Server Fault Stack Exchange
Server Fault Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [untagged]

This is a special tag that is designed to be used only by the system for questions that have had all of their other tags removed. Do not add this tag to existing questions, it is reserved for use by the system to identify posts with no valid tags.

This tag is used to replace a tag used in a question, whereas such tag has only been used on one question for six months. The system automatically deletes such rarely used tag and replaces it with this one.

Do not add this tag to existing questions, it is reserved for use by the system to identify posts with no valid tags.

For more details about questions using tag untagged, refer to StackOverflow.

553 questions
142
votes
69 answers

The Joel Test for system administrator jobs

Based on “Organizational issues” — sore spots of IT? I think it would be fair to say that system administrators need to determine if a place is worth working at. There is a similar well known test by Joel for programmers. What are the 12 questions…
Nick Kavadias
  • 10,758
  • 7
  • 36
  • 47
131
votes
44 answers

Cheat Sheets for System Administrators?

I'd like to start a collection of good, free cheat sheet resources for system administrators. Please add your favorite ones. From the Wikipedia "cheat sheet" article: In more general usage, a "cheat sheet" is any short (one or two page) …
splattne
  • 28,348
  • 19
  • 97
  • 147
87
votes
86 answers

Best system administrator accident

I'm looking for amusing stories of system administrator accidents you have had. Deleting the CEO's email, formatting the wrong hard drive, etc. I'll add my own story as an answer.
Alan H
  • 2,234
  • 4
  • 20
  • 17
87
votes
13 answers

10 servers to administer and I'm a history major

Through reasons that don't warrant exhaustive discussion, I find myself in charge of 10 servers: A domain controller-~500 hosts/~350 users IIS web server-This is where we make our money SQL server-The crown jewels Exchange server Linux box for data…
chipandachair
  • 471
  • 4
  • 6
67
votes
9 answers

What a beginner should know/learn for sysadmin job?

This is a Canonical Question about System Administration Careers When I start my job as System Administrator, what basics skills should I know/learn? Are there any key differences for Network, Storage, Database, and other Administrators?
Dhanapal
  • 905
  • 2
  • 7
  • 9
66
votes
37 answers

What is the single most influential book every sysadmin should read?

For software developers, there are some books you must absolutely read. What is the single most influential book every programmer should read? How about for sysadmins? Is there a similar list of books?
Gulzar
  • 381
  • 2
  • 7
  • 13
65
votes
19 answers

Does SpinRite do what it claims to do?

I don't have any real (i.e. professional) experience with Steve Gibson's SpinRite so I'd like to put this to the SF community. Does SpinRite actually do what it claims? Is it a good product to use? With a proper backup solution and RAID fault…
romandas
  • 3,242
  • 8
  • 37
  • 44
60
votes
6 answers

Ending company IT Admin relationship

We have been using a company to administer our (small office) IT infrastructure. We don't have complete records of what has been done or hasn't been done and don't know what we need to ask for in order to pick this up ourselves. Is there a good…
albiglan
  • 1,033
  • 8
  • 11
54
votes
24 answers

Which websites should a system administrator read?

I try to religiously follow planet sysadmin as well as IBM developerworks. Which ones do you read and advise to other system administrators?
tomdeb
  • 709
  • 1
  • 7
  • 10
39
votes
17 answers

How to interview a sysadmin candidate?

What kinds of questions would you ask and what scenarios would you describe, what kinds of answers would you look for? I don't ask for specific questions. I would like to know which interview strategy is good for selecting candidates who are…
splattne
  • 28,348
  • 19
  • 97
  • 147
37
votes
22 answers

What's the biggest time saver you've implemented?

Which changes that you have implemented did have the biggest impact on saving time in you daily sysadmin workload? What are your tricks to work more efficient and get more things done or work less for the same results? I'm thinking about automation,…
knweiss
  • 3,955
  • 23
  • 20
35
votes
21 answers

What do you wish developers would do differently?

As a developer, I spend most of my time thinking about the code, UI, data structures and so on, but (I bravely admit) I don't tend to consider the implications of my app for sysadmins and DBAs until it's time to deploy the app. Firstly, I'm sorry.…
harriyott
  • 491
  • 1
  • 6
  • 12
34
votes
12 answers

Good book for a software developer doing part-time (Linux) system administration work

In many smaller organisations, developers often end up doing some system administration work (for obvious reasons). A lot of the time, they have great developer skills, but few system administration skills (perhaps all self-taught), and so have to…
Tony Meyer
  • 889
  • 1
  • 13
  • 25
33
votes
31 answers

Your worst "High Maintenance User" experience

We all have them, let's share some stories about them. What kind of support person are you? Kudos to explanations of how you [un]civilly dealt with them! EDIT: Ok, let's hear some more. Really I just need to know I'm not alone today after dealing…
squillman
  • 37,618
  • 10
  • 90
  • 145
30
votes
7 answers

How to recruit a linux guru

I need to recruit a proper linux guru, not someone who can just about spell it, a real big hitter to go off and recruit their own team. We're currently a big Windows house so I know the questions I need to ask to sort the wheat from the chaff in…
Chopper3
  • 100,240
  • 9
  • 106
  • 238
1
2 3
…
36 37