This unit is about setting up the network configuration required by a client, and using administrative tools to manage a network.
In this unit you’ll do ten tasks for a company called Call Centres R Us, to allow you to demonstrate your skills and knowledge in administering and configuring a network operating system. To do these tasks you’ll need to be able to:
- Review network policies.
- Create an interface with existing system.
- Set up and manage the network file system.
- Manage user services.
- Monitor user accounts.
- Provide and support backup security.
Welcome to
Call Centres R Us. We provide call centre services to medium-sized businesses that are not large enough to warrant their own call centre, but have sufficient calls to make it worthwhile to use our services in telecommunications and IT systems. We have a reputation for quality and timely service.
We’ve grown rapidly over the last few years and have matured as a company. There’s the need to make sure that all IT systems are adhering to procedures and are well controlled. We recognise the need to formulate the best practices to be followed and then ensure that we do, in fact, follow them. In particular, we need to review the internal networks that are used in the company and this is where you come in.
Task 1: Identify and Select administration tools
In this unit will find out how to review organisational policies to identify the need for network administration. You will then see how to identify the appropriate tools and make suggestions to fill in any gaps in requirements. You will need to consider the type and levels of services required by the organisation in deciding when and how to make use of the tools, and whether to recommend any third party products. It will also be important that you become proficient in the use of these tools to keep the network operational and service your users.
Activity 1.1 Summarise impact of policies
Q: Write a report that summarises the impact that these policies will have on your network administration.
A: In the report should have covered the following issues:
- There should be a regular review of old and/or temporary files to ensure that they are being deleted.
- Disks should be regularly checked for errors.
- Disks also need to be defragged if that is a requirement of the file system that they have been created with.
- Unused software should be identified and removed.
- There must be a process for updating the service packs for the operating system.
- User names must be at least eight characters in length. If possible this should be a setting in the user creation process.
- User access will be stored separately and show the folders that they can access.
Activity 1.2 Identify tools Using any operating system that you have access to (ideally a networking operating system) identify the built-in tools that will help you carry out the administration functions you identified in Activity 1.
A: The response will depend upon the operating system you use but as an example, with Windows Server you would have identified:
- The ability to search for files with a certain ‘Last Modified’ date.
- Disk Defragment utility.
Activity 1. 3 Recommend a virus checkerScenario
Q: You realise that your organisation does not have a virus checker installed. Write a report to senior management outlining your recommendations.
A: In the report should have covered the following matters:
- Virus checking is a requirement of the policy document.
- There is a real threat of virus attack. You may even have found statistics on the Internet showing the number of incidents to support your assertion.
- You can briefly describe the impact of viruses and the disruption they cause to business. These should be expressed in business terms such as lost days of production, not in terms of ‘boot sector‘ virus.
- You should have evaluated a couple of product options and calculated the cost per user of implementing your proposal.
- You can summarise why management should support your proposal.
Task 2: Determine and document settings and parametersThis unit will discuss the importance of keeping track of the various settings and configuration parameters that have been used in a network. The policy and procedures document will normally summarise the information that needs to be recorded, and administration tools can be used to identify the settings. These should then be recorded in the appropriate format, to be used both for troubleshooting and also for future maintenance and upgrading. Then will also introduce some common network settings.
Activity 2.1 Identify information
For a computer that you have access, to identify the following information:
- the computer name
- the operating system and version being used
- any network that the computer is currently part of
- the processor and memory in the computer.
A: In case of using a computer running Windows XP you can get the information as follows:
- Control Panel, System, Computer Name and then reviewing the Computer description.
- Control Panel, System, General and then reviewing the System information.
- Control Panel, System, Computer Name and then reviewing the Workgroup information.
- Control Panel, System, General and then reviewing the Computer information.
Activity 2.2 Identify Port Numbers
Using any network operating system running server applications that you have access to, identify the Port numbers that are currently in use on that server.
