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Ask Slashdot: What Should a Unix Fan Look For In a Windows Expert?
andy5555 writes "I am hardcore Unix (and recently storage) fan responsible for our server department. Most of the servers run (you guessed it) different types of Unix. For quite a long time, Windows servers played very little role, but sometimes we get applications from our business departments which run only under Windows. So it seems that we have to take it seriously and hire a few Windows fans who would be able to take care of the (still small but growing) number of Windows servers. Since I am Unix fan, I have very little knowledge of Windows (some of my teammates may have more, but we are not experts). If I have to hire such a person I would like to find someone who is passionate about Windows. It is easy for me to recognize a Windows fan, but I don't know how to test his/her knowledge. There are some sites with typical Windows interview questions, but everybody can read them and prepare. How would you recommend the hiring process to proceed? What should I ask?"
When looking for a Windows expert you have to look past the first appearance. I am a hardcore tomato sauce fan. And when I say hardcore, I mean it. Tomato sauce is the base of any pizza we all so like. But beyond that Windows admin can look almost anything, and still be completely usable. Just like your favorite pan pizza.
The best way to illustrate differences between Windows and UNIX admins is the way they use space. The base of the system is usually laid out differently. In UNIX you have / whereas in Windows you use C:\ and other drive letters. It's like the difference between normal italian style pizza and american pan pizza.
Let me tell you a story about a friend from my childhood. He loves Linux. You could say he is Linux power user. Back in the 90's I was over his apartment and we kept playing this Nintendo64 game called GoldenEye. It was awesome. Split-screen multiplayer and even while we could see each other, we still loved it. The levels were laid out beatifically and played out very nicely.
But at some point you obviously become hungry. Then I got an idea.. "Let's call some pizzas over!", I uttered and tried to reach to the phone. However, it was way too far. I crashed down from the couch and now I was rolling around on the floor. My stomach was so big and soft that it kept me in motion and I rolled over the table where the telephone was, crashing it on the floor and breaking it. I said "damn it".. And we didn't get any pizza until we went out in the open. But we still did it, proudly. We were the goldeneye playing pizza bros!
I think the main point is that whatever obstacles you may find with your new friend there is always way to get around them. With pizza.
I'm not sure how you should start the interview. But I'm pretty sure starting it off by taking a holier-than-thou condescending attitude towards anyone who would sully themselves by being a Windows server admin, and referring to them as a Windows "fan" instead of a Windows professional, is definitely the way to NOT start the interview.
Believe it or not, there are plenty of professionals out there with significant admin experience with both Unix and Windows. Being a Windows professional doesn't make you some sort of dirt-eating Tauron, nor does it necessarily make you a "fan" who's chosen his side in some nerd-rage fight to the death.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Find someone who goes both ways or he/she will be constantly running around behind your back lobbying for more windows machines.
Best bet is to actually conduct a interview, review the resume and check references. You know the way you are suppose to go about hiring people.
Is it OK if RMS pees in the Koolaid?
And for those of you who think this isn't a valid question, it is a legitimate test for a sense of humor.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Timothy, go to your room! Don't come down until you've thought about what you've done!
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Stop posting so much stuff inside parenthesis! If it's a complete thought, just make another sentence. It's not difficult.
... that perhaps you shouldn't be involved in the hiring process, here ...
What is this 'fan' shit? You want to hire someone who has studied Windows architecture and know how it works. Not someone who wants to blow the OS.
Some people still care about enthusiasm. Those people also don't wear a suit and tie which you probably find appalling.
Someone who has exp with multiple versions of windows servers. 2000 is a good cutoff point. They should understand Active Directory. Thoroughly. If doing anything web based, know about asp and .net configurations, as well as how to use the new (awful) IIS manager. If storing dll components for software over the network (including aforementioned web based stuff), they should know about permissions hassles of trusting policies from network drives.
Exchange and or MS SQL experience is also a plus, but only if the windows boxes will be running them.
If you don't have anyone who can actually assess the answers to interview questions about Windows, hire an external consultant from a company that does specialise in this sort of thing to do the technical interview. That way at least you will have a better chance of hiring someone with the right skills for the job.
The answers I ask when hiring a system admin are typically not OS or vendor specific. I'd rather have someone intelligent and clever, who can then pick up any technology thrown at them. This philosophy has worked incredibly well. But, if you want someone that has memorized the MCSE tests, then ask the Windows-specific questions. But when it comes to troubleshooting or real-world environments, you have no guarantees.
Ask him about a Windows problem. If he says "Have you tried turning it off and back on again", hire him.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
There's plenty of Windows people who know how to click "Next... Next... Next..." but no more than this.
Well and good if that's all you need, but you'll get someone a lot more productive if they know a bit of Powershell, VBS and batch scripting.
: Are all these "stories" posed as questions really fooling anybody? I see less and less interesting news and more stories designed purely to provoke chatter. Oh boy, Unix vs Windows should get lots of posts! Maybe next time you can work Apple in there too.
It's like the blogger feedback ploy - end your crappy blog with a question and more people will respond.
Ask him if he know:
1) How to use regedit.exe
2) What is a GPO
3) DCOM
4) WMI(this shit will help a lot if you need his help on monitoring)
5) WSUS, ISA and PowerShell
--- and you will obtain a medium-level professional --
And will filter 80% of the Windows guys on your "audition"
Find someone who understands how things work & why they work; there are tens of thousands of Windows admins with MCSE (now MCITP) grade qualifications who don't actually understand why they do any of the things they do, just that Action A fixes Problem B. Also, find someone who can script - Powershell preferably, but VBS if you have to - as a lot of Windows admins are far too reliant on the GUI which can obviously slow them down a lot for some types of tasks.
Don't bother asking questions to test Windows "knowledge" because they don't really tell you much about the person's ability, just their memory. Give them scenarios you've encountered with your Windows estate and ask them how they'd deal with them; you don't even really need to know that much about Windows yourself to be able to judge answers to those kinds of questions and they give you a much better idea of how well the person actually understands Windows, which is much more important than reciting the FSMO roles or knowing how to do an Authoritative Restore.
Unless you have the Windows knowledge.
So my suggestion is to do your background checks, talk with previous employers, look for people who have years not months under their belts professionally, and make sure they fit what you have in terms of windows needs/support requirements. If you have a lot of legacy, look for older hands who know older Windows.
Also, you might want to seriously think about cross training people. If you are going to be a Unix/Windows house, you want people on both sides to cover job roles, be able to take holidays, cover for sick and so on. I'm guessing you are in the real world so are facing virtualisation challenges as well. You'll need the hetro skill sets there too.
