Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021

College: COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY

Campus : Bambang

DEGREE PROGRAM BSInTe COURSE NO. SAM101

SPECIALIZATION Networking COURSE TITLE System Administration and Maintenance
YEAR LEVEL IV TIME FRAME 10hrs. WK NO. 1 & 2 IM NO. 1

I. UNIT TITLE/CHAPTER TITLE

SERVER SYSTEM ADMINSTRATION OVERVIEW

II. LESSON TITLE / (OUTLINE)

1. What Is Network and System Administration?
2. Ethical issues
3. The challenges of System Administration
4. Server Roles
5. Selecting Server Hardware
6. Selecting the Software

III. LESSON OVERVIEW

With today’s computers, any computer on the network can provide services or request
services depending on how the network is set up. A server is a computer that is meant to be a
dedicated service provider, and a client is a computer that requests services. A network that is
made up of dedicated servers and clients is known as a client/server network. A server-based
network is the best network for sharing resources and data, while providing centralized network
security for those resources and data.

Network and system administration are increasingly challenging. The complexity of

computer systems is increasing all the time. Even a single PC today, running Windows NT, and
attached to a network, approaches the level of complexity that mainframe computers had ten
years ago. We are now forced to think systems not just computers.

IV. DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES

The students should be able to:
1. differentiate various types of server and its services;
2. distinguish features of various servers;

V. LESSON CONTENT

Key Terms

BIOS – Short for Basic Input/Output System, it is instruction that controls most of the computer’s
input/output functions, such as communicating with disks, RAM, and the monitor kept in the System ROM
chips.
clean installation – Installing the software from scratch on a new drive or on newly reformatted drive.
drives – Components that are used as long-term storage.
network connections – The connection that the server uses to communicate with other servers or the
clients.
processor – The integrated chip that is considered the brain of the computer since all of the instructions
it performs are mathematical calculations and logical comparisons. It is the component the PC is built
around.
RAM – Short for random access memory, it is the computer’s short-term or temporary memory.

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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021
Server – A computer that is a meant to be a dedicated service provider.
server features – Software programs included with servers that are not directly part of a role. Instead,
they are often used to augment the functionality of one or more roles or to enhance the functionality of
the entire server.
server role – A primary duty that a server performs.
virtual server – Technology that enables multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single
machine.
1. WHAT IS NETWORK AND SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION?

Network and system administration is a branch of engineering that concerns the operational
management of human–computer systems. It is unusual as an engineering discipline in that it addresses
both the technology of computer systems and the users of the technology on an equal basis. It is about
putting together a network of computers (workstations, PCs and supercomputers), getting them running
and then keeping them running in spite of the activities of users who tend to cause the systems to fail.

A system administrator works for users, so that they can use the system to produce work. However,
a system administrator should not just cater for one or two selfish needs, but also work for the benefit of
a whole community. Today, that community is a global community of machines and organizations, which
spans every niche of human society and culture, thanks to the Internet. It is often a difficult balancing act
to determine the best policy, which accounts for the different needs of everyone with a stake in a system.
Once a computer is attached to the Internet, we have to consider the consequences of being directly
connected to all the other computers in the world.

The terms network administration and system administration exist separately and are used both
variously and inconsistently by industry and by academics. System administration is the term used
traditionally by mainframe and Unix engineers to describe the management of computers whether they
are coupled by a network or not. To this community, network administration means the management of
network infrastructure devices (routers and switches). The world of personal computers (PCs) has no
tradition of managing individual computers and their subsystems, and thus does not speak of system
administration, per se.

2. ETHICAL ISSUES

Because computer systems are human–computer communities, there are ethical considerations
involved in their administration. Even if certain decisions can be made objectively, e.g. for maximizing
productivity or minimizing cost, one must have a policy for the use and management of computers and
their users. Some decisions have to be made to protect the rights of individuals. A system administrator
has many responsibilities and constraints to consider. Ethically, the first responsibility must be to the
greater network community, and then to the users of our system. An administrator’s job is to make users’
lives bearable and to empower them in the production of real work.

Further readings, please visit and read:

• https://www.usenix.org/system-administrators-code-
ethics#:~:text=We%20as%20professional%20System%20Administrators,Administrator%20to%20do%20t
he%20same.

• https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6323

• https://www.computerworld.com/article/2557944/ethical-issues-for-it-security-professionals.html

3. THE CHALLENGES OF SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION

System administration is not just about installing operating systems. It is about planning and
designing an efficient community of computers so that real users will be able to get their jobs done. That
means:
• Designing a network which is logical and efficient.