A: The response might be depend upon the operating system you use but, as an example, with a Windows Server you could use the netstat utility to see the ports in use. The output from netstat looks like this:
Active Connections
Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP Servername:smtp 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:http 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:epmap 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:251 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:ldap 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:390 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:395 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:https 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1024 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1025 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1034 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1037 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1040 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1042 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1043 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1046 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1048 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP Servername:1050 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
The numbers after the computer name (Servername) are the port numbers that are currently in use on that computer. If the standard port number is being used by a TCP/IP service such as FTP or SMTP then the name of the service is shown instead of the port number.
Activity 2.3 Discover IP subnet mask
You want to use a fixed IP address that will connect to the network, for a client. To do this you must identify the IP subnet mask used on the server.
Using any network operating system that you have access to, discover the IP subnet mask that is in use.
A: With a Windows-based server you would identify the IP subnet mask by selecting the following options:
Select Network Connection, right click on the appropriate LAN connection interface component, select Properties, click on the Internet Protocol Item, and select Properties. The screen (see example below) will show you the subnet mask.An alternative is to use the command line utility ipconfig. This will return information about the network connection as follows:
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix:
IP Address 192.16.1.16
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway
Task 3: Configure and test applications
This unit will discuss how to review the network in order to identify required configurations for applications, and how to ensure applications are multi-user and network capable. An essential role of the Network Administrator will be to ensure that an application can be, and is, configured to work on the network. Prior to installation, the Network Administrator must verify that the network will support the application, especially if it is a new application. As a network consists of many components, it is important to ensure that as changes are made to support one application, these changes do not cause problems elsewhere. This can be achieved by testing the operation of applications and the network regularly.
Activity 3.1 Client–server technology
Q: Summarise in a report why databases using client–server technology may improve performance of data access across a wide area network.
A: Client–server technology breaks the process into two parts. The client side which is concerned with presentation to the user and the server side that undertakes all the hard work. So if a user requests a report the client computer send packets of data to the client which reflects this request. At the server the system will work out what is needed to put this report together and may extract sufficient data for the first and subsequent pages. To improve performance an amount of RAM may be used to store data retrieved from the database and have it quickly available for the next request. This is known as caching.
When the report is ready the information for one or more pages is sent back to the client and the client side of the application is responsible for displaying the data on the screen.
This is performance effective because only relatively small packets of data are transmitted between the two computers.
Systems that do not use a client server approach will operate a lot more slowly since the whole database is sent to the PC running the application and the processing takes place on this PC. As you can imagine there will be a large network traffic load and this will slow the performance down.
Activity 3.2 Test of multi user database
Q: How could you test that a database allows appropriate multi user access? What sort of test processes would you want to consider?
A: In order to test the successful operation of a multi-user database you would need to consider the following processes:
- ability to access the database from different parts of the network simultaneously
- options to open the database in different modes such as Read Only or for Update — this will depend upon the database product in use
- testing to ensure that the database handles a ‘deadly embrace’ situation
- messages that appear if records are locked
- how data changed by one user appears to another user.
Task 4: Design and build a network folder structure
For organisations with large disk drives or storage units and thousands of files that need to be stored, it is important that there is a structure to facilitate access. One approach is to use separate physical hard drives to separate different type of files. Even so, it is still important for each disk to have a logical folder structure. As with many of the Network Administrator tasks, it is important to review the organisational procedures and make sure that the approach taken adheres to the required standards.
Activity 4.1 Understand folder structure Use your own computer to do this activity.
- Look in the Program Files folder.
- Select three or four programs that you have there and summarise the folder structure that they use.
- Try to identify where any data is stored.
- Comment on whether you think the structure and the separation of data and programs is acceptable in terms of best practice.
- Comment on whether vendors seem to be adopting similar approaches to the folder structures that they develop.
A: While the results will differ depending upon the software you have you, may have discovered the following requirements: - Some applications create log files which are often in a folder called Logs.
