Network and Computer Systems Administration

The main objective of this course is to introduce the student the basic competences in the field of Computer Systems and Network Administration. Some of these skills are:

* Familiarization with the main tasks of a systems administrator, as well as with the basic administration policies.
* Familiarization with basic systems administration tools.
* Familiarization with the fundamental concepts of a field of network computing.
* Ability to install basic network services.
* Ability to examine and prepare technical documentation.

The course focuses on the main tasks of a systems administrator, from system installation and user management to configuring basic services, such as file servers, or directory services.

SYLLABUS
1. Introduction to administration tasks.
1.1 Introduction to Linux / UNIX systems.
1.2 System and software instalation.
1.3 Automation of tasks.
1.4 Backups.

1. Programming scripts.
2.1 Use of the the command line.
2.2 Regular expressions and text processing.
2.3 Programming of administration scripts.
2.4 Python.

3. Basic administrative activities.
3.1 Process management.
3.1 File system management.
3.2 Users management.
3.3 Local area networks management.

4. Basic server-to-client services.
4.1 Remote access and file transfer.
4.2 File servers.
4.3 Linux-Windows sharing
4.4 Directory services.

TIMING OF LECTURES
(5 hours in sessions of 1 hour + 32 hours of personal work):

Day 1 - Introduction to the course, tasks of a systems administrator, system installation (chapter 1)
Day 2 - Introduction to Unix and Linux (chapter 1)
Day 3 - Programming in Python (chapter 2)
Day 4 - Basic administrative activities (chapter 3)
Day 5 - Basic server-to-client services (chapter 4)

TIMING OF PRACTICES
(45 hours in 2-hour sessions + 60 hours of personal work):

Chapter 1
* P1: System installation, 4 hours (sessions 1 and 2) + 5 hours of personal work.
* P2: Software installation, 4 hours (sessions 3 and 4) + 5 hours of personal work.

Chapter 2
* P3: Script programming, 6 hours (sessions 5, 6 and 7) + 14 hours of personal work.

Chapter 3
* P4: Process management, 4 hours (sessions 8 and 9) + 4 hours of personal work.
* P5: Management of files and records, 8 hours (sessions 10, 11, 12 and 13) + 10 hours of personal work.
* P6: User management, 8 hours (sessions 14, 15, 16 and 17) + 10 hours of personal work.
* P7: Network management, 6 hours (sessions 18, 19 and 20) + 8 hours of personal work.

Chapter 4
* P8: Service management, 5 hours (sessions 21, 22 and 23) + 8 hours of personal work.

DOWNLOADABLE BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Apuntes de Administración de Sistemas y Redes. Notes prepared by the teacher are provided that cover all the theoretical and practical topics of the course. In spanish.

- Raphaël Hertzog and Roland Mas, "The Debian Administrator's Handbook", 2020, ISBN: 979-10-91414-04-3, http://debian-handbook.info/browse/stable/

DOWNLOADABLE COMPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Daniele Raffo, "Linux Quick Reference Guide", 8th ed. 2020, https://perso.crans.org/~raffo/docs/linux-guide.pdf

- Raúl González Duque, "Python PARA TODOS", http://www.utic.edu.py/citil/images/Manuales/Python_para_todos.pdf

- Eugenia Bahit, "Curso: Python para Principiantes", https://www.iaa.csic.es/python/curso-python-para-principiantes.pdf

In this course it is intended that the student achieve the competencies of a system and network administrator at an intermediate level. Among these competencies, as highlighted by SAGE, are:

1. Ability to solve problems quickly and completely.
2. Ability to identify tasks that require automation and automate them.
3. Ease of use of most aspects of UNIX system administration; such as, installation and configuration of systems, software installation, user administration, printing system, etc.
4. Knowledge of network administration: for example, basic routing concepts, configuration of network file systems, etc.
5. Ability to understand and write administration scripts.

Moreover, the course intends to contribute to achieving the competencies included in the Computer Engineering degree memory of the USC (CG3, CG4, CG6, CG8, CG9, CG10, TR1, TR3, FB4, RÍE1, RÍE2, RU5, TI2 , TI4, TI7).

In addition to the previous skills, other competences included in the Administration and Management of Systems and Networks module of the Computer Engineering degree memory are:
- Acquire the basic skills of a computer systems and networks administrator.
- Monitor and optimize the use of an organization's systems and networks.
- Be able to install, configure and maintain the most important services on the Internet, including web, email, news, messaging and other services.
- Be able to know the main attacks that a computer system may receive, as well as the possible protection methods, detection and security policies that allow avoiding damage to the system or minimizing its repercussion.

LECTURES
The lectures suppose a reduced percentage of the course and in them a brief introduction of the contents of each course will be made, highlighting those more theoretical aspects, while more routine explanations such as command syntax will be shared with the interactive classes. The contents that are taught in these sessions will have direct application in the practical sessions, at which time which can make all the nuances and clarifications that are necessary.

These classes will mainly work on the general competences CG4 and CG8 (through the description of examples and technologies), and the transversal TR1 (improvement of information management capacity), as well as the specific FB4, RI2 and RI5.

LABORATORY CLASSES
Most of the classes are sessions in small groups that will be taught in the USC computer rooms. In them the teacher will develop the topics introduced in the theory classes and the student will put them into practice on the computer. In order to perform administration tasks, Linux virtual machines will be used intensively in which the student will carry out the installations and configurations. The student will be able to do the practices on their own laptop, since all the programs used are free software. These classes will allow the acquisition of practical skills on the course contents that were introduced in an introductory way in the master classes.

