We’ve put together a list of 5 podcasts that every SysAdmin should listen to if they want to keep up to date with the latest technology.
For many decades, the entertainment industry has chased the goal of trying to create the ultimate multimedia experience: higher image quality than the human retina can actually see, sound systems with more dimensions than physically possible, and many other new technologies. While many of these attempts ended in failure, just when people were really starting to lose interest in something as outdated as radio, a new phenomenon emerged and became extremely popular: the podcast.
Almost 10 years after the format first emerged, the podcast continues to grow in terms of success, diversity and reach. These days there is a plethora of podcasts on various platforms covering subjects as diverse as music, current affairs, documentaries, science fiction, terror, true crime, sports, literature, technology and much more besides. And of course, there are several podcasts dedicated to Systems Administration.
So, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to assess the most popular podcasts for SysAdmin to make sure that you don’t miss out. Here are our top 5:
The 5 Podcasts that Every SysAdmin Should Listen to
The Admin Admin Podcast
https://www.adminadminpodcast.co.uk/
This is a British podcast aimed at IT professionals specialising in networks and servers. Their five presenters are each specialised in different fields of technology and, between them, they address different topics related to system administration, server maintenance and troubleshooting. Also, their website offers a Show Notes section containing all the important references from each episode, as well as a Scripts section containing different resources for Vim, PowerShell, etc.
- Available on: Apple podcasts and their own website (streaming and download)
- Number of episodes: 98, not divided into series
- First started: 2014
- Average episode duration: 60 minutes
- Frequency: quarterly
2.5 Admins
The name “2.5 Admins” refers to the presenters, who are two systems administrators and a producer/editor. Every fortnight, they discuss matters relating to the latest technology news and answer audience questions related to systems administration.
- Available on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and their own website (streaming and download)
- Number of episodes: 111, not divided into series
- First started: 2020
- Average episode duration: 30 minutes
- Frequency: fortnightly
The SysAdmin DOJO
https://www.altaro.com/dojo/sysadminpodcast/
This podcast from DOJO, the training portal run by Altaro Software, is aimed at Systems Administrators and aims to provide martial arts training to “turn you into your company’s IT black belt”. It is presented by Andy Syrewicze, who occasionally invites special guests to discuss subjects relating to the Cloud, Microsoft 365, Hyper-V and VMWare, PowerShell, certificates, backups, etc.
- Available on: Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify and YouTube
- Number of episodes: 18 in a single series
- First started: 2022
- Average episode duration: 40 minutes
- Frequency: monthly
Iron Sysadmin
This podcast already boasts more than 120 fortnightly episodes, some divided into two parts, that address interesting topics for SysAdmin and other technology-related matters (such as AI, cloud, programming, etc.). The podcast has its own community on Reddit, Discord and Matrix.
- Available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Twitch and YouTube Live
- Number of episodes: 18 in a single series
- First started: 2022
- Average episode duration: 60 minutes
- Frequency: fortnightly
The Livin’ On the Edge Podcast by Ambassador Labs
https://www.getambassador.io/podcasts/
This technology podcast from Ambassador, which offers Kubernetes development solutions on the cloud, is presented by Daniel Bryant. The podcast is already in its third series but has a somewhat irregular schedule, with some 10/15 episodes per year. On the show, he interviews different professionals specialising in the cloud, development, microservices, PaaS, etc. There is also a complete transcript of every episode on their website.
- Available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast.fm and SoundCloud
- Number of episodes: 26 episodes across three series
- First started: 2020
- Average episode duration: 40 minutes
- Frequency: monthly but irregular
Conclusions
Podcasts have become the most popular form of low-demand multimedia content. The fact that they are so easy to both create and listen to has led to the emergence of thousands, and many of them are becoming increasingly specialised, creating an ecosystem that just keeps on growing. These are our top 5 podcasts for SysAdmin in English, but if you know of any more, don’t hesitate to let us know!