- A folder called Bin is often used for the main program files.
- Help and manuals may be in a folder called Documents (or Help). If multilingual, there may be sub folders for each language.
- Data files should be able to be separated from the application.
- There is often no similarity between vendors as to the folder structure that they require, other than the fact that they will install into the Program Files folder, although not all do even this.
Activity 4.2 Build a folder structure Build the following folder structure on a hard drive.
Folder structure
A: The structure will look like the following:
Task 5: Administer user accountsThis task shows you how to administer user accounts so that data and information can be shared amongst users, to increase an organisation’s productivity. The data on a computer system has value to its users as well as to the organisation, so techniques are required that allow users to access the same data and information, but only allowing one user at a time to modify that data or information. Similarly, in a manual system where documents are used by more than one person at a time, a copy of the document would have to be created in order for others to use that document simultaneously.
Activity 5.1 Document user accounts
Look at these
user account screens (for setting up a new user) for Windows 2003 Server and Windows XP. You have been asked to provide advice to managers so that they can supply the necessary information required for these screens.
Figure 1: New User screen from Windows 2003 Server
Figure 2: User Accounts screen from Windows XP
Q: What do you need to consider in order to identify what information will need to be supplied for the above user account screens?
A: The answer will depend on the organisation’s security procedures. Some of the data will be determined by the procedures. For example, an organisation may have decided that users cannot change their own passwords. In this case, the ‘user cannot change password’ box will always be checked.
Assume that an organisation has the following security procedures:
- username to be surname plus initial
- initial password to be the username but users must change at next logon
- users can change their own password
- passwords to be changed every 30 days.
In this case, the only information (other than resource access) that the manager will need to supply is the full name of the user and any description that is required.
Activity 5.2 Manage user passwords
Q: What is the most important issue that you need to consider when developing the procedures for the Network Administrator to deal with forgotten passwords? Suggest some ways of dealing with this issue.
A: The most important issue to be dealt with is for the administrator to verify that the user requesting a replacement password is, indeed, who they say they are. There are several ways that this may be dealt with, including:
- storing personal details about the user such as date of birth or a PIN that the user must quote
- channelling such requests through the user’s manager in writing — a good reason to keep hard copy records of the account creation for users
- monitoring the frequency of such requests. For example, if a hacker requests a change then the real user will not be able to log on. This user will then request a new password. Two requests in a few days could indicate a problem.
checking for account logon attempts before changing the password. Most systems allow for an account lock-out if more than, say, three unsuccessful attempts were made to log in. These could indicate a hacker attempting access.
Activity 5.3 Manage users that leaveConsider the IT security procedures that should be followed when someone leaves a company and a new person takes over their role.
Q: List some of these IT security procedures you need to consider and follow.A: Handling the user account is only part of the story. Some of the procedures that you need to consider include:
- What is to happen to all the files and documents that the outgoing person created? Prior to computers, the new person would look through the filing cabinets in the office. Today, they need to look through the electronic files and review documents, spreadsheets, databases, etc.
- Mail may have been addressed to the former employee and could be forwarded to the new person. Does email need a similar process to be implemented or should the manager get all mail intended for someone who no longer works in the company?
- Does the new user account (for the new person) immediately update all telephone lists and other directories that may be on the system?
Task 6: Provide secure access to network resources
A system giving unlimited access to all users is the most vulnerable system in terms of security. So, once a user account has been created on the system, it’s necessary to set the access rights for that user. The organisational security guidelines that we are required to follow should establish the required access limits, taking into account the identified risks to the system and data. In order to perform this process with efficiency we must try to ensure there is a balance between organisational security and convenience for users.
Activity 6.1 Control user access
You have received a work order from Stanley Holloway, the Systems Engineer of Forth Management Associates, requesting you to change access rights for two employees:
He wants you to alter the current open access of all times for Caroline Weller who works Monday to Friday 9:00 to 17:00, with the exception of Thursday when she works 8:00 to 13:00. You have been asked to set her logon hours accordingly.
