Hey everyone, I could really use some reassurance here. I just took over the management of our IT environment that's sitting at around 200 VMs across various VLANs, and honestly, the state of things is quite a mess. There's no consistent patching strategy, no reliable backup or recovery plan, and a complete lack of proper documentation. I came in as a Junior Cybersecurity Engineer, but now I'm doing a significant amount of sysadmin work, and I'm feeling overwhelmed. I've started rebuilding a testing environment in my homelab using tools like Ansible and vSphere, aiming to implement automation for patches, documentation, and backups, but I'm second-guessing myself. Should I just accept the chaos? Is what I'm planning worth it, or am I setting myself up for endless unpaid overtime? Has anyone been through this before? What advice do you have for someone in my shoes?
5 Answers
Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day! Start by taking inventory of what you have, assess the risks, and document everything. Present your findings to management to show them the situation and what it will take to fix it. Focus on tackling smaller, manageable issues first and advocate for bringing in some external help to deal with the bigger messes. Also, consider looking for new opportunities if management isn't willing to support your efforts.
Look, these challenging environments are often where you grow the most. Document your successes and apply them to your resume. If management isn't compensating you for the extra work, there are always other companies willing to pay for someone with your experience. If they don’t recognize your efforts, don’t hesitate to look elsewhere.
Totally agree! Document everything you do and leverage it for your next opportunity.
First things first, get your backups sorted out! Having reliable backups will give you a safety net for whatever changes you decide to make. Aim for the 3-2-1 backup rule: 3 copies of your data, on 2 different media, with 1 offsite. This way, if something goes wrong, you can roll back easily. Good luck!
Absolutely, backups should be your priority. Make sure to regularly test them too! That's the best way to ensure you're protected.
Agreed! Testing your backups religiously is key. It'll save you a lot of headaches down the road.
Sure, you can absolutely tackle this yourself, but it will take time. Focus on getting solid backups in place, then try to understand the existing environment better by checking what services each VM is running. Hold off on major changes until you know what you’re dealing with and make gradual improvements. You're not alone in this—many have been through similar chaos and come out stronger!
Right? Building things step by step can lead to long-term gains and improve your mental health.
Exactly! Making small changes can lead to big rewards over time.
You can’t do it all at once; that will just overwhelm you. Set clear goals and share weekly progress with management to keep them informed. As a recent grad, this experience can be a solid boost to your resume, so even if you might not get a raise immediately, the learning opportunity is huge. Just document everything you accomplish; it’ll pay off later!
Spot on! It'll definitely help you in your future career.
Exactly! Keep track of your wins and set milestones to show your value.
Good advice! Prioritize backups as a safety move, and keep pushing management to support your initiatives.