Ask Slashdot: Becoming a Network Administrator? 480
J. L. Tympanum writes "After many years as a star programmer, I have taken a position which involves maintaining and rebuilding the in-house network of a small company. There are maybe 100 machines, a mix of blade servers running Linux and desktop PCs running Windows of all flavors. Basically, I have to learn networking from scratch. I have been given an 'unlimited' budget to buy routers, switches, etc., to set up my own little test network as part of the learning process. So the question is: what's the right strategy here? What routers or switches or other equipment should I acquire? What books should I read? Should I take classes from Cisco, Global Knowledge, my local community college, or somewhere else?"
Don't Do It!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Step #1 (Score:5, Insightful)
Hire a professional :)
Re:Step 1 (Score:5, Insightful)
1) Why does the network need rebuilding?
2) Where the hell are they getting an unlimited budget from?
3) Why, if they have money, would they hire somebody who never did any admin work?
I'm not saying you won't be able to do it, I'm saying you try and figure out their motives and cover your ass with asbestos!
HP Procurve (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously. Stay away from Cisco Gear. Overpriced over complex over hyped. Look at the HP procurve line of switches. They have very good L3 L2+ switches that handle routing for small to large networks. Take the HP networking Fundamentals In Person Class. It is one week long and provides good hands on training. Their gear has a lifetime warranty and FREE Tech support during normal business hours. Did I also mention that Software Updats are FREE. No annual maintenance. Seriously look at HP Procurve. I took a job as a Net Admin 8 Years ago at a company that was an HP shop and have never looked back or ever been dissapointed by their products or support. The 2910al is a great Static Routing Gig Switch.
Hire someone who knows what they're doing (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. If you're learning networking from scratch you are not prepared to be in charge of a network with 100 computers. If you screw it up, you could mess things up for days. Start at the bottom and work your way up, or hire someone who knows wtf they're doing, you could contract in someone (there are always going to be consultants who do network around). Bring one of them in, have them go over some of it with you.
The 'go read a CCNA book' advice isn't far off. But if you're already in charge CCNA is at least one step down from where you want to be.
I reiterate: use your money to hire someone else. Either hire them to actually do the job and become network manager, or hire a consultant in (be prepared to see this person regularly for a year or so) to come in and help you get things going. Make sure you have people on staff who actually know what they're doing, and can tell you when you're being an idiot.
Going from programming to network administrator may as well be going to predator drone pilot. You use computers and networks, and familiarity with computer skills is great, but they are very, if not completely different skills. And while you're at it you need to learn to be a manager, because most programmers don't learn about budgets, HR practices, setting security and devices on the network policy and all that but from the sounds of it you have to decide how to spend money.
Re:Step 1 (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't understand why this is modded funny, it is the correct plan of action assuming the move was voluntary. If this is a programmer that is trying to bail out of a sinking ship and this was the only job available at equivalent pay, then it is a completely different issue.
The biggest red flag is the "unlimited budget" that doesn't cover hiring a properly trained network admin, instead pushing him/her to learn the whole thing from scratch at the same pay.
This is how I read it... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd like to become an expert in a field in which I have no experience.
It takes many years for most of the folks working in this field to gain the knowledge required to be effective, but I am very, very smart. So much smarter than most people, infact, that it shouldn't take me more than a month or two to get a firm gasp on things.
There's just one small problem that is preventing me from teaching myself everything that I need to know to be able to do my job well. See, I'm not smart enough to know how to even begin to teach myself anything about this field. I'm sure if someone could just point me in the right direction, I'm quite sure that I'll be able to make sense of things.
Also, which vendors provide "easy" buttons on their gear?
Please advise.
MrGenius