To be honest, Some people have whined about 'Windows' fans being used. If your budget it tight, and your windows structure is small, you might well be fine with someone who is a fan, and has a bit of experience. If you are enterprise, and have your going to have serious amounts of stuff going on, you'll need an old hand who really knows theior stuff, but that comes with a price tag. Small / Low end deployments of Windows are I would say easily enough handled, even by your own team. Its when you cross over into heavier enterprise level that you need the good stuff.
Find someone who is competetent at Unix system administration and willing to learn. Regardless of current Windows knowledge, it's more likely she will be able to learn the nuances necessary in a heterogenous environment than the average Windows admin.
There is no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza. Thank you.
When there is a problem with Linux, you fix it. When there is a problem with Windows, you replace it. Make sure you have updated Windows images - this is possible by making a daily image of the system in VMWare is alike. Tweaking of software like databases is possible, but it is cheaper (in terms of hourly price) to just buy more memory and more processing power. Actually these tricks do pretty well on Unix-systems too as an extra solution. As you cannot look into the code, you have to trust others. So make sure you have a good firewall and antivirus-software. I'm not tryng to make fun of windows here; Windows is a black box, so you need to treat it as such.
1. Kernel name of Windows 7 (NT6.1);
2. Why is file transfer since Vista so slow (introduction of user space driver)
3. Why is Windows 7 faster than Vista (it is not; gui has higher sceduling priority)
4. How much more ram does Vista consume, compared with XP? (wrong; it's less, but why?; Vista caches like preload).
5. Is NT POSIX compliant? Since when and how?
6. What is the main difference between the TCP/IP stack in XP and Vista, other than IPv6?
7. What compiler does Microsoft use, to compile Windows? (not the one they make, hint)
8. Ask something about Powershell
9. Difference between win32 and winRT;
10. Is NT a Microkernel or monolithic (microkernel with servers in kernelspace)
11. Is NT x86 only? (also ppc and titanium and arm)
12. Was Win32 the only planned API to support and why (NT was designed to support a lot more API's, so it could embrace, extend and extinguish)
13. What is the name of the DE? (explore.exe, there are other DE's and shells. Aero, the 3D explore.exe since Vista also supports plugins for desktop effects, like Compiz, since Vista).
Goog-... DuckDuckGo your ass off, I'd say ;-)
Here be signatures
" Being a Windows professional doesn't make you some sort of dirt-eating Tauron, nor does it necessarily make you a "fan" who's chosen his side in some nerd-rage fight to the death."
Tauron, interesting word. The only English reference to this I could find is from Battlestar Galactica. So it is a fictitious word. So no, Windows Professionals are not and can not be dirt-eating Tauron's. But adding the word Professional to the word Windows doesn't make them the right people to hire for the OP. Other than that nothing else to add here.
You will be faced with a lot of candidates. After you've culled the ones with actual experience and positive or neutral recommendations, this is where you can start in phone interviews:
1. Ask them to describe DHCP. An amazing number of candidates will not do well with this. Extra points for the ones who can expand slightly and describe the implications of static addressing, but they are probably older than you are l;ooking for, despite the blatant discrimination that implies. Deduct for those who treat this question with disdain - they are perhaps being too imperious to get along, and getting along is second only to knowing stuff. Maybe more important.
2. Ask them to discuss Active Directory design from a high level, the forest and trees, for example. Big points if they ask about your current structure. More points if they discuss the disadvantages of ripping up your current directory. Deduct points for those who seem to use an axe in the forest. You willl know.
3. Ask them about roaming profiles. No, you aren't using them, but you're interested in both their general reaction and their questions about why you are asking at all. Deduct points here for those who go 'poo-poo' and describe their loathing for roaming profiles. More deductions for focusing on the limitations.
4. Did any of them ask about your environment? Did any of them perk up at the mention of Linux? Did any of them expand unprovked about Windows' servers potential for integration with a Linux enviuronemnt? More points to these. Fewer points to those who are not at all curious about yoru Linux environment, and how you got saddled with some mongrel Windows severs in the mix.
I would be very interested in this position if it is in the Phoenix area, but I love my pool, and besides, you already know me too well. Ah.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
I am a UNIX admin (17 years now). Many Windows admins I've worked with have very little knowledge of networking concepts, Internet workings, and application development/architecture. An effective admin (UNIX or Windows) should have at least waist-deep knowledge of all of these areas. When one has a view of a "bigger picture," they can be an effective troubleshooter, and help in all many areas. The worst admins only know their piece of the puzzle, and are very good at pointing fingers to other groups when they cannot identify where the problem might lie.
I disagree with those who say you should "stay away" from people with certifications. Perhaps that was true in the MCSE days because anybody could get one, but the competency tests they have nowadays are very thorough and are geared towards one specific subject. Therefore if the person has several of those competencies they probably know what the hell they're talking about such as Server Platform, Hosting, Mobility, Management and Virtualization, etc. You just have to look at what tests they have passed and whether or not it is relevant to what you need. I've seen pseudo experienced Windows Server Admins with no certifications or any clue how to apply MS best practices completely destroy a server. Like not using proper document redirection or storing user data from a Terminal Server stored on the C drive, etc.
I've never been one to prefer MS servers, but you are correct, sometimes it is essential when you deal with clients that use certain line of business applications and it really helps to get a technician that is familiar with administrative best practices. You also tend to learn more about how to use MS products in a business environment when you take the cert tests and how to sell their products. It's not just turning the server on and screwing around with stuff until everything works. You will save yourself time and money when you get a guy that can get the work done quickly.
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
When he gets paid more than you, has more marketable skills, is not a neck-beard loser. Windows professionals are in every case that I've seen infinitely more professional, understanding, and personable than freetards like yourself.
One of the best and most under-rated interview questions for Windows "Experts" is "If your IP address starts with 169 or 0, what is wrong with the computer?".
This question reveals, networking knowledge, protocol knowledge, windows configuration knowledge, and down and dirty knowledge of troubleshooting broken network connections via Windows. All critical for the "Expert" Windows tag.
What questions you should be asking should have less to do with specific knowledge of Windows, since any schmuck can memorize a book or set of questions. I've worked for a small repair shop for 5yrs and fixed thousands of computers, and honestly, most of what I fix day to day has little to do with how smart I am with windows, but moreso my ability to step back, analyze, and troubleshoot any number of problems. In the past 5 years, few problems have shared the same solution, except for basic things like testnig and troubleshooting hardware or virus/malware removal. Otherwise it is usually a slight variant on a problem I've seen before.
If it were me doing the hiring, I would at least ask these few questions.
1: Explain to me a problem in windows that you solved on your own without use of the internet, and explain the steps you took to resolve that problem, including any tools you used.
2: Explain a situation outside of work, non-computer related, that required you to solve a problem you had never enountered before. Be specific on the steps you took to resolve the problem.
