10 Tips on Network and System Administration

If you want to know the importance of good network and system administration, ask those companies and firms whose systems and networks have been affected by viruses, malware, spyware and other security breaches. Network and system administration is a vast field and you can’t really box it completely into a list of tips and tricks; however, here are some tips that would prove very useful to anyone who is administering systems and networks. Since system administration and network administration often form the responsibility of the same person, we haven’t segregated this into a separate list for system and network administration:

1. Documentation of all systems and network resources, including the software, hardware, scripts, administration procedures etc. is very necessary. Besides aiding your memory, the documentation will also ensure that if you are not available someone else is able to do the job.

2. Also, ensure that you use a configuration management system in order to maintain versions of all your documentations (e.g. admin guides, user guides, procedures etc). Without configuration management system, it would be really tough for you to know the latest version of your documents and this can cause a lot of confusion and errors.

3. Ensure that you have the latest versions of all software and that you receive all the patches and updates really quick. You would also need to ensure that you install the anti-virus software on any new computers as soon as you have installed the operating system (do not keep it pending). Moreover, it is a good idea to keep an image of the server hard disk (using the specialized software that are meant for this purpose) once you have done all the required installations and configurations on your server.

4. Take regular backups of all the important documents, data etc. You never know when a virus attack or system failure might need you to restore your stuff from the backups.

5. Compile a list of do’s and don’ts and circulate it among all users. These do’s and don’ts should be targeted towards ensuring data security, performance of systems / network, version control, etc

6. Disaster recovery plans and fault tolerance plans should be created and well understood by the whole IT team. This is very important

7. Ensure that you don’t leave the server room attended. Also ensure that your administrator password is difficult to crack.

8. Structure your network in such a way that you are able to isolate faulty components quickly and easily. This will help ensure that not everything is out of bounds when a fault occurs. And you will also save a lot of time when faults happen.

9. Do not install any unnecessary software on your systems. These will eat into system resources and might also present additional security threat. And be cautious against unauthorised software (you will need to ensure strict adherence to this guideline by the users).

10. Keep a tight watch on Internet access. Besides posing security threats, it might lead to loss of productivity as the users indulge in unnecessary and useless browsing on the Internet. Recent studies have shown that Internet and social media are causing loss of productivity in various organizations.

So, these are some very basic tips on system and network administration. Depending on the specific needs of your organization, you will need to tweak this list and add more to it.