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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021
• Deploying large numbers of machines which can be easily upgraded later.
• Deciding what services are needed.
• Planning and implementing adequate security.
• Providing a comfortable environment for users.
• Developing ways of fixing errors and problems which occur.
• Keeping track of and understanding how to use the enormous amount of knowledge which
increases every year.

Some system administrators are responsible for both the hardware of the network and the
computers which it connects, i.e. the cables as well as the computers. Some are only responsible for the
computers. Either way, an understanding of how data flow from machine to machine is essential as well
as an understanding of how each machine affects every other. In all countries outside the United States,
there are issues of internationalization, or tailoring the input/output hardware and software to local
language. Internationalization support in computing involves three issues:
• Choice of keyboard: e.g. British, German, Norwegian, Thai etc.
• Fonts: Roman, Cyrillic, Greek, Persian etc.
• Translation of program text messages.

Inexperienced computer users usually want to be able to use computers in their own language.
Experienced computer users, particularly programmers, often prefer the American versions of keyboards
and software in order to avoid the awkward placement of commonly used characters on non-US
keyboards.

4. SERVER ROLES

Before selecting server hardware and software components, you must first understand what your
server is supposed to do. First identify the server roles and network services that the server will need to
provide. Then examine how many people will be accessing the server at one time to help determine the
load the server needs to fulfill.

A server role is a primary duty that a server performs. You should note that a server could
have multiple roles. Some of the more common server roles include:
• File services
A file server allows you to centrally locate files to be accessed by multiple people. Because
the files are centrally located, it is easier for multiple users to access and find files (assuming they
are organized well) and it is easier to back up these files. When using Microsoft Windows to
provide file sharing, you will usually be using Server Message Block (SMB) to access Microsoft
Shares or shared folders. Windows Servers can also provide NFS shares for Unix/Linux users.

• Print services
Multiple users can access a centrally located printer using print services, which means
that you may share an expensive heavy-duty, or fast, printer that supports advanced options such
as color. Printers can be accessed as a network printer that is connected directly to the network
or through a Microsoft Windows server (again using SMB).

• Web services
Because the Internet has become more prevalent in today’s business applications, so has
the use of web services. Using a web server to provide web services means that users can access
web pages using their browsers. These web services may be used to do research, provide leads
for sales, allow customers to purchase goods and services, and provide customer support over
the Internet. Web services may also be used to provide an easy method to access databases,
run reports, track sales leads, provide customer support, and even help you with payroll and
human resources. Because you are using a standard browser such as Mozilla Firefox, Google
Chrome MS Edge, etc., you will be using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or HTTP Secure
(HTTPS) protocols. Microsoft provides web services using Internet Information Services (IIS)
others are Apache, Nginx, etc.

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Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
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• Remote access
Remote access is a service that supports multiple inbound requests in connecting to the
server or network. It can provide terminal services so that multiple users can log on to a server
remotely and access a desktop, start menu, and programs as if they were sitting in front of the
server. On the other hand, remote access can also provide network access over the Internet using
a virtual private network (VPN), which allows a user to be at home and yet have full access to
their internal network resources such as email and data files.

• Application servers
The application server role provides an integrated environment for deploying and running
server-based business applications. In other words, the server delivers networked applications.
When you access a file from a shared folder, your PC does all of the work; in this case, the server
will also do some of the processing.

• Email server
The mail server is a server that stores and manages electronic messages (email) among
users. If you are using Microsoft email products, you will be using Microsoft Exchange to act as
your mail server, and you would most likely access the email using Microsoft Outlook or a web
browser.

• Database server
Two additional examples of application servers are sales tracking or inventory control
applications. You would access this type of server on your company network by using a
customized program or using your browser. You would then request information or input some
data, which would then be retrieved from or sent to the back end server running a database such
as Microsoft SQL server.

• Monitoring servers & Threat management servers

The last two types of servers, monitoring servers and threat management servers, are not
commonly known servers but are essential within any organization. Since many organizations
have large or complex networks and multiple servers, you will most likely need one or more
monitoring servers to help you monitor servers that provide the necessary services to your users
and customers. With monitoring servers, you should use threat management servers to monitor
your network and servers for intruders or other security breaches.

5. SELECTING SERVER HARDWARE

When choosing the server to use and the hardware components that make up the server, keep
the following in mind. First, the server is designed to provide network services. Since a server is designed
to be used by multiple users at the same time, the server is usually much more powerful than most client
PCs. Remember, if the server fails or becomes inaccessible, the problem will affect multiple people.
Therefore, you need to choose hardware that is less prone to failure than a normal client PC and that has
some redundancy built in. You also need to plan so you know how to deal with these problems when
they occur.