3: Explain to me the function and purpose of the windows registry in a way that my grandmother could understand.
4: How many times have you installed a fresh copy of windows onto a brand new hard drive? Have you ever built your own computer? Tell me about what you have and how you built it!
Seems stupid, but you'd be surprised how many A+ /MSCE/etc/etc certified people we've interviewed over the years who, even though they could rattle off the transmission speed of USB and every CPU Socket type for the last 10years, the fact remains that many of them still couldn't troubleshoot their way out of a paper bag.
Somebody who can click "next" until the "finish" button comes up, and that's about it.
If he stands outside and looks in the windows or stands inside and looks out of them
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
Ask him how a kerberos token works
Ask him to read or write an ldap query
Make some weirdo folder permissions structure with exeption and inheritence, watch him apply
When, why use deny permissions
rename servers or make new ones with same name, or accounts, why, what s the difference
what s telnet, what s ftp, what s http, does he knows a few command to speak them raw via telnet
additionally ask him about vmware, vlans, san
That works the same with windows or linux, you ll weed out all the persons who knows a bit of windows but use winoptimizer2000 and think it s good.
Really a dovecot+postfix+spaassasin setup is annoying to set up, now try to make the same setup with 1 GB exchanges accounts, it s a pita too, he ll need the exchanges specifics, but he ll need the, universal server stuff "basics" stuff too and this you can check.
I kid. Seriously, ask them about generic networking and server stuff (hw/sw) see if they can do some minor unix stuff. If you need specific skills (hpc/san) ask about that.
The problem is not necessarily platform for most people, it's understanding of IT concepts
in general.
Also, make sure they can script and do basic stuff on command line
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
As inane as the question is, I can think of a pretty good answer: ask if they like PowerShell!
It tests several things that someone from a UNIX background would want to see in a Windows administrator: it shows that they like CLI and automation, it shows that they're up-to-date with Windows technology, and it shows that they prefer the "UNIX way". That last may seem counter-intuitive, but PowerShell follows the UNIX philosophy better than any flavor of Linux or UNIX I've ever seen. A Windows administrator that likes PowerShell is the kind of administrator that a UNIX administrator can get along with!
Whether it's Windows, Linux, VMS or ESXi doesn't really matter. The external differences boil down to syntax. If you find somebody who only knows the syntax, you're not going to be happy unless you're looking for a short term employee or contractor. You don't hire a Unix admin because he knows how to write a bash script - you find somebody who understands the importance of automation, the ability to document and test, and the ability to pick up new technologies. You know technology is changing so you need a person who can adapt. If you can troubleshoot the root cause of a system crash, it doesn't matter what OS you're working on and you'll pick up a different OS quickly. But hire an idiot that can't troubleshoot worth a darn and it doesn't matter if he's an RHCE, MCSE or VCP or holds all three.
If you find somebody that can't tell the difference between they're, there, or their or between its and it's, he's not on the learning curve you need him to be on. It means that in 20 or 30 years, he still doesn't care about quality and is too lazy to look things up. Those aren't good combinations.
Religiosity in Operating Systems is a character flaw, not a strength. Clearly this is going to be a hard concept for you to work your head around because you yourself are evangelical about UNIX. If you find somebody who is evangelical about Windiows, you're basically asking for interpersonal conflict as this engineer with "passion" for Windows is going to feel outnumbered and isolated if your whole team uses emotional language like you do.
What you' are REALLY looking for are skills and atrributes that are OS-agnostic while still demonstrating serious practical experience with Microsoft server products:
If you don't feel comfortable saying "yes" to all the above questions, then all the nuts and bolts technical stuff means nothing. Once these fundamental questions have been answered, there are some specific technical avenues to explore with your future Windows sysadmin:
There are a bunch of technical questions you probably need to ask that I can't possibly suggest to you, because I don't know the details of your envirionment. But these two are mandatory. Powershell is a scripting language developed to handle all kinds of administrative and automation needs for a system administrator, and it was written by two UNIX guys. If your future Windows admin understands and appreciates Powershell, they not only have a skillset that is going to be demonstratably useful in the future, they will be more likely to "think like a UNIX guy" than someone who went to an MSCE puppy mill. The AD/LDAP integration question is the one thing I know about your environment. If you're going to operate UNIX and Windows servers in the same ecossytem, some level of integration is inevitable and making sure the guy on the Windows end has the technical chops is essential.
Ask probing questions to ensure your candidate has thorough knowledge of the Hosts file. :-)
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
A MSCE is the equivalent to a MCFS (MacDonalds Certified Food Specialist) in the world of high-cuisine.
Ask him about a Windows problem. If he says "Have you tried turning it off and back on again", hire him.
Especially if he says so in an Irish accent. It helps if he's also tall and lanky.
:-P
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1995-06-24/
here's a nickel, kid.
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
What Should a Unix Fan Look For In a Windows Expert?
So it seems that we have to take it seriously and hire a few Windows fans
The terms "expert" and "fan" are mutually exclusive when it comes to Windows: to know it is to hate it... and those truly experienced with it on a technical level are more aware than anyone else what a stinking pile of shit it is (I should know; I'm one of those sorry motherfuckers!).
Before going into generalizations, it seems like the submitter realizes that they do not know enough about Windows. Given that, this whole discussion seems pretty irrelevant. The guy does not know Windows, so how is he going to know if the "Windows expert" is blowing smoke up his ass or not? He won't.
With that out of the way...
Just because a server runs Windows does not change the fact that it is a computer. There are some basic concepts that any sysadmin needs to have a handle on.
Security
Backup and Recovery
Performance monitoring and tuning
Networking
A general rule of thumb is that anyone with less than 10 years of experience is not an expert, no matter what their resume and job experience might say.
Make the candidate prove that they know the concepts.
"In Unix, if we lose a system drive, we need to take some steps to recover it. What are those equivalent steps in Windows?"
"In Unix, if Jane is working on a system on a different subnet and she needs to access files on my server, we setup NFS and she connects to it with mount. What is the Windows equivalent?"
etc
Make sure candidates have a long experience with Windows. Writing scripts and monitoring/logging should have been used at work before.
But, running software is no longer a job just at technical level. It's about understanding customer needs and also to some extent really know how applications work. If you get hold of well educated people, their grades will show how well they can relate to new stuff.
And, stay away from people bragging their certification level. Certifications are not hard, just expensive. MCSE is really Must Consult Someone Educated.
