What is system Administration?

System Administrators are responsible for maintaining the computer systems of a company.
Server management is a primary responsibility, and a System Administrator would be
responsible for installing, maintaining and upgrading servers. They are also responsible for
ensuring the servers are backed up, and that the server data is secure from unauthorized
access. System administrators will also often perform light programming (usually scripting,
which involves writing programs to automate tasks).

Typical duties include:

• Analyzing system logs and identifying potential issues with computer systems.
• Introducing and integrating new technologies into existing data center environments.
• Performing routine audits of systems and software.
• Performing backups.
• Applying operating system updates, patches, and configuration changes.
• Installing and configuring new hardware and software.
• Adding, removing, or updating user account information, resetting passwords, etc.
• Answering technical queries.
• Responsibility for security.
• Responsibility for documenting the configuration of the system.
• Troubleshooting any reported problems.
• System performance tuning.
• Ensuring that the network infrastructure is up and running.
• Adding and configuring new workstations
• Setting up user accounts
• Installing system-wide software
• Performing procedures to prevent the spread of viruses
• Allocating mass storage space

The system administrator is sometimes called the sysadmin or the systems administrator.
Small organizations may have just one system administrator, whereas larger enterprises
usually have a whole team of system administrators.

Types of Computer Systems:

There are nine types of Computer Systems.

1) Handheld Single User

2) Portable Single User
3) Thin Client Single User
4) Desktop Single User
5) Workstation Single User
6) Embedded Dedicated Task
7) Server - Multi User
8) Mainframe
9) Super Computer
Basic working mechanism of computers/ How Computers Work:
Input: Information and programs are entered into the computer through Input devices such
as the keyboard, disks, or through other computers via network connections or modems
connected to the Internet. The input device also retrieves information off disks.

Output: Output Devices displays information on the screen (monitor) or the printer and
sends information to other computers. They also display messages about what errors may
have occurred and brings up message or dialog box asking for more information to be input.
The output device also saves information on the disk for future use.

Processing: The CPU or central processing unit is sometimes called the Control Unit and
directs the operation of the input and output devices. The Coprocessor or the Arithmetic-
Logic Unit does arithmetic and comparisons. The memory or RAM temporarily stores
information (files and programs) while you are using or working on them. The BIOS or basic
input/output system controls the dialogue between the various devices.

Keyboard Layout and Data Entry

ENTER or RETURN - Moves the cursor down one line and to the left margin. Enter also
process commands such as choosing an option in a dialog (message) boxes and submitting
a form.

DEL or DELETE - Deletes the character at cursor and/or characters to the right of the cursor
and all highlighted (or selected) text.

BKSP or BACKSPACE - Deletes the character to the left of cursor and all hightlighted text.

SPACE BAR - Moves the cursor one space at a time to the right

SHIFT KEY - Use the shift keys to type capital letters and to type the upper character on keys
with two characters on them

CAPS LOCK - Locks the keyboard so it types capital letters (a light goes on when caps lock is
on)

TAB - Moves the cursor five spaces to the right (number of spaces are usually adjustable).
Tab moves to the next field in a form or table (Shift-Tab for previous field).

ESC or ESCAPE - Cancels a menu or dialog box

ARROW KEYS - Moves the cursor around document without changing text

FUNCTION KEYS or F KEYS - Access commands by themselves or in combination with the

three command keys; CTRL, SHIFT, and ALT

Command or Special Keys

Command keys normally do nothing on their own but work in combination with other keys.
Each piece of software uses the command keys differently though there is a move to
standardize some functions. The Control key or Ctrl is often used to access commands. The
Alternative key or Alt is often used to access menus. The Shift key is used to type CAPITAL
LETTERS. As well the command keys are all used to move through documents and edit text
faster and easier. As well many computers have Special keys design specifically for the
particular computer. Apple computers have the Apple keys and Macs have Command keys.
Many keyboards now have a Windows key specifically for Windows 9x and newer systems.
Many older computers also have special keys used for a variety of different functions.

Some Notebook or Laptop keys are left out because of space limitations and they usually
have a Special function key which allows other keys to double for the missing ones.

