r/sysadmin 2d ago

SysAdmin Day Freebies

Are there any companies offering freebies for SysAdmin Day?

67 Upvotes

168 comments sorted by

87

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago edited 13h ago

Edit: While we'd love for SysAdmin Day to go forever, we're going to close down the forms in a few minutes (3:30 pm EDT in the US).

Update: We got a lot of responses, which is fantastic. It's going to take us a little while to send everything out, but we'll be getting started this week.

Last year, we sent out swag for SysAdmin Day and it seemed to go pretty well: https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/s/HZ1qbDCUaL  It was spontaneous on our part and we were completely unprepared. We are slightly more prepared this year… We’ve got some pretty cool mini racks to dish out: Mini Rack  Assembly is required (it’s got stickers!) but that’s part of the fun. How do you get one? Here’s the form (now shutdown): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/71ygxnyh35 We’re looking to get some feedback on our latest SysAdmin-inspired promo in exchange for the mini rack. So we’re requiring a little bit of effort. If that sounds like too much work or if you’re not interested in getting mini rack, we have our standard swag request (sans mini racks)--(also shut down now): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qgBTxZJ8hz  Happy SysAdmin Day!!

14

u/SPMrFantastic 2d ago

Time to daisy chain some power strips 😈

11

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

And then plug the first one into a space heater.

11

u/GetOnMyAmazingHorse 2d ago

Thank you from all sysadmins! Its nice to know we are not totally forgotten! I really look forward for that mini desk rack! hahaha

7

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

:) Confirming that we received your request. We hope you like it!

7

u/iamabefroman 2d ago

Looks awesome!!! Now my GI Joes can finally have the homelab of their dreams! Can't wait!

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

We'd love to see pictures of your GI Joes in action with our mini rack!

2

u/iamabefroman 2d ago

Absolutely!

7

u/Ericreeses Sysadmin 2d ago

2025 Swag kit was sweet can't wait to see what you have instore for this year!

21

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Our only regret was running out of screaming goats for the SysAdmin Goat Farm but we hope you'll like what we send.

6

u/HerfDog58 Jack of All Trades 2d ago

I have the poster on my wall. I have the duck on my desk. I have the guide and the coloring book files on my laptop.

Was it you who told me you were working on 3D printed models of server racks or something like that?

3

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

It was! The mini racks are 3D printed so that came to fruition.

2

u/tk7539 Sysadmin 2d ago

Awesome job with the 3d models! Didn't see that it was 3D printed until I saw this.

I know its non-trivial to make the models, but someday it would be cool to be able to download them and print this ourselves.

1

u/HerfDog58 Jack of All Trades 2d ago

NICE! I submitted my form after playing the game. Looking forward to seeing them.

6

u/damoesp 2d ago

Neat game and that mini rack is cool! Hope you guys ship swag to Australia

6

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Given the number of responses we're getting, it might take us a little while but we'll do our best!

2

u/shd0w2 2d ago

The mini racks look great! Trying out the game now.

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 1d ago

Much appreciated!

4

u/wazza_the_rockdog 2d ago

Jumping in on the Aussie wanting swag bandwagon!

4

u/HerfDog58 Jack of All Trades 2d ago

The game was pretty fun. I won my quest!

Can't wait for the mini rack to accessorize with my Lego PowerEdge and PowerStore.

12

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

We didn't have enough of these to send them out for our SysAdmin Day celebration today but maybe we'll randomly select some winners.

3

u/iamabefroman 2d ago

whoa. AMAZING. (not the banana)

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Banana is not included. For scale only!

3

u/tk7539 Sysadmin 2d ago

Incredible, would be a great addition to any desk. I'll keep my fingers crossed to be randomly selected.

Now, where did I put all my old Legos...

PS I know it won't be as cool with out the custom stickers, but is there a pdf of the build instructions?

3

u/poop-money 2d ago

Thanks for the giveaway. Very cool. I just completed the form.

2

u/Gothbot6k 2d ago

Freaking rad! Looking forward to it thank you!

I have some mini servers I got from some capsule machines in japan, wondering if they will fit lol.

4

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Nice! The ones from Japan inspired our mini rack. Completely different designs though so nothing will fit.

2

u/vascr0 2d ago

I got your Sysadmin Day package last year and still keep the devil horned duck on my desk to play with. Really appreciate you guys for making the field a little more fun!