A good Windows admin will "work around" the Windows-ism of it all and use the more UNIX-y features of it (they won't think of it that way, but they will). See how they are at whipping up quick VB or PowerShell scripts to do some little task (the same way you would whip up a Perl or Bash script). Check their problem-diagnosis skills - give them a hypothetical scenario (some weird proprietary service isn't starting at boot) and keep throwing up obstacles ("Guy: Well, I would check the services panel, make sure it was set to start automatically"; "You: Alright, you check that, and it is set to, but it's marked as 'stopped' and halts as soon as you try to start it"). Eventually he'll give up and say "there's obviously something wrong that's beyond my ability to fix, I would have to contact their support people", but see how many things he can think of to check. If he can think of a lot of ways something can go wrong, he likely has both experience and wisdom (unless he's rattling off bullshit, of course).
Another thing to look at is his WindowsUNIX skills. I'm working on a project now that involves getting applications running on both to work with each other, and that's not easy. Having a Windows guy who can grok Unix-speak would definitely be a plus for you.
By this logic, any of the current Unix experts they employ would also be the right people for the Windows server support, yet clearly they already know that isn't the solution. Here the OS distinction matters, because they want to hire based on that distinction (and for good reason). If you're hiring your first admin, you might want them to use any technology thrown at them. By the time you employ several experts in one area but lack experts in a new area, you're better off getting people with expertise in that new area.
A good Systems Administrator who happens to know windows.
Say this:
freetard please!
If he laughs, hire him.
Do you have experience with Virus scanning programs such as Symantec, etc?
Got Code?
First - read all the posts about referring to someone as a "fan" - you definitely want a "professional"
I would press the candidate on their understanding of the Active Directory Administrative and Security models. Have them explain to you how to use the native tools to ensure that configuration on servers and workstations is correct and centrally managed (via Group Policy). Have them explain how Group Policy works. Have them explain what Organizational Units are for and how delegation works in conjunction with them. Have them explain how the auditing system works (how you know that someone has tried to access a file that they don't have permission to, or that an important security setting has changed.) Have them explain how to use the performance monitoring tools to track down a performance problem or resource bottleneck. Have them describe to you how Kerberos works in the Windows world.
Since you are a Unix fan and possibly a rabid one, the best thing a candidate can do is convince you that they understand Windows administration and that having Windows servers is an okay thing.
Specific skills with Windows is irrelevant, at least for the early resume/application-culling passes.
Even more important than their skill level, experience, or schooling is the seemingly increasingly-rare ability to actually show up on time every day/shift to work, and work the entire day/shift.
I would much rather hire someone who would need significant OJT than an "expert", if that "expert" had a history of missed work days and late arrivals to/early departures from work and the OJT candidate had a pristine record for attendance and timeliness.
Only *after* you've gone through the resumes/apps and have a candidate-group who have a solid history of reliability and timeliness do you start worrying about individual skills, experience, and schooling.
I've learned this over decades of hiring people for a wide variety of fields, from general construction/factory labor and retail sales, to cutting-edge tech jobs.
When it comes to hiring help in any field, dependability/reliability is king! Everything else is secondary.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Ask the candidate questions about UNIX, if the candidate understands UNIX then is a good Windows system administrator. Seriously I love Windows since I've read the first edition of "Inside Windows NT" from Helen Custer, but I also already read "The Design of the UNIX operating System" from Maurice J. Bach so I had something serious to compare with. In the end Windows is an operating systems and a good system administrator should know how it compares with other operating systems.
The best Windows fan is going to be 80 mm or larger. If you can get two for redundancy - even better.
More specifically, "Do you know your place?"
Stick Men
What you really need is me, or rather someone just like me (unless you're in Pennsylvania). You don't want a hardcore Windows nerd, they will be angling to replace your Unix machines with Windows servers before a year is out. What you actually want is a *nix *fan*, but who has spent most of their time in Windows. You want them to have the skillset, but you really don't want someone who wholeheartedly endorses the company who practically invented "embrace, extend, extinguish".
The preceding comment is my own, and in no way construes an opinon of the Emperor of Mankind.
Do you want someone who is passionate about windows, or a decent Windows Admin ( or indeed, a decent admin in general )?
I'll tell you right now, I am always highly suspicious of any admin that is "passionate" about their subject matter. They tend to put their bias first, compromising their ability to deliver the best product available.
The best admins I have ever worked with were technology agnostic; they chose the best tools for the job, regardless of their own preferences.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
I have a window fan in my front room. I run it at night to pull cool air in through my bedroom and apartment. I'd recommend Lasko Reversible 2155, and put it in a window far from your bedroom and put in in exhaust mode. Close all the windows except your bedroom window and you'll have a nice cool night breeze coming in your window without the noise of a fan next to your bed.
I can't for the life of me figure out why someone would need a server running Unix to operate a simple window fan. Am I missing something here?
-- QED
: Are all these "stories" posed as questions really fooling anybody? I see less and less interesting news and more stories designed purely to provoke chatter. Oh boy, Unix vs Windows should get lots of posts! Maybe next time you can work Apple in there too.
It's like the blogger feedback ploy - end your crappy blog with a question and more people will respond.
Are you new here? Slashdot invented this kind of blog entry.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
I concur.
You will likely need integration or migration so the unix skill set will be more important. Find a good unix person - you know unix you don't know windows.
Try to find somebody who is willing to learn it and simply give them time to get trained on it themselves (plus a budget for books or whatever.) Somebody who likes working around proprietary linux drivers and other black box trouble makers will be somewhat prepared. Besides, if you chuck the windows boxes someday you have a unix admin and not somebody to lay off, if you get more windows boxes then you have a unix person who can help others migrate.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Make sure he can beat expert in less than 90 seconds. Only then can you be sure he has enough years of experience with Windows.
my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
I find that a good judge of someone's familiarity with an operating system is what they do after an installation on the first boot. Seasoned pros have a whole routine (install this, uninstall that, disable something, enable something else, etc), and when asked they can provide justification for their actions. I find that in general, people who are completely happy with the defaults are either A) not that passionate about their job or B) don't know enough or have enough experience to handle running real world servers.
You need someone with a gold level certification. Forget that silly 'university computer science' stuff, you need someone with the microsoft "its not just good, its good enough" seal of approval. They need to know how to lock down the servers, add firewall protection, add virus protection, and second level firewall protection, second level virus protection, backup/recovery experience, and must have a willingness to reboot the servers at a minimum of once per week (if they don't shutdown/restart on their own). They must also be able to track all of the licencing for the operating system, licensing for the applications, licenses for the patches to the operating system, licensing for the patches to the application software, know the difference between single use licences and site licences, keep abreast of the nuances that the licences allow/don't allow vis-a-vis backups and off site archives (although you might also need to hire a full time license administrator to take care of that for you).
A .38...
How long have you used Windows?
What is your experience like?
Why Windows?
Would you be willing to steal a pair of your mom's panties for me?
