Literature Review on "Computer Systems Administrator"

Literature Review 4 pages (1661 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Computer System Administrator

Systems Administrator

Computer systems administrator

A computer system administrator is a person employed by an organization to operate and maintain computer systems as well as computer networks (Henderson, 2009). They are also referred to as it system administrators or simply system admin. Computer system administrator is usually a member of an information technology or a communication department.

The responsibilities of a computer system administrator are wide and they vary from one organization to the other (Henderson, 2009). In most cases, computer system administrators usually have the responsibilities of installing and supporting servers. In addition, they also maintain servers as well as other computer systems and networks. It is also the duty of a computer system administrator to plan for and respond to computer systems, in case there are problems. Other responsibilities of a computer system administrator include project management for computer systems, supervising as well as training computer operators performing light programming and solving computer problems that are beyond the ability of the technical staff of the organization (Adelstein & Lubanovic, 2007). Demonstrating technical skills and responsibility in a blend, enables an administrator to perform his or her job well.

Most of the organizations usually employ a large number of peoples in jobs which are related to system administration (Henderson, 2009). In large organizations, there may be various positions within the computer system department. In smaller organizations, these positions may be shared by few system administrators. In other cases, there may be only one system administrator in an organization. Some of the most common positions of system administrator include database administrators, network administrators, security administrators, web administrators, computer operators, postmasters and technical support staff (Frisch, 2002).

Literature review

From a wide range of literature review, it is quite evident that computer system administrator as a role started a long time after the discovery of computers in the United States of America. This role became prominent after the development of personal computers in the early 1970s (Burgess, 2004).It was started because there was need for many organizations to have trained personnel who could maintain and manage their computer systems. It therefore became necessary for organizations to train computer system administrators in various positions (Henderson, 2009). As the use of technology rose in the United States as well as other countries, this role became more significant and many institutions of higher learning started offering it as one of the discipline.

The literature review that exists indicates that the role of computer system administrator was started by many organizations that were the first to embrace computing in their operations. This literature also indicates that the there was a great need for these organizations to train people who would be responsible for managing as well as maintaining their computer systems (Adelstein & Lubanovic, 2007). The role was created to carry out the duties of analyzing as well as identifying current issues associated with computer systems, introducing and developing new advancements in technologies, installing as well as customizing software and hardware in the system, documenting and configuring the computer system, troubleshooting any problem with the system and making sure that the infrastructure of the computer system is running well, among other responsibilities (Kizza, 2005).

Implementation of computer system administrator as a role involved the realization of the technical specification and software components of computer system through programming as well as deployment (Burgess, 2004). Many implementations of system administrators were existing for specific purposes of the organizations. Computer system administration through deployment of system administrators benefited, greatly from high levels of user involvement as well as support from the management. Participation of the users in designing and operating the information systems of the organizations came up with several positive results (Whyte, 2004). First, heavily involvement by users in designing the system resulted to more opportunities to customize the computer systems according to the requirements of the business (Burgess, 2004). Secondly, they are very likely to react in a positive manner when there are changes in the computer systems.

From some literature review, computer system administrator as a term is used to describe a privilege on security assigned to a user of a specific computer, network, server or an information technology system (Verma, 2009). A computer system administrator gets the permission to gain access to the computer systems. This enables him or her to perform high levels of manipulation and configurations of system features. For security purposes, the name of the system administrator or the entire administrators as a group is usually changed occasionally so that it becomes less easy to guess. This helps in reducing system vulnerability to system hackers.

Overall, it is evident from current research that the effectiveness of computer system administrators has been demonstrated conclusively (Verma, 2009). To date, it has been indicated to be more effective, especially at this period when most of the organizations are using modern computer systems for productivity. When considering results of progressive research in computer system administrators, it is evident that they have played a very vital role in ensuring that computer systems of organizations are in good condition and working properly, with accordance with the requirements of the organization.

Just as it was from the beginning, becoming a computer system administrator requires training as well as skills (Verma, 2009). Literature review indicates that most of the computer system administrators have a degree in a computer system related fields. These fields include computer science, computer engineering, and information technology and information system management. In other institutes of higher learning, there are computer science programs that are specific for computer system administration. Some review on literature indicates that the problem of teaching system administration in higher institutes of learning is that the industry as well as the technology changes faster than the coursework certification process and typical textbooks (Whyte, 2004). Moreover, due to the practical nature of the discipline and easy accessibility of open source server software, most of the computer system administrators teach themselves.

The role of a computer system administrator involves the interaction of computer systems in an organization and the ways people use them (Verma, 2009). This does not only entails the knowledge of computer operating systems plus applications, but also the software and hardware troubleshooting. Moreover, it entails the knowledge of the use of computers by various people in an organization. A wide range of literature review indicates that the most important skill of a computer system administrator is problem solving. The system administrator is usually on call when a computer system fails (Whyte, 2004). He or she must have the ability to diagnose the problem as quickly and find the solution to fix that problem.

Conclusion

This review has looked at the literature with regards to the computer system administrator. Under this, time when this role started and why this role was created has been put into consideration. In addition, how it was created as well as its implementation has also been looked at. With advancement in education, training, awareness, funding and resources of these services offered by a computer system administrators can bring a great contribution to great productivity in the near future (Frisch, 2002).

In conclusion, this review has looked at the various responsibilities of a system administrator. From this, it is clear that a computer system administrator plays a very significant role in managing the computer systems of an organization (Musumeci & Loukides, 2002). Through continuous training of system administrators with regards to changing computer systems, the computer systems of organizations will move to greater heights in the near future.

References

Burgess, M. (2004). Principles of network and system administration. Chichester: Wiley.

Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=JmOTwMrFGskC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Principles+of+network+and+system+administration&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mJD_UP6rNNSWhQfNsoD4Ag&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Principles%20of%20network%20and%20system%20administration&f=false

Frisch, a.E. (2002). Essential system administration: tools and techniques for Linux and Unix administration. Beijing [u.a.: O'Reilly. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=uRW8V9QOL7YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Essential+system+administration:+tools+and+techniques+for+Linux+and+Unix+administration.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CZH_ULLhEcm6hAeFnYGAAw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA

Henderson, H. (2009). Encyclopedia of computer science and technology. New York: Facts… READ MORE

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