or two, not three dozen certified specialists. (For those who want to talk about their brilliant present in the person of an Oracle administrator, etc. - I repeat, we are talking about the situation on the market). Hence the simple rule: they will want everything from you right away. Moreover, in the future you will find that superficial knowledge about everything is not particularly valued. However, these types of jobs are a great place to start - you can try everything and see what you like best.

Thus, there is a clear contradiction between the work of a novice system administrator (more precisely, the requirements that are placed on him) and further career growth. This contradiction does not appear immediately, but after some time, when a person gets used to the job.

However, let's return to the work of a system administrator. Here is a list of areas that are most commonly encountered by a system administrator. Please note - these areas are far beyond the bounds of reason, but - see above, they want everything from you, right away, and preferably for little money:

What do you mean by system administration?

(we’re talking about generalist system administrators, of course)

• Network administration. In its minimum form, this is a “guru of desktop wi-fi router configuration”; in its maximum form, it is a person who will plan a network for 1000 people with branches in five cities. This includes: network topology (which piece of hardware to plug into which and why), SCS planning (where and how many outlets), nat and vpn configuration, etc. All sorts of Internet access control services go into the same pile - squid, IIS, smart and stupid firewalls, IDS, etc.
• Administration of workstations. Burnt-out power supplies, reinstalling Windows, solving a problem with another bank client, fixing a broken seal, solving the problem “how should I open this file,” fighting viruses for Windows, etc. The minimum level is to install office, the maximum is to develop a group policy for automatically downloading a new version of software that does not have an msi (you will have to do it yourself). At the same time, problems with automatic deployment of workstations, backups, secure deletion, etc. are solved.
• Centralized authorization. Typically, Active Directory serves in this capacity. One of the “cleanest” disciplines, it is also one of the most difficult. The minimum level is to add/remove users, add a workstation to the domain. The maximum is to implement automatic assignment of policies to users of a given OU in case of access to a computer in one of the nodes of a neighboring tree in the forest (we all love this terminology, yes).
• Mail. Conventionally divided into three worlds: small Windows mail servers (Kerio class), the mighty and terrible Exchange, a normal linux/freebsd server with any sane mail server (postfix, exim, sendmail, etc.). Minimum level: add a mailbox, add another domain and add an additional email to the user. Maximum level: set up a mail ticket system, mailing list, spam filtering, automatic mailbox creation, etc.
• Databases are most often part of another infrastructure. Specialized database administrators are in a league of their own. Minimum level: install, restart, connect in application, add/remove database. Usually the same is the ability to make a backup and restore it (which is more difficult). There is no maximum level, because... if you know any DBMS well, SQL, and are able to deploy a server with an active asynchronous subscription to another database, then this is no longer quite a “universal system administrator”. The conditional ceiling can be considered the ability to repair a broken MyISAM database.
• 1C. Despite the fact that 1C is a company that produces toys and educational disks, “1C” usually means 1C: Enterprise, 1C: Accounting and other nightmarish products of the perverted intercourse of accounting and programming. A person who knows a lot about “this” is called a “1C programmer” (not to be confused with normal programmers). Minimum level: create a new database, create/delete a user. Maximum level: correct the configuration, add a field to the report, understand how 1C deals with SQL.
• Websites. This can mean almost anything - from “order shared hosting” to “solve a performance problem in django-orm when working with postregsql.” This area could easily include copywriting, search engine spam (SEO), web design, web programming, etc. Minimum level: be able to do a little layout in html; there is no maximum level, because different professions are listed. By the way, among them there is also a real system manager: web server administrator - load ballancing, failover, high availability, clusters, etc., which again goes beyond the category of “versatility”.
• Access control systems and video surveillance. Most often they are done by specialized organizations, however, it happens that the system administrator also has to tinker. Minimum level: pick up another camera, register an access card. Maximum level: auto-export of video to archive, synchronization of all types of control. The future is most likely not admin; as far as I know, administrators usually don’t like this area.
• ATS. Another area that falls into system administration by accident. Minimum level: add forwarding, connect an additional incoming line. Maximum level: raise your asterisk with a voice menu by 300 points, sip-skype gate, routing capable of transferring between IP, copper and E1 depending on conditions. This is also where legacy telephone services often come in, “tapping the crowns”, understanding all sorts of plesiosynchronous incoming lines, E1, etc. I repeat, this is not an administrator’s specialization - in general, telephone operators do this.
• Print/scan. Most often, this is a trivial task until you have to make printers networked and solve the problems of all kinds of industrial printers. Minimum level: pick up the printer; The maximum level is to solve the problem of color profiles, connect the label printer as a network printer, and automatically assign printers when the user logs on to the computer.

