Chapter one

Introduction to System & Network Administration

Contents
1. Objectives, Challenges and Common Practices
2. Overview of the NOSs
3. Unix-like Systems Vs Windows Systems
4. Linux Distributions and UIs
5. Linux Operations Review
6. File system Hierarchy and Standard

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 1.Objectives, Challenges and Common Practices
1.1. Objectives 1.2. Challenges
 Determine an organization's system needs and Network and system administrators may face different

install network hardware and software. challenges, among those the following are the common
challenges: -
 Make needed upgrades and repairs to networks.
 Security-related issues
 Ensure that systems are operating correctly.
 Monitoring and maintenance
 Maintain network and computer system security.
 Network performance management
 Ensure a reliable, secure network conducive to
 Configuration management
business operations.
 Cost and growth(scalability)
 Plan and improve network capacity to enable
seamless network access and operations. 2
 Con.
1.3. Common practices of Network and system admin
 Responsible for the day-to-day operation of the system and
networks.

 They organize, install, and support an organization's computer

systems, including LANs, WANs, network segments, intranets,
and other data communication systems.

 Maintaining computer networks and solving any problems that

may occur within the organization’s system and network.

 They are responsible for keeping an organization's computer

network up-to-date and operating as intended.

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 2. Overview of the NOSs
 Unlike operating systems, such as Windows, that are designed for single users to control one computer, network
operating systems (NOS) coordinate the activities of multiple computers across a network.

 Type of operating system that enables multiple users to connect to a single computer or server.

 The main server is typically connected to a number of client servers, which allows for secure and efficient
sharing of files, applications, and other resources.

 It is a computer operating system that facilitates to connect and communicate of various autonomous computers
over a network.

 Examples of NOS:-

 UNIX

 Linux

 Microsoft Windows Server 2008/2015/2016, Mac OS X.

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 3. Unix-like Systems Vs Windows Systems
There are various main differences between the UNIX and Windows operating systems. Some of the main
differences between the UNIX and Windows operating systems are as follows:

 UNIX operating system comes with a CLI while the Windows operating system comes with a GUI

 UNIX OS uses the concept of multiprocessing but, multiprocessing is not possible in the Windows OS.

 UNIX is a free and open-source OS. but, Windows is a licensed OS.

 UNIX is a command-based OS. In contrast, Windows is a menu-based OS.

 Unix is fully case-sensitive, and files can be considered separate files. In contrast, Windows has case sensitivity as
an option.

 UNIX systems have limited hardware support. Some hardware could not have drivers available. In contrast, the
Windows operating system contains almost all of the drivers for all of the available hardware.

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 4. Linux Distributions and UIs
There are three main “families” of Linux distributions: Debian, Red Hat, and SUSE. Most other Linux distributions
use one of these three distributions as their foundation.

 Debian: it is one of the oldest Linux distributions still being developed today. Presently, the most popular Debian-
based system is Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distributions available today. It is free to download, install and use.
Ubuntu is packaged in three different editions - Server, Desktop, and Core.

 Red Hat: Red Hat’s Linux offerings come in three different main forms.

1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL): is used on servers everywhere. CentOS is the free version of Red Hat
Enterprise Linux.

2. CentOS offers the same packaging as RHEL, but it doesn’t come with the same support that Red Hat
Enterprise Linux offers.

3. 6
Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat and offers newer, bleeding-edge features that are not yet available in RHEL.
 Con.
 SUSE Linux, It is not as popular as Debian-based Ubuntu or any of the Red Hat distributions, but is still
considered to be one of the mainstream Linux distributions.

 SUSE was originally founded as a Unix-type system in Germany in 1992.

There are two distributions that fall under the SUSE family - SUSE Enterprise Linux and OpenSUSE.

 OpenSUSE is the freely offered edition and still features the latest updates.

 SUSE Enterprise Linux, the commercially priced edition, offers features that OpenSUSE does not, such as a
high availability edition and support services.

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 5. Linux Operations Review
Linux Operating System has primarily three components

 Kernel − Kernel is the core part of Linux. It is responsible for all major
activities of the OS.
 It consists of various modules and it interacts directly with the
underlying hardware.
 Kernel provides the required abstraction to hide low level hardware
details to system or application programs.

 System Library − System libraries are special functions or programs

using which application programs or system utilities accesses Kernel's
features. These libraries implement most of the functionalities of the
operating system and do not requires kernel module's code access rights.

 System Utility − System Utility programs are responsible to do

specialized, individual-level tasks. 8
 6. File System Hierarchy Standards
 Filesystem hierarchy standard describes directory structure and its content in Unix and Unix-like OS.

 It is a set of requirements and guidelines for file and directory placement under UNIX-like operating
systems.

 In the Linux OS the file may be organized as a single-rooted, seamless, or extensible file system.

In Unix, there are three basic types of files −

 Ordinary Files − An ordinary file is a file on the system that contains data, text, or program instructions.

 Directories − Directories store both special and ordinary files. For users familiar with Windows or Mac
OS, Unix directories are equivalent to folders.

 Special Files − Some special files provide access to hardware such as hard drives, CD-ROM drives,
modems, and Ethernet adapters.
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Directory structure of Linux OS

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 Important directories
 / (root filesystem): It is the top-level filesystem directory.

 /boot: It includes the bootloader configuration and executable files needed to start a Linux computer.

 /bin: This directory includes user executable files.

 /lib: It includes shared library files that are needed to start the system.

 /media: A place for mounting external removable media devices like USB drives that might be linked to the host.

 /opt: It contains optional files like vendor supplied application programs that must be placed here.

 /tmp: It is a temporary directory used by the OS and several programs for storing temporary files.

 /sbin: These are system binary files. They are executables utilized for system administration.

 /usr: They are read-only and shareable files, including executable libraries and binaries, man files, and several
documentation types.

 /var: Here, variable data files are saved. It can contain things such as MySQL, log files, other database files, email inboxes,
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 Con.
In Linux OS the directory structure may be one of the following:-

 Single-rooted, Seamless, or Extensible file hierarchy.

Unix file system directory permissions: every files in Linux OS has the following permission:-
 Owner permissions − The owner's permissions determine what actions the owner of the file can perform on the
file.
 Group permissions − The group's permissions determine what actions a user, who is a member of the group that
a file belongs to, can perform on the file.
 Other (world) permissions − The permissions for others indicate what action all other users can perform on the
file.

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 5.2. Essential Shell Commands
 A shell is a special user program that provides an interface for the user to use operating system services.

 cat: It is generally used to concatenate files. It gives the output on the standard output.

 more: It is a filter for paging through text one screenful at a time.

 mkdir: Used to create a directory if not already exist. It accepts the directory name as an input parameter.

 cp: This command will copy the files and directories from the source path to the destination path.

 mv: Used to move the files or directories.

Reading assignment
 rm Used to remove files or directories. What is the advantage and disadvantage of using Shell Scripts?

 Touch: Used to create or update a file.

 ls: To get the list of all the files or folders.

 chown: Used to change the owner of the file.

 chgrp: Used to change the group owner of the file.

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End of Chapter one

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