4 ms·

I would argue against this in the IT industry, but I'm a SysAdmin and we're not known for common sense when it comes to working hours. Lots of other sense, sure

I would argue against this in the IT industry, but I'm a SysAdmin and we're not known for common sense when it comes to working hours. Lots of other sense, sure, but this? Not so much. In seriousness, I would like to see less of this. After working through most of my career this way, I would change it, if I did it over. To new SysAdmins or just hard-headed senior admins like me: It will still be there tomorrow.

rafaelmn 3y ago
Haha if there's one role I steer clear then it's anything OPs/admin related - no shortage of ass clenching situations where your job/product/the entire company might not be there tomorrow.
- sonicanatidae 3y ago
  We mitigate this by being prepared. We keep things running well, with lots of likely needless PM. The problem is, you never know what PM is needless until the need arises. We also usually have plans for getting things up and running again quickly, because revenue stops when the info doesn't flow. But, even with all of that, we still pucker sometimes and develop weird habits. One of mine is not looking at a server booting, after a serious repair with a 50/50 shot of working. Somehow, in my mind, the chances of it working are improved based on whether I'm looking at it or not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I ain't changing anything either. I've had some systems that I managed to literally raise from the dead and they booted, in part, because I wasn't looking at the screen during boot. I will accept no other explanation for the results.
BossingAround 3y ago
> we're not known for common sense when it comes to working hours Sorry, what does this mean? As in sysadmins are notorious for non-stop working? (I've never been a sysadmin and I don't know any sysadmin tropes.)
- sonicanatidae 3y ago
  Yes. We work normal shifts, but also, the very best time to work on servers is after hours/holidays, etc. so we tend to work a lot of both. We also tend towards ownership of the gear, so it becomes a little personal. It's also a bit of professional pride. I worked as the Director of IT for 3 hospitals over my career in acute care. I maintained 99%+ uptime on these systems, since this is acute care. I'm proud of that, but man that was a lot of work.
  - ecshafer 3y ago
    Sysadmins and “1 man it shops” are tough because most people in business dont give a shit until its broken. Its a classic “it works fine why do we pay you?” Or “its broken what do we pay you for anyways” situation 95% of the time, its lose lose. If you are sales you work hard and bring more money, engineer work hard and deliver product faster. Ops just works hard to keep things alive, its very under appreciated by business. I say this in no way to be dismissive of ops, if anything i am negstive of many management types, especially in non tech companies, that under value their ops teams. More sysadmins should do a strict 40 hour work week, ask for overtime and paid on call.
    - sonicanatidae 3y ago
      Late in my career I started focusing on balancing life and work. I still work additional hours, but I've worked out some comp time. If I work 8 hours on the weekend, I take Monday off. Ok.. Some of Monday..lol I saw an MST3K a long time ago with a line that I've remembered ever since. Caveman Times, old man in a cave, laying on a rock, noise outside, and the old man rushes out of the cave. The MST3K guys overdubbed, "It's always something with this Tribe". That quote is SysAdminLife, imo.

rafaelmn 3y ago

Haha if there's one role I steer clear then it's anything OPs/admin related - no shortage of ass clenching situations where your job/product/the entire company might not be there tomorrow.

sonicanatidae 3y ago
We mitigate this by being prepared. We keep things running well, with lots of likely needless PM. The problem is, you never know what PM is needless until the need arises. We also usually have plans for getting things up and running again quickly, because revenue stops when the info doesn't flow. But, even with all of that, we still pucker sometimes and develop weird habits. One of mine is not looking at a server booting, after a serious repair with a 50/50 shot of working. Somehow, in my mind, the chances of it working are improved based on whether I'm looking at it or not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I ain't changing anything either. I've had some systems that I managed to literally raise from the dead and they booted, in part, because I wasn't looking at the screen during boot. I will accept no other explanation for the results.

BossingAround 3y ago

> we're not known for common sense when it comes to working hours Sorry, what does this mean? As in sysadmins are notorious for non-stop working? (I've never been a sysadmin and I don't know any sysadmin tropes.)

sonicanatidae 3y ago
Yes. We work normal shifts, but also, the very best time to work on servers is after hours/holidays, etc. so we tend to work a lot of both. We also tend towards ownership of the gear, so it becomes a little personal. It's also a bit of professional pride. I worked as the Director of IT for 3 hospitals over my career in acute care. I maintained 99%+ uptime on these systems, since this is acute care. I'm proud of that, but man that was a lot of work.
- ecshafer 3y ago
  Sysadmins and “1 man it shops” are tough because most people in business dont give a shit until its broken. Its a classic “it works fine why do we pay you?” Or “its broken what do we pay you for anyways” situation 95% of the time, its lose lose. If you are sales you work hard and bring more money, engineer work hard and deliver product faster. Ops just works hard to keep things alive, its very under appreciated by business. I say this in no way to be dismissive of ops, if anything i am negstive of many management types, especially in non tech companies, that under value their ops teams. More sysadmins should do a strict 40 hour work week, ask for overtime and paid on call.
  - sonicanatidae 3y ago
    Late in my career I started focusing on balancing life and work. I still work additional hours, but I've worked out some comp time. If I work 8 hours on the weekend, I take Monday off. Ok.. Some of Monday..lol I saw an MST3K a long time ago with a line that I've remembered ever since. Caveman Times, old man in a cave, laying on a rock, noise outside, and the old man rushes out of the cave. The MST3K guys overdubbed, "It's always something with this Tribe". That quote is SysAdminLife, imo.