COMPUTER AND NETWORK
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
CNT 5605-01
Syllabus — Fall 2010

Times, People and Places

Instructor: Randolph Langley

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

Class time and place

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:35pm until 4:50pm in Room 103 Love

Office hours

Tuesday, Thursday immediately after class

Tuesday and Wednesday 9:30 to 10:30 in 208 MCH

Class home page

http://www.cs.fsu.edu/~langley/CNT5605-2010-Fall

Class 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/2007/may/oes151071.htm)
May 2008:	327,850	(http://www.bls.gov/oes/2008/may/oes151071.htm)
May 2009:	338,890	(http://www.bls.gov/oes/2009/may/oes151071.htm)

This course is an attempt to provide a practical approach to the System Administration field, as well as an introduction to current technology.

Class Prerequisites

The following courses and skills are desirable prerequisite knowledge for this class. Although not required, you will likely do better in this class if you have

• Taken undergraduate Operating Systems (COP 4610);
• Taken undergraduate computer architecture;
• Taken advanced UNIX/network programming;
• Skill in C programming;
• Skill as an advanced UNIX user, including the ability to program effectively in the Unix environment;
• Familiarity with networking concepts and applications.

Aims

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

• Designing, installing, maintaining, and extending interconnected servers (Microsoft and Unix);
• Development of policy and procedures for users, administrators, and for regulatory requirements;
• Advanced systems management;
• Networking and communication; and
• Emphasis on independent problem solving skills.

Texts

Linux Administration Handbook, Second Edition, by Nemeth et al, Prentice Hall, 2007. (Yes, it is listed as available via Kindle from Amazon.)

Mastering Windows Server 2008: Networking Foundations, by Minasi et al, Sybex, 2008.

Assessment

Grades

Class Topics

• Introduction
• Installing & booting multiuser operating systems
• Rebooting issues
• Virtualization
• Drive layout and treatment
• Storage
• System Administrator's view of the operating systems
• System Administration tools
• Resource management and performance analysis
• Local and remote file systems
• Computer hardware operating system-specific nomenclature
• Network protocols and network activities
• Directory Services
• Security
• Your physical environment
• BCP, DR, COOP
• System Design: Structural and off-site redundancy
  
• Storage (as time permits)
• Clustering (as time permits)
• Three layer architectures (as time permits)
• Drive Layout and Treatment (as time permits)

Class Policies

Problem Solving Assignments

Note that 15% 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), and often done as a team. The teams usually consist of two people. Team assignments are to be done by the team, and each member of the team will turn in an individual assignment writeup both for team assignments and for any individual assignments.

Guidelines for assignment writeup

• State the assignment objectives.
• Provide, in a diary/journal format, the steps you took to do the assignment.
• Mention lessons learned, especially those that come from making, finding and correcting mistakes. I am more interested in having you describe your learning process than having you detail every jot and tittle of the assignment.
• The writeups will be graded based on the correctness of content, clean layout, and use of proper spelling and grammar.
• The writeups should be no more than two to five pages when printed on standard 8.5 by 11 paper.
• If the assignment was a team effort, you will need to apportion the work among individual team members.

Please turn in assignments on time. There will be a 50% penalty for late submissions.

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

Official FSU statement on the Academic Honor Policy:

	ACADEMIC HONOR POLICY:
	
	The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines the
	University's expectations for the integrity of students'
	academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations of
	those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of
	students and faculty members throughout the process.  Students are
	responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy and for living
	up to their pledge to "... be honest and truthful and
	... [to] strive for personal and institutional integrity at
	Florida State University." (Florida State University Academic
	Honor Policy, found at http://dof.fsu.edu/honorpolicy.htm.)
      

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.

Absence

Excused absences include illness, deaths in the immediate family and other documented crises, call to active military duty or jury duty, religious holy days, and official University activities. Accommodations for these excused absences will be made and will do so in a way that does not penalize students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given to students whose dependent children experience serious illness.

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.

University ADA statement

	ADA
	
	AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT:
	Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should:
	
	(1) register with and provide documentation to the Student
	Disability Resource Center; and
	
	(2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for
	accommodation and what type.  This should be done during the first
	week of class.
	
	This syllabus and other class materials are available in
	alternative format upon request.
	
	For more information about services available to FSU students with
	disabilities, contact the:
	
	Student Disability Resource Center
	874 Traditions Way
	108 Student Services Building
	Florida State University
	Tallahassee, FL 32306-4167
	(850) 644-9566 (voice)
	(850) 644-8504 (TDD)
	sdrc@admin.fsu.edu
	http://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/
      

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, as indicated above, you should register with the SDRC, and provide that office the necessary documentation. You also need to provide me a letter indicating the need for accommodation and indicating what type.

Finally

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