Anyone In Tech Support

[Bonsai]

Welcome to the crazy world of IT.

Good luck on your journey of IT study and experience.

Took me a while but I got most study completed.

Associate Diploma

Bachelor IT Griffith Brisbane

mcp, mcsa, mcse, mcse + Security, mcse + Messaging

RHCT & RHCE

And now I am studying for CCNA for the fun of it the exam is coming up real soon.

If your stuck for some advice/material/resources i could have a thing or two lol.

Prepare to get your hands dirty with linux and redhat. Lets put it this way see all I have completed and about Ten Microsoft exams.....Well nothing stacks up to Linux study and the RHCE exam its one SOB.

I applause anyone who can complete this exam. I work with people who have MCSA MCSE and i don't think very high of them at all.

One big thing while waiting for right job to come along it does not hurt to keep studying and learning new skills and sitting the exams it shows through on your resume for your next job interview. Good places like to see a mix of both.

[paulr33]

dude an old pc junker on ebay will be like $50 at the most

dual boot will be very annoying and youll get mixed up

youll find it much easier and more friendly learning on another pc

that way you can trash, load it, read shit when you run into trouble etc etc

with dual boot if you get stuck youl have to reboot, read a few bits

then reboot again, or print it out, and you cant search for errors and other shit

$1

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Dell-OptiPlex-GX110...1QQcmdZViewItem

$1 full system with screen

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Intel-Pentium-3-499...1QQcmdZViewItem

$1 full system

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Compaq-Presario_W0Q...1QQcmdZViewItem

lots and lots of junker systems on ebay that will run linux fine

if you want a junker to run 2000,2003,2008 server get a penitum 1.3ghz'ish and around 256mb minimum

you could even pick up an older dell poweredge junker server for a $200 ish

[agentx]

hey Paul, i've managed to get dual boot to run now! Installed ubuntu in the end and got the device drivers etc working. I'll still get another rig and connect it to my HD tv i guess so i can practice within my room, otherwise i have a computer in the other room which i can access anytime ... and another one in another room lol.

But in the end what i've decided to do is ... i'll apply for a couple of graduate positions, and a few tech support (phone) positions and get in whereever i can. And on the side, i'll keep practicing linux and windows servers at home most nights ... and then do a couple of qualifications (MCSE, CCNA etc) on the side. I hope this is a good way to get into the jist of things

Wish me luck, and once again tons of thanks for the guidance.

[_Ryan_]

i dual boot atm, need to add another HDD so i can give linux a go... gonna get into IT when i go back to work.

paulr33, what do u do?

[Redback]

I work with people who have MCSA MCSE and i don't think very high of them at all.

havent you completed these your self..... and in no way would i hire someone that isnt a team player..... as above.

social skills rank very highly on my list.... as finding "geeks" with good social skill can be a problem..... the unsocial skilled people are the ones who cram a million certificates into there 20 sec introduction about them selves.

just my 2c worth.

As for CCNA. you get an exam every module..... the big one at the end of the coarse is done in a controlled enviroment... and a few years ago when i completed it you either walk out in less then half hour or you fail. they give you a pool of questions... and what ever ones you get wrong they focus of them for another 100 questions or so. on top of that some answers have to be typed..... CCNA is no walk in the park.... study well and it can be.

Edited May 19, 2008 by Redback

[paulr33]

im currently looking for work, was technical manager at dodo internet for about 7 years

[agentx]

im currently looking for work, was technical manager at dodo internet for about 7 years

I'm sure it'll be a whole lot easier for you to find one Good luck with it!

as for me ... i think i'm going to do away with ubuntu 8.04 as it has a couple of bugs here and there and i'd like a more stable version. And also ... i've found it to be a bit too straight forward haha. What dist would you guys recommend?

I'm still a bit new to linux, so don't exactly know how distributions work ... e.g. Redhat is a distribution but fedora is a sub division or ?

In uni, we worked around with SUSE, i didnt mind that at all, should i get that?

cheers

[Bonsai]

Just a tip, or should i say a big tip depends how you see it.

I have RHCE and I have MCSE + Security + Messaging and know heaps of Networking and i can tell you now that if you live in Australia and looking for work 90-99% work is in MCSE related. Linux is very small market and ISP will have a great deal more work with linux.

If you want a J.O.B get a MCSA = 4 exams or MCSE = 7 exams or even MCP = 1 exam will get your right foot in the door. MCP is much much easier.

I did RHCE to prove something to myself and as a challenge. I have two freinds that want to get RHCE because I have it and its killing them. Both have CCNA and MCSA. both are god dam geeks. both talk them self up and i tell them go sit a Redhat exam and they walk away with there tail between there legs. Anyway best thing to do is to get a IT job and study on the side it never ends in IT.

It took me 3mths 14hrs per day 6 days per week to pass that RHCE exam that was with no linux experience @ ALL.

I would have sat my CCNA exam by now but i spent too much time and money on my GTR, travel, and girl, ak me again in a short few months and I believe I will have it nailed.

don't forget rome was not built in one day.

Cheers and good luck.