In addition, there are many specific areas: terminal servers, various ERP/CMS, utility software for network maintenance, etc.

To summarize: it is impossible not only to be a professional, but to at least know all this more or less well. But you need to know. It is on this contradiction that the career of a novice administrator is built.

Separately, it is necessary to say about those with whom you will encounter during the interview. Unlike other cases, with a 99% probability you will be interviewed by people who are far from computers. And they will not test your knowledge, but your adequacy and “glibness of answers.” If you bombard them with smart words, you will not be perceived adequately.

What is an Assistant System Administrator?

... aka enikeyschik.
This is the person on whom all the poorly formalized and tedious work, communication with users and fiddling with hardware is blamed.

The main things that an Enikey person usually does:

• helpdesk - help desk. Answer telephone calls from employees, show how to press any key, help find the column sort button and pick out a disk stuck in the drive.
• Preparation of workstations - installation, connection, laying of wires, installation of OS and software, etc.
• The solution to all sorts of nonsense with user applications - especially for tax and bank client software.
• Correction of SCS (new sockets, transfer of existing ones), diagnostics of problems, switching, if there are cross-connections, then their embroidery.

If the company does not have an operator, then his duties are performed by the system administrator.

Note that the “assistant system administrator” is most often practically a consumable item with a high turnover. In one company, it got to the point that the head of the department did not know the names of all the assistant administrators (3 pieces), because at least one left once every month or a month and a half.

From the point of view of an employee, such work is a springboard into system administration, but not the main profession.

We will talk about the profiles of specialized system administrators a little later, but for now about careers within these two professions.

Who is joining Enikey?

My experience says that people usually go there without specialized education. Most often they are young, although I interviewed a 42-year-old uncle for the position of “system administrator assistant.” Despite the fact that the responsibilities described above seem almost trivial, for many this is the most difficult step. Becoming an administrator from an administrative assistant is easier than becoming an assistant system administrator.

The main reason: they will want knowledge from you that is comparable to an administrator. Moreover, half of this knowledge is not presented anywhere in books and is a passing experience (for example, fiddling with bank clients). Another important feature is the “sense of computers”; I met many people at interviews, they simply could not appreciate the naturalness of what was happening in the computer, which greatly hindered them in analyzing the situation. This is a non-verbal experience, it appears after working with computers for a long time.

Career

A typical career looks like this: assistant system administrator (or administrator in a small company with 5-8 people), administrator, administrator (maybe 2-3 more times administrator), the beginning of real specialization. Specialization can be of two types: increasing the technical level (instead of superficial knowledge of everything, deep knowledge of a little), and an administrative career - head of the IT department, CIO (IT director), etc. These are two completely different areas - the first is related to computers, the second is related to people, personnel management, planning, budgeting, meetings, etc.

The transition from stage to stage is determined by several factors: 1) Theoretical knowledge 2) Practical skills 3) Knowledge of realities 4) Connections and relationships with other people (both within the company and outside it).

Among this, the third point does not seem very clear. What is “reality”?

Knowledge of realities

It's about knowing what companies usually use, how much it costs and how it works. Relatively speaking, this is a person who knows that modern offices install 5e, and not ThickEthernet (as was described in a 1993 book), that installing category 6 is unjustified (even though the manufacturer’s booklet advises this), that programmers need an eye and an eye, otherwise the company will be tightly tied to a specific person, etc. In other words, knowledge of reality is the ability to say what exactly is needed in terms that will be understandable to both the supplier and others.

