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Re: System Administration Certification & Capabilities

At 05:58 PM 3/3/98 -0500, Andy Poling spake:
>> If you don't understand DNS, you don't understand TCP/IP?
>> That's like saying if you know perl, you know UNIX.

>Many times, when troubleshooting IP problems you need to check the DNS
>involved.  If you don't understand DNS, then you cannot properly verify that
>a fundamental part of most IP activity (converting hostnames into IP
>addresses, and addresses into hostnames) is working correctly and eliminate
>it as the problem.

   That's ridiculous. In a recent consulting SA job I administered a WAN 
that used /etc/hosts files INSTEAD of DNS. Their WAN used expensive 
satellite bandwidth, and they didn't see a need for the extra overhead 
of DNS for what was essentially a static network of a few hundered hosts. 

   TCP/IP has been around in its current form MUCH longer than DNS 
(which, as someone else correctly pointed out, uses UDP more often than 
TCP). A competent SA need really understand only what he/she is actually 
using. There are plenty of people around who can run a bind server without 
really understanding all the subtleties of the DNS protocol. 

>The real issue is whether you can effectively administer systems without
>understanding how they work.  I will always argue that you cannot consider
>yourself a SA (and certainly not a "senior" SA) if you do not understand the
>system that you're supposed to be administering.

   Your comment seems far more absolute than is really practicable. Do 
you mean to say that you should know by heart all the details of all 
the protocols being run on your system? That's unrealistic, and it's 
arguably a test that even you couldn't meet. (e.g. the difference between 
TCP and UDP--many people who are otherwise competent SAs would be unable 
to answer that one.)

--Bill



+--     Bill Weinman <http://www.weinman.com/wew/> is the author of    ---+
       several books <http://www.weinman.com/wew/books.html> and is 
     co-founder of WebMonster(tm) Networks <http://www.webmonster.net/> 
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