Improving your sysadmin skills while having fun?

Question

Is there a website or a distribution package designed to let you improve your sysadmin skills in a game-like and still useful way?

I had something like the programmers Project Euler in mind, that is a website with various puzzles. The puzzles should instead of math puzzles be something like: (1) recovering a corrupted hard disk, (2) repel a DoS attack, (3) setup the DNS, (4) ... and so on.

Answer 1

If you are interested in security there are a couple sites like HackThisSite, of course these are as related to programming as they are to IT.

I haven't really seen anything like that for IT, and I am not sure how useful such a site would be. With programming it is usually pretty easy to build a test environment. Just install a compiler, and a text editor on a computer and you can play around. With common IT tasks you a fairly complex test network to get useful experience.

In my opinion one of the useful skills an IT person can have is the ability to troubleshoot and work with people. Any person wanting to practice their ability to troubleshoot and communicate can logon to any support forum, IRC or Q&A site and try and help solve problems. Oh, and if you are doing it right it can be fun. :)

Answer 2

I've always set up challenges (or goals) for my home network. Computers can be had from the dumpster practically, and Linux runs on everything - as does BSD. Get some computers, network them together, and start rolling your own challenges. Here are some examples of what I've done in my own network in the past:

• Set up an Appleshare server.
• Set up an NFS server.
• Set up NIS and use it to authenticate Linux, UNIX, and Windows NT clients.
• Set up a web server caching proxy.
• Set up an Internet gateway.
• Configure a firewall using ipfw or using iptables (depending on host).

Also, install as many different kinds of operating systems and platforms over time. Put Yellow Dog Linux on that aging PowerPC Macintosh, or put OpenBSD on that old 68k Macintosh Quadra, or put OpenSolaris/x86 on that Intel-based system, or put FreeBSD on that Intel-based workstation. For extra challenge, put these operating systems on laptops: they are more unforgiving.

If you take to using old hardware, you'll also have plenty of practice in debugging problems (heh).

Another thing you might consider: use a virtual machine with snapshots available. Install a system into it, then take a snapshot. Once a snapshot is saved, then "destroy" your (virtual!) environment: delete all of the libraries, or delete all files, or overwrite the boot sector and reboot. How will you recover your virtual computer without resorting to the snapshot? Test yourself.

Answer 3

Search for and watch any webcasts/seminars with Jesper Johansson like Anatomy of a hack and the updated 2008 version ^^

(not sure how to directly link a teched webcast but, click here and then enter his name as search terms)

I've also attended a seminar by Kevin Mitnick which was actually surprisingly entertaining while still handing out some wisdom.

Security is always the most fun to learn, that's what I think anyway - and the seminar form will bring out the best in speakers who knows the topic and knows how to make it entertaining ^^ (sadly the best shows are usually not filmed, like when Jesper talks more indepth about building Windows Server 2003 and the problems with it)