In this situation, how would you trouble shoot the problem? then focus more on HOW and why, if they have trouble answering the WHY you'll get some clues as to what they do and don't actually know and what is just memorized.
Hands on:
Give them a windows machine, make them install a service.
make them change the service port number
If the server has to connect to unix servers, make them interface with a unix server.
There's a ton of stuff you can ask them and they can give you a general vague answer that sounds good. But MAKE them do some work in front of you to prove themselves. Software and QA Engineers have to, in fact we also have to do things like know the run-time complexity often and explain the solution. I don't know why this interview would go any different than you'd give a unix user, just change the OS.
A good thing is to ask them questions and have the hands on compliment the questions.
if a bear shits in a forest does your dns get corrupt?
it depends on your use of the said "windows" admin. if you are not running any critical apps don't need to worry about clustering, replication, networking, AD, sql, Exchange, Lync, blah blah... and just need some one to reboot the machine when it locks up... then ask any questions.
Plz provide more info if you want real help.
Ask them to write a bat file to restart SMB and/or Apache and/or IIS.
Dismiss anyone who cannot.
Ask them what type of setup they would use to store large quantities of business documentation
Dismiss anyone who suggests sharepoint without prior experience.
Dismiss anyone who does not inquire what capacity 'large quantities' entail.
Dismiss anyone who suggests RAID 5 without a careful discussion about backups, downtime, and acceptable loss.
Ask them how they would set up a webserver.
Dismiss those with a one sentence answer.
Ask them how they would apply patches and perform system management.
Dismiss those that do not know about WSUS
Finally, ask what they know about virtualization... you know you'll both be using it anyway.
Well, that's what I'd start with to cut the pool down to someone who's probably competent enough not to destroy your world, while still coming with glowing recommendations from Uncle Bob. There might be a lot more...but it's a decent starting point.
I scored two or three out of your 13 questions. That may sound pretty bad. But..
I am a system architect with 16 years experience in large and small enterprises. I started installing, administering and fixing and Windows servers at NT 3.51 and I stopped getting the MCSE certifications(along with the CNE, CCNP, RHCE and others) after 2003. Wow, I just realized that I haven't bothered with a single certification since 2004.
Today I design and manage SQL and large Exchange systems (2003-2010) on Server 2008 and 2012, along with various *nix systems, vmWare "clouds" and a plethora of network infrastructure gear. I seem to be everyone's level 3 support guy and frequently receive offers for poachers.
Yet, despite my training, knowledge and experience I can't answer even half of your questions. Furthermore, after 16 years, I never ever had any need for any of those answers. The majority, if not all, of your questions have no bearing whatsoever on the design, installation, management or repair of Windows systems. The closest any of your questions came to being of value was
8. Ask something about Powershell
Ask something indeed. Perhaps something of value like can you write a file rename script in powershell. Or, can you write an IP address change script in powershell that will renumber the marketing department. And if your questions are to be desktop centric, they should be of value like; how would you go about removing a new, and undetected by AV software, variant of Fake A/V from a Windows 7 system.
Ask them what kinds of scripting languages Windows supports (Powershell, VB, JS etc), what does WMI do? How would you deploy a printer using policies?
A LOT of Windows admins know how to call for help and push buttons, but not so many know the backend stuff that makes Windows tick which is kinda invaluable as an admin.
Yeah, I know...Not helpful...
Ask him what is wrong with Windows. This works for pretty much anything. People who are real experts at something understand the problems. People with shallow experience only know the good things.
Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
Ask them how they'll solve the same problems you solve with Linux
Subsurvience. C'mon you're the boss, if you can't find someone to kiss a** then you are not worth your sysadmin stripes!
A windows expert, not a microsoft robot. Someone who knows what parts of windows suck, which ones are outdated, which ones are good and well designed and why.
Honestly most weird windows errors are sorted by googling them at least when you've not had the problem before.
A really, really big idiot that will totally f*ck everything up to the point that upper management will realize their folly at allowing any Windows machines in the building.
Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
There won't be treasure in there, I guess...
Oh, the beautiful gloss of greality!
Yes! I can't emphasize this enough. A long list of certs is a major red flag on a resume. It implies you're not a self-starter, that you let people to feed you and then regurgitate it on tests, all at your company's expense.
If you have a long list of certs, pick the most important three or four and leave the rest off the resume. Spend the space telling me what clever work you did in your last job that makes be want to interview you to get more details.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
Windows has users.
Mac has fans.
Linux has admins.
i.e. are they a complete sell out to satan or just a worshiper at his alter.
I believe you may be thinking his use of the word "fan" is condescending.
However, this is how he also refers to himself. He is a just a "Unix fan" looking for a "Windows fan". Passion and expertise is what he wants. He just joesn't know how to get the expertise.
Re-read the post substituting all forms of "fan" with "guy" and you will clearly see what he is getting at.
intimate knowledge of minesweeper and solitaire is a start. after that, maybe ctrl alt del, then maybe something about powershell... or maybe just the powershell part.
What is slashdot?
Load up a server.
Research some basic, medium and expert problems.
Cause them on the server for each interviewee.
The person that fixes it the fastest with the least amount of google searching is the one you want.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Contrary to popular belief, rebooting is often the last resort these days. If our patient management system is playing up, the person who starts off by saying "rebootderrp" is going to get a good hard long look at and probably a chewing out. Rebooting is very rarely an acceptable solution to business groups.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
That's easy. To find someone capable, conduct a trial by fire, and choose the highest scoring candidate after two weeks.
That means giving them the net admin challenge. Tell them you need two servers, and 5 clients, all using slightly different hardware configurations, up and running after 3 hours, with DNS, DHCP, a Domain Controller / Active Directory, and a forward-facing website. Hand them the hardware, OS discs, and a laptop with Windows already running on it with a working internet connection and an 8GB USB thumb drive. Leave a small spindle of CDs / DVDs (no more than ten of each) in case they need to burn something. Come back in 3 hours, check if you can log onto the domain from a client machine, if you can get on the internet, and if the website can be seen from your cellphone. 1 point for each, 3 points total.
Take away some points / part of one according to their design. For instance, those machines need to be patched to the latest Service Pack (at a minimum), as well as all the little patches in between. A idiot will install the OS on all machines, then try to patch it through Windows Update; it will still be downloading patches when you get back. A semi-reasonable tech will put it on a CD / thumb drive, and copy it onto each machine for an install after the OS. A net admin will slipstream it, and burn it onto several discs.
Time is money, and even when it isn't, the average net admin would rather be 1.) drinking, 2.) sleeping, 3.) working on a pet project (Exchange, rewritten in Ruby, IDK), or 4.) browsing /., reddit, or hacker-news. Or doing maintenance / replacing / retooling a machine, if he's short-handed.
I am John Hurt.
