Slides from the January 1995 NOW Retreat

At the January 1995 NOW retreat, I gave a short presentation on system administration, mainly asking for feedback. From the talk, I got two slides, which I've typed in on this page. I've also filled in some of the details that were mentioned verbally, but not actually written on the slides.

Questions:

  1. Is System Administration sufficiently similar on Dos, Unix, Windows, Mac? While the goals are very similar, the actual details are sufficiently different that I can't claim an easy transition of the ideas and implementation from unix to other platforms. This means that I may have to seriously examine other platforms, and possibly consider implementing stuff on those platforms. (One possible contendor for this would be Windows NT)
  2. Should I assume NOW all works? This is a somewhat dangerous assumption. The system administration tools should take advantage of NOW features, but it should be possible for them to work without the various pieces that the NOW project is building.
  3. User Community effect? It will be important for the tools to be flexible so that they can support locally developed applications. Work on training/handholding of users should take advantage of a local communities expertise in various applications.

System Administration Tasks

  1. Installation/Upgrades
  2. Removals
  3. Preventive Maintanance
  4. Reactive Maintanance
  5. Upkeep
  6. Purchasing
  7. Training
  8. Dealing with Angry Users
  9. Security
  10. Paperwork
  11. Load Balancing
  12. Reports
  13. Hand-holding
  14. Tuning
  15. Automated Help
  16. Quota
  17. Backups

Other feedback

Although unification is a beneficial goal, don't try to force it.