Skills

Up to a certain point, almost everything is decided. Without some set of skills, no amount of theoretical knowledge will help. It simply includes “many kilometers behind the wheel” - solving many problems, skills in working with the console and standard software, knowledge of the symptoms of problems, knowledge of standard solutions for typical cases.

Theory

At first, theoretical knowledge is not very important, since you do not have the proper feel for computers to perceive them correctly. However, if you do not invest your time and effort into theoretical knowledge, you will quickly become stuck at your level. Salaries will grow a little, perhaps there will be a career, but the IT world around will stop changing. Same technology, same glitches. The lack of theoretical knowledge does not prevent you from working - it prevents you from understanding how it works and how to fix what doesn’t work. Experience strongly replaces theory in the sense of solving problems, but does not give the strength to see the situation in general, to find the real reason (instead of the reason).

Connections

Yes, they mean a lot, especially in the case of a career as an IT director. The only method to avoid the need to have many acquaintances and play office games “king of the hill” is professionalism (read, experience and theory). If not, then only personal connections, knowledge of people, the ability to sense them, the ability to order them and lead them in every other way. According to my observations, approximately 30% of Enikey workers find their first job through an acquaintance.

For highly specialized administrators, communications mean something completely different. The narrower the specialization, the smaller the range of employers, the greater the likelihood of knowing everyone or almost everyone. Having a familiar name greatly reduces your job search time. In this case, we are not talking about “connections” in the everyday sense, but about professional fame.

The research center of the portal site in April 2008 reviewed the proposals of employers and the expectations of applicants for the position of “System Administrator” for 6 cities of Russia.

The functional responsibilities of a system administrator include configuration, setup and administration of personal computers, peripheral devices and servers, support of local (LAN), wide area (WAN) and telephone networks. The system administrator is also responsible for installing, configuring, updating the operating system and other software, including anti-virus software, he ensures the information security of the system, and performs data backup and recovery. In addition to the above, the system administrator is responsible for maintaining technical documentation and consulting system users.

The study found that Unix support specialists earn more than their Windows support colleagues. Their average earnings in the capital are 50,000 and 40,000 rubles. respectively. In St. Petersburg, specialists servicing Unix receive an average of 38,000 rubles. per month, system administrators providing Windows support - 30,000 rubles. Other Russian cities that became the objects of our research repeat the trends outlined for the two capitals, with the only difference being that the salary level in them is significantly lower than in Moscow and St. Petersburg (see table below).

A study of the database of resumes and vacancies showed that for every 10 available positions in capital companies working with the Unix operating system, 15 applicants apply, and in companies that chose Windows, there are 6 applicants for the same number of vacancies. In St. Petersburg, for every 10 available jobs there are 10 and 13 candidates, respectively. It should be noted that, since the Windows operating system has become much more widespread in Russia, the number of employers offering system administrators to work with this system, and the number of applicants applying for work specifically with the Windows operating system, is several times higher than the number for Unix.

Novice system administrators who own several versions of the Windows operating system and demonstrate good knowledge of computer components and peripheral equipment earn from 20,000 to 30,000 rubles in the capital, and from 15,000 to 23,000 rubles in the city on the Neva. Beginners in Unix administration, who know the principles of organizing networks and network protocols and have experience working on Linux servers, earn from 25,000 to 40,000 rubles in Moscow, from 18,000 to 30,000 rubles in St. Petersburg. In this salary range, employers do not impose strict requirements on the education of candidates: both secondary specialized and incomplete higher education, as well as higher technical or IT education, are suitable, but work experience in the specialty must be at least a year.

Up to 50,000 rub. in the capital and up to 40,000 rubles. in St. Petersburg, specialists earn money who know the basics of administering not only Windows and local networks, but also 1C, as well as the principles of operation of MS Exchange 2003, MS ISA 2004. Applicants applying for this salary must demonstrate excellent skills in working with the Windows NT/2000 operating system /XP/2003 Server. From specialists of this level, employers also require knowledge of the principles of construction and functioning of modern computer systems and computer networks, and methods of information security. System administrators working with Unix are required to have knowledge of UNIX (FreeBSD, Linux) and Windows 2003 Server, coupled with knowledge of networking equipment. The maximum possible salary for such functionality is 65,000 rubles in the capital, and 54,000 rubles in St. Petersburg. In this salary range, specialists providing support for the Unix system will have knowledge of Cisco; experience in configuring and optimizing MySQL, Apache, PHP, and organizing backup databases is required. Applicants applying for this salary must demonstrate proficiency in English at a level sufficient to read technical documentation, and also have at least 2 years of experience in the specialty.

