Syllabus for CMPTR 261 Operating Systems UNIX

Summer, 2008 (Revised 6/16/08)

Prerequisites:

• CMPTR 111 - Introduction to Operating Systems and
• CMPTR 120 – Programming Concepts
• or Permission from the Instructor

Course Description:

This hands-on course is designed to prepare you for the CompTIA Linux+ certification exam and for the challenges you will face as a Linux networking professional. CompTIA Linux+ is a vendor-neutral certification, generic across distributions, that validates the knowledge of individuals with a minimum of six to twelve months of practical Linux experience.  Lectures, projects and exercises reinforce skills as they are learned. The text includes CoursePrep® Test Preparation software will help get you ready for the exam day. Specific topic coverage includes: Introduction to Linux, Preparing for Linux Installation, Linux Installation and Usage, Exploring Linux Filesystems, Storage Management, Linux Filesystem Administration, Advanced Installation, Working with the BASH Shell, System Initialization and X Windows, Managing Linux Processes, Common Administrative Tasks, Compression, System Backup, and Software Installation, Troubleshooting and Performance, Network Configuration, and Configuring Network Services and Security.
 

Course Objectives: The student will develop and apply knowledge and skill in implementing and maintaining the components of a Linux-based network infrastructure.  Upon course completion, students should; be able to explain fundamental management of Linux systems from the command line, demonstrate knowledge of user administration, understand file permissions, software configurations, and management of Linux-based clients, server systems and security.

Course Outcomes:

• Research a current topic in Linux systems administration
• Use team collaboration to develop a project that involves a current topic in local area network administration and/or system administration
• Identify and analyze common system administration responsibilities and duties
• Engage in activities that a Local Area Network (LAN) Administrator would normally carry out in the performance of his/her duties
• Prepare for the applicable Linux+ certification examination

Course Materials:

Course Outline

This course will consist of 15 units covering the following topics:

Unit 1: Introduction to Linux

Unit 2: Preparing for Linux Installation

Unit 3: Linux Installation and Usage

Unit 4: Exploring Linux Filesystems

Unit 5: Storage Management

Unit 6: Linux Filesystem Administration

Unit 7: Advanced Installation

Unit 8: Working with the BASH Shell

Unit 9: System Initialization and X Windows

Unit 10: Managing Linux Processes

Unit 11: Common Administrative Tasks

Unit 12: Compression, System Backup, and Software Installation

Unit 13: Troubleshooting and Performance

Unit 14: Network Configuration

Unit 15: Configuring Network Services and Security

Course Schedule:

Week 1: Unit 1, Unit 2, and Unit 3: Introduction to Linux, Preparing for Linux Installation, and Linux Installation and Usage

Week 2: Unit 4, Unit 5, and Unit 6: Exploring Linux Filesystems, Storage Management, and Linux Filesystem Administration

Week 3: Unit 7, Unit 8, Unit 9, Unit 10, and Unit 11: Advanced Installation, Working with the BASH Shell, System Initialization and X Windows, Managing Linux Processes and Common Administrative Tasks

Week 4: Unit 12, Unit 13, Unit 14, and Unit 15: “Compression, System Backup, and Software Installation,” “Troubleshooting and Performance,” Network Configuration, and Configuring Network Services and Security

Discussion Board & Chat Sessions

Discussion is a very important component of this course. Just like in a traditional class, you will be expected to participate in discussions with your instructor and fellow students about course Unit and Learning Event topics.

Discussion Board

Discussion Board topics are tied to specific course Learning Events for each week of the ten-week session, and comprise a substantial part of your grade for this course.. Discussion board participation is required and evaluated qualitatively by the Instructor. You are required to post original material for each Discussion Board (DB) assignment.  Additionally, you will be graded upon your participation in responding to your classmates’ DB posts.  Initial DB posts are due by Wednesday of the week in which they are assigned, in order to avoid a 10 point penalty (with the exception of week 1).  Up to 5 points per response will be assigned to your responses to your classmates’ DB posts, up to a maximum of 10 total response points.  Your initial DB post will be graded in accordance with the following rubric. Your responses to your classmates’ DB posts must be substantive and will be graded using the following rubric in a similar manner.

Lecture Schedule: CMPTR 261 meets 6 hours per week, in class. Each week I will use the on-ground classroom time and the time spent on the discussion board to introduce or review local area network administration topics. Additional online time will be needed for research and study activities, group or partner work, submission of assignments, and assessments.

Ground-based Sessions

The Instructor delivers six hours of traditional classroom lecture time scheduled during the week.  Classroom attendance is not mandatory and your participation in the classroom is not graded and will not be included in the course grade.  Nevertheless, you are encouraged to attend as many of the classroom sessions as your schedule will allow. For those who cannot attend the ground-based classroom session, an alternative would be to attend the online classroom session in the virtual classroom.  This chat session will serve as an alternative forum for presenting course materials and will give the student an opportunity to ask any questions that might come up during the week.  Additionally, lecture notes are available on the course website on WAOL.  Look under - Course Documents - and the Unit for the week.  The lecture notes will then be found under the heading of - Topic Review -.

• Saturday 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. (T-213 Classroom), with a lunch break from 12:00 Noon until 1:00 P.M.

Other Course Components

LabMentors

Online labs (not simulations) are available through a unique service that offers remote access to live Linux servers.  Each student has purchased a textbook that allows up to 40 hours of hands on, real-time, remote access to Linux servers running TightVNC (a "public domain" remote control application) and VMware (a virtual machine application suite that allows one operation system to be loaded within another).

http://course.labmentors.com

ExamView

Online Testing will conducted via the ExamView website - http://www.evtestcenter.com/

File naming standards for CMPTR 261 – The following naming standards must be used when submitting assignments by electronic mail or via the “Digital Dropbox” within WAOL.