Processor interaction with other parts/ How Computers Work: The

CPU and Memory:

• The Central
Processing Unit:
o (CPU),
o Buses,
o Ports and
controllers,
o ROM;
• Main Memory (RAM);
• Input Devices;
• Output Devices;
• Secondary Storage;
o floppy disks,
o hard disk,

o CD-ROM

Figure 0: Inside The Computer

This part of the reading will examine the CPU, Buses, Controllers, and Main Memory. Other
sections will examine input devices, output devices, and secondary memory.
The Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The computer does its primary work

in a part of the machine we cannot
see, a control center that converts
data input to information output. This
control center, called the central
processing unit (CPU), is a highly
complex, extensive set of electronic
circuitry that executes stored
program instructions. All computers,
large and small, must have a central
processing unit. As Figure 1 shows,
the central processing unit consists
of two parts: The control unit and the
arithmetic/logic unit. Each part has a
specific function.

Figure 1: The Central Processing Unit Before we discuss the control unit
and the arithmetic/logic unit in
detail, we need to consider data storage and its relationship to the central processing unit.
Computers use two types of storage: Primary storage and secondary storage. The CPU
interacts closely with primary storage, or main memory, referring to it for both instructions
and data. For this reason this part of the reading will discuss memory in the context of the
central processing unit. Technically, however, memory is not part of the CPU.

Recall that a computer's memory holds data only temporarily, at the time the computer is
executing a program. Secondary storage holds permanent or semi-permanent data on some
external magnetic or optical medium. The diskettes and CD-ROM disks that you have seen
with personal computers are secondary storage devices, as are hard disks. Since the
physical attributes of secondary storage devices determine the way data is organized on
them, we will discuss secondary storage and data organization together in another part of
our on-line readings.

Now let us consider the components of the central processing unit.

 The Control Unit

The control unit of the CPU contains circuitry that uses electrical signals to direct the entire
computer system to carry out, or execute, stored program instructions. Like an orchestra
leader, the control unit does not execute program instructions; rather, it directs other parts
of the system to do so. The control unit must communicate with both the arithmetic/logic
unit and memory.

 The Arithmetic/Logic Unit

The arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) contains the electronic circuitry that executes all arithmetic
and logical operations.

The arithmetic/logic unit can perform four kinds of arithmetic operations, or mathematical
calculations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. As its name implies, the
arithmetic/logic unit also performs logical operations. A logical operation is usually a
comparison. The unit can compare numbers, letters, or special characters. The computer
can then take action based on the result of the comparison. This is a very important
capability. It is by comparing that a computer is able to tell, for instance, whether there are
unfilled seats on airplanes, whether charge- card customers have exceeded their credit
limits, and whether one candidate for Congress has more votes than another.

Logical operations can test for three conditions:

• Equal-to condition. In a test for this condition, the arithmetic/logic unit compares
two values to determine if they are equal. For example: If the number of tickets sold
equals the number of seats in the auditorium, then the concert is declared sold out.
• Less-than condition. To test for this condition, the computer compares values to
determine if one is less than another. For example: If the number of speeding tickets
on a driver's record is less than three, then insurance rates are $425; otherwise, the
rates are $500.
• Greater-than condition. In this type of comparison, the computer determines if
one value is greater than another. For example: If the hours a person worked this
week are greater than 40, then multiply every extra hour by 1.5 times the usual
hourly wage to compute overtime pay.

A computer can simultaneously test for more than one condition. In fact, a logic unit can
usually discern six logical relationships: equal to, less than, greater than, less than or equal
to, greater than or equal to, and not equal.

The symbols that let you define the type of comparison you want the computer to perform
are called relational operators. The most common relational operators are the equal sign(=),
the less-than symbol(<), and the greater-than symbol(>).

• Registers: Temporary Storage Areas

Registers are temporary storage areas for instructions or data. They are not a part of
memory; rather they are special additional storage locations that offer the advantage
of speed. Registers work under the direction of the control unit to accept, hold, and
transfer instructions or data and perform arithmetic or logical comparisons at high
speed. The control unit uses a data storage register the way a store owner uses a
cash register-as a temporary, convenient place to store what is used in transactions.