System administrators with at least 3 years of experience in their specialty in a small company, or at least 1 year in a large enterprise, proficient in methods of monitoring and diagnosing server systems of both Windows and Unix, with excellent knowledge of network technologies and protocols, Shell and Perl programming languages, etc. Depending on their specialization, they have every right to apply in the capital for a salary of up to 90,000 (for Windows) and 120,000 rubles. (for Unix), in the city on the Neva - up to 80,000 rubles. and 100,000 rub. respectively. Professional certifications are preferred in this salary range.

The profession of a system administrator is one of the purely male professions (96% of applicants for this position are representatives of the stronger half of humanity), and it is chosen most often by men who have not yet turned 30 years old (73% of all system administrators). A university diploma can be presented by 55%, and a certificate of completion of specialized courses by 40% of applicants. 58% of candidates for the position of system administrator speak English at a level sufficient to read technical documentation.

Regions of study: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don.
Time of the study: April 2008
Unit of measurement: Russian ruble.
Object of study: employer proposals and expectations of applicants for the position of “System Administrator”.

Typical functionality:
- Configuration, setup and administration of personal computers and peripheral devices;
- Support for local (LAN), global (WAN), telephone networks;
- Configuration, setup and administration of servers;
- Installation, configuration, updating of the OS, other software (including anti-virus software);
- Data backup and recovery;
- Ensuring information security of the system;
- Maintaining technical documentation;
- Consulting users.

Position requirements: type of employment - full time.

The level of remuneration for a specialist is determined by the welfare of the company, the list of job responsibilities, work experience in the specialty, and the level of development of professional skills.

Analysis of information on specialist remuneration levels:
(excluding bonuses, additional benefits and compensation)

Region	Minimum	Maximum	Fashion	Median	Lower quartile	Upper quartile	Average	Demand index (resume/vacancy)
Moscow (Windows)	20 000	90 000	40 000	40 000	30 000	50 000	39 800	0.6
Moscow (Unix)	25 000	120 000	50 000	50 000	40 000	65 000	52 400	1.5
St. Petersburg (Windows)	15 000	80 000	25 000	30 000	23 000	40 000	31 020	1.3
St. Petersburg (Unix)	18 000	100 000	35 000	38 000	30 000	54 000	38 800	1
Ekaterinburg (Windows)	12 000	60 000	25 000	25 000	18 000	30 000	23 800	2
Ekaterinburg (Unix)	15 000	75 000	30 000	30 000	23 000	34 000	30 700	1
Nizhny Novgorod(Windows)	10 000	50 000	20 000	21 000	16 000	25 000	20 090	5
Nizhny Novgorod (Unix)	12 000	62 000	25 000	26 000	20 000	30 000	25 200	1
Novosibirsk (Windows)	12 000	56 000	22 000	22 000	18 000	28 000	22 300	0.3
Novosibirsk (Unix)	14 000	70 000	27 000	30 000	22 000	32 000	28 700	1
Rostov-on-Don (Windows)	10 000	50 000	20 000	20 000	15 000	25 000	20 600	2
Rostov-on-Don (Unix)	12 000	60 000	25 000	25 000	19 000	30 000	25 700	2

Explanations for the table »