These are the primary subsystems that make up a server:

• Processor
• Memory
• Storage
• Network

If any of these fails, the entire system can fail. In addition, if any one of these is asked to do more
than what it was designed for, it can cause a bottleneck that may affect performance of the entire system.

Even if you strive for 100% uptime, it is next to impossible to get it over a long enough period of
time. However, by anticipating the type of failure that could occur; adding additional servers, components,
or technology that will make the system more fault tolerant; and developing good plans so that you can
react quickly when a failure occurs, you can alleviate much of this to reduce your chances of a failure
and the impact that failure would have when it occurs. In addition, while you need to spend money to

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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021
make a system more fault tolerant, just about every organization has a limit on how much money it can
put toward a server or network service.

The subsystems just listed are not the only components that make up the server but they are the
primary factors that are examined when determining what a server can handle.

Network Connections
The last primary component that makes up a server is the network connection. Without a network
connection, the server is not able to communicate with other servers or the clients. Most servers include
one or more network interface cards or NICs. Because servers are designed to support many network
connections, you must have the available bandwidth from the server. The minimum speed of today’s
network cards is 100 Mbit/second, while the minimum speed for servers is 1 Gbit/second or faster.

Comparing Servers and Workstations

When you purchase any computer, you can usually choose between a mobile computer, a
personal computer, a workstation, or a server. Mobile computers are not designed to be standalone
servers. A personal computer and workstation are designed for a single user. Workstations usually
contain components for faster performance over a standard inexpensive personal computer so that they
can perform heavy graphics or extensive mathematical calculations. But again, a workstation is designed
for only one person. A server, on the other hand, has two goals. First since servers are designed to
support many users, they often have an increased load compared to a single user computer. Second,
because many users access a server, the server needs to be reliable. Therefore, servers often contain
components that are fault tolerant and reliable (such as redundant power supplies, redundant hard drives,
and redundant network cards). Therefore, systems designated as servers often contain additional
circuitry to detect problems with the system including conditions like when the system overheats, when
a fan has failed, and even when a system has been physically opened. Of course, the system being
opened is more of a security feature than a fault-tolerant component.

Comparing Physical Servers and Virtual Servers

So far, our discussion has been focused mostly on physical servers. Over the last few years,
virtualization has become more popular. Virtual machines or virtual server technology enables multiple
operating systems to run concurrently on a single machine. This allows for a separation of services so
that changes on one virtual server do not affect the other virtual servers. In addition, it offers a way to
better utilize hardware since most hardware is sitting idle most of the time. By placing several virtual
servers on a powerful server, you can better utilize the hardware while keeping cost to a minimum. In
addition, it can easily and quickly create Windows test environments in a safe, self-contained
environment. One leader of virtualization is VMware. To compete against VMware, Microsoft includes
Hyper-V, which is a replacement to Microsoft’s Virtual Server and Virtual PC. Open Source options are
Xen, Virtualbox, etc.

Locating the Server

After you select and purchase the server and its components, you also need to figure out where
it should go. The server room is the work area of the Information Technology (IT) department that contains
the servers and most of the communication devices including switches and routers. The room should be
secure, with only a handful of people allowed to have access to it. Of course, the room should be secured
and locked when not in use and possibly include some type of biometric access that also provides a log
of who enters the server room. The server room should also be provided with clean uninterruptible power
and proper cooling. It should also contain equipment to perform proper backups. When you purchase a
server, you can choose from numerous sizes and form factors. Larger server rooms with lots of servers
typically contain servers that fit horizontally into a rack. Since these servers are the same width, you can
stack 10 to 20 servers within a rack or server cage. The size of a piece of rack-mounted equipment is
frequently described as a number in “U.” For example, one rack unit is often referred to as “1U,” 2 rack
units as “2U,” and so on. One rack unit is 1.75 inches (44.45 mm) high. Other servers stand upright and
are usually not made to be stacked on top of each other. Of course, servers that stand upright typically
take up more room than a stackable server, especially when you have multiple servers.

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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021
6. SELECTING THE SOFTWARE
Software contains the instructions that the hardware follows, which make the computer do what
it does. It also provides us with an interface that we can use to configure and manage the computer. With
a server, you would first choose the operating system, choose the roles that the operating system
provides, and then install any additional software to make the server do what you want.

