Whoa. I am a comparative IT novice, just passed A+ desktop hardware and OS cert. I have an opportunity to intern as level-one support at a small organization that contracts out all of their IT. If I can spin up fast enough I may be offered the opportunity to plan and oversee a major (for them) network expansion and even run the new system.
Currently they have about a 50-node network running XP on Windows 2000 Server, with Exchange 2003 and MS SQL Server. They use Terminal Services and they have a Cisco PIX firewall. In January they will probably add another thirty users.
I have been reading some general texts on networking and server technology. I plan to pursue an MCSA or MCSE cert tailored to the specific products they are using.
My questions are, first: how much can I expect from the contractor for documentation? From what I read it seems that this is a rather nebulous area but in my case it will be critical. The executives in place need a user-level summary of their current and projected needs so that they can make informed decisions in the next few months. Would I be out of line asking the contractor for baseline statistics on current usage?
Second, is it unrealistic to imagine getting my head around this by, say, Christmas? I am aware of the possibility of suiting up and undertaking responsibilities beyond my capacity to execute. Otoh I *am* smarter than the average bear and this stuff *is* all in books, right? Right?
