Scranton
My position as LAN Administrator/Lab Analyst is to Support all public and departmental LANs and Labs on campus. The primary focus of my job is to provide a secure and trouble free network environment. I spend a lot of my time solving either application, operating system or network problems or sometimes even user problems. The types of labs vary from departmental workgroups to
I assist the Kania School of Management in Basis Administration of their SAP R/3 server as well as provide backup support for the Windows 2000 operating system and the Oracle database.
This mixed computing environment can be a challenge at times, but it is also very rewarding when staff or faculty call and you are able to help them solve their network or software problems.
I am currently a Microsoft Certified Professional in Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, Server, Windows NT Enterprise, and Windows 2000 Professional. I am also a member of the Active Directory group on campus. As a member of that group, I have assisted in the training requirements that will be needed for all administrators, as well as how Active directory will be installed, implemented, and configured on campus. This will also include what type of application support and security network infrastructure will be needed to support Microsoft's new complex network operating system.
As LAN Administrator my primary focus is to keep the Local Area Networks up and running at all times. I am constantly looking at ways to provide better response times to server requests, keeping administration to a minimum and providing a secure network. I configure and prepare all servers for the required departments and labs. This includes hardware RAID 1 and 5, UPS support, and centralized backup storage support to multiple DLT and SDLT tape libraries or external disk array.
I install all operating systems, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows 2003. I prepare all accounts and permissions as well as software packages to be installed on lab or departmental servers. I install, configure and administer all centralized backup operations on all network servers.
There are many things that we use as tools to make our job easier, faster and fault tolerant. I use mainly HP servers throughout our network for their reliability and support. They provide an excellent management software package called Compaq Insight Manager, which allows us to remotely monitor all Compaq servers on campus. This tool has given us the ability to predict failures and respond to those failures beore the client even knows that something has happened to their server. This is also done with the APC UPS equipment. We are able to remotely monitor whether the location that a server is in, is having power problems and the server shutdown the server automatically if the power is out for an extended period of time.
As Lab Analyst my primary focus is the overall stability and reliability of all Academic Labs on campus. I am constantly performing updates, to various software applications, hardware images and software images. The hardware images are created from a program called GHOST from Symantec.
We also use a program called Deep Freeze for the software imaging and rebuilding process for all labs on campus.
We strive to keep a consistent look and feel to all public and departmental labs. This makes for a homogenous environment across campus. We run a variety of workstation operating systems. They include Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP and a few versions of the Apple OS.
While class is in session, I play fireman, putting out the largest fires first until all fires have been put out and we have a safe and trouble-free computing environment. When class is not in session we are making changes to the desktops. This could range from just some minor upgrades to existing software applications all the way up to replacing and or adding systems to an already existing lab; or maybe even creating a new departmental lab.
I support a variety of software packages including, Windows 95 and 98, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Server, Windows 2000 Professional, Server and Advanced Server, Windows 2000 Terminals Services, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2003 Remote Desktop Protocol,
Palm OS 3.x, Windows 2003 Mobile SE, Compaq Insight Manager, APC Power Chute Business Edition for all Windows based servers, Microsoft Office 97, 2000, XP and 2003, Netscape Navigator 7.x, Firefox 1.0, Adobe Acrobat Reader, PowerTerm Telnet and FTP, WSFTP, RealPlayer, Media Player, QuickTime Player, Maple, Minitab, SPSS, McAfee Anti-Virus, and other specialized departmental applications.