[AusNOG] Time for AusSOG I think (was Re: Happy Sysadminday)

[Narelle]

On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 1:18 PM, Mark Smith
<nanog at 85d5b20a518b8f6864949bd940457dc124746ddc.nosense.org> wrote:
>
> What are sysadmins doing on a _network operator_ mailing list?


Alright, I'll bite.

Over recent times I have seen a distinct divergence in the skill sets
of competent network operators/engineers/admins that is IMHO less than
helpful. People on the networking side have had somewhat of a fixation
on routers, ethernet switches and some related gear (eg voice or
transmission kit) to the detriment of the rest of the stuff that make
networks work: DNS, NTP, crucial databases, radius, OSS, web and mail
servers. These things are essential and most of the new network
elements that gradually make their way as mainstream gear start their
life as unix based systems, especially protocol gateways.

The first Juniper router I ever configured was running _unix_. Cisco's
first ATM switch ran unix. In more recent times I've played with
Session Border Controllers, DPI systems, IP voice switches - all on
unix platforms. Not to mention the many firewalls in use.

Surely people still run DNS and GateD??

Time was the good network administrator was also a respectable
sysadmin. I've met more than one netadmin in recent times that can't
even find their way around a *nix file system.

I think this again runs to the important skills needed on the ground
to run a network, as well as the nature of Best Practice in IP
networking. SO please don't get me started on how this leads to a lack
of understanding of protocols...


-- 


Narelle
narellec at gmail.com