System Administrator

Administrative Activities
Content Management
 A content management system (CMS) is an application that is
used to manage web content, allowing multiple contributors to
create, edit and publish. Content in a CMS is typically stored in
a database and displayed in a presentation layer based on a set
of templates.
 A content management system (CMS) is a software package
that provides some level of automation for the tasks required
to effectively manage content.
 A CMS is usually server-based, multiuser software that
interacts with content stored in a repository. This repository
might be located on the same server, as part of the same
software package, or in a separate storage facility entirely.
 A CMS allows editors to create new content, edit existing
content, perform editorial processes on content, and ultimately
make that content available to other people to consume it.
 Types of Content Management
Systems
 Web content management (WCM)
◦ The management of content primarily intended for mass delivery via
a website. WCM excels at separating content from presentation and
publishing to multiple channels.
 Enterprise content management (ECM)
◦ The management of general business content, not necessarily
intended for mass delivery or consumption (e.g., employee resumes,
incident reports, memos, etc.). This flavor was more traditionally
known as “document management,” but the label has been
generalized over the years. ECM excels in collaboration, access
control, and file management.
 Digital asset management (DAM)
◦ The management and manipulation of rich digital assets such as
images, audio, and video for usage in other media. DAM excels at
metadata and renditioning.
 Records management (RM)
◦ The management of transactional information and other records
that are created as a byproduct of business operations (e.g., sales
records, access records, contracts, etc.). RM excels at retention and
access control.
 Component content management systems (CCMSs)
◦ Used for management of extremely fine-grained content (paragraphs, sentences, and
even individual words), often to assemble documentation or highly technical
content.
 Learning management systems (LMSs)
◦ Used for management of learning resources and student interaction; most colleges
and universities manage syllabi and the learning process via an LMS.
 PortalsUsed for management, presentation, and aggregation of multiple
streams of information into a unified system.
 What a CMS Does
 A CMS allows us to get control of our content,
which is something you’ll understand well if your
content is out of control. A CMS keeps track of
content. It “knows” where our content is, what
condition it’s in, who can access it, and how it relates
to other content. Furthermore, it seeks to prevent
bad things from happening to our content.
 Specifically, a CMS provides core control functions,
such as:
◦ Permission
◦ State management and workflow
◦ Versioning
◦ Dependency management
◦ Search and organization
Content Deployment Strategies
 A file system is a process of managing how and
where data on a storage disk, which is also referred
to as file management or FS. It is a logical disk
component that compresses files separated into
groups, which is known as directories.
 Examples of file systems
◦ FAT is a type of file system, which is developed for hard
drives. It stands for file allocation table and was first
introduced in 1977, which is used for 12 or 16 bits for
each and every cluster access into the file allocation
table (FAT).
◦ GFS is a file system, which stands for Global File System.
It has the ability to make enable multiple computers to
act as an integrated machine, which is first developed at
the University of Minnesota.
◦ HFS (Hierarchical file system) is the file system
that is used on a Macintosh computer for
creating a directory at the time a hard disk is
formatted.
◦ NTFS is the file system, which stands for NT file
system and stores and retrieves files on
Windows NT operating system and other
versions of Windows like Windows 2000,
Windows XP,Windows 7, and Windows 10.
◦ A UDF is a file system, stands for Universal Disk
Format and used first developed by OSTA
(Optical Storage Technology Association) in
1995 for ensuring consistency among data
written to several optical media.
Types of file Systems
 Disk file systems - On the disk storage medium, a
disk file system has the ability to randomly
address data within a few amounts of time. Also, it
includes the anticipation that led to the speed of
accessing data.
 Flash file systems - A flash file system is
responsible for restrictions, performance, and
special abilities of flash memory.
 Tape file system – Use to hold files on the tape as
it is a tape format and file system. As compared to
disks, magnetic tapes are more powerful to access
data for a long time, which are the challenges for
a general-purpose file system in terms of creation
and efficient management.
 Database-based file system - another method for file
management. Files are recognized by their characteristics (like a
type of file, author, topic, etc.) rather than hierarchical
structured management.
 Transactional file systems - Some programs require one or
more changes to fail for any reason or need several file systems
changes but do not make any changes. For instance, a program
may write configuration files or libraries mand executable at
the time of installing or updating the software.
 Network File System - offers access to files on a server. In
remote network-connected computers, with the help of local
interfaces, programs are able to transparently create, manage
and access hierarchical files and directories.
 Shared-disk File System - allows the same external disk
subsystem to be accessed by multiple machines, but when the
number of machines accesses the same external disk subsystem,
there may be occurred collisions in this condition; so, to
prevent the collision, the file system decides which subsystem
to be accessed.
 Minimal file system - In the 1970s, for
some initial microcomputer users, disk
and digital tape devices were much
expensive. A few cheaper basic data
storage systems used common audio
cassette tape was designed. On the
cassette recorder, the user was informed
about pressing "RECORD" when there
was required to write data by system.
 Flat file systems - The subdirectories are
not available in the flat system. It contains
the only directory, and all files are held in
a single directory.
File System Planning and Structure
 Active Directory (AD) is a directory service
that runs on Microsoft Windows Server. The
main function of Active Directory is to enable
administrators to manage permissions and
control access to network resources.
