Re: certification

[Gene Rackow <rackow@mcs.anl.gov>]

Hmmm, this debate is really going crazy.  Attempting to define what a
SA is will be very difficult.  This isn't a position like that of a
electrician, carpenter, or doctor, where there are years of history behind
what it takes to classify for that title.  Even then there are ranges
of QUALITY you get in all of those fields as well.  We are in a relatively
new field.  Consider what it took to be called a doctor 150 years ago.

If we polled the sites as to what their definition of an SA is, I'm
sure the range will be amazing.  I know we have machines on site that the
person in charge of it is at least a part time SA, part time scientist.

In part this is covered by the job description booklet, but even that does
not get into what the person ACTUALLY does, just what he should be capable
of doing.

I can see both sides as to what a SA would actually do.  I've been whatever
title you'd care to call me.  Something of a jack of all trades position. 
I tend to agree with Hal in that being a SA is more than just being able to
do the plug and play.  At least a good SA for me would have a fairly wide
knowledge base and willing to make it even wider.  If it really was just plug
and play, the very knowlegable service/sales techs at best-buy would be doing
our jobs, and we'd be doing something else.  The sales critters can easily
design a network with expansion space. ;-)

Is there a line that can be drawn between Systems Administration,
and Systems Operations?

Personally I see the bottom line as being "who is going to have
to find/fix/clean-up the mess" if it is not the SA.  

If hackers take over your web server, who is going to be called upon 
first to find out why?  Someone writting a web page for your site, 
or the SA.  So is web stuff an SA job or not?  I claim that the
basic understanding of it has become a necessity.  

You get some new web-writer into your site, and he starts making
wonderful looking pages full of obvious security problems, where
does he turn?  Who actually allowed the problems to be possible? 
I have not read many web-design books, but those that I have looked at
do not address security issues in any depth.  A good web design
person tends to be a cross of an artist and a technical writter.
An SA needs to have at least some basic understanding, and the
references to point these people at for what is going to cause
problems.

--Gene