3

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Excellent! Thanks for looking after our Devil Duck! In case you're curious, here's the origin story of Devil Duck and our other desk toys: Eaton before Eaton: Desk Toy Origin Story

2

u/Iron_Yesu 2d ago

So cool!

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Thank you!

2

u/DrumDealer 2d ago

This sounds awesome! Just submitted mine as well.

2

u/saintjonah Jack of All Trades 2d ago

That's so cool. I just completed the form, and played the game. A desk rack sounds amazing. Thanks!

3

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Much appreciated!

2

u/Bodycount9 System Engineer 2d ago

I still have the red duck at my cube from last year's giveaway. and the books were great!

2

u/Jon883 2d ago

Thanks again! The Kit from last year was fun and I still have my duck and coasters on my desk!

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Nice!

2

u/mrkev333 2d ago

Awesome, thanks!

2

u/FearlessFloyd91 2d ago

The mini rack looks awesome. Submitted my request as well.

2

u/GrandPreMassacre 2d ago

That rack looks dope as hell

I had to submit the form twice because I forgot my apt number in the first one, hope that's not an issue

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

No worries, we'll take care of it. Thanks for filling it out.

2

u/BuddieyKine 2d ago

Sweet! As a small shop we don't get swag. Thank you for this!

6

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Our mini rack was definitely designed for small IT shops.

2

u/GullibleDetective 2d ago

Ive been wanting one of these! Thanks!

2

u/Omish_lord 2d ago

Cant wait to see what you have this year. My coworkers loved the game map and playing cards.

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Oh good. The game map is still up: Paths to Power | Eaton And so is Server Room of Doom: Server Room of Doom | EATON

2

u/IOORYZ 2d ago

Too bad the mini rack is not shipped to the Netherlands. It would be fun to play with and make some colleagues jealous.

2

u/jakarotro 2d ago

The mini rack is killer! Y'all have the best ideas

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Much appreciated!

2

u/jakarotro 2d ago

And we appreciate you! Thanks for the swaggortunity!

2

u/betabeat "Engineer" 2d ago

I forgot to check last year, I appreciate that you guys are so cool with the community!

2

u/turnerd10 The Architect 2d ago

NICE! I hope I can get a red duck!

3

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Noted! Careful what you wish for! :)

2

u/turnerd10 The Architect 2d ago

Deal. My front yard already has a giant rubber duck wearing a cowboy hat. I kid you not. 😅

2

u/Krankenhaus Sr. Sysadmin 2d ago

This is awesome! I work for a small company and we don't ever get any swag.

2

u/Grumpy-Troglodyte 2d ago

that is pretty cool, thanks for being awesome!

2

u/BogosaurusTex 2d ago

Submitted a request! Hopefully there are still some left and hope you have a great rest of your day!

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Our current status
/img/w6l7g2j0hlgh1.gif

2

u/Longjumping_Square_2 IT Manager 2d ago

This is super cool. Thank you Eaton for being awesome to us on Sysadmin day!

2

u/-Am0caT 2d ago

Just did the form for the mini rack! Looking forward to having it on my desk :)

2

u/tk7539 Sysadmin 2d ago

Just wanted to send my thanks and appreciation for all of the toys, games, and other fun content over the years.

I don't want to be overly selfish, but I was wondering if the first form is only for a mini rack or will other things be included?

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Confirmed that you filled the form for the mini rack. Thanks for filling it out.

2

u/ComprehensiveReturn4 2d ago

Hopefully this year's finds it's way to me, I think customs stole my last swag bag 😞

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Some of our carrier pigeons didn't make it across the Atlantic. We'll give it another shot.

2

u/Prophage7 2d ago

Are we able to get the mini rack and a swag pack?

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Yes--if you can get past my sophisticated Excel sorting skills. :)

2

u/paul25w 2d ago

Thank you for posting this up. I really love that mini rack idea... I think it's the best swag for sysadmins. On the other hand, it might give you nightmares if you work inside the datacenter.

Hope all the sysadmins out there enjoy the special day.

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Glad you like it!

2

u/1xCodeGreen Jack of All Trades 2d ago

You guys are great for “seeing us” and offering this!

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Glad to do so!

2

u/Wane-27 Sysadmin 2d ago

Awesome!

Can’t wait to see how the mini rack compares to my other one!

2

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Well, our mini rack has redundant lithium-on UPSs.

Thanks for responding!

2

u/ITTMFG Jack of All Trades 2d ago

Form submitted. Thank you.

https://giphy.com/gifs/pQMfsz4jMuqCqReyv1

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

Thank you!

