Tools to help you be the best SysAdmin

This page contains my list of tools that I use all the time as a SysAdmin as well as tools that have helped me to become a SysAdmin.  These are tools that I currently use or tools I have used over the years.  Everything on this list I fully endorse and would be happy to answer any questions you have about them.

Some links below are affiliate links.  If you click on them and do make a purchase I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Thanks,
Mike

Now more than ever privacy and security are so important.  With a VPN client you have keep your data from prying eyes when you are on a public WIFI or even in your own home.  I use SurfShark VPN because they have a great price and you are not limited or capped on the data you can use.  

Also unlike many other VPN providers SurfShark gives you the ability to use it on unlimited devices.  I have multiple computers, phones and tablets and all of them can be used with SurfShark VPN regardless of Operating System.

LastPass is my password manager of choice. As a SysAdmin and business owner, I have so many passwords for so many accounts.  Keeping a good security model we know that every service should have a totally unique password.  LastPass helps me to do this with very little friction and will even generate passwords for me. 

Also with their easy to use Chrome Plugin and Mobile App, I don’t have to type in long complicated passwords.  LastPass will automatically fill in the fields for me.

While I am not using this router currently, I have used and loved this router/wifi in the past. I use a more enterprise grade router now for my lab. 

I have always been a huge fan of Netgear products and have never had any trouble with them.  This Nighthawk wireless router has multiple 1 gig Ethernet ports for wired devices and boasts wireless speeds up to 1750 Mbps.

The Shark Tap USB is a network tap.  This device is used to sniff traffic on a network.  You put it inline between two network devices and your computer listens on the third connection.  Unlike a lot of other Taps, the Shark Tap USB is powered by USB from your computer and will passthrough gig connections as well as POE.  This makes the Shark Tap USB a perfect tap for sniffing phone traffic the requires POE.

I keep this device with me at all times in my tool kit.  You truly never know when you may need to capture traffic between two devices.

Wireshark is a 100% free tool that goes hand in hand with the SharkTap listed above.  Wireshark is a tool used to capture or “sniff” network traffic for analysis. I use Wireshark extensively at my job and it has helped me to solve SO many problems.  I use it to troubleshoot VoIP problems, SMB problems, Firewall problems, HTTP problems and so much more.  Wireshark is certainly a tool EVERY SysAdmin should be familiar with.

Once it was released Visual Studio Code quickly become my code editor of choice. Don’t get me wrong I still love some of the previous tools like NotePad++ but in terms of writing code, Visual Studio Code offers a clean and easy to use interface.  It is also free and cross-platform, as in it will work on Windows, Linux, and MAC.  I don’t use MACs but I certainly have Visual Studio Code on all of my Windows and Linux computers.

Its ability to use plugins means that I can program in almost any language I desire.  Currently, I use it for PowerShell, Python, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript but it can certainly be used for more than just that.

Now I know Teachable is not a SysAdmin tool.  Teachable is a service for hosting online courses. It is my platform of choice for hosting my courses and certainly gives me so much flexibility. Along with their great hosting platform, they also have a large number of courses available to members on creating an successful school with Teachable. Also backed by all of this is a great community of instructors all helping each other succeed.

So if you are interested in hosting your own online courses try them out, they even have a free program that allows for up to 10 students.