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Comment by davidw | Hacker News Reader

I'd suggest that you also try and learn from this person - it might cost a bit more initially, but basic admin skills are something that everyone technical should have. Sure, know your limits too - you may never be the guy that runs the 100 system data center, but you should be able to manage a few computers competently.

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Definitely good advice. Having the skills to be able to fix problems when shit goes awry (or at least enough so that things aren't exploding until someone who really knows what they're doing can fix them right) would be a good thing, for sure.

Yeah ditto this. I think you'll actually find that's it a fun part of startups too.

That said, I bet if you provide some more details on what you have and what you need that you'll find a couple guys here.

It's fun... but it's also a good way to avoid someone having you by the balls if they're the only ones who can run the systems, and there's a problem at 3AM.

The ubiquitous 3AM phone call.

You make a very good point, sir. :) It's definitely something we need/want to learn more about (Hi, I would be the other co-founder). I've set up a few servers in the past for small, personal things, so I feel like I have a good basic understanding of how it all works and I'm eager to leanr more. Hosever, since I've had no actual training or instruction on how to efficently set up and secure a server, I just want someone to oversee it and make sure it's done right. If they're willing to teach me, all the better.

That said, if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations on the best way to go about learning this particular set of skills, I'm all ears.

One approach would be to insist that it's you sitting at the keyboard when your expert goes through the system. He'll have to tell you what to do, and explain it if you're not getting it. That works way better than watching over a shoulder. It'll be slower/more expensive, but you get both the actual help as well as some training.

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