The condescending attitude is a natural consequence of realising how much Unix wins over Windoze.
Yes, "windoze". I have the condescending attitude and it's warm and friendly and appropriate for all occasions.
Or, backing off slightly, perhaps I've just been in the trenches long enough to realise that letting windows into your server mix is the way to gain a lot of "it only works on windows so we need windows everywhere" problems that gum up the works. Microsoft's vendor lock-in used to be worse in the past, but it's still an issue you should work hard to avoid.
Also know Unix.
First things first. *You* need to know what you're looking for. This is not optional. Make a high level list of the tasks/projects to be performed by the person you hire. Then do a little bit of research into how this is done (cf. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349801(v=ws.10) for starters). There's plenty of information out there. Focus on what you need.
Certifications are no substitute for experience. That doesn't mean that people with certifications are not competent. People get certifications for many reasons. People lie. People lie on their resumes (I'm not sure why, it never ends well) which is why it's important to test the skills they say they have.
Take that list of tasks/projects and the research you've done and prepare a set of questions based on both. Give the candidate a scenario and have them describe how they would create a solution. Have the candidate document, by him(her)self, how to perform specific tasks. Most of all, make the questions/scenarios *relevant* to the role you need them to fill.
Make sure all candidates are asked *exactly* the same questions. Compare their answers. Compare their relative comfort level with the role for which they they are interviewing. Most candidate resumes will be completely worthless. At least 50% of those that aren't are a pack of lies. Those folks are easy to spot and weed out.
The difficult part is figuring out who can talk the talk, but can't walk the walk. That's where having the candidate perform specific tasks (with full access to the resources they'd have while doing the job) with a specific time frame. These should be tasks you (or a competent Windows person on staff, if you have one) have done and determined how long it should take. It's not necessary to tell the candidate that you're timing them -- they know, or should.
Another point that doesn't get touched on very much is that they are interviewing you as much as you are them. Make your interview questions relevant and within the scope of the role for which they are interviewing. If you try to trick them or push too hard, you'll end up alienating the good ones (they'll walk away because they have the skills to get work where they won't be harangued).
There's much more of course, but if you don't already have the appropriate interviewing/management skills to figure that out then you're the wrong person to act as the front line hiring person. HTHAL
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
People are probably not seeing the AC responses, but several of them have been right on the mark.
You are not qualified to do a technical interview on this person, nor to screen them, nor to write the job posting in the first place.
For the job posting, you need to be able to ask for the skill set you need. To do that, you need to know what skill set you are going to need. If you don't already know Windows, you aren't going to know who to ask for.
For screening, which should have happened before you ever asked someone in for an interview, you need to know if the skill set they claim on their resume matches the job posting; if there are a lot of applicants, you need to verify references, credentials, and job history. This part can be mechanical, assuming you've done a good job on the job posting.
For the interview, you are there to evaluate the degree to which their resume reflects reality (85%) and team fit (15%). Team fit is all about personality. That leaves the technical part; o do this, you need to be able to ask them questions related to their claimed expertise and their claimed work experience, and (potentially) a problem that you've had that you've already solved, and which they would be responsible for solving if it cropped up again.
Your admitted lack of Windows experience means that you won't be able to do 85% of your job as an interviewer effectively. There's going to be some generic overlap between IT realms, but at beast you are talking 25%, or you would have already been able to hire a UNIX system administrator who could pick up the Windows side of things. That still puts you at 60-75% on the fail side.
Hire a domain expert who has knowledge on both sides to consult on the interview. Verify their own knowledge first by conducting a UNIX interview on them. If they didn't lie about knowing their job there, then they probably didn't lie about knowing the Windows side, and are therefore qualified to do the interview.
If you're smart, your consultant was hired already to write the job posting, after working for you in the job role for a week.
A general note:
I personally would excuse myself from the interview process if I had a 75% chance, or even a 60% chance, of my bullshit detector not being triggered because I didn't know what the candidate was talking about, and you need to be prepared to do the same. You're trying to hire someone specifically for knowledge and skills they have which you don't.
Nodding sagely when you don't understand the answer and then hiring someone because they dress like you, get your jokes, and like to eat at the same mexican restaurant you do is only going to buy you that 15%. It's an important 15%, so you should definitely interview them for team fit, but leave the technical interview to a professional with nothing to win or lose on the candidate being/not being hired.
Don't make it complicated. Ask him question about the job he will be doing, try not to "blow out" candidates, but find the ones that best answer your questions. Make a list of requirements for your company and go through this list with the job candidate. Ask them how they would solve this. Then ask them why they would do it that way. You will not only get insights on what could be necessary for your company, solutions from different angles, but also should be able to determine the best fitting guy who knows what he is doing, why he is doing it and how he is avoiding pitfalls. Don't make complicated "tricky" questioning, just stick to the job at hand, observe the applicants and apply (train) your gut feeling.
The last time I brought in a MS Windows expert they turned the MS Exchange servers into open relays and the place ended up on nearly every spam blacklist on the planet.
What you should look for is a computer expert with a specialty of some sort of MS system instead of a person raised in a monoculture. If they are aware that there is more than one way to do things they are less likely to repeat mistakes that would be consided newbie idiocy on other systems a decade ago, and unthinkable on those systems now.
Look For In a Windows Expert?
Well, I usually look for small objects they might accidentally swallow, open windows, sharp things, etc. and remove them from the office before I interview them. You don't want their family suing you, right?
Also, you should setup a work environment suitable for them. Something like this http://tinyurl.com/8dk6k7f will work fine, but if you will leave them unsupervised for extended periods of time, you might want to look into something like this http://tinyurl.com/9lnp7dn, to ensure everyone's safety.
WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
TCP/IP competency. An idea of how subnets and routing work. No need to be a CCIE or whatever, but various Windows things need some basic network related configuration. Look for experience in troubleshooting Active Directory replication, and group policy, as group policy is used to distribution configuration and replication of group policy depends on AD replication to work properly.
There are competent windows admins out there, but plenty of muppets.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
I'm a Windows admin. Got sucked into that role working in large education departments and later .NET dev teams. I'm also a Mac user who used to work for Apple who hired me because of my Windows server experience. And I respect Linux and want to learn so much more. Never got Certs just 20 years of open minded tech experience. Hire someone like me...
Bullshit, that's just your anger from the imagined putdown of "fan" speaking. They have a job to do and they want somebody that's better at a different job. Your flawed comparison is like saying a navy pilot is better than a submariner.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
A couple of questions
1 Can he follow strict procedures.
2 Can he call Microsoft tech support.
3 Does he know anything about licensing.
4 What is the best anti-virus in the market.
If he gets into Microsoft, you've got your man. Um... let me get back to you.
SAMBA....