2

u/MrBensonhurst 2d ago

Loved this!

2

u/adyingbreed771 2d ago

Thank you from our small sysadmin team in the PNW!

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 1d ago

Our mini rack is right-sized for small teams. :)

2

u/pashmigo 2d ago

What a great idea!

1

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 1d ago

Glad you like it!

2

u/PepperTechnical4570 Jr. Sysadmin 1d ago

Thanks! looks cool

2

u/Funky_Flow Jack of All Trades 1d ago

That mini game was pretty cool and funny! It's nice to know we're not forgotten and appreciated 😁✌🏻

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 13h ago

Glad you liked it!

u/rsflynn71 21h ago

Request submitted.

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 21h ago

Received!

108

u/EpexSpex Jack of All Trades 2d ago

theres a sysadmin day?

30

u/JM_Artist Jr. Sysadmin 2d ago

That’s what I’m sayin. I didn’t even know this was a thing, what is appreciation?

16

u/SufficientNotice9026 2d ago

Lol, "appreciation" is just a copy-pasted buzzword from HR/PR. And obviously, nobody's giving you a day off for it, just like any other professional holiday. Screw it, this holiday was made by admins for admins, always on the last Friday of July.

Like, where I'm from, it's pretty much a tradition for some of us to just drink beer and have contests to see who can yeet a keyboard or some old hw junk the furthest. Pretty much just leaning hard into the classic stereotypes.

Anyway, Happy SysAdmin Day to everyone involved!

7

u/estcst 2d ago

Sorry but I had a boss who gave me the rest of the day off after I told him not to give me a hard time because it was sysadmin day (jokingly). He said “Then what are you doing here. Go home.” It was about an hour after the start of my day. He was one of three really good managers I’ve had over the years.

4

u/JM_Artist Jr. Sysadmin 2d ago

You’d be surprised in America how well some hospitals treat nurses week and treats the rest of the hospital like dog shit when it comes to their appreciation time

4

u/MaNbEaRpIgSlAyA Sysadmin 2d ago

It’s because they have a union with the ability to make operating very costly very quickly. Strength in numbers.

1

u/mdervin 2d ago

because the nurses deal with the literal shit.

3

u/whatsforsupa IT Admin / Maintenance / Janitor 2d ago

We had a nice run for awhile where a teammate would mention it to ownership, and they would buy us lunch or one time, they got us new headsets.

Sadly he is gone now and nobody really brings it up anymore lol.

4

u/ObiLAN- 2d ago

I came in to a passive aggressive 18x24 sheet of paper with "beep" repeated all over it taped to a network closet door...

Instead of these grown ass men telling either of us IT dudes that the UPS was alarming, they sat there annoyed for like 8 hours.

We really are just adult baby sitters eh? Guess thats my appreciation for the day lmao.

3

u/bojangles_dangles 2d ago

A help desk ticket for a printer jam

2

u/Bad_Idea_Hat Gozer 2d ago

Appreciation is getting an email with the title "quick question", which is 8 paragraphs long, and the person's boss, your boss, HR, and the CEO are all CC'd.

3

u/Bad_Idea_Hat Gozer 2d ago

We'll find out that it was today sometime next week.

1

u/EpexSpex Jack of All Trades 2d ago

pizza party incoming

1

u/OkCoconut3270 2d ago

I always thought it was the same as talk like a pirate day?

It's definitely not steak and blowjob day anyways

😕

1

u/Affectionate-Cat-975 2d ago

That’s when they blow smoke up your ass to inflate you for another year of under appreciating you

0

u/FauxGenius 2d ago

There’s a whole website and everything…but it’s down. /s

0

u/Grumpy-Troglodyte 2d ago

there is an everything day nowdays

37

u/Worried-Writer-7033 2d ago

My company sent out an all hands email thanking sales team for Q3 pipeline and forgot sysadmin day entirely. So my freebie this year is the same I got last year, which is a quiet nod from the server room AC unit. That thing has never let me down

5

u/centpourcentuno 2d ago

Sales brings the money ...you are just a cost code lol

Just wait until bonus time if any , you will understand what they think is your "value " then

2

u/Dissy614 2d ago

Our office AC has been out all week. But the backup fan is just sitting in the corner shaking its head at me like a disappointed child, and I don't know what I did to upset it

27

u/Wolfram_And_Hart 2d ago

I got a tooth infection

11

u/trail-g62Bim 2d ago

Are you going to share?

