[SunHELP] Guidelines on the number of sysadmins need to support a server.

[Brian Dunbar]

On Dec 21, 2005, at 12:18 PM, Grindell, Joan M. wrote:

> Good afternoon,
>
> 	Is anyone aware of any guidelines that address the appropriate
> staff size based on the number of servers in the environment?  We  
> would
> like to know for example how many system admins are needed to  
> support a
> server taking into account the requirements for patching, monitoring,
> and securing a server.
>
> Many thanks,
> Joan

There is no good answer for this.  It depends on the server OS,  
hardware, applications that reside _on_ the server, experience level  
of the admins, level of vendor support and so on. It's a complexity  
thing - the more complex the network the more administrators.

However note that a network that is very large and complex yet relies  
heavily on automation for scut work needs few admins - yet you're  
advised to make sure these admins are smarter and paid better than  
(say) your average MCSE a year out of school.

A fellow named Mark Verber wrote some rough guidelines on this for  
SAGE titled 'How Many Administrators are Enough?'.  It is not  
inclusive - nothing could be - but might point you in the right  
direction.

http://www.verber.com/mark/sysadm/how-many-admins.html


Brian Dunbar
System Administrator II
Desk: (920) 751-3364
Cell: (920) 716-2027
brian.dunbar at plexus.com
http://www.plexus.com