Discussion Board Assignment – Course name, followed by the Unit Number, Last Name, First Name, abbreviation for the Assignment type and Assignment number

Example: CMPTR261_U10_Blackwell_Kevin_DB01.doc

Group Project – Course name, followed by the Unit Number, Last Name, First Name, abbreviation for the Assignment type and Assignment number

Example: CMPTR261_U10_Blackwell_Kevin_GP01.doc

Lab – Course name, followed by the Unit Number, Last Name, First Name, abbreviation for the Assignment type and Assignment number

Example: CMPTR261_U10_Blackwell_Kevin_LAB01.doc

E-mail Etiquette – The following guidelines should be adhered to in order to assure a fast, accurate and meaningful response from e-mail sent by the student to the instructor.  Remember, the instructor has many students in many classes.  Incorrectly formatted e-mail may hinder/delay a response back from your instructor.

Use only the e-mail address at the bottom of the syllabus for corresponding with your instructor.

Example:

kblackwell@oc.ctc.edu

The subject line should always include your course number and the student’s name.  Cryptic e-mail addresses are too hard to correlate with “real” student names.  If you don’t put an appropriate subject line on your e-mail

Example:

Subject Line: CMPTR_261, Blackwell, Kevin – This is what I need help with

Course Evaluation

Graded Learning Events

Every Unit has from 2 to 3 Learning Events (known traditionally as assignments). Instructions for each Learning Event are provided within the Unit topic identified for each week. Each Learning Event concludes with one or more deliverable product. Deliverable products may range from a discussion board post, a research paper, the results of a “hands on” lab, a group project, to the results of an online quiz or a short examination. These deliverable products are evaluated using the course evaluation methods.

Student Assessment

A Student Assessment is included for every Unit of instruction. When two Units are covered during one week, a single assessment will be used to cover both units.  The course platform’s testing feature is utilized for this Student Self-Assessment. True/False, Multiple Choice, Yes/No, or Matching are used for students to evaluate their own knowledge acquisition for each Unit’s identified course outcomes.

Assignment Weighting:

Course Evaluation Grading Scale

Policies

Student Conduct:

Everyone deserves to have a good learning environment. I will follow the rules of the college in the classroom. Please see the Student Handbook for the Student Conduct Code. All forms of dishonesty will be subject to immediate disciplinary action (see the section below on Academic Honesty). Classroom disruptions such as tardiness, talking during lecture and cell phone use are not acceptable. Repeated infractions will be referred to the Vice President of Student Services. Please turn off your cell phone before entering the classroom.

Academic Honesty

At Olympic College, students are expected to demonstrate academic integrity by completing their own work assignments and assessments. Effective planning and progress must be accomplished for students to be successful in their degree program of study. Submission of work from another person, whether it is from printed sources or someone other than the student, previously graded papers, papers submitted without proper source citation, or submitting the same paper to multiple courses without the knowledge of all instructors involved can result in a failing grade or be reported to the Olympic College Vice Principle of Student Services for appropriate sanctions or disciplinary actions. All students are expected to adhere to the standards as set forth in the Student Code of Conduct and Statement on Academic Honesty.

The administration, faculty, and student government of Olympic College believe strongly in the concept of an honor system. This belief is based on the knowledge that in competitive professional environments, greater emphasis is placed on originality and integrity of ideas and work. All members of the Olympic College academic community, including faculty, students, and administration, are expected to assist in maintaining the integrity of the College, which includes reporting incidents that violate the Statement on Academic Honesty.

For Olympic College course work, please note that learning events are to be that of the student’s own work, and group projects are collaborative efforts.

Course Participation

Online students are required to participate in their online courses in an academically-related activity comparable to the minimum of one contact hour of instruction in a seven-day calendar week (Sunday to Saturday) for each week of a 10-week quarter. This participation is captured and recorded as the Last Date of Attendance in the student records system and updated with each consecutive login. This provides a dynamic update to the LDA in the student’s academic record for real-time monitoring of course participation throughout a quarter. In the event of a student-initiated or administrative withdrawal, the LDA is used as the official date of withdrawal. Academic Advisors track course participation weekly and may contact students who have fallen behind in course assignments.

Homework Policy:

You are responsible for doing all online assignments, reviewing the online materials for that week, participating in the group activity for the week, and turning in all assignments on time. You will also have a weekly reading assignment, which will support that week's learning objectives, and which you are encouraged to complete ahead of time. Post any questions that you may have to either the common area of your class, where the questions may be answered by any students, or post them directly to me. Please bring your questions that cannot be answered online to class each Thursday.

Writing Lab

Students are encouraged to make use of the Olympic College Writing Center.  The Writing Center is located in Humanities 115, open from 9 – 5 M & Tu, and 9 – 2 W – F (Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters only).  Students are encouraged to make appointments, but may also drop in.  The phone # is 475-7318.

If you are struggling with the research papers [Group Projects] or with the requirement for strict APA Style formatting, a tutor in the writing center will be able to provide you with assistance for this course requirement.

Special Accommodations:

If you have a disability and will need special services, please call or visit Access Services as soon as possible. They are in Humanities Building, room 114 (360) 475-7540.

Can I Help?

I want you to do well in this class and in college. If you have a problem or situation that is affecting your schoolwork, please let me know. Olympic College has many services to help students be successful. You can contact me by e-mail, voice mail, or talk to me right before or after class.

Instructor Information

Name: Kevin Blackwell
E-mail: kblackwell@oc.ctc.edu

Phone: (W) 360-475-7379

Instructor Office Hours:

By Arrangement