BN206 - System Administration

Credit Points: 15 credit points

Workload: 48 hours

Prerequisite: N/A

Co-requisite: N/A

Aims & Objectives

This is a core unit out of a total of 24 units in the Bachelor of Networking (BNet) and Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Telecommunications) BEngTech(Tel). This unit addresses the BNet and BEngTech(Tel) course learning outcomes and complements other courses in a related field by developing students’ knowledge and skills in system administration. For further course information refer to: http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/bachelor-networking and http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/bachelor-engineering-technology-telecommunications. This unit is part of the AQF Level 7 (BNet and BEngTech(Tel)) courses.
This unit provides students with knowledge and professional skills to administer network servers. They learn to manage resources, including server performance. They also gain capabilities for providing access to reliable information and services in a networked server environment. This unit also develops skills to be able to identify and diagnose possible problems and troubleshoot computer network administration systems using both Windows and Linux operating systems.
This practical "hands-on" unit will teach the essential skills of installing, using, and supporting operating systems and its administrative features. This unit provides students with the necessary training to ensure proficiency in client-server systems installation, utilization, and troubleshooting.

Unit topics:

  • Server technologies and architectures
  • Server and client services
  • Server configuration and management 
  • Application servers
  • Administrative domains

Learning Outcomes

4.1 Course Learning Outcomes
The Course learning outcomes applicable to this unit are listed on the Melbourne Institute of Technology’s website: www.mit.edu.au 

4.2 Unit Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students should be able to:
a. Understand various server management systems;
b. Manage emerging tools and techniques for system management; 
c. Apply human usability in systems and documentation within the context of constantly changing modern industry requirements; 
d. Plan and implement various application servers for an organisation; 
e. Manage servers and resources to support enterprise information systems. 

Weekly Topics

This unit will cover the content below:

Studio based learning: student work in teams within a studio based environment. Students submit oral and written presentations about their projects. Students attend and provide feedback on each other’s presentations

Week Topics
1 Introduction to Operating System
2 Introduction to Unix, Script Programming I
3 Script Programming II
4 Script Programming III and Remote OS
5 LDAP and Active Directory
6 Network Protocols,
7 Mid-trimester review
8 Documentation, Backup, Change Management, Disaster Recovery, Security
9 System Documentations, Server Virtualization
10 Email and AD Backup
11 Hard Drives
12 Review

Assessment

Assessment Task Due Date A B Learning Outcomes Assessed
Assignment 1: Formative Individual Assignment Week 3 (10/04/2022) 5%   a
In-Class Test Week 7 (04/05/2022)   10% b-c
Assignment 2: Group Assignment Week 11 (02/06/2022) 30%   a-d
Laboratory participation & submissions Week 2 – 11 (9/06/2022) 10%   a-e
Final Examination (2 hours)     45% a-e
TOTALS   45% 55%  

Task Type: Type A: unsupervised, Type B: supervised.

Class Participation and Contribution
This unit has class participation and student contribution as an assessment. The assessment task and marking rubric will follow the Guidelines on Assessing Class Participation (https://www.mit.edu.au/about-us/governance/institute-rules-policies-and-plans/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Guidelines_on_Assessing_Class_Participation). Further details will be provided in the assessment specification on the type of assessment tasks and the marking rubrics.

Presentations (if applicable)
For presentations conducted in class, students are required to wear business attire.

Textbook and Reference Materials

Text Book:

  • T. A. Limoncelli, C. J. Hogan, S. R. Chalup, Practice of System and Network Administration, The: Volume 1: DevOps and other Best Practices for Enterprise IT. 3rd ed., Addison-Wesley, 2017.

Book References:

  • Jennifer Davis, Modern System Administration: Building and Maintaining Reliable Systems, O'Reilly Media, Incorporated, 2020.
  • M. Helmke, E. Joseph, J. Rey, P. Ballew, and B. Hill, The official Ubuntu book, 9th ed., Prentice Hall,  2014.
  • K. J. Sousa, E. Oz, Management Information Systems. 7th ed., Cengage Learning, 2014.
  • D. Petkoic, Microsoft SQL Server 2016: A Beginner’s Guide. 6th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.

Adopted Reference Style: IEEE

Students are required to purchase the prescribed text and have it available each week in the class.

Graduate Attributes

MIT is committed to ensure the course is current, practical and relevant so that graduates are “work ready” and equipped for life-long learning. In order to accomplish this, the MIT Graduate Attributes identify the required knowledge, skills and attributes that prepare students for the industry.
The level to which Graduate Attributes covered in this unit are as follows:

Ability to communicate Independent and Lifelong Learning Ethics Analytical and Problem Solving Cultural and Global Awareness Team work Specialist knowledge of a field of study

Legend

Levels of attainment Extent covered
The attribute is covered by theory and practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students always play an active role, e.g. workshops, lab submissions, assignments, demonstrations, tests, examinations.
The attribute is covered by theory or practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students mostly play an active role, e.g. discussions, reading, intepreting documents, tests, examinations.
The attribute is discussed in theory or practice; it is addressed by assessed activities in which the students may play an active role, e.g. lectures and discussions, reading, interpretation, workshops, presentations.
The attribute is presented as a side issue in theory or practice; it is not specifically assessed, but it is addressed by activities such as lectures or tutorials.
The attribute is not considered, there is no theory or practice or activities associated with this attribute.