"I've always been one of those take-it-apart-and-tinker-with-it kind of people."
System administrators are enjoying a new sense of importance these days. Responsible for the care and feeding of rapidly growing midrange, client/server environments, a well-trained sysadmin can make a critical difference in a company's ability to operate successfully. Don Nix has worked for over two decades in system administration, currently for the Information Services Division of Southwestern Bell in St. Louis. He recently talked with UniNews and offered a unique, hands-on perspective on today's system administration and the importance of midrange systems in a massive environment.
Only a few years ago, system administration was the place to start a career rather than build it. In a world dominated by proprietary systems and mainframes, a sysadmin's job was usually confined to routine tasks like installing new systems, doing backup, troubleshooting and upgrading software. Then came local-area networks, wide-area networks and open environments with multiple hardware and software platforms. These new environments provide more functions such as distributed data access, e-mail and groupware, but they also demand more administration to ensure that all the parts are working together. Sysadmins also have to deal with critical areas like network security, user training and rising maintenance costs.
Don's career is a perfect example of this evolution from basic mainframe tending to high-level system administration in a client/sever environment. He began working with IBM 360 and 370 mainframe computers in 1974 at what was then part of AT&T. In a short time, he was promoted to weekend supervisor for the mainframes.
Don says that working with mainframe environments was especially valuable because it broadened his technical knowledge, particularly in the area of communications and networking. "I worked in our network control center for the mainframes, so I was familiar with VTAM networks, IBM's Systems Network Architecture [SNA] and Token-Ring local-area networks," he says. "A lot of sysadmins these days might have worked on maybe one Unix machine, but they have no idea about communications. That knowledge is critical."
The 3B-20 machine was chosen in part, Don says, because its Unix platform permitted rapid development. "The developers said that they could do it [with Unix] real fast, and they did it, and everyone was amazed." Application development was especially important to a telecom company in the predivestiture days, Don says. "We were a unique creature. We might buy some sort of accounting or asset management package off the shelf, but for inventory and a lot of other areas, we needed to develop our own software." Huge inventory databases are needed in the telecom industry to keep track of everything from telephone switches to cabling, and the software supporting these databases was highly customized. "That was the advantage of a Unix environment," Don says. "It is easier to develop software for specialized, even single-server, solutions."
When asked what Unix platforms he has worked with, he laughs. "What platforms haven't I worked with?" He specifically mentions experience working with Sun Solaris, SunOS, AIX/6000, ATT PWB 3.0, ATT SVR4 and the Pyramid "dual-universe" system that ran both the System V and the Berkeley Unix variant on the same machine.
In contrast, the midrange world at Southwestern Bell is booming. "Every two or three weeks, someone around here is talking about moving their applications from the mainframe to the client/server environment," says Don. At the same time, he admits that midrange systems can be a challenge to manage because they are based on open platforms. "I find open systems so nonstructured," he says. "A lot of that has come about just from tremendous growth--it came about so fast that no one thought there would be environments like there are right now. But there are still problems in trouble management."
Accordingly, one of Southwestern Bell's top priorities these days is working on ways to structure both the operations and system administration of open, midrange systems. "In a mainframe world, everything is segregated," Don explains. "You have a database administrator, network specialists and so on. But with open systems, it's hard to define who has what responsibilities."
For Don and his colleagues, the solution includes revamping the help desk functions so that certain people have responsibility for only certain areas. In the past, he says, sysadmins were assigned to one machine and were responsible for everything associated with it. "Now you really have to specialize." His team also is looking into distributed system management tools, including alarm monitoring and possibly even distributed sysadmin functions. "We need a platform that will allow a central help desk to do a lot of the repetitive tasks," he says.
In addition, the recent telecommunications reform bill is having a major impact on Don and his work. The bill allows, among other things, greater flexibility in providing voice, data and image services among regional telephone companies, long-distance carriers, cable companies and other providers. "I think the bill is good for the industry," he says. "The increased competition will be healthy."
He mentions that his district manager, a man with extensive mainframe experience, has now become an advocate for midrange systems. Still, there are always new challenges in the life of a sysadmin. Sometimes other departments present a new system to Don and his team and say, "Here--install it." This naturally plays havoc with a sysadmin's budget. To deal with these unexpected arrivals on their doorstep, Don and his team now present a budget for system administration when other departments present their business case for new procurements. That way, sysadmin costs are built into the budget before implementation even begins.
"I think that's one of the most overlooked things in midrange systems today," Don says. "Namely, what it costs to run them day to day." With the growing complexity and importance of midrange systems, companies will be taking careful notice of these systems and the employees like Don who keep them up and running.