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| Thread ID: 93618 | 2008-09-25 00:57:00 | System Adminstration in the 70s | Xavier (11355) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 707567 | 2008-09-25 00:57:00 | hey guys just need some insight with regard to system administration back in the 60s and 70s...we're meant to write an essay (about 2k words) on system administration in the past and present. what are the differences and how its change i mean i know its changed dramatically with new kinds of administrative roles created almost every day (this could be because of the ITIL framework...who really knows or just marketing doing what they're meant to do). so any help from our veterans in the sys admin world would be really appreciated. cheers, x. |
Xavier (11355) | ||
| 707568 | 2008-09-25 05:03:00 | Dare I say it, but usually when someone sets you an assignment they intend *you* to do the work... | Erayd (23) | ||
| 707569 | 2008-09-25 05:17:00 | LOL, all systems in the 60's and 70's were mainframe....no domains etc...so everything would probably be command line driven..... | SolMiester (139) | ||
| 707570 | 2008-09-25 05:25:00 | LOL, all systems in the 60's and 70's were mainframe....no domains etc...so everything would probably be command line driven..... So true, there's not very much to write about! :lol: |
wratterus (105) | ||
| 707571 | 2008-09-25 05:40:00 | I remember the computer (IBM) at the Firestone factory in Christchurch was housed in a specially built room with air conditioning and dust extraction systems. The floor was able to be lifted in sections to gain access to (I'm guessing) the cabling underneath. One whole wall was a bookshelf which I was told contained the 'Manual' for the machine. Staff had to be with this machine whenever it was running, | Richard (739) | ||
| 707572 | 2008-09-25 05:47:00 | You need to get Graham L's attention. He's posted stuff on "how it was" on this forum before. | Jen (38) | ||
| 707573 | 2008-09-25 05:55:00 | Hi Xavier. In the 70's a friend of mine, since deceased, worked in the justice departments Wanganui Computer System, which he told me had a basement full of wet batteries to ensure no power break, a whole central floor of spool/tape machines and dozens of 24 hour shift workers to maintain it - including a security air-lock at the main entrance to gain access. It had hundreds of remote terminals all over the country. Try a Google on on its name... I just did and think that you might be able to cut and paste something from the 86,000 hits. |
Scouse (83) | ||
| 707574 | 2008-09-25 06:17:00 | so any help from our veterans in the sys admin world would be really appreciated . I think a big change is how many job there are . in todays world we have: network guys . cable monkeys windows guys unix guys help desk second level help desk coders hardware guys DBA's back in 70's one dude would have the skills to do all of the above . an admin had to understand the system from top to bottom . back in the day an admin would think in binary 24/7 :-) in todays world I know unix admins who can't convert decimal to hex . and back in 70's it was more a dark art . |
robsonde (120) | ||
| 707575 | 2008-09-25 08:15:00 | Also, the sys admin admin'd a fair size crew, usually including a few programmers, a bunch of operators, visiting techs, and dorks from the suits brigade asking stupid questions. Programs were not bought off-the-peg, they were all made-to-measure. A mini-system was any system that could all be delivered on one truck. Hardware was astonishingly heavy and expensive, people were cheap. | R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 707576 | 2008-09-25 13:22:00 | Dare I say it, but usually when someone sets you an assignment they intend *you* to do the work... sigh...don't you dare say it.. :) i was merely looking for some hints and pointers to where i should do my research. It's however always more interesting for me to learn from other peoples knowledge. We are kiwis. we've been around computers. why not ask the locals?... :) Thanks to all that have posted. It has shed some light on the kind of administrative roles there were. I guess it was more system specific but not sys administrators needn't to worry about certain aspects as there are other people that have that responsibility. cheers for all your help, Xavier. PS if you feel like adding more to this, please feel free to, it all helps getting a better grade than an A+ :) |
Xavier (11355) | ||
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