FACULTY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY
COURSE: COMPUTER SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
COURSE CODE: CSC 205
LEVEL 200
Presenter: Yahaya Haleem
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COURSE LECTURER
Name: Yahaya Haleem
Ph: 0246987765/0208939774 (Mobile)
E-mail: halimyahaya161@ubids.edu.gh
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FACULTY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY
Topics: Network and Systems Administration
Presenter: Yahaya Haleem
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Lecture Objectives
Define network and System administration
Ethical Issues in Network Administration
The role of Human in Systems
Know the scope of network administration
Activities of Network Administration
The goals of system administration
Understand the challenges of system administration
Know the Meta principles of system administration
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Network and System Administration
What is Network and System Administration?
A Branch of Engineering that concerns the operational management of
Human Computer systems
Unusual as an Engineering discipline that it addresses both the
Technology of Computer systems and Users of technology on equal basis
Is about putting together a Network of Computers (workstations, PCs and
supercomputers) to get them running and keeping them running in spite
of the activities of users who tend to cause the systems to fail
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Network and System Administration
Today, that community is a global community of machines and
organizations, which spans every niche of human society and culture,
thanks to the Internet
There is a difficult balancing act to determine the Best Policy, which
accounts for the different needs of everyone with a stake in a system
Once a computer is attached to the Internet, we have to consider the
consequences of being directly connected to all the other computers
in the world
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Network and System Administration
What is System Administration ?
System administration today is not just an administrative job - it is an
extremely demanding engineer’s job
It refers to the management, maintenance, and configuration of
computer systems, servers, and networks to ensure their efficient and
reliable operation
It involves a wide range of technical tasks and responsibilities aimed
at supporting an organization’s IT infrastructure
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Network and System Administration
It’s about hardware, software, user support, diagnosis, repair and
prevention
System administrators need to know a bit of everything: the skills are
technical, administrative and socio-psychological
Systems administrators set up and maintain organizations' software
and enable user access
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Importance of System Administration
System administration ensures the following:
Business Continuity: Minimizing system downtime and maintaining
operational efficiency.
Data Security: Protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access
and breaches.
User Support: Providing technical support to end-users for seamless
interaction with IT systems.
Scalability: Managing resources to accommodate growth and
evolving business need
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Some aspect of System Administration
Operating System Management
User and Account Management
Network Configuration
Security Management
System Monitoring and Troubleshooting
Backup and Disaster Recovery
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Network and System Administration
Network Administration
To this community, network administration means the management of
network infrastructure devices (routers and switches)
It is the process of managing, maintaining, and optimizing computer
networks to ensure seamless communication, data exchange, and
connectivity within an organization
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Network and System Administration
It involves configuring network hardware and software, monitoring
network performance, troubleshooting issues, and ensuring network
security
Network administrators (netadmins) play a crucial role in enabling
reliable and secure access to network resources
Network administrators install, configure, and manage computer
infrastructure, such as routers, switches, and cables, that support an
organization's computer networks
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Importance of Network Administration
Connectivity: Ensuring reliable and secure communication across
devices and locations.
Data Exchange: Facilitating fast and uninterrupted data sharing
between systems and users.
Network Security: Protecting sensitive information and preventing
cyber threats.
Business Continuity: Minimizing downtime and maintaining
operational efficiency.
