Computer Architecture Reflective Journal Report

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Systems Architecture,
Seventh Edition

Chapter 14

System Administration

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Chapter Objectives

• In this chapter, you will learn to:
• Describe system administration responsibilities and tasks
• Explain the process of acquiring computer hardware and system software
• Describe tools and processes for evaluating application resource requirements and computer system performance

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Chapter Objectives (continued)

• Summarize measures for ensuring system security
• Describe physical environment factors affecting computer hardware

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

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FIGURE 14.1 Topics covered in this chapter

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

System Administration

• Primary responsibility
• Ensure efficient and reliable delivery of IS services
• Broad categories of tasks
• Acquiring new IS resources
• Maintaining existing IS resources
• Designing and implementing an IS security policy
• Varies among organizations

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Strategic Planning

• Setting long-range goals and developing a plan to attain those goals
• IS strategic plan tends to follow rather than lead strategic plans of other organizational units

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Strategic Planning

• Goals
• Identify services to be provided
• Resources needed to provide those services
• Plan
• Strategies for developing services and markets for them
• Strategies for acquiring sufficient resources for operations and growth
• Organizational structure and control

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Hardware and Software as Infrastructure

• Hardware and software are usually capital expenditures – provide benefit over multiple years
• Infrastructure characteristics include:
• Services provided to many users
• Large costs, difficult to allocate to specific users
• Recurring expenditures for infrastructure improvement and maintenance

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Standards

• Required when providing infrastructure-based services to a wide variety of users
• Potential issues
• Tends to stifle innovation
• May fail to meet needs of some users
• Incompatibility
• Problems for users who need services at or near the leading edge of technology

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Competitive Advantage

• Technology provides competitive advantage if it does one or more of the following:
• Provides services that competitors are unable to provide
• Provides services of unusually high quality
• Provides services at unusually low price
• Generates services at unusually low cost
• Competitive advantage is difficult to achieve due to:
• Rapid technology changes
• High cost for developers and early adopters

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

The Acquisition Process

• Determine applications that will be supported
• Specify hardware and software capability and capacity requirements
• Draft and circulate a request for proposals (RFP)
• Evaluate RFP responses
• Negotiate purchase, installation, and/or maintenance contract

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Determining and Stating Requirements

• Factors to consider
• Integration with existing hardware/software
• Availability of maintenance services
• Availability of training
• Physical parameters (size, cooling requirements, disk space needed for system software)
• Availability of upgrades

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Request for Proposals (RFP)

• Formal document sent to vendors; states requirements and solicits proposals to meet them
• General outline
• Identification of requestor
• Format, content, timing requirements for responses
• Requirements (categorized by type and listed completely; essential versus optional)
• Evaluation criteria

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Evaluating Proposals

• Determine acceptability of each proposal
• Rank acceptable proposals
• Validate high-ranking proposals
• Benchmarking

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Determining Requirements and Evaluating Performance

• Hardware requirements depend on hardware and system software resources required
• If application software is developed, hardware and system software resource consumption can be measured
• If application software is not developed, determining resource requirements is complex; use benchmark testing

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Determining Requirements and Evaluating Performance

• Mathematical models for estimating computer requirements
• Application demand model
• Resource availability model

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Benchmarks

• Measure of computer system performance while executing specific processing tasks
• Evaluators must:
• Select the benchmark tests most relevant to the intended applications
• Determine the relationship between benchmark tests and the actual work the new computer will perform

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Measuring Resource Demand and Utilization

• Automated tools generate information that describes behavior of specific devices, resources, or subsystems
• Hardware monitors
• Software monitors
• Program profilers

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Measuring Resource Demand and Utilization (continued)

• Hardware and software monitors
• Detect and report processing or I/O activity
• Operate continuously or intermittently
• Help identify performance bottlenecks
• Program profilers
• Describe resource or service utilization of an application program during execution

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Windows Performance Monitoring

• Performance Monitor utility
• Monitors hardware and software resource use in real time
• Captures performance and utilization data for defined objects
• Each object has a set of counters
• Has many display options

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.2 Objects and counters in Performance Monitor

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.3 A real-time display of performance data

