systems administrator

[thesimplecreator]

im 15 and a freshman and i want to be a systems administrator.
in my jr. and senior year i will be going to running start (college for students under 18 paid by the state )
and im wondering what classes i should take that would best qualify me for the job of a level 1 systems administrator? and would getting to learn how to use linux better help me out alot in this job? what are some things i can learn now that would help me with this job?

[daark.child]

Take any Unix classes you can find, but you should also consider getting some certifications. The LPI and RHEL exams are particularly well regarded. Using Linux on a daily basis also helps and experiment as much as you can.

[ryokimball]

My father was IS manager for some time not long ago, and his only schooling credibility was a few certifications (A+ and Cisco come to mind...). Heck, I was granted Admin rights to his work and my school based purely on the knowledge I had gained via proxy and osmosis (figuratively speaking...).
I say this not to say that classes and certifications are over-rated (on the contrary, they are a quick way to show your qualifications without actually showing your qualifications --which isn't always beneficial to our kind, if you know what I mean); I simply wish to point out that knowing what you're doing is the first and biggest step in getting where you want to go. To be honest, I think there's more to learn outside of the classroom when it comes to computers and Linux, although this might just be because I'm always around... technologically deprived people, even inside computing classes.

[Cabhan]

Many colleges have a major in IS, which is geared somehow towards a mix of Computer Science and systems administration stuff. So that may be a good way to start.

Having said that, I agree with what has been said: at the end of the day, your resume may help you get an interview, but what you can do will get you a job. If classes in administration are available, take them, but keeping working on your own and teaching yourself things that will help.

[thesimplecreator]

thx for the advice
should i learn any programming before then

[daark.child]

You don't necessarily need to learn programming, but a bit of perl and bash scripting may help in your job as a sysadmin.

[ls354]

thx for the advice
should i learn any programming before then

Let me recommend Some Cisco Networking classes and Linux classes, use Linux everyday and of course try to set up every single server you can running Linux just for testing. Don't wait for the school to teach you the basics, you are better than that. The programming is not required but it helps, that's if you want to.

Good luck don't rush in to things.

[Cabhan]

Just as understanding systems can help you program better, understanding programming can help you administrate better. This is particularly true for scripting languages (since these are easy to use to wrap commands in new and exciting ways), but you would not go wrong in learning a bit of programming.