Systems Administration at the Graduate Level: Defining the Undefined

Abstract

Systems administrators are to computers what a primary care specialist is to the human body. Their responsibilities include diagnosis, prescribing solutions, dealing with the challenges of aging to name but a few. They are a primary line of defense in maintaining system health and must be vigilant in identifying, classifying and removing a variety of threats. They have been needed since the dawn of computing and are everywhere in every business, industry, organization and market sector. Despite the critical role of systems administrators in our technological lives, the role of a systems administrator lacks a precise definition. In the context of education, what are the knowledge areas and skills required of systems administrators? How can these be taught and to what end? In this paper we present a senior/graduate level course in systems administration that has evolved over a three-year period. We include an instructional methodology, course outline and suggestions for lab content. We conclude with our observations and future plans for course development.