Windows Server 2003 file systems
 Windows Server 2003 allows for the
deployment of different file systems. The file
systems available are FAT, FAT32 and NTFS.
◦ File Allocation Table (FAT): Rarely used. It's used
mostly in cases (older technology and ideas) where
you want to put a small partition on your disk next
to NTFS so that you can repair the system or do
whatever in DOS, instead of using the Recovery
Console, or other tools that are better to use.
 File Allocation Table 32 (FAT32): Rarely used
on a Windows Server 2003 system, especially
one that is deploying Active Directory. Support
for FAT and FAT32 are mainly included in
Windows Server 2003 for backward
compatibility and multiple boot partitions,
especially when using other Windows
operating systems, such as configuring a single
computer to boot into both Windows 98 SE
and Windows Server 2003.
 Windows New Technology File System 5
(NTFS 5): Not to be confused with the original
Windows New Technology File System
(NTFS), NTFS 5 is more robust and the one
you want to deploy whenever planning for
Active Directory.
What Is Server Management and
Administration?
 Server management is the process of
monitoring and maintaining servers to
operate at peak performance. Server
management also encompasses the
management of hardware, software, security,
and backups. The primary goals of an
effective server management strategy are to:
◦ Minimize—and hopefully eliminate—server
slowdowns and downtime
◦ Build secure server environments
◦ Ensure servers continue to meet the needs of an
organization as it evolves
 What Is a Virtual Server?
 Virtualization is a major trend in today’s server
environments. While a traditional, physical
server is typically a single server running on a
single machine, a virtual server can allow
multiple servers to be hosted on one piece of
hardware.
 Virtual servers—also known as virtual
machines—can help increase efficiency by
enabling more to be done with less hardware.
 Server management basics include
management of hardware, software, security,
and backups.
 What is User and Group
Management
 User management describes the ability for
administrators to manage user access to various IT
resources like systems, devices, applications, storage
systems, networks, SaaS services, and more.
 User management enables admins to control user
access and on-board and off-board users to and
from IT resources.
 Groups are administrative structures that organize
assets so that you can locate an asset quickly or
perform operations on all assets of the same type.
 Groups can contain any number of assets, and
assets can be members of more than one group.
 Backup Management
 A backup manager is an application that
schedules, manages and operates data
backup processes on a computer, server or
network device. It is an integrated
application that works on client/server
architecture for extracting backup data
copies from a source computer or IT
environment to a remote storage facility.
FIVE KINDS OF BACKUP
MANAGEMENT
 The full backup: This kind of backup saves all your data. It
requires the most storage space and takes longest to save.
 The incremental backup: Only new and edited data is saved,
and added to the full backup. This saves a lot of time when you
are working. But when it comes to recovery, all of the updates
have to be there and they have to work.
 The differential backup: Again, only the new and modified
files are saved following a full backup, but not in a series. The
files are saved individually. This backup solution needs more
storage space, but is more reliable when restoring.
 The mirrored backup: Mirrored backups are exact clones of
the data. They need a lot of storage space, but they are the
fastest to restore in certain critical situations when quick
recovery is essential.
 The virtual backup: The virtual method is the only one
which can provide almost uninterrupted access to data and
applications through a virtual system in the event of a
breakdown. It is also available as a hybrid version.
 Security Management
 An information security management system (ISMS) is a framework of
policies and controls that manage security and risks systematically and
across your entire enterprise—information security. These security
controls can follow common security standards or be more focused
on your industry.
 Penetration Tests: Penetration tests (also known as pen tests) are
designed to identify exploitable vulnerabilities in a company’s
computer network. After conducting a pen test, the testers report
their findings to the company’s security manager so solutions and
patches can be developed.
 Vulnerability Management: Network vulnerabilities allow threats
such as spyware and malware to gain entry into a company’s network.
The more applications a company deploys, the more vulnerabilities it
creates for itself. Security management professionals must identify a
company’s primary threat vectors so that they can be addressed.
 Endpoint Security: Endpoint security
involves protecting an organization’s
computer network by protecting the remote
devices that are bridged to it, such as
laptops, smartphones and tablets. Security
managers must help an organization
understand the need to engineer proper
security for wireless technologies.
 Phishing and Identity Theft: Phishing is a
tactic used by criminals to steal someone’s
identity. The most common phishing
campaigns involve convincing fraudulent
emails in which the sender purports to be a
legitimate company.
 Disaster recovery is an organization’s
method of regaining access and functionality
to its IT infrastructure after events like a
natural disaster, cyber attack, or even
business disruptions related to the COVID-
19 pandemic. A variety of disaster recovery
(DR) methods can be part of a disaster
recovery plan.
 5 top elements of an effective
disaster recovery plan
 Disaster recovery team: This assigned group of specialists will be
responsible for creating, implementing and managing the disaster
recovery plan.
 Risk evaluation: Assess potential hazards that put your organization
at risk. Depending on the type of event, strategize what measures and
resources will be needed to resume business.
 Business-critical asset identification: A good disaster recovery
plan includes documentation of which systems, applications, data, and
other resources are most critical for business continuity, as well as the
necessary steps to recover data.
 Backups: Determine what needs backup (or to be relocated), who
should perform backups, and how backups will be implemented.
 Testing and optimization: The recovery team should continually
test and update its strategy to address ever-evolving threats and
business needs.
 Types of disaster recovery?

