For all the advances in computing architectures and operating systems, complex computers still require a great deal of care and feeding. No operating system typifies this statement more than UNIX. UNIX is a mature operating system that runs on a wide range of systems from small single-user desktops to the world's fastest supercomputers. The broad spectrum of applications that run on UNIX ranges from banking and financial applications to telecommunications, manufacturing, and health care processes. Simply put, UNIX is everywhere. However, for all its success in the marketplace and all the development work that various UNIX vendors lavish on fancy graphical user interfaces and dynamic this and automatic that, a UNIX system still, more than 30 years after its creation, cannot manage itself. Enter the UNIX system administrator.