Additionally, Brian Fellowes, in Accounting, uses two workstations that have a Windows 98 platform: accounting1 and accounting2, and you have been asked to set his access rights to those two machines only.
Q: Your task for this activity is to set up the user access for two users, using the above requirements.
A: Compare the following two screen shots with your results:
Figure 1: Logon hours for Caroline Weller
Figure 2: Restricted workstation access for Brian Fellowes
Activity 6.2 Document a file systemYou have been asked to document the file system with the following properties:
- Physical drive 0 has the operating system.
- The inetpub folder contains the default web page and program files, etc.
- Physical drive 1 is partitioned as a primary and extended logical drive with data on each partition.
- One partition contains data for the Legal Department — for both individual user directories and shared directories for sub sections within the Legal Department.
- The other partition is for the Accounting Department with directories developed in a similar manner to Legal’s.
Q: Your task is to create a graphical representation of this system. Eg think along the lines of a flow chart, or process chart.
A: It’s quite good to document the file system graphically, as well as with written specifications. Here’s an example of how this might look:
Figure 3: File system
Activity 6.3 Make a security access register entry
The security for the new Legal Department employee, Caroline Weller, was configured on 28/07/04 by David Glass, Network Administrator, with approval from Stanley Holloway, Systems Engineer.
Caroline’s logon name is cweller and her supervisor is Gavin Masters, Senior Counsel at Forth Management Associates.
Caroline can log on to the local domain and has no additional privileges.
Q: Record a security access registry entry to satisfy the above details.
A: This following table shows the Example entry.
Task 7: Evaluate, design and implement appropriate network services
As networks are implemented to provide services to users, an essential network administration role is to find out what users want and then set up the services accordingly. This Learning Pack will show you how to evaluate user requirements to design network services, and then how to implement services using appropriate administration tools.
Activity 7.1 Determine user requirementsConsider a small office with, say, four or five users. They each had a dialup connection to the Internet. The company has now installed a network and wants users to be able to share a link to the Internet.
Q: What do you think the typical user requirements would be for such a network service?A: Typical requirements would be:
- high-speed Internet access to allow for the transfer of files and documents
- single link to the Internet with shared access
- full time Internet access
- able to send emails within the office and to external recipients
- secure Internet access with the need for internal or external firewalls.
Task 8: Detect and remove viruses from the network
Viruses are now, unfortunately, a fact of life. Many organisations and individuals have suffered from a virus. It is essential that the Network Administrator ensures that the network is protected in accordance with organisational guidelines. This Learning Pack will show you how to review organisational policies to identify the virus protection requirements. You will then see how to implement the virus protection tools, and how to scan and clean the network. It is important that you become proficient in the use of virus protection tools to keep the network operational and servicing the users.
Activity 8.1 Summarise virus issues and impact Review the policy and procedures document for the company Call Centres R Us. Identify what this document states about viruses.
Q: Summarise the issues and how these should inform the work of the Network Administrator.A: The policy standards for viruses and issues for the Network Administrator may be summarised as follows:
Activity 8.2 Research current viruses and advise users - Obtain information about current virus scares that are currently occurring.
- Analyse the virus threats to users.
Q: Write a report that could be sent to users explaining to them what the virus does and what they should be looking out for.A: The following example describes information about a virus called
W32/Bagle.aa@MM.
- The virus is transmitted by email.
- It can send outgoing messages from your PC.
- It can use your email addresses.
- It uses several subjects in the email such as Re: Document. Changes, Re: Thank you!, etc.
- An attachment can be called Information, Details, Joke, etc.
- Copies itself to the C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory as drvddll.exe.
- Tries to stop security programs running such as virus checkers and firewalls.
- Opens port 2535 on target PC.
Activity 8.3 Propose using virus protection software You discover that many users are not using virus protection software on their PCs.
Q: Write a report to senior management describing why this should be corrected as soon as possible.