Someone who uses mainly Windows and who understands networking will understand networking on Windows. ....
Someone who understands security and who uses Windows primarily will understand security on Windows, so discuss these conceptual things. If you're a Linux admin, you should be able to discuss networking, security, troubleshooting
"First, check the logs" is a correct answer no matter the OS.
More importantly, someone who deeply understands the concepts, not just the Windows Vista tools, will be able to use Windows 9, in a couple of years, with completely different tools. They'll also be able to address issues they haven't seen before because they have the deeper understanding of systems, of concepts and the WHY as opposed to merely the HOW.
Q1. Can you clicky with the mouse button?
Q2. Are you a fucking retard who'll sit gawping at MSDN all day?
Q3. When can you start?
Q1. Can you write custom sendmail configs?
Q2. Are you a fucking neckbeard who'll sit gawping at porn all day?
Q3. When can you start?
Did they sell it or do they still have it....?
They need to know Microsoft Office. And not just 2010, but 2007 and 2003 as well. Legacy support is very important in business.
Can they prepare PowerPoint presentations? Bonus points if they can do presentations with animations and transitions (the more the better).
They need to know what the Cloud is, and more specifically, what a Microsoft Office 365 Cloud is.
Can they integrate Cloud based solutions to synergize the company and promote internal growth?
Do they know what the Command Prompt is? Bonus points if they have actually used it. Even more points if they had to Bing for the proper commands (investigative skills are far more valuable than some "know-it-all" who can remember commands like CD or LS).
Make sure they have all the right certs. Also, a degree says a lot about their skill. Look for people who attend prestigious colleges, like the ITT technical institute.
Most importantly, can they Add or Remove programs through the Control Panel? Systems come with a finite amount of space, and being able to remove programs at will is a critical function of keeping your system running smooth.
If they can pass this test, chances are they are ready to work in your shop as an IT Professional.
Hire Mark Russinovich, that is the only safe bet.
In love, war and slashdot discussions, everything is allowed.
I would never ever want to work with/for an asshole like you. It's your shit attitude which sickens the IT industry. Oh yeah, I've seen enough self proclaimed superheroes like yourself during my career, and god their attitude was most of the time the root cause of a shit working atmosphere. So fuck off.
A *nix professional (yeah fuck you too)
I agree rebooting should be the last choice. However, if you have things setup correctly users wouldn't even notice the reboot.
...who are open to other things than Windows, if you hire a hardcore Windows-is-the-best guy you will end with two environments that can't work with each other.
F.ex.:
GPO's are nice in Windows but if you do everything thru GPO's you have problems with anything else but Windows and you'll have problems with different versions of Windows too.
AD may be nice but works only 100% if it is the master of the disaster.
DC's are NOT all equal in an AD and they do not replicate everything (that is in 2003 and earlier, I have not looked at 2008 yet), if your Schema Master dies your AD may be fucked.
Windows expect that your.internal.dns.domain is the address for a DC, if it is not there will be problems on logins.
True. But when setting up a system, the critical question once the users say no downtime is acceptable, is "and how exactly are we to pay for the infrastructure to do that?" Unsurprisingly, the uptime expectation drops pretty significantly right then.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Seriously, you do not want a Windows fan at all in any position ever. What you want is a pragmatic person that knows to use the best tool for the best job, not someone running around with a hammer using it like a drill or a shovel. And believe me, the Windows fans are the absolute worst in that regard. Anything not from Microsoft is heretic to some of them.
Imho the best Windows administrators are the ones that has used and worked with multiple systems in the same place. They know each systems strength and also have knowledge of how to interconnect them. Trying to get that Windows fanatic to connect to your *nix system is not going to be fun when they just tell you its impossible, but fails to tell you its impossible using the way he is used to connect a network of only Windows machines and Microsoft services.
HTTP/1.1 400
"In the Windows world, just like in the *Nix universe, there are a million and one ways to do the same thing."
And while there are millions of ways to do stuff in Windows, its rarely more than a couple that works IRL. The standard methods that gets a routine bug check works but as soon as you stray from the narrow path you are in for a world of hurt from all the bugs.
HTTP/1.1 400
I think you should think abut what good systems administration consists of and look for those qualities. Having ready knowledge is not nearly as important as having the right attitude, and while it can be useful if the person knows their way about Windows, that is something that can be picked up. You don't some fool who can't get his head around the idea that not everything is Windows-shaped and comes with a domain server and clickable interfaces.
Personally, I would look for a UNIX guy with some Windows experience and an open mind towards the onerous task of navigating the shifting sands of different versions of Windows - and who knows Samba well. Believe me, you don't want somebody who is going to try to change the whole way you run your admin to fit the Windows concept.
Any decent MS Admin as mentioned by others above, you have to decide what is his role. Is it Tech support only, installing things, set up, programing etc. MS world has a lot of nitches and theres no 'windows expert' that knows all of it, chances are not at the price your wanting to pay for it.
Look at the certificates, find out which one matches what your looking for. (wait for it)
Ask for that in your add etc. You dont just hire because of Certs. But you also dont just hire because of 'stated experence' either. I personaly would never hire an admin who wasnt certified AND or had no experence. You need work experence, and Proof that you can do thoes things in a work enviroment. Certs are great for handing to an HR department saying 'he/she needs to have this, plus X years experence' its a check mark for them and they arent as confused when a kid comes in and starts blowing buzzwords at them, saying he worked 'here' and 'here' and did all this, only to hire him and find him completely cluess on the basics. Certs wherent ment to be the 'only' thing, but combined with actual experence help HR departments know wich ones to bother with.
I have seen in my 20 years of IT both camps of 'dont trust certified people' and 'yea i been doing this for 15 years I know what I'm doing certs are a waste of time' that last one actualy asked me how to set up a classless subnet.
Unfortuanly I found uasualy thoes who rail against certification tried and bombed and are good at smoosing HR departments into getting them hired. They end up being the worst trained and skilled individuals in a shop.
So Certs + Work Experence both never one or other.
I used to interview for Windows sysadmins. Ask them what their favourite way of doing a particular task is, and how this differs from Microsoft's preferred exam answer. A good sysadmin will know that Microsoft's preferred exam answer (the only one that would be the 'correct' answer in their multiple choice) probably isn't the only way of doing something. A really good one will know several ways of doing it, and will pick holes in Microsoft's exam questions. Then ask them how to achieve the same when Microsoft's preferred exam answer fails Then ask them how to achieve the same when their favourite way fails. Example: Terminal Services service on a physical server in a remote location has stopped working. How do you restart it remotely? That will stop the point-clicky desktop jockeys. How would you restart it remotely from the command line or a scripted fashion? How would you monitor the remote server to alert you if something isn't running, using nothing but the base tools installed with the OS?