Computers usually assign special roles to certain registers, including these registers:
o An accumulator, which collects the result of computations.
o An address register, which keeps track of where a given instruction or piece
of data is stored in memory. Each storage location in memory is identified by
an address, just as each house on a street has an address.
o A storage register, which temporarily holds data taken from or about to be
sent to memory.
o A general-purpose register, which is used for several functions.
• Memory and Storage
Memory is also known as primary storage, primary memory, main storage, internal
storage, main memory, and RAM (Random Access Memory); all these terms are used
interchangeably by people in computer circles. Memory is the part of the computer
that holds data and instructions for processing. Although closely associated with the
central processing unit, memory is separate from it. Memory stores program
instructions or data for only as long as the program they pertain to is in operation.
Keeping these items in memory when the program is not running is not feasible for
three reasons:
 o Most types of memory only store items while the computer is turned on; data
is destroyed when the machine is turned off.
o If more than one program is running at once (often the case on large
computers and sometimes on small computers), a single program can not lay
exclusive claim to memory.
o There may not be room in memory to hold the processed data.

How do data and instructions get from an input device into memory? The control unit
sends them. Likewise, when the time is right, the control unit sends these items from
memory to the arithmetic/logic unit, where an arithmetic operation or logical
operation is performed. After being processed, the information is sent to memory,
where it is hold until it is ready to he released to an output unit.

The chief characteristic of memory is that it allows very fast access to instructions
and data, no matter where the items are within it. We will discuss the physical
components of memory-memory chips-later in this chapter.

To see how registers, memory, and second storage all work together, let us use the
analogy of making a salad. In our kitchen we have:

o a refrigerator where we store our vegetables for the salad;

o a counter where we place all of our veggies before putting them on the
cutting board for chopping;
o a cutting board on the counter where we chop the vegetables;
o a recipe that details what veggies to chop;
o the corners of the cutting board are kept free for partially chopped piles of
veggies that we intend to chop more or to mix with other partially chopped
veggies.
o a bowl on the counter where we mix and store the salad;
o space in the refrigerator to put the mixed salad after it is made.

The process of making the salad is then: bring the veggies from the fridge to the
counter top; place some veggies on the chopping board according to the recipe; chop
the veggies, possibly storing some partially chopped veggies temporarily on the
corners of the cutting board; place all the veggies in the bowl to either put back in
the fridge or put directly on the dinner table.

The refrigerator is the equivalent of secondary (disk) storage. It can store high
volumes of veggies for long periods of time. The counter top is the equivalent of the
computer's motherboard - everything is done on the counter (inside the computer).
The cutting board is the ALU - the work gets done there. The recipe is the control unit
- it tells you what to do on the cutting board (ALU). Space on the counter top is the
equivalent of RAM memory - all veggies must be brought from the fridge and placed
on the counter top for fast access. Note that the counter top (RAM) is faster to access
than the fridge (disk), but cannot hold as much, and cannot hold it for long periods of
time. The corners of the cutting board where we temporarily store partially chopped
veggies are equivalent to the registers. The corners of the cutting board are very fast
to access for chopping, but cannot hold much. The salad bowl is like a temporary
register, it is for storing the salad waiting to take back to the fridge (putting data
back on a disk) or for taking to the dinner table (outputting the data to an output
device).
 Now for a more technical example. Let us look at how a payroll program uses all
three types of storage. Suppose the program calculates the salary of an employee.
The data representing the hours worked and the data for the rate of pay are ready in
their respective registers. Other data related to the salary calculation-overtime hours,
bonuses, deductions, and so forth-is waiting nearby in memory. The data for other
employees is available in secondary storage. As the CPU finishes calculations about
one employee, the data about the next employee is brought from secondary storage
into memory and eventually into the registers.

The following table summarizes the characteristics of the various kinds of data
storage in the storage hierarchy.

Relative Permane
Storage Speed Capacity
Cost ($) nt?

