System Administration Basics

System Administration

• System administration refers to managing hardware and software systems.
• System administrators monitor system health and allocate resources like disk space.

System Administrator Tasks

• Plan and manage the machine room environment:
  • Design the machine room, specify cooling, cabling, power connections and environmental controls (fire alarm, security).
• Install and maintain operating system software, application software, and patches.
• Determine hardware and software prerequisites, which patches to install, which services to provide, and which services to disable.

Open Source Software

• Open source software is computer software whose source code is available under a license that permits users to use, change, and improve the software.
• MINIX is a Unix-like system intended for academic use, released in 1987 by Andrew S. Tanenbaum.
• Fedora is an RPM-based, general purpose collection of software, including an operating system based on the Linux kernel.

Linux Distribution

• Linux Distribution is a member of the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems comprising the Linux kernel.
• Debian: A non-commercial distribution maintained by a volunteer developer community committed to free software.
• Slackware: One of the first Linux distributions founded in 1993, actively maintained by Patrick J. Volkerding.
• Ubuntu: A popular desktop distribution maintained by Canonical, derived from Debian
• Red Hat: Maintained by the American company of the same name, that also provides a community version in the form of Fedora.
• CentOS: A distribution derived from the same sources used by Red Hat, maintained by a volunteer community of developers.
• Mandriva: A Red Hat derivative popular in France and Brazil, maintained by the French company of the same name.
• openSUSE: Originally derived from Slackware, maintained by the company Novell.
• Gentoo: A distribution for power users, known for automated system for compiling applications from source code
• Knoppix: A LiveCD distribution that runs completely from removable media and without installation to a hard disk

Five Reasons Linux Beats Windows for Servers

• Stability
• Security
• Hardware
• Total Cost of Ownership
• Freedom

Linux Commands

• Traversal of the file tree:
  • cd / chdir: Change directory.
  • pwd: Show current location.
  • ls / dir: List the files and directories.
• Power Tools:
  • Pipes: Allow the output of one command to be used as input for another command.
  • ps (task manager): View the system process table.
  • more/less: Pagination commands that allow viewing files one page at a time.
  • grep: Get Regular Expression, used to find a pattern in a file.
  • tar: Create a tape archive of files.
  • find: Locate files by name, file characteristics, or strings in files.
  • perl: Powerful interpreted scripting language.
  • cygwin: A UNIX shell and utilities for use on Windows systems.

General-Purpose GUI Tools:

• Email
• Web Browsers
• Virtual Terminal
• Office Tools

Overview of Servers

• Server: A powerful computer that provides various shared resources to workstations and other servers on a network.
• Workstation: A computer used by an individual to perform job duties.

Types of Server Hardware

• Tower Servers:
  • Resides in an upright, standalone cabinet resembling a tower-style PC.
  • Easier cooling
  • Comparatively inexpensive
• Rack Servers:
  • Designed to be mounted on a server rack in a data center.
  • Take up less space than a tower server.
• Blade Servers:
  • Compact device that houses multiple thin, modular circuit boards called server blades.
  • Segregates processors, memory, I/O, disk, and power.
  • Greater processing density than other server types.
• Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI):
  • Simpler alternative to traditional IT infrastructure, pulling together compute power, storage, and hypervisor technology.

Common Server Services

• Application Servers:
  • A type of middleware that occupies a large chunk of computing territory between database servers.
• Client Servers:
  • A server is a program that awaits and fulfills requests from client programs.
• List Servers:
  • Manage mailing lists, whether they be interactive discussions open to the public or one-way lists that deliver announcements.
• Mail Servers:
  • Move and store mail over corporate networks (via LANs and WANs).
• Proxy Servers:
  • Sit between a client program (typically a web browser) and an external server (typically another server on the web) to filter requests.
• Real-Time Communication Servers:
  • Known as chat servers or IRC servers, sometimes referred to as instant messaging (IM) servers.
• Server Platforms:
  • The underlying hardware or software for a system.
• Telnet Servers:
  • Enable users to log onto a host computer and perform tasks as if working on the remote computer.
• Web Servers:
  • Load a file from a disk and serve it across the network to a user’s web browser.
• Exchange Server:
  • Deliver enterprise-grade security and reliability that businesses require.
• Lync Server:
  • An enterprise real-time communications server software, providing the infrastructure for enterprise instant messaging.
• SQL Server:
  • A relational database management system (RDBMS) from Microsoft that’s designed for the enterprise environment.

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)

• A collection of hard drives, one or more controller cards, and embedded software.
• Comes in multiple flavors offering improved performance and/or improved data reliability.

RAID Definitions

• Hot Swapping: The ability to remove a drive from an array while the system is powered up.
• Warm Swapping: Used to stop drive access while a drive is removed from the array.

This quiz covers essential topics in system administration, including the management of hardware and software systems. It also explores tasks related to system maintenance, such as handling operating systems, software patches, and the environment of machine rooms.