Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus

IT 298, LINUX INSTALLATION FOR NETWORK TECHNICIANS

Instructor DC Shoemaker
Office: Instruction Building 2-3-20A Phone: (206) 527-5663
E-mail: dshoemak@sccd.ctc.edu

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. His, in a nutshell, is the purpose of the IT 298 course: gain experience with some of the things for which you need experience to do quickly and well..

What this course is: An intermediate level hands-on laboratory course to give information technology students, including web and multimedia students, an opportunity to install Linux operating system software and configure the servers on a Unix/Linux host computer. A small degree of overlap with prior Linux and Unix classes may be expected.

What this course is not: This course is not designed to teach any form of programming, nor will it make you a Linux/Unix expert; that will take longer.

Topics covered: Linux/Unix-based hardware components, the Linux operating system server software, and tools the Unix host administrator uses to control those servers, tune the system, and account for system resources used. Operational considerations (host initialization, suspension and termination, the physical environment of the system), networking aspects of Unix and the Internet (the Internet environment, threats to corporate data) will be examined from a practical perspective. NB: this class is conducted slightly differently when presented as an Independent Study class, IT 299.

Required text:

Students are cautioned not to purchase books until the first class meeting.

A set of Class Notes is available in the NSCC Bookstore, and is required. Be sure to check the copyright date for the latest version; previous versions are not acceptable.

Students are responsible for familiarity with the class website.

Linux in a Nutshell, 3d Edition, Ellen Siever, Stephen Spainhour, Stephen Figgins & Jessica Hekman. O’Reilly & Associates, ISBN 1-596-00025-1, about $35.00. Earlier editions will suffice. Several versions of Unix in a Nutshell are available as well, and are acceptable as substitutes at the student’s option.

Linux for Programmers and Users, Graham Glass and King Ables, Pearson-Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-18748-7. About $70.00. A very good overview for all Linux classes.

A basic Slackware text is available on-line at http://www.slackware.org/book/ .

Install, Configure, and Customize Slackware Linux, Joe Brockmeier, Prima Tech, ISBN 0-7615-2616-1, about $40.00 w/Linux Slackware 7.0 CD-ROM disk. Any edition will suffice.

Supplemental texts will be recommended from time to time as the class progresses to be used as adjuncts to the topics discussed in class. This book is out of print, and may be difficult to find.

Students are required to be familiar with the contents of the class website.

Prerequisites: IT/NET 138 or instructor’s permission.

Topics will include the following:

a. Organization of PC-based Linux hardware and software components (the processor, the kernel, the disk system and communications hardware.)

b. Organization of the UNIX operating system server components.

c. Basic server commands (tools to start and stop servers, configure the system, control access, and for multi-user, multi-tasking daemons, spoolers and time-sharing networking.).

d. Accounts, access and permissions for data and system resource sharing (establishing, controlling, managing and suspending user accounts, printer access, etc.)

e. Linux communications (TCP/IP, telnet, smtp, sendmail, mailx, e-mail accounts.)

f. Operational and administrative considerations (host initialization, suspension and termination, the physical environment of the system, security, remote access, and performance monitoring.)

g. Networking aspects of Linux and the Internet.

There will be a mid-term and a final examination and an unspecified number of quizzes and exercises to check student progress.

Grades will be assigned as follows:

60-70% 2.0-2.5

71-80% 2.5-3.0

81-90% 3.0-3.5

91%-100% 3.5-4.0

Comportment:

You are responsible for attendance. Punctuality is mandatory. Missed lecture and lab material may be obtained from your class members. This class will discuss techniques that can, like any knowledge, be used for ill as well as for good. Students are reminded that they are responsible for their behavior; use of class information for illegal purposes is not acceptable, and will not be condoned, on-campus or off. As this class is conducted partly in a lab environment, safety and appropriate behavior will be stressed. NSCC is concerned for and committed to our students’ and employees’ safety and health. We will not tolerate, and will make every effort to prevent, violence of any form in the workplace. Any behavior deemed by the instructor to be disruptive to the class may be cause for dismissal under the provisions of the Student Code of Conduct.

Student Hard Drives:

It is recommended that students have their own hard drives; appropriate drive carriers can be obtained in-class. Students may install any desired software on these drives, and are free to take the drives from the classroom for use off-campus. Some students elect to do the actual installation work on computers outside the lab (i.e., at home); this is also acceptable.

Open Labs:

The main IT networking lab is generally available throughout the quarter. There are open computer labs available to students who have paid either the UT or CT fees; the principal lab is located in IB 3303. There are other labs, but the main lab has the widest variety of software on the campus and are open for walk-ins. Hours vary each quarter; check the campus web site, lab bulletin board or in class for specific lab hours. Note that installations may be made only in the IT networking lab or on students’ computers.

Internet Use:

It is the NSCC policy not to restrict student Internet access. It may be deemed disruptive behavior to view Internet material offensive to those around them. Use of the Internet which is deemed by the instructor to be disruptive behavior during lecture or labs, may lead to dismissal under the provisions of the Student Code of Conduct.

But remember please, the Law by which we live,

We are not built to comprehend a lie,

We can neither love nor pity nor forgive.

If you make a slip in handling us you die.

-Rudyard Kipling, The Secret of the Machines.

(in reference to steam engines, but the shoe may fit…)