- Docente: Marco Prandini
- Credits: 9
- SSD: ING-INF/05
- Language: Italian
- Moduli: Marco Prandini (Modulo 1) Marco Prandini (Modulo 2)
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
- Campus: Bologna
-
Corso:
First cycle degree programme (L) in
Computer Engineering (cod. 0926)
Also valid for First cycle degree programme (L) in Computer Engineering (cod. 0926)
Learning outcomes
Students will acquire the ability to deal with the problems related to the management of networked multiuser/multitasking systems. Particular emphasis is placed on the security aspects and on the integration of heterogeneous operating systems. Main outcomes include the ability to diagnose network faults, to monitor resource usage, to plan, implement and configure small/medium-sized networks. Abilities will include both theoretical competences and practical knowkedge about the most common tools used to perform and to automate the aforementioned tasks.
Course contents
The goal of this course is to present the main subjects related to system administration, and to provide some fundamental skills needed to configure and monitor GNU/Linux systems in particular.
IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY FOLLOW THE COURSE, A GOOD GRASP OF COMPUTER NETWORKS AND OPERATING SYSTEMS IS ESSENTIAL.
The common thread of the lectures is an attention to
safety/security, i.e. the ability to make systems resilient to
faults, errors, and malicious attacks as well, starting from
considerations that apply to isolated systems and proceeding to
discuss their existence within a network.
The program is composed of six main areas:
- Local administration: hardware set-up and physical
security, user account management, authorization mechanisms on the
Unix and NTFS filesystems, overview of the typical origin of
vulnerabilities, command line tools to configure processes and to
monitor resource usage, standard daemons used for the automation of
the administration tasks (e.g. scheduled execution, logging,
...);
- Information security: a short introduction to
the key concepts in classical and modern cryptography, with
examples of day-to-day use;
- Network management: interface and routing
configuration, connection monitoring tools, packet sniffing tools,
firewall architectures for the filtering of traffic;
- Centralized monitoring: a short introduction to the
platforms used in large and/or heterogeneous installations, the
SNMP protocol;
- Centralized configuration: protocols used for
automatic network configuration (RARP, BOOTP, DHCP), centralized
authentication and distribution of configuration parameters at the
application level by means of LDAP, a short overview of Active
Directory;
- High availability distributed systems: basic
concepts about availability, tools for reliable data storage (RAID,
backup techniques), cluster architectures for the highly available
provisioning of network services.
Bash shell programming is introduced and discussed in some depth
during the whole course: it is the foundation for practical
activities regarding the theoretical subjects.
Readings/Bibliography
Handouts by the teacher, on-line manuals on the lab workstations,
and material available on the course website, linked from http://lia.disi.unibo.it/Courses/ under
the current academic year.
Guidebooks published for free by Truelite: https://labs.truelite.it/projects/truedoc/wiki
Two book suggestions (not covering 100% of the program):
-
"Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook - 4th edition" di Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Trent R. Hein e Ben Whaley, ed. Prentice Hall (2010)
-
"Microsoft Windows Server Administration Essentials" di Tom Carpenter”, ed. Sybex (2011)
Teaching methods
The course yields 9 CFU/ECTS corresponding to 90 hours of lectures
and guided lab activities, typically in 3 to 4 hours batches.
The theoretical bases of the techniques of system
administration are presented during approximately 35 hours of
traditional lectures. The remaining 55 hours are spent in the
laboratory. During each session, the command line tools in the
GNU/Linux environment, useful to deal with the subjects treated in
the lectures, are introduced. Then, students are guided to design
and implement scripts to solve proposed study cases, to improve
their problem-solving skills in real-world scenarios. Please note
that according to the ECTS definition, each credit represents 25
hours of student effort: students are expected to contribute 135
hours of individual study and autonomous lab activity to the
improvement of their skills. To this end, extensions to the guided
lab activities are regularly suggested. Solutions are publicly
discussed during the last lab sessions of the course; besides,
students are welcome to discuss the assignments during office
hours.
Assessment methods
The examination consists of a test of the candidate's practical
skills, followed by a test regarding the theoretical aspects of the
discipline. The admission to the latter test is conditioned to the
positive outcome of the former.
The practical test is carried out in the same working environment
as that used for the lab activities. It proposes a problem, and
suggests the general architecture of the solution, so that in the
end the candidate has to design and implement components that
closely resemble the scripts and the configuration operations
already seen during the course.
The theoretical test is carried out as a 30-minutes oral exam;
exceptionally, it may be proposed as a written exam (open questions
or multiple choice). The test may involve any subject presented
during the course, with a strong attention to those presented
during lectures.
Teaching tools
Lessons: projection of slideshows and practical demonstrations of the tools object of the discussion. Practical laboratory activity: the teacher will guide the students to learn tools and solve problems regarding almost every subject of the course. A virtualized environment is available, allowing to simulate realistic architectures made of clients, servers, and routing devices, where students can work with administrative privileges. Students can deploy the same virtual machines on their computers, thus being able to access at home the same work environment they find in the laboratory.
Links to further information
http://lia.disi.unibo.it/Courses/
Office hours
See the website of Marco Prandini