Do Linux Skills offer different job oppertunities

Hi Folks it has been a while hope everyone is doing good forthis new year. I started a new position and it is 100% Linux and a mixture ofCisco/Dell shop, so it is a large step from my 100% Window shops; however, I amat a crossroads in my IT career. I targeted this job for the exposure to Linux,and add production skills to my Cisco career path, but I am having a hard timegrasping some aspects of Linux.

Now I am suspecting this is due to the in-housecustom software I am supporting for this small 20< member company (baddevelopers – always changing installs and no documentation – real cowboys), yetI find myself a little disenchanted with my first production Linux exposure. So, not trying to start a flame-war – this is mainlydirected to Unix/Solaris and Linux admins in large corporations – Does Unix/Linuxskills offer different career possibilities then say Windows? How do largeenterprises use Linux and how does this differ from Window based career paths?

One item that drove me to this job, was the fact that I wastired just troubleshooting Active Directory and Group Policy – and just wanteda change. My current position deals with massive amount of video weather data,and using statistical analysis to predict changes, or trends. ++laugh++ a farcry from just Active Directory, and I am getting massive amount of exposurewith ZFS Jbod datastores and RAID/LVM build outs. Like I said, I am passing my feelings off to the cowboy environment,but since I am very new to Linux – how do Large Enterprises use Linux? Forexample: Stock Exchange, ebay, paypal, Amazon, hosting companies, etc.

In addition, will these skills make me more marketable toparticular industries? Example: defense, aerospace, government sectors, etc.And in my job/career searching experience – it always seems that high levelNetwork Engineering career positions (Cisco/Juniper) always require or want Linux/Unix skills.

Also, in the past, I noticed the high level network engineersthat I have worked with always have some Linux/Unix Certifications(Solaris/Oracle, SUSE, Red Hat, HP, IBM, etc).Like I said, little disenchanged with my Tech skills and position right now, and 2014 is my year to reinvent myself.Thanks team.

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Comments

JustFred

Good luck with your studies and take it easy.

kohr-ah

From what I have seen so far let me give what I've seen.

Juniper runs on a form of Unix so yes Linux experience is helpful and that is why a lot of those jobs ask for that.

As for what I've seen big companies use Linux for is:
Web hosting (big time)
DNS, DHCP, file servers, analytics tracking, databases just to name a few.

JustFred

I forgot to add some jobs require you to do a bit more than what you were hired for. You could be hired as a network engineer but the employer may also expect you to take care of their VMware, Firewalls, SAN and other stuff.

It happened to me and now i'm teaching myself Linux/Unix using CentOs and i'm learning BASH too. Will also try to learn Python when i have time.

bobloblaw

I have mostly a Windows background. From my experience, Unix/Linux positions pay substantially more than their Windows counterparts.

SixtyCycle

I think it depends on the location and industry also. Here in LA most companies who work in the movie industry require Linux engineers and they pay six digits, senior level of course.

jaz0nj4ckal

Thanks for all the comments, and input. Guess I am finding it hard to transition out of my 10 year Window’s roles, which related to developing and deploying HA Exchange and SQL cluster and AD architecture. Now I just feel a little lost at times.

But change is good, and it adds additional skills to the resume.

coralreefguy

Want more exposure, start off with your Linux+ cert. Covers a lot of different things that will help you put it your new role into perspective. From there, you can jump into a RedHat cert to help push you further into the inner workings of Linux.

JustFred

Look into LPIC1 and 2, That could also help you as its vendor neutral

UnixGuy

There is a difference between having "some Linux or Unix knowledge" and being a Linux and/or Unix specialist. It's a different career path. Yes some devices and cell phone software is built on some custom-made Linux but this is different than being a Linux or Unix Administrator at an Enterprise.

I have both Unix and Linux experience. There is a shortage of people with serious Unix/Linux experience, and the pay is not bad. The learning curve is not the easiest, but It's not rocket science either, so if you enjoy it and get the right opportunities to get real experience, then you can be become a Linux/Unix admin.

With regards to your questions on how difference businesses use Linux and Unix, you mentioned different sectors. For example, you said Amazon, I know that amazon have huge web farm, and they have cloud services too so your job will involve setting up servers and supporting AWS instances for different customers (each will have different requirements). You said stock exchange, will various financial services run commercial software like Oracle, ERP, SAP,..etc that usually runs on Unix or Linux. Defense/Military (depending on the location/department) definitely have Linux and Unix.

So it's your choice, if this is what you want to do, then just learn and get experience, and you will get good jobs.

I hope I answered your questions

NightShade03

Just to expand on UnixGuy's example...you also have field like DevOps were you get to be a sys admin and work with developers in order to help automate and orchestrate code flow. Definitely requires it's own unique set of skills as well.

jaz0nj4ckal

@Unixguy and NightShade03:
Thanks so much for your detailed posts and words of encouragement. I am pushing through my Linux skills and this job. In addition, I am trying to balance my CCNP and Red Hat studies. Like I said, I noticed the fields I want to target ask for greater Linux or Unix experience and/or certs. I feel like I am shooting myself in the foot if I do not just buck it up and get some Linux; however, my exposure so far has only been small shops. Due to the latter, these small shops use it because it is ‘free’. In addition, since these are small shops – I am not getting the expose to enterprise level deployments (central authentication, central logging, etc), yet I am trying to do these things at home in a built test lab.

One item I am liking to play with is: LVM, virtual RAID and snapshots with the new version in Red Hat/CentOS 6.5; however, there is so much more to that, which I need to learn

Can anyone share their Linux/Unix experiences? Since it is totally new to me, I am trying to understand shops and jobs environments that use it.

UnixGuy

@Jaz: My recommendation is if your role has more Cisco than Linux, then focus on the CCNP and get your hands-on experience on those Cisco devices first. Make it your priority. If you role is more Linux sysadmin type of role, then focus on the RHCE/LPIC certs. While you might end up in a generalist role doing little bit of both, the norm is usually professionals either specialise in networking or system administration. CCNA & RHCE if you are a System admin, CCNP & Linux+ if you are a network engineer. The world is you oyster