In early 2017, I joined the web hosting company HaiSoftfull of self-taught sysadmin and web knowledge.
Problem: It's extremely difficult to get anyone outside the industry to understand what this business is all about.
From questions like "What's a web host?" to "What do you actually do?", there's plenty to clarify.
So let's clarify.

Received ideas

No, I'm not:

• Computer scientist (that's almost as vague as "doctor", in what, philosophy, particle physics, general medicine?).
• A troglodyte
• Pirate (you can use a computer legally too, you know...)
• A turtle that eats pizza and drinks Coke with every meal (as with everything, in moderation).

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To understand what I'm doing, you first have to understand what I'm proposing. HaiSoftmy employer.

Presentation of business sectors

What is a web host?

You are currently visiting my website lrob.fr. This name, "lrob.fr", is a domain name, just like google.com, materiel.net, linkedin.com, and so on.

Anyone who can reserve a domain name with a registrar for a renewable period of 1 year.

Although it is not compulsory, the aim is generally to create an associated website and possibly associated e-mail addresses, for example the site https://www.lrob.fr (note that "www" is a convention, it is not mandatory), or the e-mail address exemple@lrob.fr (don't look it up, this address really doesn't exist).

If, tomorrow, you want to open your own website, or even your own web agency, you'll need to call on the services of a specialist. web host as HaiSoft.

L'web host has its own servers located in a datacenterservers that are configured to serve websites and send/receive e-mails.

Generally, a web host will also be registrarwhich means you can reserve your domain names. To which you can add your web hosting to host your site's content. Finally, you'll add a mail hosting if you wish to have your own @yourdomainname.tld e-mail addresses.

For hosting, we exclusively use Linux and the control panel for easy and efficient management of accommodations is Plesk.

Server, datacenter, do you like it?

A server (computing), is a computer on which a system has been installed to provide services (e.g. websites or email services).
In the context of a datacenter server, the machine will generally be in "rackable" format and placed in "server bays", to allow a high density of machines, as shown in this photo:

A datacenter is a large, securely-accessed, climate-controlled facility with back-up power and a reliable, generally redundant, high-quality Internet connection.

Some examples of racks and racks containing rackable servers:

What does the support part involve?

While managing a website is often straightforward for experienced users, it remains a vast domain, with many interacting services, numerous parameters, many security features, and many technical elements that can generate misunderstandings on the part of users, and therefore a need for support.

A web host, like any self-respecting service provider, has a duty to provide user support so that its customers can enjoy their services whatever the circumstances.

At HaiSoft, we are accessible by ticket from the customer area (a secure internal message system) or by telephone. For simple requests or assistance, this is done by telephone. For anything requiring more research, or involving major modifications or the transmission of confidential information, we use the ticket system.

Requests can be simple or complex, and here are a few examples:

• I can't connect to my customer area? -> Resend login details.
• My site is inaccessible -> Diagnosis/correction
• I'm trying to switch my site to HTTPS, I have a certificate error -> Send documentation
• I've had a bug on my site since the update -> Diagnosis/advice, possibly restore backup
• I can't connect my mailbox to my iPhone -> Send documentation, possibly guidance by phone or ticket
• I have a bug on my site when I add an article -> Diagnosis/advice/correction
• My site is being attacked by robots -> Diagnosis/advice/security implementation
• I accidentally deleted data -> Restore backup
• I've entered the wrong password several times, my site is inaccessible -> Unblock in the security system

The list could be very long, but I don't want to get too technical or specific here.

Lastly, the support technician may be called upon to draw up customer documentation such as the wiki HaiSoft.

What is a sysadmin?

The sysadmin or "system administrator" is in charge of server management and IT infrastructure. At a web hosting company, the division of tasks may vary, but it can involve a wide range of activities, from network arrival to diagnosing the use of resources on the customer's server.

To do this, the sysadmin will not only travel to the datacenter to install/repair/upgrade the infrastructure, but will also use its administration tools, which are generally :

• Administration panels at his disposal.
• Monitoring, to check for any malfunctions in real time.
• SSH consoles for command-line connection to the server, which is often the only or best way to manage server configurations.

