Fall 2012 CS3353 Course Syllabus

System Administration

Instructor: James Childress

Contact:

Office Hours:MW 2:00pm-3:00pm; TT 10:00am-11:30am.

Math and Computer Science Department

Office: Rayzor Hall 2090

Section DayTimeLectureLAB

1 TT3:30pm-4:45pmKEP-U7Rayzor 2055

Course Home Page

Prerequisite

CS 2003

Course Requirements

Title: Shell Programming.The Practice of System & Network Administration

Author: Sriranga VeeraraghavanLimoncelli, Hogan, Chalup

Publisher: SAMSAddison Wesley

ISBN: 0-672-32358-3978-0-321-49266-1

Each student must acquire a 16GB USB solid-state memory device.

Course Description

The course is a study of system administration as a practical discipline. The course covers technical, theoretical, and ethical aspects of system administration. Topics include current computer technology, networking, system administration duties, the Linux/Unix shell and shell programming, OS installation, configuration, operation, and management.

Course Objectives

  • Students will learn to write Bourne Shell scripts.
  • Students will learn text filtering using sed and Awk/Perl.
  • Students will learn the fundamental procedures of system administration.
  • Students will learn to write an acceptable usage policy and a service level agreement.
  • Students will learn the best practices for backup & restore.
  • Students will learn the best practices for data center management.

Teaching Methods

Lectures are used to explain various system administration topics. In-class assignments and homework are used to emphasize specific concepts. Exams and quizzes are used to measure student progress.

ADA Policy

Academic accommodations will be provided when appropriate documentation is presented. Contact the Center for Student Academic Support in Lorton Hall for details. The Center for Student Academic Support will inform the instructor as to what special accommodations must be provided.

Student Evaluation

Students will be evaluated by their performance on exams,, homework in-class exercises, quizzes, and projects. Points for the course will be awarded as follows:

Homework, miscellaneous assignments, and attendance 25%

Quizzes (minimum of four)10%

*Project & presentation10%

2-Mid-term exams30%

Comprehensive final exam25%

Total100%

Grading

Attendance, promptness of assignments, habitual tardiness, quality of work, and overall participation are factors in determining the final grade. The instructor reserves the right to adjust grades to a curve for any exam, quiz, assignment, or final course grades. *Any student failing to make a presentation to the class will not receive a final grade of A for the course.

Under University policy, faculty may not arrange “extra work” or re-grade papers to help a student earn “extra points” to justify a grade change.In addition to being against University policy, such practices are against the standards of accreditation and certification bodies to which the University of Tulsa is accountable. Such requests made by a student will be reported to the Dean's office.

You must show all work for credit on an exam, quiz, or any other assignment. Using an incorrect technique which by chance arrives at a correct solution will result in no credit.

Homework and In-Class Assignments

Homework will be assigned in class and posted on the web. Late assignments will receive a 50% penalty. There is no credit for an assignment if the assignment has already been graded and returned to the other students. Assignments must be submitted electronically, but can be submitted in hardcopy form with approval from the course instructor.

Programming Style

Students are expected to use good programming style in their program assignments. Student program assignments will be partially graded on programming style, documentation, and overall design. Exam and quiz assignments will not require the same level of programming style detail. Exams and quizzes will be graded on correct logic and correct syntax. Examples used by the instructor during lecture will exclude many details in order to use the limited time and board space effectively.

Attendance

90% of success is showing up. Absence is a detriment to your overall performance. In-class assignments and quizzes are given periodically and unannounced to encourage attendance.

Exam, Quiz, and Assignment Make-Up Policy

You may take an exam or quiz before the regularly scheduled time if a valid and excused absence is documented and approved by the Center for Student Academic Support. Valid and excused absences must be:

  • A University sponsored event or trip.
  • Extraordinary family or medical hardships. Hardships must have supporting documentation to receive special consideration.

All other requests for rescheduling an exam or quiz will be denied. Any make-up exams or quizzes will be scheduled at the convenience of the instructor. If you miss an in-class assignment, you must complete and return the assignment before the assignment is graded and returned to the other students.

Student Competency Challenge

A student may be asked by the course instructor or by someone appointed by the course instructor to demonstrate a level of competency that is contained in any assignment submitted for a grade by the student. It is possible to receive no credit for an assignment if a student is unable to demonstrate a level of competency demonstrated in a completed assignment.

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is claiming, indicating, or implying that the ideas, sentences, or words of another person are your own. Plagiarism includes having another writer do work claimed to be your own, copying the work of another and presenting it as your own, or following the work of another as a guide to ideas and expression that are then presented as your own. Any work plagiarized by a student will receive no credit (zero points). Plagiarism is considered academic misconduct.

Academic Dishonesty or Misconduct

Academic dishonesty or misconduct is neither condoned nor tolerated. Academic dishonesty is behavior in which a deliberately fraudulent misrepresentation is employed in an attempt to gain undeserved intellectual credit, either for oneself or for another. Academic violations could result in no credit for an assignment, quiz, or exam; a failing grade for the course, or dismissal from the University. Deliberate misuse of the computing facilities falls under the heading of Academic Dishonesty or Misconduct. Examples of computing resource misuse includes but is not limited to the following: downloading or accessing information that is not used for academic purposes, copyright infringements, downloading or accessing illegal materials, personal business transactions for profit, malicious computer attacks designed to disrupt general computer activities, etc.

Student Etiquette

Students are expected to be attentive during class and not disrupt the learning process. Everyone is encouraged to participate in class discussions as directed by the instructor. Students are also encouraged to ask the instructor questions about the course material. Here is a list of activities that can disrupt the learning process:

  • Forgetting to turn-off your electronic device during lecture, quiz, or exam time.
  • Habitual tardiness.
  • Leaving and re-entering the classroom during lecture, quiz or exam time.
  • Engaging in conversation not relevant to the classroom activities.

Exams will have assigned seating as directed by the course instructor.

Tentative Schedule of Activities

The instructor may change the assignment schedule at any time by verbal or written notification in class and posted on the course web site.

First Hour Exam / Thursday September 27 @ 3:30pm
Project Topic / October 18 @ 3:30pm
Project Outline / November 1 @ 3:30pm
Project Presentations / Begin Nov. 13 until completed
Second Hour Exam / November 8 @ 3:30pm
Comprehensive Final / TBA by the University

Confidential Information

Grades will be posted using Web Advisor at the end of the semester after all exams, labs, projects, and assignments are graded. Point totals may be periodically posted using WebCT. No confidential information will be sent through the e-mail or given over the phone. All requests for grades by e-mail or phone will be denied. Be sure to check the web site for further information about grades. Avoid sending e-mails with attachments. You must make prior arrangements to send the instructor an e-mail message containing an attachment.

Topics

  • The Systems Administration discipline
  • Hardware Technology: measuring performance verses cost.
  • Networking basics
  • System deployment
  • Shell Scripting and text filtering
  • Ethics
  • Data center management
  • User management: Service level agreement and the acceptable usage policy
  • Help desk management
  • Backup & Restore best practices
  • Data center management