Do I even need a swap partition with Linux?
Do I need a swap partition?
You need a swap partition (not a swap file) to send your workstation to sleep.
How can I force the kernel not to use swap?
sysctl vm.swappiness=0
On another note: How is that related to server administration?
There is benefit. Whether you need it is up for debate. At a minimum, swap gives you a safety net in case something happens that is unexpected. Your system will swap instead of starting to have programs crash or killed from OOM.