\n\tIT pro Jerry Smith got the ball rolling when he offered his list of the most useful items in a well-stocked sysadmin toolkit. TechRepublic members had plenty suggestions of their own. This gallery features the original list and the most popular suggestions from members. Here are Jerry’s picks:
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\n\tFirst, the 15\u201d Macbook Pro is my undisputed weapon of choice. This isn’t a Mac vs. PC piece so whatever laptop you carry is fine. The longer the battery lasts the better and an additional power supply is definitely a must have.
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\n\tTo carry your arsenal of IT goodness a backpack is in order. I use a Swiss Army pack that can be picked up at a local retailer for around $50-70. It has adjustable straps and is large enough for your laptop and all of your gear plus your tablet of choice.
\n\tAs laptops evolved over the years one of the items that didn’t make the design cut was the serial port. To overcome this, many IT departments keep an old laptop lying around just for configuring switches, routers, and firewalls. I carry this keyspan serial to usb converter and it seems to do the job fine.
\n\tJust about everyone today carries a USB drive with them. This is a 32GB Sandisk that has encryption software for things you don’t want others to see. The large capacity means plenty of storage space for drivers, anti-malware utilities, even entire operating systems.
\n\tA screwdriver is an absolute must, and until laptops, servers, switches and racks all use the same screw, a multidriver is required. This kit is perfect for mobility as it’s only about 6\u201dx4\u201d and less than an inch thick.
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\n\tOther tools not pictured
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\n\tI always keep a handful of rubber bands in my kit to keep things organized and many times the rubber band has been the most important tool I carry. How’s that you ask? How many times have you been replacing a hard disk in a server only to find the head of the screw is stripping? The fix? Place a wide rubber band between the screwdriver and the screw — and the rubber band will fill in the stripped area. Try it and you can thank me later.
\n\tThe most popular comment, posted by rindi1 is Portable Apps. An excellent suite of applications you can carry on that USB drive I told you about.
\n\tTechRepublic commenter, tristanhood shared his choice of all-in-one toolkit with the CyberTool, definitely a great choice for the backpack pocket.
\n\tJfrange added in a telescoping magnet for picking up that server screw that fell behind your server rack.
\n\tHow could I forget possibly the greatest invention in the last 100 years?
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\n\tPlus one other diminutive office supply hero. If you’ve ever needed to retrieve a stuck cd or had to hard reset many devices you’ve turned your desk upside down looking for one of these.
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\n\tOther items not pictured but worth mentioning:
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\n\tStill other readers came up with their own homemade tools, like this one from Ron:
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\n\t\tWay back when, working my way through college installing air conditioning and heating systems (this is pre-computers), I had to run thermostat wires in some awfully tight locations. I found a 6-foot length of beaded chain, to drop down inside walls invaluable!! Now I carry it to fish cables up from behind desks, etc. Just a cheap hunk of chain with an alligator clip on the end.
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\n\tWhat have we missed?
IT Pro with 15 years experience. Currently a Systems Engineer with a leading SaaS provider in Birmingham, AL.