A: The report should have covered the following points:
- Virus checking is a requirement of the policy document.
- There is a real threat of virus attack. (You may even have found statistics on the Internet showing the number of incidents to support your assertion).
- You can briefly describe the impact of viruses and the disruption they cause to business. These should be expressed in business terms such as lost days of production, not in terms of ‘boot sector’ virus.
- You should have evaluated a couple of product options and calculated the cost of implementing your proposal.
- Finish with a summary of why management should support your proposal.
Task 9: Determine the risk to network data and provide data recovery services according to organisational procedures
Network Administrators need to determine the security requirements of an organisation, identify the risks to security, and make use of a disaster recovery plan (DRP) in the event of a minor or major disaster situation. Before an organisation can develop a DRP it needs to undertake a risk analysis to gauge the impact of loss and threats to the network. Contributing to the risk analysis is part of the role of a Network Administrators. You will not be expected to undertake a full risk analysis, but rather contribute to it, especially by providing technical issues and recovery options.
Activity 9.1 Summarise the impact of policies Review the policy and procedures document for the company Call Centres R US.
Q: Write a report that summarises the impact that these policies will have on risk analysis and disaster recovery.A: The report should have covered the following points:
- Disaster and recovery planning is a part of the policy standards.
- Risk analysis needs to be undertaken regularly.
- Measures to be employed must be cost effective.
- Major changes need a further risk assessment.
- Backup procedures are documented.
- Backup procedures can only be completed after the risk assessment is completed.
- A backup log is specified.
- Systems are critical if they impact external clients.
- Support staff are able to work on all hardware except for monitors.
Activity 9.2 Identify built-in facilities Imagine that a risk analysis determined that customer files are commercially confidential and need to be protected from unauthorised access.
Q: Using any operating system that you have access to (ideally a networking operating system) identify the built-in facilities that will help stop unauthorised access to data files.A: The response will depend upon the operating system you use, but as an example, with Windows Server you could have identified:
- the use of encryption using public keys
- the use of cryptography to protect data transmission
- the use of an audit to track file accesses
- the restricted use of shared folder permissions
- the use of NTFS permissions.
Note: the solutions themselves can then create other risks. For example, if data is encrypted and the person that knows the password leaves, or is not available, then the data may be irrecoverable.
Activity 9.3 Identify support for a UPS
One important disaster recovery option is to make use of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to allow servers to shut down properly.
Q: Review your network operating system and identify any support it may have for a UPS.
A: There are some examples, with Windows 2000 server:
- You should check that the UPS is listed on the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
- You can connect the UPS with a serial cable so the UPS can notify the server that power had been lost.
- You can specify the conditions that will trigger a shut down on the server.
- You can set the time internal for sending messages after power failure.
Note: The certain UPS vendors may provide their own software to provide additional services that work with their product and various operating systems.
Task 10: Maintain currency of network system securityThis unit will show how to access information services and to identify and fix security gaps. Hardly a week goes by without some news of how vulnerable a popular piece of software or common protocol is. Vendors usually respond promptly and make available a fix or workaround for the security gap.
Activity 10.1 Maintain the currency of network system security Maintaining the currency of network security is so important that it should be part of the procedures of an organisation.
Q: Develop a set of procedures to ensure that this administration task is undertaken.
A: The procedures should have addressed the following issues:
- hardware and software components that need to be reviewed
- any automated processes should be reviewed for suitability and where appropriate put in place
- websites and other sources of information should have been documented
- a schedule for obtaining incident information should be set
- procedures for testing new patches.
Activity 10.2 Identify update features Using any operating system that you have access to (ideally a networking operating system), identify the update features that are built in or available on a website. Run the tool and fix any vulnerabilities.
Q: Report on the software tool you used and the procedure you carried out.
A: The response will depend upon the operating system you use but as an example, with Windows Server you may have downloaded Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) and used it to evaluate your systems.
