Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of an organization’s computer networks. They organize, install, and support an organization’s computer systems, including local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), network segments, intranets, and other data communication systems. Being a System or Network Administrator of a large computer network can be a difficult, and time consuming task. It is not as simple as people might think. Yes, once it is all running well, the life of a Network Administrator may seem easy, but when things go wrong, it can be a living hell. Network Administration is more than just simply connecting a whole bunch of computers together; it is a full time role to ensure that those critical servers and applications remain up almost 100%. As a Network Administrator, your role is to essentially build (integrate existing services), maintain, and upgrade a network of computers, devices, and servers.
If you (or the previous System and Network Administrators) get the build phase right, maintaining and upgrading the network in the future will become much easier. You have to carefully plan your requirements and plan for future growth. In doing so, you have to keep in mind a number of things:
How many users will be using the system?
What are the network capacity demands?
What will the network capacity demands reach in the future?
What is the geological spread of the network?
What access controls do you users require?
What sort of devices and hardware do you require?
Desktops
Laptops
Servers (Web, File, Print, DNS, Backup)
Do you need remote administration?
How are you going to support your users?
If the above are planned well, future growth, maintaining and upgrading the network will be much easier. Just remember to analyze your