Happy System Administrator Day!

It’s the most exciting time of the year! The day that everyone has had marked on their calendars for months!

…No, it’s not Christmas. It’s not the fourth of July…or Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s day or even National Chihuahua day.

July 29 is System Administrator (SysAdmin) day!

Wait—you didn’t know? Well, you will never be able to say that again, after reading this ultimate guide to the celebration of SysAdmin day.

Where did it originate?

On July 28, 2000, Ted Kekatos (a system administrator) came up with the idea to celebrate the (often overlooked) job of a system administrator. Over the years, on the last Friday of July, the little-known holiday has built a steady momentum. In fact, several international companies now recognize the event with various contests. There is even an official song.

Why do we celebrate?

Whether it is resetting your password, replacing your toner cartridge, helping with an email attachment or kindly reminding you to check the power cable, a system administrator often performs the tasks that keep your organization up and running. For instance, when a server goes down in the middle of the weekend, your SysAdmin is notified, and he or she goes to work.

A few do’s and don’ts for celebrating SysAdmin day

• DON’T send emails IN ALL UPPERCASE. The mail server will not recognize this as a sign of urgency and rush your message along.
• DO send them a nice email, e-card or even the classic head-nod/finger point combo of recognition
• DON’T call your SysAdmin for help, have him head right over and then promptly leave your desk to hit up a Starbucks
• DO consider removing a few of the 25 post-it notes covering your monitor and keyboard. While you’re at it, clearing the path between the chair and keyboard of all troll dolls, beverages and solar-powered dancing plants would be helpful, too.
• DON’T drop off a broken PC on the SysAdmin’s chair with no name, number or description of the problem while they’re at lunch. They may enjoy a good mystery, but they probably aren’t Sherlock Holmes.
• DO drop off baked goods and coffee for your favorite SysAdmin. Higher sugar and/or caffeine levels will most likely mean faster response times to your issue.
• DON’T blame your SysAdmin when your space bar ceases to work on your keyboard because you forgot to upgrade it. Plus, your SysAdmin was most likely not the source of the crumbs and Mountain Dew spills, either.
• DO feel free to stock your SysAdmin’s fridge with pizza and their favorite beverage, or order basically anything from thinkgeek.com.

In all seriousness, system admins are some of the hardest working people you will meet. No day or hour avoids them as a possible work time. They also work diligently to keep you up and running. Not to mention for every time they fix your blue screen, there are probably 100 other things they are doing behind the scenes to prevent other computer related disasters.

So, on Friday July 29, make sure you are ready to embrace the day! Take this new wealth of knowledge, channel your inner-geek, and party like it’s 00110001 00111001 00111001 00111001— (That’s binary code for 1999)!