 Back-up: This is the simplest type of disaster recovery and entails

storing data off site or on a removable drive.
 Cold Site: In this type of disaster recovery, an organization sets up a
basic infrastructure in a second, rarely used facility that provides a
place for employees to work after a natural disaster or fire.
 Hot Site: A hot site maintains up-to-date copies of data at all times.
Hot sites are time-consuming to set up and more expensive than cold
sites, but they dramatically reduce down time.
 Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS): In the event of a
disaster or ransom ware attack, a DRaaS provider moves an
organization’s computer processing to its own cloud infrastructure,
allowing a business to continue operations seamlessly from the
vendor’s location, even if an organization’s servers are down.
 Back Up as a Service: Similar to backing up data at a remote
location, with Back Up as a Service, a third party provider backs up an
organization’s data, but not its IT infrastructure.
 Datacenter disaster recovery: The physical
elements of a data center can protect data and
contribute to faster disaster recovery in certain types
of disasters.
 Virtualization: Organizations can back up certain
operations and data or even a working replica of an
organization’s entire computing environment on off-site
virtual machines that are unaffected by physical
disasters.
 Point-in-time copies: Point-in-time copies, also
known as point-in-time snapshots, make a copy of the
entire database at a given time. Data can be restored
from this back-up, but only if the copy is stored off site
or on a virtual machine that is unaffected by the
disaster.
 Instant recovery: Instant recovery is similar to point-
in-time copies, except that instead of copying a
database, instant recovery takes a snapshot of an
entire virtual machine.
 What is Resource
Management?
 Resource management is acquiring,
allocating and managing the resources, such
as individuals and their skills, finances,
technology, materials, machinery and natural
resources required for a project.
 Resource management ensures that internal
and external resources are used effectively
on time and to budget. Resources may be
obtained internally from the host
organisation or procured from external
sources.
 The best ways to manage resources effectively is
to follow the three step process set out below:

 Allocation involves identifying what

resources are needed to complete the
work, ie. the quantity required or the
amount of effort required.
 Aggregation of resources on a daily, weekly
or monthly basis shows the total amount
consumed at any point in time.
 Resource scheduling is used to calculate the
resources required to deliver the work and
when they will be required.
 Automation Management
 Automation is the creation and application of technologies to
produce and deliver goods and services with minimal human
intervention. The implementation of automation technologies,
techniques and processes improve the efficiency, reliability,
and/or speed of many tasks that were previously performed by
humans.
 Types of automation
◦ Home automation - uses a combination of hardware and software
technologies that enable control and management over appliances
and devices within a home.
◦ Network automation - the process of automating the configuration,
management and operations of a computer network.
◦ Office automation - involves using computers and software to
digitize, store, process and communicate most routine tasks and
processes in a standard office.
◦ Automated website testing - streamlines and standardizes website
testing parameters for configuration changes that occur during the
development phase.
◦ Data center automation - enables the bulk
of the data center operations to be performed
by software programs. Includes automated
system operations, also known as lights-out
operations.
◦ Test automation - software code goes
through quality assurance (QA) testing
automatically by scripts and other automation
tools.
◦ Basic automation takes simple, rudimentary
tasks and automates them. This level of
automation is about digitizing work by using
tools to streamline and centralize routine tasks,
such as using a shared messaging system instead
of having information in disconnected silos.
 Process automation manages business
processes for uniformity and transparency.
It is typically handled by dedicated software
and business apps.
 Integration automation is where machines
can mimic human tasks and repeat the
actions once humans define the machine
rules.
 The most complex level of automation is
artificial intelligence (AI) automation. The
addition of AI means that machines can
“learn” and make decisions based on past
situations they have encountered and
analyzed.
 What is System Support?
 System support software is software that
supports, or facilitates the smooth and efficient
execution of various programs and operations of a
computer.
 Types of Support System
 Transaction Processing System (TPS)
 Transaction processing systems are used to record
day to day business transactions of the organization.
They are used by users at the operational
management level.
 Management Information Systems (MIS) are
used by tactical managers to monitor the
organization’s current performance status. The
output from a transaction processing system is used
as input to a management information system.
 Decision support systems are used by
senior management to make non-routine
decisions. Decision support systems use
input from internal systems (transaction
processing systems and management
information systems) and external systems.
 Artificial intelligence systems mimic human
expertise to identify patterns in large data
sets. Companies such as Amazon, Facebook,
and Google, etc. use artificial intelligence
techniques to identify data that is most
relevant to you.
User Support Services
 User Support Services is responsible for
providing desktop maintenance support
for personal computer (PC) users
throughout the district, utilizing district
personnel and contracted services.