Thus, there will not be a defined separation between theoretical and practical aspects, but rather the student will directly apply in the practices the information transmitted in the theory classes. The teaching methodology will focus especially on the individual work of the students, but a special effort will also be made to encourage discussion in class and on the forums.

In these classes the general competences CG3, CG6, CG9 and CG10 will be worked on (through the development and implementation of new systems), the transversal TR3 (autonomous search for solutions and adaptation to new situations), and the specific FB4, RI1, RI5, TI2, TI4 and TI7.

TUTORIALS
The tutorials will be done face-to-face or virtual.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS
Student learning will also be supported by virtual teaching, through the USC Virtual Campus. On the course page the student will be able to obtain a digital copy of the material used in the classes, as well as supplementary material and links to the web pages related to the course contents. Various systems (MS Teams, email, discussion forum, chat) will be available to students, where they can make inquiries and establish discussions on the different topics of the course. All the programs, both the virtual machines and the applications used in this course are free software.

The qualification of the subject will be 50% of the score obtained in the continuous evaluation and 50% in the exam.

CONTINUOUS EVALUATION
The continuous evaluation will be based on the effective realization by the student of the practices proposed throughout the quarter, being the overcoming of this part a requirement to pass the subject. The requirement of the realization of the practices during the quarter is justified in that these are carried out progressively (installation, configuration and administration of the operating system, its services and applications), and in that the work presented allows the teacher to evaluate the progress of the student.

Practices will be done individually. At the end of each of the proposed practices, the student will present it in the classroom and it will be evaluated by the teacher. Each of the proposed practices will have a specific date of completion. After this date, the practice will be considered not carried out.

The grade of the practices will have a weight of 50% in the final grade of the subject, and will take into account the degree of achievement of the competences CG3, CG6, CG9, CG10, TR3, FB4, RI1, RI5, TI2, TI4 and TI7.

FIRST OPPORTUNITY EXAM
At the end of the quarter there will be a theoretical exam on the whole content of the subject. The grade obtained in this exam will have a 50% weight in the final grade.

In this exam will be evaluated the achievement of the competences CG4, CG8, CG9, CG10, FB4, TR1, RI1, RI2, RI5, TI2, TI4 and TI7.

SECOND OPPORTUNITY EXAM
In the case of not passing (or not presenting) the first opportunity, the student will be able to take it in the second opportunity. In this second opportunity there is no possibility of recovering the continuous evaluation.

The weights of each part in the qualification of the second opportunity will be the same as in the first opportunity, as well as the competences that will be evaluated.

EXTRAORDINARY CALL
The same criteria will be applied as in the second opportunity.

PASSING CONDITION
To pass the subject it is necessary to obtain at least a 5 out of 10 in the final grade of the subject (adding the continuous assessment and the exam grade).

CONDITION OF NOT-PRESENTED
The student will be considered as a "not-presented" when not having obtained the necessary points to pass he does not attend the exam.

Any other condition, which does not imply a pass or "not-presented", will result in a failing grade.

REPEATING STUDENTS
The passing grade of the continuous evaluation or of the exam of the previous courses will be maintained (in case at least half of the points of the corresponding part have been obtained), but not of the individual practices.

GRADING SYSTEM
The points that each part represents in the final grade are indicated below:

* Continuous evaluation: 5 points, distributed as follows:
** T1: 0.5 points.
** T2: 0.5 points.
** T3: 0.8 points.
** T4: 0,5 points.
** T5: 0.7 points.
** T6: 0.7 points.
** T7: 0.7 points.
** T8: 0.6 points.
* Exam: 5 points.

To pass the subject it is necessary to obtain at least 5 points in total

EVALUATION OF THE COMPETENCES:
CG4, CG8, CG9, CG10, FB4, TR1, RI1, RI2, RI5, TI2, TI4, TI7: Exam.
CG3, CG6, CG9, CG10, TR3, FB4, RI1, RI5, TI2, TI4, TI7: Assignments T1-T8

FRAUDULENT PERFORMANCE OF EXERCISES AND TESTS
Specific measures will be established to avoid plagiarism and fraudulent performance of the exercises, for example, it will be verified that each student works on his own virtual machine and the sharing of machines will not be allowed under any circumstances. In addition, the programs and documentation submitted will be subjected to plagiarism detection tests.

For cases of fraudulent performance of exercises and tests will apply the provisions of the "Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e de revisión de cualificacións de la USC" and the regulations of the Center.

In addition to 58 hours of classroom work, the student must dedicate another 92 hours of personal work to pass the course. These hours are distributed as follows:

Classroom work:
- Lectures: 5 hours
- Practical sessions in the computer room: 45 hours
- Tutoring and personalized attention: 3 hours
- Assessment activities: 5 hours

Student's personal work
- Autonomous study: 7 hours
- Writing of exercises, conclusions or other works: 25 hours
- Programming / experimentation or other work on the computer: 35 hours
- Preparation of works, projects, exams: 25 hours

This course requires the knowledge of shell programming taught in the course "Operating Systems II".

Consistency in study and class attendance is one of the keys to studying this course. It is very important for the course to be easy to study daily. In this way, the explanations received in the class are made profitable. In addition, a serious attitude in practices will allow concepts to become entrenched and increasingly complex problems can be addressed without too much effort.

The language to be used in the classroom will be Spanish.

On the subject page at the Virtual Campus the student will be able to obtain a digital copy of the material used in the theoretical and practical classes, videos showing what must be delivered in the practices, as well as supplementary material and links to the web pages related to the course contents. Various systems (MS Teams, email, discussion forum, chat) will be available to students, where they can make inquiries and establish discussions on the different topics of the course.

All the programs used in this course, both virtual machines and applications are free software.