What I do here at Washington University
My son needed a job description of why someone like me actually gets paid
a salary
to hang around the same university for so many years, so here is what I do,
what tools I use and how I help keep this place going.
Personally speaking, I love working here at Washington University, even though
I know I could have (and I have in the past) earned a much higher salary
working out in
the "real world". Here I can provide resources to help some of the world's
leading experts in the earth and planetary sciences in their efforts to learn
more about the planet we live on and the celestial bodies throughout the
universe. Plus I am providing resources to train future experts in the field at
one of the top research universities in the world. The environment here is
incredibly stimulating and always changing. I cannot think of a better place
to work for someone like myself who enjoys a host of different tasks and
challenges every single day.
My Responsibilities
- Number One and foremost is administering and maintaining our main
departmental Mail and Web server. This involves adding, deleting and modifying
users and their permissions and volumes they can access, as well as backing
up the system, checking on disk space and processor utilization, and making
sure all the services there are running properly (FTP, Samba, WebMail, SSH, X11, NFS, Sendmail/Procmail, clustering etc). Mail services especially
seem to need constant tweaking these days with the enormous volume of mail we
receive, the numerous ways we filter and forward mail, and all the many ways people access it. Some people here use POP3/IMAP clients (Eudora, Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird), many others use Web based e-mail (GMail, Yahoo! Mail,
Outlook.com or our local WebMail using WebMin), and some hardcore geeks use Pine on SSH sessions or even Sun Mailtool! I have to make sure everybody gets their e-mail or there is loud yelling and screaming.
Plus I must write Unix/Linux programs to monitor and maintain the systems and
configure everything to work properly in a secure but usable manner.
-
Next is maintaining all the other Linux and Solaris systems providing services
to the department. Some labs have folks that supports their systems, but I
administer the other systems either with other folks or as backup for other folks. At times I may be connected to a dozen different systems at the same time -- that's why it is nice to have a tabbed terminal emulator!
- I also maintain all the Ethernet and Wireless networking within the
department, activating network ports, maintaining the switches and routers,
assigning static IP addresses, adding devices to the DHCP server access list,
and adding, deleting and modifying DNS names for static addresses.
-
I configure, order and setup all the computer systems for people in the
department who want me to do it for them! It is always fun to buy new
computers for folks, so we can talk about how excited they were when they
received their first Mac SE, SPARCstation 5 or Pentium-II. It is great
to be in an area where new purchases keep getting cheaper and you are
always receiving better and cooler stuff! Sometimes I feel like Santa Claus
and it is not even my own money! People love getting new computer gear much
more than a new filing cabinet or a new stapler.
- I also setup and maintain all the networked departmental printers on our
subnet. I also order and replace all the consumables which has grown into
quite a monstrous task! I always try to find the best prices on supplies and
talk to quite a few vendors trying to sell us everything. It is hard to get
salespeople to understand the word "NO".
-
I support the classroom projectors, computers and multimedia systems for the
classrooms not supported by the Arts & Sciences Teaching Center. I also even
help in the Teaching Center supported classes when Mike or Alan are just too
busy to get here quick enough! I actually helped layout and specify the systems
in the departmental classrooms, especially 308 (the GIS computer classroom)
where I also help with all the systems in there (although now the main
responsibility is someone else's nightmare!).
- I maintain all the licensed software as well as all the free software
(which I always try to support more!), which the department purchases and
distributes to users. The world would be so much easier if everyone
just used OpenOffice.org, the GIMP, Thunderbird and Firefox on Linux. I am
the department's biggest Linux and open source software advocate and must say
the word "Linux" at least ten times a day to people. Plus it is a lot of fun
to constantly bash Microsoft since they are such an easy target.
-
I also provide all the day to day user support on an individual basis for
whoever needs it for every platform of computer, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS and
every possible version of
Microsoft Windows. I even occasionally perform
deep personal memory scans for almost forgotten knowledge of Windows 98, 2000
or NT
for folks still running those ancient systems. Yes, someone here is even running
Open VMS on an ancient DEC Alpha machine!
-
Working in a university, I also have the opportunity to share my knowledge with
other so I participate in both learning and teaching opportunities which is
part of my job. We are encouraged to listen in on classes and presentations,
and even asked to give presentations. Therefore, since I support the systems
used in giving classes, I often listen to classes and presentations to learn
what is going on within our department. I help lead orientation sessions, and
give presentations about computing, as well as helping to teach new students
and employees about how to use the systems and follow the procedures necessary
at the university. I do sit in the occasional committee and group meeting, but
it is nothing compared to my previous corporate position when I wasted countless
hours sitting in extremely boring management meetings. Some folks here must do
that, but not me!
Tools of the Trade
- My trusty Dell PowerEdge SC1430 server running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS -- This is my general desktop
system where I log on (using SSH) to all sorts of Linux systems (and even some
old Solaris ones)
through the department and administer them using the good old shell terminal or X11-based, or via Chrome or Firefox.
I also use it to VNC into various systems.
This box also acts as a data backup system and a squid web proxy so people can
log into our university services from home.
- My spiffy Dell Latitude D630 laptop running both
Ubuntu 14.04 and Windows XP (dual boot). I use this to
test wireless and wired networking, as well as use its built in RS-232 serial port (not so
easy to find anymore!) to connect to the console ports of our HP ProCurve switches, old Sun
boxes, RAID controllers, and other such devices with serial port consoles.
- My over 8 year old 17" Intel based iMac. Since I support Mac people
too I needed something running Mac OSX as a test platform. Plus it is good to
test web pages and such to make sure they look good under Safari as well as
under Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.
- An older Dell Optiplex GX520 running Windows 7.
Okay, I do need a full time Windows box so when people ask me a quick
Windows question I can try it out there. Otherwise I have to reboot my laptop,
or start up Parallels on my iMac or VMPlayer on my Ubuntu box.
- A $10 analog Multimeter. Hey, my undergraduate degree is in
electrical engineering after all! I test all sorts of things with my MM, from
laptop and printer power supplies to drives and motherboards.
- Another favorite gadget is my $15 IDE/SATA to USB adapter I bought
from CDWG which I use to
test any hard drive imaginable, and also to hook up any other IDE or SATA
device via USB to a Windows, Linux or Mac OSX system. It is incredibly handy.
- My favorite tool to mention, of course, especially to save Windows
machines is my collection of Linux LiveCD's. These are great for pulling
data off a dying Windows hard drive (FAT or NTFS), testing a Windows system to
see if a problem is hardware or software related, and changing the Admin
password on any XP/W2K/NT machine nobody can remember. People are always amazed
when I can break into any XP system using a Linux boot CD
(my favorite is the
Trinity Rescue Kit),
but that is yet
another joy of being a Linux freak
Hugh