Comments on: Career as Administrator vs Programmer

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:56:19 +0000

The problem with software development, particularly Java and web-related software, is that the technology changes too fast. It’s not humanly possible to keep up with all the new tools and frameworks that may be used with Java and JavaScript. You must, therefore, be able to learn very quickly, independently, and constantly. The worst part is, the older people get the slower they learn. After 25 years of doing software development I am not as valuable as someone younger with five or ten years of experience because they learn twice as fast and tend to have a wider skill set. You must spend most of your spare time studying if you want to remain employable.

By: djitz

djitz — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:27:00 +0000

@Dawood, no worries. I see cloud computing will be the next big thing and it definitely requires system administrators to learn the cloud computing paradigm. So maybe you want to look at cloud for your final project.

By: djitz

djitz — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:24:39 +0000

@Vlad,

I believe you need to be familiar with both Windows and Linux (or Unix) in general. Many companies choose Windows because it’s usually better supported than open-source OSes such as Linux. But with the change in cloud computing, open source technologies may pick up great acceleration.

If you can learn linux, then do it. It’s easier to learn Windows Server than to learn Unix servers, and the knowledge of Unix commands tend to last longer than Windows commands / GUI.

By: Deepak

Deepak — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:17:46 +0000

thanks djitz ! i want to extend the question of muhammad dawood. which has more scope as per your opinion.my brother is a system admin. from 6 year. but his salary is about 23k. is it right ? plz rply…lookin for answer..

By: Vlad

Vlad — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 22:45:35 +0000

Hi djitz, thank you for sharing this wonderful website.

i would like to know if having advanced knowledge in linux or windows would help in a network administration position.
i see that most IT departments have almost everything windows technology , and very few linux related tech.
i really like linux and i keep learning more about it before i graduate, but i would like to hear if all this effort in learning linux is worth it at the end, or is it better to learn more about the windows technologies.

thank you.

By: @djitz

@djitz — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:27:47 +0000

@djitz Hello my friend, sorry to bother you again. As you already may know, I am one the most confused people on the face of the earth, taking interest in virtually everything. After alot of thinking now, I have finally decided to go towards system administration, leaving my other favorite subjects like C and C++, and assembly language. Though my profession would be system administration, I’ll definitely be working on those three languages, mostly doing system related things. Now could you please tell me what project should I do in my final year, what kind of projects are system administrators expected to do?
Looking forward to your reply.

By: djitz

djitz — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:33:23 +0000

@Muhammad Dawood,

I’m doing great, thanks! By all means, I don’t have valid findings to back up what I’m going to say, but from what I see DB designer or administrator have more stable job compared with the rest. In general, I also see that administrators (system, network, or database) job seems to be more stable compared to developers.

By: djitz

djitz — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:29:17 +0000

@Deepak, to answer your question: specifically, I don’t see how RHCE nor RHCSA will help you gain knowledge in database. But, on the other hand, extra knowledge in system administration might be good.

If you want to take certification for database, Oracle’s might be the best choice.

By: Muhammad Dawood

Muhammad Dawood — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:20:08 +0000

@djitz Hello my friend, I hope you are doing fine. A new topic has just been raised, “stability”. Could you please throw some more light on it, and please rank the following as far as stability is concerned.
* System Administrator
* Network Administrator
* Database Designer and Administrator
* Developer, programmer, web developer etc.
Looking forward to your wonderful reply!

By: Deepak

Deepak — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:53:10 +0000

thanks for the answer.. plz tell me, i am doing rhce and rhcsa .will it be beneficial in DBA track for me or i hv go for smthing new …plz advice..