Do you need him to set up a complete AD environment?
LDAP
DNS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_single_master_operation
Or are you just using the servers to run a few application? Web based?
IIS
{Some sort of database}
Will you need some inter-operability wit the current UNIX environment?
TCP/IP
Security? Authentication?
It does not sound like you are too keen on hireing a Windows guy so hire a Unix guy with some Windows knowledge.
What do Windows people do when they need to rsync stuff? How do they version control their configuration? How do you "grep" with no external utilities installed? What's the equivalent of lsof? How do Windows machines handle the split between 32bit and 64bit code? What's the equivalent of LD_LIBRARY_PATH? Do you really have to point and click for everything? Is there a command line equivalent of "su"? You'll be able to tell if the answers are smart. Literally, treat interviews as "tell me how people actually run Windows on a real scale because I'm green with it and if I tried to do it I'd go mental... I'm honestly interested" and you'll quickly figure out who knows what the hell they're talking about and perhaps learn something along the way.
I call shenanigans. Your Windows pizza analogy requires a Sega Dreamcast running Windows CE. The Nintendo64 had a Unix kernel.
Nothing, actually.
Those of us who once had to work on that platform find your use of the word 'fan' very amusing.
You want someone who is rounded in using computers so they can run the Windows side of things but still understand how to integrate into Unix environments. You're acting like Windows guys are just a bunch of idiots but it's all computing and it's usually the same set of standards. I spent the majority of my career doing *nix then switched to Windows when I went to the business side of things. I still write perl scripts, sometimes even powershell scripts. I still manage backups and edit code in programs that I shouldn't have access to, network things together, run php in IIS and format/restore things that go south. The biggest difference is the struggle to understand proprietary 3rd party systems instead of spending hours going through documentation and code in open source forums... Which is really just a different kind of frustration in problem solving but not much difference in time spent working on problems.
Everything that gets done in Unix/Linux can be done in Windows in a different way. In *NIX you need to create LDAP groups for authentication purposes, for single signon, and in Windows you have to do it in AD. You need to know about group policy and how it nests. You need to know about forests, trusts, domains, DNS (which is basically the same thing in NIX/Windows). You need to know about automation -- people that know VBScript or PowerShell are important here, and PowerShell can read like C type code if you know that stuff.
MCSE/MSITP is a useless piece of paper. You can study really hard for that test and pass, without ever having TURNED ON A COMPUTER. It's fairly ridiculous. Looking at resumes, look at the technology they list. I had a guy that listed "Managing Telnet/NTP servers" and he worked for a finance company last. I knew it was bullshit so I called him on it, and he stammered.
Also, a good Windows admin KNOWS LINUX TOO. Not in any amazing way, but they understand the basic concepts of how to use a package repository, what builds (Ubuntu, Mint, Red Hat, SUSE, etc), They also know about cron jobs (and should be able to tell you what they equal in Windows).
Realistically for a good Windows admin you just need a smart person that knows technology and some basic Windows administration. Because not everybody is going to know everything; so things like certificate services are something that usually "creep up" over time in Windows, but aren't there unless you have a big investment. Choose accordingly in your candidates. If you hire somebody you think that knows Windows well you might wind up a loser, but if you hire somebody that knows enough to keep servers running clean, can write some code for automation purposes, and knows how to learn fast and adapt technology of any kind, you'll probably be best off. At least, with a small set of Windows boxes like you have now.
When you grow that into a bigger farm of Windows servers, that person will grow with you, and if they have a hungry appetite they'll know your Linux systems so well that you'll have great interoperability between the two. People that are diehard one way or another (I love Windows or I love Linux!) usually fare very poorly as an organization grows to really get the best of technology. It's a tool, and the people that recognize and respect that of each platform are usually the best suited for most tech jobs.
Just my $.02.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
squeeze the little heads of the windows users until they pop
first of all, the primary attribute of a Hardcore Windows Expert: he hates windows way harder than you.
look for this sign, friend, and you will be rewarded.
First of all full ACK to rickb928.
Maybe for extra bonus you could get them a Windows XP Professional box and ask them to change the file permissions on a file.
But in general you should be able to easily weed out those 99.999% of Windows "experts" who know nothing more about Windows than your users.
try this:
I have here a %random x86 computer% and i need to get Windows installed on it. How would you go about doing it??
1 If the first question is not in the form of "Are you sure that the box CAN have Windows installed?" *end the interview
2 next question should be "Where are my install discs/driver discs and KeyCards"? (note a great WinGeek will have install discs and some sort of Driver Package)
3 Your WinGeek should also have some way of installing a CURRENTLY PATCHED copy of Windows (slipstreamed install media is best) without using a network connection
4 Also they should be familiar with the automated ways of installing the CURRENT 3rd party runtimes (flash java ect)
*note if your WinGeek has a bootable disc with a Windows Prep Tool this is also a Pass
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
That is all I want from you. I never want that "thing" to enter my realm of consciousness.
Just hire a competent Linux guy.
Tell him you expect him to be your Windows guy - and to brush-up on Windows admin. This will be sufficient until this "Windows fad" blows over, and your organization can migrate back to a fully-unix network.
Fan? WTF is this? What sort of shop talks like that? They just OS's with various strengths and weakness. Grow up.
Gee, how DARE the "business" side of the company present your pure UNIX world with applications that are only available on Windows!
Windows is a perfectly valid and normal environment within which to run business applications. Running applications needed by the business is, after all, kind of the whole point of the IT department.
Drop the "Oh Bother..." attitude towards the business side of your company dictating your projects (and your funding) or your job will not be long for this world.
(This is a "ha ha, but serious" post.)
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Very little of this matters.
Ask them about issues that matter to your company, like getting LDAP working right with everything. Find out something particularly nasty fix they've managed to get through and succeed on, then drill down on it to find out the depth of the knowledge they acquired doing that fix.
Can they solve problems, have they found good resources, have they the patience to plow through them and the context to understand them?
And hand them a little rope to find out how much they hate Linux. Be nice, be agreeable, and let them dig themselves a hole. You don't want a Windows BOFH, you want someone who wants to make it all work.
DHCP questions are a great way to screen. Huge numbers of applicants will ascribe magic abilities to DHCP and leave massive "here a miracle occurs" balloons in their descriptions of how it works.
It's really not that hard, but somehow manages to frighten unskilled people.
I'd look for someone who is primarily platform agnostic, an enthusiast who has *nix experience, but who primarily works within a windows environment and has some alignments with Microsoft. You probably do not want a Windows fan slowly trying to convert your effecient environment into a data/memory wastland of unused features and schemas.
Knowing that Vista and Windows 7 are developed from the same code repository is very important. Compatibility issues are likely to affect both operating systems.