Red Hat Systems Administrator
Red Hat Systems Administrators, who work on Linux operating systems, configure, implement, and deploy systems and take care of security issues, besides managing system backups and adding and removing users. They will be part of a team that handles daily tickets and devises and implements technology solutions.
They need to be good team players with excellent communication skills. Red Hat Systems Administrators also need to have an analytical bent of mind and competent problem-solving skills.
Some companies, however, need administrators to pass an agency background investigation before they start working for them.
Job Description
System administrators should have experience in managing one virtualization platform, such as KVM or VMWare or Hyper-V. They should understand TCP/IP, Active Directory, NTP, DNS, and DHCP, among others.
Administrators must install new Linux OS releases, configure, upgrade, patch, and secure servers. They install, patch installations, upgrade, and maintain Intel-based system hardware and software.
Administrators implement LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) web server configuration, which includes installation of all standard plugins, configuration, and SSL.
Administrators need to have experience in handling NFS, CIFS, and SMB permissions. They need to have the capability to build multiple servers simultaneously. Besides, administrators need to monitor systems, validate the integrity and accessibility of all server resources, hardware, systems, and key processes. They need to have knowledge of cloud platforms, such as Azure, OpenStack or AWS.
They need to review system and application logs, have experience in managing anti-virus solutions, as McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator or Palo Alto Traps, and be well-versed with scripting of Bash, PERL, Ruby, and Python. Administrators should be strong team players with knowledge of Java, Tomcat, and JBoss software applications.
Administrators create, maintain and update documentation. They also need to back up, retrieve, maintain, and migrate programs and data.
Finally, administrators must carry out hardware upgrades, performance tuning, and resource optimization whenever required and have experience with OpenStack environment and applications.
It would be helpful if they have knowledge of Oracle and MS SQL databases, and storage technologies, such as EMC SAN/NAS or NetApp.
Educational Requirements
Administrators require a bachelor’s degree in information systems or computer science or related discipline along with a strong understanding of the Unix-based operating system. If they are conversant with Cisco switches and Netbackup and database knowledge, it would be beneficial.
Proficiency in scripting in Shell and Rails would give them an edge over their peers.
It is useful for them to gain a certification in Red Hat Certified Systems Administrator (RHCSA), an entry-level certification linked to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) system. On the other hand, Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) is a mid to advanced level certification of the RHEL. As with RHCSA, RHCE gives practical experience with essentials, networking, security, and administration of the Linux operating system.
If one gets an RHCE credential, which is valid for three years, the individual will know how to provide particular types of network operability, set kernel runtime parameters, and manage different types of system logging, which is essential for experienced administrators.
Future for Red Hat Systems Administrators
Despite their core competencies in security and networking, administrators need to learn new tools and technologies. Experience in OpenStack, an open cloud computing platform, will make a world of difference in their careers, according to linux.com. System administrators would stand to gain if they keep themselves abreast of security and emerging networking skills, it adds.
Red Hat is said to have provided efficient, sturdy, and reliable solutions to various types of verticals globally. To top it, IBM, the information technology behemoth, announced in October 2018 that it was planning to acquire Red Hat in order to foray into enterprise multi-cloud world. With this development, many more opportunities will open up for Red Hat system administrators.
Salary
The average salary of a Red Hat Certified Systems Administrator is $82,000 per year in the United States, according to payscale. Freelancers can earn up to $32 per hour.
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