Novice sysadmins (was: Suggestions for a more privacy conscious email provider)

Indeed, I'm not aware of any certification that applies to system
administrators. Network administrators have certs that are
well-recognized and accepted. Mail admins? Server admins? The certs
that are out there border on jokes or disguised sale pitches.

Even the relatively good ones are bad. I have identified 60 and am on track
to identify about 200 errors in the official ISC2 CISSP study guide.

"However, UDP should only be used when the delivery of data is not
essential"

List of Layer 5 (Session) protocols:
NFS
SQL
RPC

Regarding IPv6 SLAAC: "Autoconfiguration removes the need for both DHCP and
NAT."

"A static packet-filtering firewall [is unable] to tell whether a packet
originated from inside or outside the private network."

"Examples of dedicated lines:
Technology, Connection Type, Speed
Digital Signal Level 0 (DS-0), Partial T1, 64 Kbps up to 1.544 Mbps
Digital Signal Level 1 (DS-1), T1, 1.544 Mbps"

"The web application then switches to a subject role as it queries the
user's computer to retrieve a cookie"

"Plenum-grade cable must be used [...] if the building has enclosed spaces
that could trap gases."

Stop. No. Just no. Plenum-grade cable must be used in a -plenum-. A plenum
is an air-handling space like the inside of a furnace duct. The only reason
we care about plenum cable in our jobs is that most offices take a shortcut
and turn the entire area above the ceiling tiles in to a giant return-air
duct for the air conditioner. That's why the return-air grill is simply
open into the ceiling. If you burn crap in an air-handling space, the fumes
aren't trapped: they almost immediately spread throughout the office.
That's bad, so we use different cable than what we put under the desk where
the fumes will tend to stay near where they started.

Trap gases? No! Plenum is for where the gases would quickly spread!

Regards,
Bill Herrin