Scalability: Adapting to the growing technological and
organizational needs 5
Ethical Issues In Network Administration
Ethically,
The first responsibility must be to the greater network community,
and then to the users of our system
An administrator’s job is to make users’ lives bearable and to
empower them in the production of real work
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Ethical Issues In Network Administration
Privacy Concerns
Network administrators often have access to users' private data, such as
emails, browsing history, or personal files
Unauthorized Access and Abuse of Power
Administrators may misuse their access privileges to view, alter, or
delete sensitive data or disrupt systems
Cybersecurity Responsibilities
Network administrators are responsible for protecting systems from
cyber threats, but negligence or poor practices can lead to breaches
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Ethical Issues In Network Administration
Privacy Concerns
Network administrators often have access to users' private data, such as
emails, browsing history, or personal files
Unauthorized Access and Abuse of Power
Administrators may misuse their access privileges to view, alter, or
delete sensitive data or disrupt systems
Cybersecurity Responsibilities
Network administrators are responsible for protecting systems from
cyber threats, but negligence or poor practices can lead to breaches
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Ethical Issues In Network Administration
Misuse of Surveillance Tools
Monitoring tools can be misused to spy on employees or other users
without proper justification
Handling Sensitive Data
Network administrators often manage sensitive data, such as financial
records, healthcare information, or trade secret
Bias and Favoritism
Network administrators may show bias in granting access or prioritizing
certain users' issues
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The role of Human in Systems
For humans, the task of system administration is a balancing act
It requires patience, understanding, knowledge and experience
We need to work with the limited resources we have, be inventive in a
crisis, and know a lot of general facts and figures about the way
computers work
We need to recognize that the answers are not always written down
for us to copy, that machines do not always behave the way we think
they should
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The Role Of Human In Systems
System Design and Development
Decision Making and Problem-Solving
System Operation and Maintenance
Security and Risk Management
User Interaction and Support
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Applying Technology in an Environment
Today
There is not only a physical environment but a technological one
with a diversity that is constantly changing
Part of the challenge is to join apparently different pieces of this
community into a harmonious whole
We apply technology in such an environment for a purpose (running a
business or other practice), and that purpose guides our actions and
decisions, but it is usually insufficient to provide all the answers
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Applying Technology in an Environment
Applying Technology on the Environment
Social
Economic
Ecological
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Scope of Network Administration
Network administration encompasses a broad range of responsibilities
aimed at ensuring the reliable, secure, and efficient operation of an
organization's computer network
It involves the management, maintenance, and optimization of both
hardware and software components of the network
An important part of network management entails making sure that
the network is available
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Scope of Network Administration
Network Design and Implementation
Network Configuration and Setup
Network Security
Network Monitoring and Performance Management
User and Resource Management
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Network Upgrades and Expansion
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Activities of Network Administrator
Monitoring the network capacity to ensure that all transmission
requirements can be met
Adding capacity to the network by increasing band width
interconnecting additional modes, or creating and interconnecting
additional networks
Training people to use the network effectively
Assisting IT professionals in organizational applications that will
make good use of the network’s capabilities
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Activities of Network Administrator
Backing up the network software and data regularly to protect against
the failure of network or any of its components
Putting security procedures in place to make sure that only authorized
users have access to the network and ensuring that all security
procedures are followed
Making sure the network personnel can respond quickly and
effectively in the event of a network operational or security failure
Diagnosing and troubleshooting problems on the network and
determining the best course of action to take to solve them
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Goal of Network Administration
The goal is to keep the network running properly and configuring and
managing services that are provided over the network
Network administration aims to manage, monitor, maintain, secure,
and service an organization's network
However, the specific tasks and procedures may vary depending on
the size and type of an organization
There are many services that we use regularly and some which work
in the background enabling other services to run smoothly
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Challenges of Network Administration
Security Threats and Cyberattacks
Network Downtime and Reliability
Scalability and Network Growth
Device and Endpoint Management
Network Performance Optimization
Keeping Up with Technological Changes
Network Configuration and Documentation
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Responsibilities of Network Administration
System administration is not just about installing operating systems. It is
about planning and designing an efficient community of computers so
that real users will be able to get their jobs done
That means that system administrators must do the following
Designing a network which is logical and efficient
Deploying large numbers of machines which can be easily upgraded
later
Deciding what services are needed
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Responsibilities of Network Administration
Planning and implementing adequate security
Providing a comfortable environment for users
Developing ways of fixing errors and problems which occur
Keeping track of and understanding how to use the enormous amount
of knowledge which increases every year
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Meta principles of Network Administration
Many of the principles in this course material derive from a single
dominant issue: they address the predictability of a system
The term system clearly implies an operation that is systematic, or
predictable and these principles hugged under this context are
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Meta principles of Network Administration
Principle (Policy is the foundation). System administration begins
with a policy – a decision about what we want and what should be, in
relation to what we can afford
Principle (Predictability). The highest level aim in system
administration is to work towards a predictable system. Predictability
has limits. It is the basis of reliability, hence trust and therefore
security
Principle (Scalability) Scalable systems are those that grow in
accordance with policy; i.e. they continue to function predictably,
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even as they increase in size
Bugs and Emergent Phenomena
Operating systems and programs are full of bugs and emergent
features that were not planned or designed for
Learning to tolerate bugs is a matter of survival for system
administrators; one has to be creative and work around these bugs
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Bugs and Emergent Phenomena
Poor quality control in software or procedures
Problems in operating systems and their subsystems
Unfortunate clashes between incompatible software, i.e. one software
package interferes with the operation of another
Inexplicable phenomena, cosmic rays, viruses and other attacks
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Welcome to the end of the lesson
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Thank you very much for your time and
patience
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