English for system administrators

17:00 – take part in a daily meeting

17:55 – don’t take an umbrella (according to a weather podcast)

18:00 – go home or go to the gym?

Chang _____ wake up at 8 o’clock. Chang _____ check emails at 8:50. Chang _____ upgrade servers at 9:30. Chang _____ be praised by the team lead after it. Chang _____ have lunch in an office or in a cafe. At 2 p.m. Chang and the development team _____ work together. Then he _____ take part in a daily meeting. At 5:55 p.m. he _____ take an umbrella. After work he _____ go home or to the gym.

14. Look at the situation below and make up your own dialogue. Don’t forget to use words and phrases from ex.7:

Today is 15.05. Max, chief technology officer (CTO), wants to give you a task to migrate services from on-premise server (on-prem.) into the cloud server with saving all data. Deadline – 17.05. You understand that you will not have enough time for it. You need to make a plan on what you are going to do and talk to CTO to prove that you need to have more time.

Now you know:

– how to talk about future plans and predictions;

– words connected with servers;

– how to apologize, ask for help and clarification, express your understanding and misunderstanding, appreciate for explanations.

Vocabulary:

Unit 5. Software

1. Look at the picture and answer the questions:

1) Which software do you see in the picture?

2) What types of software do you know?

3) Name software that you use every day.

4) Make up a «Top-10 list» of software that is essential at your work. Explain why.

2. Read the statements and say if you agree or disagree with them:

Branko: «Software makes my life easier because a lot of things are done automatically.»

Eden: «Software can be risky! I’ve heard stories of hackers stealing personal information through applications.»

Sofya: «I hate everything that is connected with software. Due to it, people became lazier and they rely only on software.»

3. Read the post and tick the ideas which are mentioned:

Greg

Every system administrator needs to have special software to close tasks faster. Today there’s an enormous quantity of such software and each company uses its own programs. I decided to write my personal list of must-have tools for better understanding of what you need to do at work.

To begin with, I’d like to start with Helpdesk – service for organising support activities for their customers. To have access to this software you (or your company) must be their client. In this case, if you have some basic questions but you’re short of time, you can write them in HelpDesk to receive an answer to help you with resolving an issue.

Secondly, one of the most popular open-sources is Ansible. It is used for configuration and is based on Python language. It’s very simple in using. Moreover, if you have a lack of knowledge of program languages, it’ll be easier for you to write a code in it than using some other software e.g. in Saltstack. Also, you can use it for a configuration of different types of systems and an integration with such tools as Kubernetes, Terraform, and Jenkins.

Next one in my list is Zabbix. It’s a nice tool for monitoring systems. Zabbix is quite complicated but at the same time flexible enough. For example, you can customize your own sensors for monitoring with the help of this software. But I strongly recommend you to read manuals before utilising it.

Fourthly, if you need a simple tool to manage all corporate devices, you can download cloud-based solution called Microsoft Intune. Especially Microsoft Intune comes in handy if you have a subscription in Microsoft Azure. It provides easy control and installation of updates.

Then, one of the tasks of sysadmins is an organisation of a secure «space» for keeping passwords. For this purpose, I like using KeePass. It generates passwords and temporary links for having an access to the passwords. Thus, it keeps passwords in safety.

Another important tool is Acronis. This software is vital to have secure operation systems backups. This one is more expensive than some of its analogues but it’s quite easy to configure and use it. Also, you can integrate it in different systems.

Finally, one of the best tools for remote connectivity in my opinion – Teamviewer. You can assist and control any kind of working process remotely from your device with this program.

I hope this information will be useful for creating your necessary toolkit for leveraging automation and optimizing your workload.

Greg mentioned software for:

4. Read the text once again and complete the summary:

There are ____ important software tools for a system administrator in Greg’s list:________. System administrators need them to ______close tasks faster. But each company uses ______because____.

5. Match the explanations with the words:

6. Choose the suitable words to complete the sentences:

1.How can we ______ this issue as soon as possible?

a. integrate b. monitor c. resolve

2.We don’t _____ to the Internet because of repair works.

a. have an access b. give an access c. take an access

3.I’ll ______ you in finding a good software for international calls.

a. assist b. leverage c. configure

4.Our department use some ______ software to create the website.

a. pay-source b. open-source c. close-source

5.You can _____ your phone by changing the theme and the size of shrifts.

a. resolve b. assist c. customize

6.We can _______ our resources to meet the deadline.

a. have an access b. leverage c. come in handy

7.I always ______ all important files.