CSE 265    System and Network Administration (3)
 
Instructor:  Brian Davison
 
Current Catalog Description 
Overview of systems and network administration in a networked UNIX-like 
environment.  System installation, configuration, administration, and 
maintenance; security principles; ethics; network, host, and user 
management; standard services such as electronic mail, DNS, and WWW; file 
systems; backups and disaster recovery planning; troubleshooting and 
support services; automation, scripting; infrastructure planning.
Prerequisite: CSE17.
 
Textbooks
Limoncelli and Hogan, The Practice of System and Network Administration, 
2002, Addison Wesley.
Reference
Collings and Wall, Red Hat Linux Networking and System Administration, 3rd 
Ed., 2005, Wiley.
 
Course Objectives
# Understand the role and responsibilities of a system administrator
# Configure the Linux operating system
# Describe the system boot process
# Setup and manage user accounts and groups
# Manage the resources and security of a computer running Linux
# Make effective use of Unix utilities, and scripting languages
# Configure and manage simple TCP/IP network services on a Linux system
# Develop an appreciation of the documentation available as part of an 
installed Unix/Linux system
 
Prerequisites by Topic
Fundamental computer principles, Operating system usage, Remote machine 
access
Fundamental programming in a structured language.
 
Major Topics Covered in the Course 
What does a sysadmin do? Desktops, servers, services; booting; being root; 
processes; filesystems; user management; backups; disaster recovery; 
logging; networking; DNS; NFS; email; security; web hosting; software 
installation, maintenance, and upgrades; printing; performance analysis; 
helpdesk and customer care; policies; ethics.
 
Laboratory projects (specify number of weeks on each)
Installation and booting - 2 weeks
Local and remote disks and filesystems - 4 weeks
Networking and security - 3 weeks
Services, logging, and backups - 5 weeks
 
Oral and Written Communications
Every student is required to submit at least  __2__  written reports (not 
including exams, tests, quizzes, or commented programs) of typically  
__4__  pages and to make  __0__  oral presentations of typically  ____  minutes 
duration. Include only material that is graded for grammar, spelling, 
style, and so forth, as well as for technical content, completeness, and 
accuracy.
 
Social and Ethical Issues
Approximately two lectures cover ethical issues, including adminsitrative 
powers, situations with legal and ethical concerns, and privacy.
This material is tested by homework and exam questions.