What is outsourcing?

As its name suggests, facilities management is simply the management of an IT system.

HaiSoft has its own infrastructure, used in particular for shared web hosting (entry-level offers, for small independent sites), and is therefore responsible for its outsourcing.

But customers can also have their own server. (virtual or dedicated)if they need more resources. For example, a web agency with a large number of sites, or a large e-commerce site, will prefer to use its own server.

With some server hosting companies, customers manage their servers independently. At HaiSoft, on the other hand, all our servers are managed - and that's what makes us so special. As a result, servers are delivered ready to use, pre-configured for web hosting, and server evolution is monitored and maintained by us.

In this context, this means that we, as outsourcer, manage the hardware and software that run the customer's web services (website, emails).

Our "typical" customer, interested in these managed services, is generally: either an individual or a self-employed person managing his own website, or a webmaster, or a developer, or a web agency, or a web-development agency, and so on.
You need to be able to adapt to the technical level of each customer to meet their requirements.

As an outsourcer, we provide the following services:

• Server hardware installation and maintenance (replacement in the event of failure)
• Server software installation and pre-configuration to meet specific customer requirements
• Server monitoring (to ensure that the server is running at all times)
• Software and hardware maintenance (repair in the event of end-customer problems or malfunctions)
• Server updates (security, functionalities)
• But also, and above all, responding to customer requests and providing customer advice (how to run an application, how to size your server, best practices, setting up configurations specific to your application, etc.).

In concrete terms, here are the types of requests we handle as an outsourcer:

• I'm launching an advertising campaign and I'm expecting 100,000 visits a day next month. How can I be sure that the server will hold up?
• I'm installing a new application, and it requires the latest version of the MySQL database server. Can you schedule the update?
• I'm connecting to an old service that doesn't support the latest security standards. Can you adapt the configuration to make it compatible?
• I need a bigger server. Can you arrange for all my services to be migrated to a new server?
• I'd like to take advantage of the latest features. Can you update the Plesk control panel and the system?
• What are the implications of enabling automatic updates?
• I've broken my database. Can you restore last Friday's DB backup?
• I'm looking for the highest level of security on the server. What do you propose to implement?
• I'm receiving attacks on WordPress' xmlrpc.php file. Could you block access to this file and ban attacking IPs?

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Articulation

How do web, support, facilities management and sysadmin fit together?

The sysadmin is the IT technician who manages the server farm and implements the outsourcing tasks described above.

Being a sysadmin is also a much more efficient way of providing user support, and is a prerequisite for outsourcing.

And knowledge of the web and the various applications customers can install is of course a huge advantage in helping them debug their sites.

This is where the hats get a little mixed up for the sysadmin manager and the support technician, which often increases misunderstanding. With a better understanding of these different roles, things should be clearer from now on.

In practical terms, what does a typical day look like?

A typical day is structured as follows:

• Greet colleagues and ask about any specific concerns or important news
• Check monitoring and take immediate action on any problems that arise
• A good cup of coffee
• Respond to customer tickets throughout the day
• Answering calls throughout the day
• Update servers
• If necessary, carry out planned interventions (hardware/software)
• Improve/enhance customer documentation when it fails to resolve their concerns
• Write a few articles for blog when you have time and interesting content to publish
• In the event of a malfunction, identify the causes, implications and solutions, and implement measures to prevent recurrences.
• Consult the team on difficult cases
• Inform the team of special cases
• Meet with the team in the presence of the technical director to plan major developments
• Keep abreast of the latest updates in the sector, particularly those concerning the tools used
• R&D: Improve internal processes and tools, find solutions that improve safety and performance, meet new needs, or replace existing solutions.

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Thank you for reading this article. Now you can't say -without lying- that you don't know what a sysadmin support technician at a web hosting company does 😉

UPDATE 2023: I'm now a freelancer! I offer dedicated WordPress hosting, ultra high-performance and ultra-secure with full support. Feel free to browse my site and contact me to find out more!