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Security

• Security: describes all measures for protecting the value of these investments, including
• Physical protection against equipment loss or damage
• Economic protection against loss of information’s value through unauthorized disclosure
• Well-integrated approach protects hardware, software, and data resources against accidental loss or damage, malicious tampering, unauthorized access, and accidental disclosure

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Physical Security

• Restrict access to prevent theft, tampering, and unauthorized access
• Lock doors
• Limit distribution of keys, key cards, etc.
• Reinforce doors and walls
• Lock equipment to desks

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Access Controls

• Based on two key processes
• Authentication (verifies identity)
• Password-based most common
• Biometric (for example, fingerprint or retinal scan)
• Authorization (verifies rights)
• Based on security IDs or tickets
• Access control list

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.4 Authorization in a file open service call

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Password Controls and Security

• Ways to enhance password-based authentication
• Restrictions on length and composition of valid passwords
• Requirements that passwords periodically be changed
• Analysis of password content to identify passwords that are easily guessed
• Encryption of passwords in files and during transmission over a network

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.5 Windows password policies

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.6 Windows account lockout policies

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Auditing

• Definitions of auditing:
• Accounting: Process of examining records to determine if generally accepted accounting principles were applied correctly in preparing financial reports
• Hardware and software: Creating and managing records of user activity or resource access
• Useful tool for examining security policy and analyzing security breaches that have already occurred

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Limitations of Auditing

• Size of log files
• Reduction in system performance
• Backward-looking
• Poor tool for prevention
• Automated search tools required to extract useful information

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Virus Protection

• Programs or program fragments that:
• Infect computer by permanently installing themselves in a hard-to-find location
• Perform malicious acts on infected computer
• Replicate and spread using services of infected computer
• Types: boot virus, macro virus, worm

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Virus Protection

• Common features of antivirus software
• Scans e-mail messages and attachments for known viruses; disables or deletes them
• Monitors access to important system files and data structures and logs or denies access
• Scans removable media and cloud-based storage for known viruses
• Periodically scans file system and important data structures for viruses
• Monitoring Web page accesses and disabling malicious software

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Software Updates

• Fix bugs, errors, and security holes as they are discovered
• Used to be a manual process; now typically automated

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.7 Configuring automatic updates in Windows

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.8 Viewing a software installation policy

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Firewalls

• Hardware devices, software, or a combination that prevents unauthorized users in one network from accessing resources on another network
• Packet-filtering firewall
• Application firewall (proxy server)

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.9 A firewall between the Internet and a private network

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Types of Firewalls

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

FIGURE 14.10 An application firewall

Courtesy of Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Physical Environment

• Considerations when choosing or preparing a location for computer hardware
• Electrical power
• Heat dissipation
• Moisture
• Cable routing
• Fire protection

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Electrical Power

• Fluctuations can cause momentary loss of operation or damage to electrical circuits
• Types of fluctuations
• Momentary power surges (surge protector)
• Momentary power sags
• Long-term voltage sags
• Total loss of power (auxiliary power source, such as USP)

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Heat Dissipation

• Excessive heat can cause intermittent or total failure of electrical circuits
• Means of heat dissipation
• Vents or fans on the computer itself
• Cooling the room
• Auxiliary cooling of cabinet

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Moisture

• Excessive moisture: danger of short circuits
• Low humidity: Buildup of static electricity
• Protective measures
• Well-designed cabinets protect against spills and leaks
• Mount hardware above floor level
• Control humidity with optional components of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Cable Routing

• Provide protection and ease of access with:
• Raised floors
• Dedicated cable conduits

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Fire Protection

• Protection
• Carbon dioxide
• Fire retardant foams and powders
• Gaseous compounds
• Supplemental detection equipment within computer room

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Disaster Planning and Recovery

• Periodic data backup and storage of backups at alternate sites
• Backup and storage of critical software at alternate sites
• Installing duplicate or supplementary equipment at alternate sites
• Arrangements for leasing existing equipment at alternate sites

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Systems Architecture, Seventh Edition

Summary

• System administration
• The acquisition process
• Determining requirements
• Evaluating performance
• Security
• Physical environment

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