[paulr33]

well ive just found a role and accepted it - so all good

yeah like i said before stay away from the window style linux os's

they teach you nothing, its all just wizard style installs

download slackware 10 or 11 and install it

i bet youll run into a few hurdles, good learning curve too

[DogKnight]

Congrats on the new job Paul, can I ask what you'll be doing?

[paulr33]

network operations team manager for telstra

its an awesome role, massive oppourunity

[fuzzy_scuz]

In my degree I done a CO-OP year at my Uni and work level 1,2,3 on a NT 4.0 domain, creating 3 thousand accounts every month and making accounts inactive, got to support all my lecturers as well, it was a good grounding for the real world.

From there went to Senior Desktop, at Transport SA (I know moved from Vic for various reasons at the time) Developed SOE's on Compaq HP hardware using windows 2000, then while in SA took a pay cut to do a systems Admin role with Windows 2000 server and upgrade from NT 4.0 to 2000 AD and upgrade from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000, worked myself out of the job as I had scripts fixing the network up and implemented GPO to lock down the desktops. In the end we parted ways very happy. At that stage I finally finished my degree after 3 years part time study

Bach of Business in Computer System Support at Victoria University.

Moved back to Melbourne and got a Job at a Software development company playing with all the latest technology at the time 2003 server and exchange and upgarded all internal systems and implemented a stable environment. from there I was doing technical design for the software solution around security and implementation in IIS 6.0 and SQL 2005. While there I decieded to get the following:

MCP, MCSA+Messaging, MCSE and CCNA

Now I work with a Multi National as a Systems Engineer and further grown my skill base. I now manage 240 servers and 3000 desktops and responsible for Domain and Exchange design for the whole APAC region.

[DogKnight]

Matt, you forgot to add something to the end..... /end_brag

[agentx]

ahaah kool. So i guess i'll keep applying to grad jobs and tech support jobs and get in whereever i can ... and then worry about the other qualifications later.

oh and ... can anyone comment on this ...

"I'm still a bit new to linux, so don't exactly know how distributions work ... e.g. Redhat is a distribution but fedora is a sub division or ?

In uni, we worked around with SUSE, i didnt mind that at all, should i get that?"

and also, which windows server should i download to have a crack at? 2003 or 2008?

Cheers

Edited May 20, 2008 by agentx

[paulr33]

all of them are distributions of "linux"

there is redhat, suse, slackware, debian and so on...

fedora is a version of redhat, much like 2003 server and nt4 server are versions of windows

redhat versions have specific codenames, like ferdora and so on...

all the guys who make redhat or slackware are doing is packaging common shit with linux

linux is the actual kernel and operating system. so if you use suse or redhat or slackware

they will all run the same kernel, ie: linux kernel 2.4.28 and common apps etc

but each will have their own style of "install shit" and games and other common apps

but you log into each OS the same way, have the same std tools and same common operation

ie they all have the same kernel, same boot method, same networking etc

i said it before, you should try a non-GUI based linux OS install

i guarantee youll face challenges installing it, and youll learn heaps

slackware is perfect for something like this - its a good learning style OS

2003 server is easy to learn and grasp and so on

once you are spot on with that, then move to 2008

2000 server is a bit similar as well, so might not hurt to learn it

[agentx]

ahh ok. yea had a fair idea of the linux structure. i'll download slackware and debian tonight. Will install them on the shitty rig i bought . windows 2003 and 2008 are on their way. I've already played around with active directory etc in windows 2000 so will start with 2003.

thanks for the help again mate

[paulr33]

no dramas, get slackware happening and let us know how u go

[Bonsai]

I just wanted to update everyone I have now completed CCNA.

I still believe RHCE is worth its gold and creditinals and sets the standards for all other IT exam certifications.

I am now going to focus more on personal important things than stupid job rat race certs. If work had to pay me according to my certs they could never afford me lol.

[paulr33]

my main gripe with redhat is you dont learn the background lower level workings of linux

as its primarily a text based system redhat gives you the GUI fancy front ends to most stuff

so you never learn how to compile kernels manually, how to patch kernels manually

how to uncompile and build apps including debuggin make errors etc as redhat is all packages and GUIs

much the same with X windows front ends you dont learn the behind the scenes stuff

if i was teaching a linux course i would run it on a text only linux like slackware, debian etc

and skip all the gui junk and go straighr for the hard core stuff

in redhat the box just boots and all is ok

if something screws you up you run anaconda and stuff and it fixes it for you

theres no manual intervention for kernel panics, fixing stuff that doesnt load

manally injecting dirvers into the kernel, using things like modprobe and insmod etc

sure a lot of these are advanced topics, but thats how i would teach it

cos there will come a point where the Gui stuff may not work

and if you dont have the GUI front ends you could be lost

and stuff with no way out

[W0rp3D]

I second the suggestion to get a second pc, especially if you learning, no doubt you will be using linux sites a lot to find your way through, it will be a lot easier if you have 2 computers, have linux on one and use the other to search for information to solve your current dilemma, will be a pain in the arse if you have to keep booting between linux and windows to find solutions to your problems.

How often do jobs pop up for help desk, also whats the starting wage in one of those jobs?