I know experience is everything when it comes to IT. I have a basic understanding of servers, and have worked with them. I have a basic understand of AD, group policy, virtualization ect. But I would really like to sharpen my skills and really learn how to manage a server and workstations. I would eventually like to partner up with somebody, but I am afraid of what problems may come my way that I won't have answers to. At least if I can learn the ins and outs of servers, I would be able to point myself in the right direction of where the problem lies, as opposed to just googling it and praying somebody has an answer. I have a server that I can practice on, so I really am just looking for books or websites that can help me develop troubleshooting skills and help me get a much larger understanding of these types of systems. I normally just browse the forums and read responses from people on problems, which helps but I do get lost at times. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance guys.
Looking to learn
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daverichards
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DNS, learn it, love it, live it.
Get familiar with best practices, and there are a lot of helpful videos on YouTube
Get familiar with best practices, and there are a lot of helpful videos on YouTube
YeOldeStonecat
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MobileTechie
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As well as the above suggestions, i'd recommend doing microsoft MCSA or MCSE exams or at least some of the MCPs leading up to them.
I found doing exams forced me to look at it on a structured basis rather than just piecing together the ad hoc knowledge I'd picked up along the way.
If you can find a small client with an SBS server then that can give you a relatively low risk way of learning about the more common elements of a server set up.
I found doing exams forced me to look at it on a structured basis rather than just piecing together the ad hoc knowledge I'd picked up along the way.
If you can find a small client with an SBS server then that can give you a relatively low risk way of learning about the more common elements of a server set up.
Markverhyden
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In addition to the above look at using VM's. With the cost performance ratio of hardware these days you can buy, if you don't already own, a good desktop. Max out the RAM. Create the various server VM's to work on. You can keep snap shots of the virgin images to reload if you mess up an image. That is what I do for both Apple and Microsoft.
tankman1989
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This is a great suggestion. I would also suggest getting additional NIC's so ou can provision one for each VM that you are running. I much prefer to run a VM's network adapter in bridged mode vs using NAT as I can keep all traffic on the same network. The only issue with this is that you might need to expand the size of your current switch.
YeOldeStonecat
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Utilize Microsoft Action Pack subscriptions (hopefully if you're in this business you do have a subscription, right?). You get all those licenses for pretty much ALL of Microsofts products..for the purpose of learning and training. Use them!
I used to always run SBS at my house...build...rebuild...rebuild, fiddle around, do things on it, reorganize it, rebuild it, try this, try that.
...."repetition of hands on experience" is HUGE in learning.
I used to always run SBS at my house...build...rebuild...rebuild, fiddle around, do things on it, reorganize it, rebuild it, try this, try that.
...."repetition of hands on experience" is HUGE in learning.
Disposable_Me
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gah, omg, you don't do certs to learn things. You do certs to get more money.
You learn things by doing projects.
1. Install linux (I'd go with centos, it's the most common enterprise distro, but really they're more or less the same with a few minor differences)
2. learn vim/emacs, learn to network on linux (iptables, selinux, sudoers, ssh, ssh+keys)
3. get a web server running
4. make your webserver fast with nginx
5. make it faster with varnish
6. automate the crap out of everything using puppet
7. automate the crap out of puppet with Vagrant
8. automate the crap out of bare metal provisioning with Razor, which then installs puppet
9. build a redundant network share storage server (zfs nfs/samba)
10. monitor it all with omdistro
11. Count the monies you didn't spend on cert tests or microsoft licenses because it's all free.
And pat yourself on the back because now you have the skills to get paid over $30 an hour
You learn things by doing projects.
1. Install linux (I'd go with centos, it's the most common enterprise distro, but really they're more or less the same with a few minor differences)
2. learn vim/emacs, learn to network on linux (iptables, selinux, sudoers, ssh, ssh+keys)
3. get a web server running
4. make your webserver fast with nginx
5. make it faster with varnish
6. automate the crap out of everything using puppet
7. automate the crap out of puppet with Vagrant
8. automate the crap out of bare metal provisioning with Razor, which then installs puppet
9. build a redundant network share storage server (zfs nfs/samba)
10. monitor it all with omdistro
11. Count the monies you didn't spend on cert tests or microsoft licenses because it's all free.
And pat yourself on the back because now you have the skills to get paid over $30 an hour
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YeOldeStonecat
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yeah...the *nix market is HUGE! You'll have new clients beating down your front door when you advertise those skills...
...wait.....
At the moment I have a Poweredge 1950 blade server. I currently have a few VMs running using ESXi 5.1. I am such a noob when it comes to this VMware, but I have seen something about snapshots in ESXi. I am assuming your talking about within ESXi and not backup software right?
My blade server only has 2 NICs. What is the purpose of running in bridged mode vs. NAT? If you can elaborate on "keep all traffic on the same network" I would greatly appreciate it.
I have a friend who has lots of them, so when I need an OS or anything, I go to him. I was never aware of the Action Pack, although I have mentioned before how awesome it would be if they gave a discount to people like us. Are there any other perks to the action pack aside from having all that software? I will have to put some money together to invest in the action pack, although I don't see many people running the newer stuff in their offices just yet. I have been messing around with 2008 R2 and SBS for a while. I too rebuild often just to burn this stuff into my brain. But it gets to a point where I want to keep going, do other things. But I haven't found a tutorial that will walk me through this stuff. I can go in run a dcpromo, set up AD, set up a mailbox in exchange, very basic stuff. I want to be able to do more though. Things that my clients would want, and things that I may run into in this field. I don't want a client to ask me to backup their mailbox and I'm sitting there clueless. I have actually learned not too long ago how to do so, but I had to look it up. I'd like to find a book or website that will show me these tips.
I definitely want to improve my skills in Microsoft's products first. Once I feel comfortable enough, I will expand my horizon to other monsters. I do appreciate the suggestion. I will look into it just to get a better understanding of those.
Guys I just once again want to thank you guys for your suggestions. Like I said, I am still a noob but I really want to learn. It's tough to land an entry level position in this field here in NY with the amount of competition. It also doesn't help that I have spent all my time since I left high school 8 years ago in retail. I graduated with a bachelors in IT, even though it took 7 years. I jumped from major to major trying to graduate with something I thought my parents wanted. I changed because computers is something I have always loved. So basically the point I'm trying to make is that I have the drive to do this, but I need help because I can't find a job to teach me. Doesn't mean I have stopped looking. But this will help me while I continue to search. Thanks again guys.
MobileTechie
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I did certs to learn and I learned a lot. I cannot think of a single business I deal with or that I've call on that uses linux.