Region	Band I	Range II	Range III
Moscow (Windows)	up to 30,000	30 000 - 50 000	over 50,000
Moscow (Unix)	up to 40,000	40 000 - 65 000	over 65,000
St. Petersburg (Windows)	up to 23,000	23 000 - 40 000	over 40,000
St. Petersburg(Unix)	up to 30,000	30 000 - 54 000	over 54,000
Ekaterinburg (Windows)	up to 18,000	18 000 - 30 000	over 25,000
Ekaterinburg (Unix)	up to 23,000	23 000 - 34 000	over 34,000
Nizhny Novgorod (Windows)	up to 16,000	16 000 - 25 000	over 25,000
Nizhny Novgorod (Unix)	up to 20,000	20 000 - 30 000	over 30,000
Novosibirsk (Windows)	up to 18,000	18 000 - 28 000	over 24,000
Novosibirsk (Unix)	up to 22,000	22 000 - 32 000	over 32,000
Rostov-on-Don (Windows)	up to 15,000	15 000 - 25 000	over 25,000
Rostov-on-Don (Unix)	up to 19 000	19 000 - 30 000	over 30,000

Explanations for the table »

A study of the array of data on salaries in the regions under study allows us to identify several main salary ranges, each of which is characterized by a certain typical set of requirements and wishes for the candidate. Each subsequent salary range includes the requirements formulated for the previous ones.

№	Salary range	Requirements and wishes for professional skills (Windows)
1	I	- Knowledge of Windows OS (several versions); - Skills in working with peripheral equipment; - Good knowledge of computer components and peripheral equipment;
2	II	- Knowledge of the principles of construction and operation of modern computer systems and computer networks, methods of information security; - Knowledge of the basics of 1C administration; - Knowledge of the principles of operation of MS Exchange 2003, MS ISA 2004; - Experience in local network administration; - Excellent skills in working with Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 Server;
3	III	- Knowledge of methods for monitoring and diagnosing server systems; - Excellent knowledge of network technologies and protocols; - Knowledge and experience with Unix/Linux products is preferred; - Certificates are welcome; - Experience as a system administrator from 3 years / from 1 year with a large fleet of machines / in a large company.

№	Salary range	Requirements and wishes for professional skills (Unix)
1	I	- Secondary specialized education / incomplete higher education / higher education (preferably technical, IT); - Knowledge of the principles of networking and network protocols; - Experience in administering Linux servers; - Experience installing, configuring, supporting and updating Linux; - Experience as a system administrator for at least 1 year.
2	II	- Knowledge of UNIX (FreeBSD, Linux), Windows 2003 Server is a plus; - Knowledge of English at the level of reading technical documentation; - Knowledge of network equipment (Cisco is a plus); - Experience in setting up and optimizing MySQL, Apache, PHP; - Experience in organizing backup databases; - Experience as a system administrator for at least 2 years.
3	III	- Knowledge of Shell and Perl programming languages; - Experience in administering MS Windows OS + Unix class OS (HP UX, Solaris), Linux with a large number of user accounts; - Experience in administering server equipment and server software in large companies; - Experience with Cisco equipment.

Statistical data:

• The age range of system administrators most in demand on the labor market is 22-40 years old; system administrators under the age of 30 make up about 73% of the total number of specialists, between the ages of 30 and 40 – about 21%, between the ages of 40-50 – about 6%;


• About 96% of system administrators are men;
• 27% of system administrators speak English at a basic level, about 58% - at the level of reading specialized literature, about 10% - at conversational and fluent levels;


• 55% of system administrators have higher education, about 26% have incomplete higher education, about 14% have secondary vocational education;


• 40% of system administrators have completed specialized courses or have qualification certificates;


• 50% of system administrators have a category “B” driver’s license.

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System Administrator

In April 2008, the research center of the SuperJob.ru portal examined the proposals of employers and the expectations of applicants for the position of “System Administrator” for 6 cities in Russia. . After studying the course, you will master the basic methods of system administration, as well as expand your knowledge on the topics studied in the course Content manager.

If you study the course conscientiously, you will learn:

• manage access to the system, sites, users, user groups;
• work with system tools;
• use the system management interface capabilities;
• work with modules "1C-Bitrix: Site Management" related to optimization and security of the site;
• Perform work to configure the web system for optimal performance.

If you have to install the system yourself or transfer the site to hosting, then without a course Installation and configuration Well Installation and configuration intended for specialists installing "1C-Bitrix: Site Management" or "Bitrix24 in a box".

Download course materials in CHM format.

How to take the training course?