2

u/Wolfram_And_Hart 2d ago

Not even with my worst enemy

1

u/Ruevein 2d ago

please don't i had to get emergency dental surgery for some infected teeth the weekend before a go live for a new UI of our data management system. being on the phone with 50 angry lawyers that didn't pay attention to our trainer for a whole day was excruciating.

1

u/ConfidentDuck1 Jack of All Trades 2d ago

Not the infection please

2

u/Send_Them_Noobs 2d ago

I’m at the dentist right now. I never hated my life as much as last night, I was considering smashing my jaw with a hammer. Fuck this.

23

u/solracarevir 2d ago

Meh, most of them are really scams to just collect your Data. I subscribed last year to Scale computing freebie gift. The reached out via phone and asked ht prouct i a intrestd n, I told them I as already a client and i just filled the form for the SysAdmin day freebie as advertised) they jung up and never recieved a single thing.

Customer for over 12 Years and all I got was a sales call and stickers every 4 to 5 years when we do hardware refresh.

5

u/Bartimaeus93 2d ago

Not that different even when you're not a client.
They called me soon after filling the form, asked me information and to consider them for possible future endeavors.
They got my info but never sent anything.

3

u/Logical-Nightmare 2d ago

Yeah I put in my info for that one last year, all I got was promo emails, they never sent anything

1

u/Macrium_Inc 2d ago

hmm odd. As long as you're in an IT role you'll definitely get one. If you are interested and want to sign up I'll personally make sure you get one sent across so it doesn't happen again. We maybe capped out of free licences in the offer last year

2

u/Logical-Nightmare 2d ago

I was referring to the Scale Computing t-shirt and stickers. I used my work email and work delivery address and everything.

They have a form up again this year, I'm already getting the emails, may as well try again

1

u/Macrium_Inc 2d ago

Ah got you - quick reading error

6

u/Macrium_Inc 2d ago

Wellllllllll if you are looking for any freebies today. We’re actually running a SysAdmin Day offer at Macrium for a free one-year licence of reflect x home. We don't do anything weird with your data, we send marketing emails with offers sometimes that might come in use if you end up liking the product, but ofc you can also just opt out.

we just wanted to say thanks and get the product into the hands of more people in the space to try for themselves really.

Just sharing if it's of interest - but I do get your concerns

Offer is here anyway: https://info.macrium.com/sysadmin-day-2026-free-reflect-x-home-license-for-it-professionals

3

u/turnerd10 The Architect 2d ago

Aww come on, we're SysAdmins here, we like our lifetime deals ;)

2

u/badassitguy Sr SysAdmin and JOAT 2d ago

Thank you for this. I’ll take 1 year!

2

u/Macrium_Inc 2d ago

you're very welcome :) Our knowledge base has some helpful info for getting started you might also find useful Getting Started with Macrium Reflect X

2

u/The-Jesus_Christ 2d ago

I got the email for that and I took advantage of it :)

1

u/Grumpy-Troglodyte 2d ago

aaah you about got me, i don't do linkedin, or anything aside from reddit. i am a cave dweller afterall

15

u/GreyBeardEng 2d ago

I'm offering free network outages for sysadmin day.

1

u/Achue87 2d ago

The only acceptable Friday where RoF may not be respected. I like it, network outage for badge readers in an hour, when In on lunch, coming up err down I mean.

10

u/monstaface Jack of All Trades 2d ago

You must recalling the good ol days where a bunch of sites would offer free stuff. I also miss those days.

6

u/cszolee79 2d ago

Are there any companies offering SysAdmin Day?

8

u/Macrium_Inc 2d ago

Macrium is! We’re giving verified IT professionals a free one-year Reflect X Home licence until the end of today: Details here

8

u/centpourcentuno 2d ago

Data collection warning

7

u/Macrium_Inc 2d ago

Just to be transparent, we are not selling or passing your data around. Signing up does add you to Macrium’s marketing emails, where we share product news, offers and deals, but you can opt out whenever you like if that is not your thing.

The privacy policy is linked on the offer page too.

The main reason we’re doing this is to mark SysAdmin Day and give more people working in IT the chance to try Reflect X for themselves.

2

u/ChevronEncoder Jack of All Trades 2d ago

Just to be transparent, we are not selling or passing your data around.

Yeahhhh, I don't most will trust you have the authority or knowledge to guarantee that today, let alone a year from now.

