COMPUTER AND NETWORK
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
CIS 4407-01
Syllabus — Summer 2008

Times, People and Places

Instructor: Randolph Langley

    Email: langley@cs.fsu.edu
    Tel: 644-4290
    Office: 208 MCH Building

Class time and place:

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9:30 AM until 10:45 AM in room 016 Love Building.

Office hours:

Tuesday 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM in 208 MCH

Thursday 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM in 208 MCH

Class home page:
http://www.cs.fsu.edu/~langley/CIS4407-2008-Summer

Description:

Computer and Network System Administration is an increasingly complex and essential field. The last five years have seen an upturn in the number of system administrators:

2001:227,840 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2001/oes151071.htm)
2002:232,560 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2002/oes151071.htm)
May 2003:237,980 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2003/may/oes151071.htm)
November 2003:244,610 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2003/november/oes151071.htm)
May 2004:259,320 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2004/may/oes151071.htm)
November 2004:262,930 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2004/november/oes151071.htm)
May 2005:270,330 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2005/may/oes151071.htm)
May 2006:289,520 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/2006/may/oes151071.htm)
May 2007:309,660 (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151071.htm)

The field has matured to the stage where professional bodies have been formed and institutions are being asked to provide courses in System Administration. This course is an attempt to provide a professional approach to the field, as well as an introduction to current technology.

Prerequisites

The following courses and skills are desirable (not "required", as was originally here) prerequisite knowledge for this class.


Although not required, you will likely do better in this class if you have

Aims

To produce students who are capable of managing a multi-user networked computer system. This will include providing students with practical experience in

Required Texts

UNIX Systems Administration Handbook, Third Edition, by Nemeth et al, Prentice Hall, 2001 (the purple book).

Mastering Windows 2003 Server, by Minasi et al, Sybex, 2003.

Assessment

ITEM

POINTS

Midterm (given on Wednesday, June 25th from 9:30 to 10:45)

25

Final Exam (given on Wednesday, August 6th, from 9:30 to 10:45)

25

Problem Solving Assignments (Team Assignments)

20

Occasional quizzes, Take-home question sets, Class participation

20

Final Paper (due on the last Monday of class, August 4th)

10

 

Grades

A 90 - 100
B+ 88 - 89
B 80 - 87
C+ 78 - 79
C 70 - 77
D 60 - 69
F 0 - 59

 

Class Topics


Class Policies

Problem Solving Assignments

Notice that 20% of your grade is determined by the work done in the assignments. Due to the nature of the projects they must be done within the space provided in the Networking/SysAdmin lab (LOV 016). Since there are a limited number of computers, you will be placed in a team. The teams must consist of two or three people. The assignments are to be done by the team, and each member of the team will turn in an individual assignment writeup.

Guidelines for assignment writeup:

Please turn in assignments on time. There will be a 20% per day (or part thereof) deduction for late submissions (all days, including weekends and holidays, count as days).

Assignments must be submitted on paper on the appropriate day at the beginning of class.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Do not turn in other people's work as your own; this includes, but is not limited to, unattributed copying from web pages, other students' work, books, journals, or broadcast media. Citations and clear delineation of cited material from your own original work is mandatory.

The Florida State University academic honor policy is at http://www.fsu.edu/~dof/forms/honorpolicy.pdf


Attendance

Attendance at all class meetings is expected, and attendance will be taken each class session. Please extend courtesy in class by arriving on time, staying until dismissed, and refraining from food and drink. You are responsible for all information explained in class, some of which will not be available in written or electronic form. I will not feel obligated to repeat announcements of future exams, assignments, schedule changes, question sets, pop quizzes, or hints on assignments. If you are forced to miss a class, it is also your responsibility to get class notes from a friend and check with me for handouts. I will use email and the class home page to give out assignments and general class information.

Communication

You should check your electronic mail frequently for information about this course, as well as the class home page. You are also encouraged to use email to ask questions and report problems.


Please advise me at your earliest convenience (within one week) if you have a disability that will require a reasonable accommodation for the successful completion of this course. Also, you should register with the and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center, and provide me a letter indicating the need for accommodation and indicating what type.


If you are experiencing difficulty or are concerned about your progress, please speak with me immediately.


The above schedule and procedures in this class are subject to change
in the event of extenuating circumstances.




Calendar for CIS4407 Summer 2008
Month Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Week # Notes
May 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 01 First week of classes
May 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 02
May 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 03 Memorial Day holiday observed on Monday
June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 04
June 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 05
June 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 06
June 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 07 The midterm is on June 25th.
June/July 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 08 July 4th is the Independence Day Holiday
July 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 09
July 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10
July 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 11
July/August 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 12
August 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 13 Last week of classes; final paper due August 4th; final exam will be on August 6th; final day of class is August 8th