I have a question for you Network Administrators...?

Question

I just started network administration in college, I'm having trouble remembering all the technical terms for things, such as all the different transmission media names, and the OSI model for an example. Is it easier once you actually start working with the networks or no? Do you learn better than the books? And finally, what do you think about it as a career?

THANK YOU

Answer 1

It's ALOT easier and ALOT more aggravating once in the field. Many books/magazines are worthless for actual running of a network due to nature and speed of change. It's a thankless career which preferably leads into higher "in the field" IT positions.

OTOH, you are the local God of whatever network you administer depending on level. Changing jobs as you learn is practically mandatory in order to increase pay, though. Pretty well sums it up, I think.

Actually, I currently have to be very careful of what I say and how I say it at work. Once trust is established, network admins have open access to all data on the network and on personnel PCs where a careless word can get people fired very quickly. Absolute trust is a requirement and not a privilege after building a network. aka, you trust nobody, and yet everybody trusts you.

Answer 2

Build your own network at home (unless you have access to one you can fool with elsewhere). Only needs to be 2 computers or so.

For me at least, doing the stuff hands on helps a lot. You won't end up using all the network stuff but will give you some mental framework to hang the stuff on.

For a career - I wouldn't start in that right now, too easy to get offshored.

Answer 3

working with anything helps you remember it, it is just a fact of life, the more you interact with something the easier it is to remember, same with people. i find hands on expertise to be the best eductional tool. as a career it is ok but hasn't recovered even a fraction of its hayday in the dotcom boom. also it a low barrier field to enter into as it is easy to learn. With that being said if you are very good or exceptional you will always find good to great paying positions however if you are mediocore then work might be elusive especially if you are not willing to relocate

Answer 4

our company uses Microsoft windows and all computers are networked together. The IT manager can tell what web pages you go to and what other sites you are looking at. My question is I work on sensitive issues for our company only the boss and I have access to these documents. Can the IT manager see what documents I have open on my desktop? Is he able to read the information in those documents? If I save a document on a thumb drive, and then open, can he still see it and read it? Thanks,