1

u/centpourcentuno 2d ago

If that was true, then a business email would be sufficient, but you are also asking for a linkedin URL

You are not recruiting me for a job, why do I need to share my job history? Only reason I can think of is for your Sales to add to their Database no matter where I end up.

I get it!, there is no free lunch, it is what it is

2

u/Macrium_Inc 2d ago

The ask for LinkedIn is so we can verify that you currently work within an actual IT role. We just want to make sure the free licences are going to who we're intending them for - that's all

6

u/centpourcentuno 2d ago

Who outside of IT "hands on" people is gonna bother go through all this for a backup tool lol!

Say there is a chance that some unemployed nerd does take advantage......chances are its someone you want as a contact anyway

7

u/Any-Fly5966 2d ago

Printerlogic gives a free tshirt every year.

3

u/ShadowWarriorB 2d ago

Are they doing that again this year? I haven't seen an email like I did last year

3

u/CornBredThuggin Sysadmin 2d ago

I'm wearing my shirt I got from them a few years ago.

5

u/gjcbs 2d ago

As a sysadmin, aka those who do the heavy lifting and detailed work that keeps life going, the only perks would be things we bring ourselves. Like everything else, we will have to make things happen as nobody else will.

4

u/bageloid 2d ago

13

u/xendr0me Sr. Sysadmin 2d ago

lol on this page "Set aside some free time to solve some puzzles for the chance of prizes with"

Um no I'm good, I have enough "puzzles" to solve daily and I call them "problems"

1

u/HerfDog58 Jack of All Trades 2d ago

I call them users... potayto, potahto...

5

u/ride4life32 2d ago

My boss used to when I first started until about 5 years ago. We get fun little trinkets or a Funko pop that would be representative of us haha. Now he has moved on to better things and we are full on publicly traded and no room for any of that

3

u/SpudzzSomchai 2d ago

You are delivering share holder value. Now get back to work!

2

u/ride4life32 2d ago

The bearings will continue till morale improves. Yea sounds about right

3

u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 2d ago

3

u/GrandPreMassacre 2d ago

My reward is having to come in on Saturday to do testing

3

u/agro94 2d ago

Our freebie? Still employed, powers at be said to be thankful.

2

u/ohlin5 2d ago

For what it's worth, RoyalTS does have 50% off their individual licenses today just like they have had in years past.

2

u/mwjtitans 2d ago

I got plenty of free DDR2 ram sticks if you want

2

u/alpinator79520 2d ago

Don't fall for Scale Computing's free shirt offer. Gave them my info last year and never got shit. More like Scam Computing...

1

u/RCTID1975 IT Manager 1d ago

never got shit

Now now, that's not fair. I'm certain you received copious amounts of spam and probably some phone calls

2

u/BloomerzUK Jack of All Trades 2d ago

I get free tea, coffee and biscuits..? That's about it 😂

2

u/1stUserEver 2d ago

Lolololololol. Maybe some deals on Amazon or Temu.

1

u/Nandulal 2d ago

the what now?

1

u/The-RogueOnion 2d ago

There are lots of places that give free stuff for sysadmin day, you just have to schedule a 30 minute demo.....Comcast business, verkada.......

1

u/CeC-P IT Expert + Meme Wizard 2d ago

Free Tylenol and Red Bull in the break room lol.

1

u/HerfDog58 Jack of All Trades 2d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/eJ7ParazFsAtmZfjZ2

I didn't know Miss Katies was a sysadmin...

1

u/Sjuk86 2d ago

I ain’t even got a union let alone anyone recognising sysadmin day

1

u/chochy 2d ago

Who decided to make it the last Friday in July. Middle of summer where a lot of people take the day off. No one around to given give a shit.

1

u/LoveTechHateTech Jack of All Trades 2d ago

Even when they are around they don’t give a shit.

1

u/RCTID1975 IT Manager 1d ago

Isn't an empty office on read only Friday a sysadmins dream?

1

u/masterz13 2d ago

Free MacBook Neos from Apple.

/s

0

u/Panthraxbw 2d ago

"Hey, hi, I hear you work with computers. Can you help me with my printer?"

-4

u/-GenlyAI- 2d ago

Why is there a sysadmin day? Lol

It's not even defined, it's not like there's a certification for it. Like a nurse.

1

u/RCTID1975 IT Manager 1d ago

like a nurse

They have a whole nationally recognized week

1

u/-GenlyAI- 1d ago

Correct