Getting into the Server side of IT Business

Kenji the Uke · June 7, 2016

So.. Ive been getting more and more into server stuff (Still very much new to it) and while working for a new walmart, I was always watching and talking to the IT guys who were installing and setting up the servers. It really intrigued me. SO I CAME TO MY FAVORITE FORUM FOR SOME QUESTIONS!

1. Where do I even begin when it comes to learning?

2. What is the positions official title?

3. What would you guys recommend, end-goal wise for the best experiences as well as pay. I know that pay isnt everything, but its still important information.

4. Is externship even a thing, like can I shadow people while they install servers/is that even the side of the business i want to be on?

(Will be updated as answers come and more questions pop up)

dalekphalm · June 7, 2016

11 minutes ago, Kenji the Uke said:

So.. Ive been getting more and more into server stuff (Still very much new to it) and while working for a new walmart, I was always watching and talking to the IT guys who were installing and setting up the servers. It really intrigued me. SO I CAME TO MY FAVORITE FORUM FOR SOME QUESTIONS!

1. Where do I even begin when it comes to learning?

2. What is the positions official title?

3. What would you guys recommend, end-goal wise for the best experiences as well as pay. I know that pay isnt everything, but its still important information.

4. Is externship even a thing, like can I shadow people while they install servers/is that even the side of the business i want to be on?

(Will be updated as answers come and more questions pop up)

Well the first thing you want to ask yourself, is what particular side of "Servers" do you want to work with?

Server/Network Administration?

Hardware installers?

etc

Basically, you need to either go to College/University, or get certified (Microsoft or Linux certs in particular). You need to learn the basics of installing and configuring a basic Windows Server installation, or a Linux Server installation - depending on which field you'd like to specialize in.

Windows Server pretty much dominates the business environment, as far as the "user control" side of servers, whereas Linux dominates Web Servers, and some ultra-specialized servers (Eg: Most Library Servers (ILS - integrated library system) run custom software and SQL databases on a Linux box).

It's definitely useful to learn both, but unless you know you want to specialize in one vs the other, I'd highly recommend starting off with Windows Server, to get yourself going.

Then there are the advanced Server configurations and administrations - of which there are dozens of varieties - eg: Microsoft Active Directory/Domain Controllers, DNS, Web Servers, VPN Servers, etc, etc, etc.

If you are still in high school, then start by installing VMWare or VirtualBox, downloading the ISO for Windows Server 2012 R2 (180 day free trial), and the ISO for your Linux Distro of Choice (Ubuntu Server and Debian Server are pretty popular), and creating a VM for each. Install both of them with the defaults, and start playing around.

You'll want to take any and all computer science classes that are offered by your school, especially if they offer network/server related ones (Often, they just look at programming, which can be limiting).

Once you start looking at Colleges and what not, you have a lot more options. You can take network admin, server admin, generalized Computer Science Bachelors degrees, etc. You can of course study lots online, and once you are in College or University, you can sign up for Microsoft Dreamspark, which gives you a ton of licenses for free (free as in forever, but you have to request the keys within 2 years of graduating I believe) for various Microsoft software, including Windows Server.

You would also do well to take the various Microsoft certifications, and take some Linux certs through something like CompTIA.

As for income? In IT, right out of school, depending on what level of school you went through, you can expect to start somewhere between $30,000/year and $45,000/year (This is assuming CAD or USD). The upper limit can be over $100,000/year, depending on your skillset. A good Server Admin can easily earn over $70,000/year, but you need like 5+ years experience before you should expect any salary like that.

Can you define "externship"? Never heard that one. There are definitely opportunities for Internships (You get hired for basically nothing, and often start by doing shitty/menial work, but you have the opportunity to learn some awesome stuff along the way).

As for volunteering to shadow someone? Likely you will not be able to do that and get paid for it. You could possibly do so for free (Actual volunteering), but you'd have to build relationships and networking with people. You need to know someone who is willing to let you tag along. They need to trust you to at least some degree, since even during the install phase, you may be exposed to sensitive corporate data, such as usernames and logins, IP addresses, etc.

I would say that normally, such an opportunity would be hard to come by. Most colleges and universities have Co-op placements though, where you find work with a company for 3-6 months.

Alexcalibur · June 7, 2016

bump

BOT Edward · June 7, 2016

@dalekphalm has it nailed down.

as someone who has worked in infrastructure and wintel I can agree with everything he said.

Do some Comptia + studies, focus on network+ and server+, you could also do cloud+ as Microsoft Azure is the "goto" cloud platform for many businesses.

Kenji the Uke · June 8, 2016

21 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

-snip-

Wow. That was freaking incredibly detailed. That definitely helps and if I could, I'd spam that informative gesture button! THANK YOU! I'll definitely start studying while saving up for classes