The server operating system, or server OS, is the software layer on top of which other software
programs, or applications, can run on the server hardware. Server operating systems help enable and
facilitate typical server roles such as Web server, mail server, file server, database server, application
server and print server.

Most Popular Server Operating Systems

Popular server operating systems include Windows Server, Mac OS X Server, and variants of
Linux such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server which are considered
open source.

Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows: Key Differences

Open source differs from the proprietary software model in that it:
• Encourages customization and variation as opposed to a one size fits many approach.
• Relies on a 'services attached' business model rather than per license and seat basis.
• Believes that the benefits of collaboration and multi-developer contribution outweigh those of
controlled project work of smaller, paid developer teams.

7. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) Server Step by step Installation Guide

1) Download Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Server ISO file

Download ISO file of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server using following URL:

https://ubuntu.com/download/server

Once ISO file is downloaded on your system then make a bootable USB drive or DVD using tools like
Rufus (Windows) and and Startup Disk Creator & Unetbootin ( Ubuntu Desktop)

2) Boot target system using bootable media (USB / DVD)

Reboot the target system on which you want to install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server and go to its bios
settings and change boot medium from disk to bootable media (USB or DVD).
Once the system boots up, we will get the following screen:

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INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
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Choose your installation language and then hit enter

3) Choose Keyboard layout and then press enter

Choose your preferred keyboard layout for your Ubuntu 20.04 server and then choose “Done” option
and hit enter,

4) Configure network and Ubuntu Archive Mirror

If your system is connected to the network, then in the next screen you will see that interface (Ethernet Card)
has automatically pick the ip via DHCP.

In case you have multiple Ethernet cards then you have option to create a bond interface,

Configure-Network-During-Ubuntu-20-04-LTS-Server-Installation
Choose Done and hit enter.

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Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021
If your system is connected to network and running behind the proxy server (i.e for getting internet), then
specify the proxy ip and port else leave as it is and press enter.

In the next screen, based on the country location. Installer will automatically configure Ubuntu archive mirror.

Press Enter to proceed,

5) Configure Storage Layout for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Server

In this step, you will be presented a screen where you need to decide how you want to configure
storage layout for Ubuntu 20.04 lt’s server installation. Here you have two options,

Use an entire disk – In case, you want installer to automatically create partitions for you, then choose
option.
Custom Storage layout – In case, you want to create your own customized partition scheme or table
then choose this option.
In this guide, we will use option 1: use entire disk, then choose continue to write changes into the disk and
to proceed with installation,

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NUEVA VIZCAYA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021

6) Specify the Hostname and local user credentials

In this step, you need to specify the local user details and Host name that you want to set for your
server. So, enter the details that suits to your installation.

Choose Done and hit enter,

7) Choose to Install OpenSSH Server Package

In case you want to access your server over network using ssh then it is recommended to install
openssh server package during installation.

So, choose “Install OpenSSH server” option and then hit enter.

In the next screen, you have an option to choose the snaps for your server environment and if you don’t want
to install any snap during the installation then don’t choose any snap and just choose Done and press enter
to start the installation.

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Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE
IM No.:SAM101-1st-SY2020-2021
Step 8) Ubuntu 20.04 Server Installation Started
As we can see below, installation of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server has been started and is in progress.

Once the installation is completed, installer will prompt to reboot the system.
Choose ‘Reboot’ and hit enter

Note: Don’t forget to change boot medium from bootable media to disk so that system boots up with the disk
on which we have just installed Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Sever

9) Login after successful installation and verify OS version

Once the system is available after reboot, use the local user credentials that we have created during the
installation for login.

8. EVALUATION (Note: Not to be included in the student’s copy of the IM)

8. ASSIGNMENT
Server Analysis
You are designing a new network for the Acme Corporation. You expect to have a lot of sales
over the Internet. How many servers do you think you will need, what hardware requirements should you
use, and what role would you assign to each server? Hint: When you purchase something over the
Internet, what type of server do you access? Then what type of server do you think you will need in the
background that will keep track of those sales?

9. REFERENCES

Kumar, P. (2020, June 01). Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) Server Installation Guide. Retrieved August
19, 2020, from https://www.linuxtechi.com/ubuntu-20-04-lts-server-installation-guide/

Windows server administration fundamentals: Exam 98-365. (2011). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons.

Limoncelli, T., Chalup, S. R., & Hogan, C. J. (2015). The practice of cloud system administration:
Designing and operating large distributed systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley.

Burgess, M. (2006). Principles of network and system administration. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

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