Register
Fastest Lowest Highest No
s

Very Low/Modera
RAM High No
Fast te

Floppy Very
Low Low Yes
Disk Slow

Hard Moderat
Very High Very Low Yes
Disk e

Modern computers are designed with this hierarchy due to the characteristics listed
in the table. It has been the cheapest way to get the functionality. However, as RAM
becomes cheaper, faster, and even permanent, we may see disks disappear as an
internal storage device. Removable disks, like Zip disks or CDs (we describe these in
detail in the online reading on storage devices) will probably remain in use longer as
a means to physically transfer large volumes of data into the computer. However,
even this use of disks will probably be supplanted by the Internet as the major (and
eventually only) way of transferring data. Floppy disks drives are already
disappearing: the new IMac Macintosh from Apple does not come with one. Within
the next five years most new computer designs will only include floppy drives as an
extra for people with old floppy disks that they must use.

• How the CPU Executes Program Instructions

Let us examine the way the central processing unit, in association with memory,
executes a computer program. We will be looking at how just one instruction in the
program is executed. In fact, most computers today can execute only one instruction
at a time, though they execute it very quickly. Many personal computers can execute
instructions in less than one-millionth of a second, whereas those speed demons
known as supercomputers can execute instructions in less than one-billionth of a
second.
 • Before an instruction can be
executed, program
instructions and data must
be placed into memory
from an input device or a
secondary storage device
(the process is further
complicated by the fact
that, as we noted earlier,
the data will probably make
a temporary stop in a
register). As Figure 2
shows, once the necessary
data and instruction are in
memory, the central
processing unit performs
Figure 2: The Machine Cycle the following four steps for
each instruction:

1. The control unit fetches (gets) the instruction from memory.

2. The control unit decodes the instruction (decides what it means) and directs
that the necessary data be moved from memory to the arithmetic/logic unit.
These first two steps together are called instruction time, or I-time.
3. The arithmetic/logic unit executes the arithmetic or logical instruction. That is,
the ALU is given control and performs the actual operation on the data.
4. Thc arithmetic/logic unit stores the result of this operation in memory or in a
register. Steps 3 and 4 together are called execution time, or E-time.

The control unit eventually directs memory to release the result to an output device
or a secondary storage device. The combination of I-time and E-time is called the
machine cycle. Figure 3 shows an instruction going through the machine cycle.

Each central processing unit has an internal clock that produces pulses at a fixed rate
to synchronize all computer operations. A single machine-cycle instruction may be
made up of a substantial number of sub-instructions, each of which must take at
least one clock cycle. Each type of central processing unit is designed to understand
a specific group of instructions called the instruction set. Just as there are many
different languages that people understand, so each different type of CPU has an
instruction set it
understands.
Therefore, one CPU-
such as the one for a
Compaq personal
computer-cannot
understand the
instruction set from
another CPU-say, for a
Macintosh.

It is one thing to have

instructions and data

Figure 3: The Machine Cycle in Action

 somewhere in memory and quite another for the control unit to be able to find them.
How does it do this?

The location in memory

for each instruction and
each piece of data is
identified by an address.
That is, each location has
an address number, like
the mailboxes in front of
an apartment house. And,
like the mailboxes, the
address numbers of the
locations remain the
same, but the contents
(instructions and data) of
the locations may
Figure 4: Memory Addresses Like Mailboxes change. That is, new
instructions or new data
may be placed in the locations when the old contents no longer need to be stored in
memory. Unlike a mailbox, however, a memory location can hold only a fixed amount
of data; an address can hold only a fixed number of bytes - often two bytes in a
modern computer.

Figure 4 shows how a program manipulates data in memory. A payroll program, for
example, may give instructions to put the rate of pay in location 3 and the number of
hours worked in location 6. To compute the employee's salary, then, instructions tell
the computer to multiply the data in location 3 by the data in location 6 and move
the result to location 8. The choice of locations is arbitrary - any locations that are not
already spoken for can be used. Programmers using programming languages,
however, do not have to worry about the actual address numbers, because each data
address is referred to by a name. The name is called a symbolic address. In this
example, the symbolic address names are Rate, Hours, and Salary.

Overview of OS, Types of OS, Role of OS in working of Computers:

An operating system (OS) is software, consisting of programs and data, that runs on
computers and manages computer hardware resources[1] and provides common services
for efficient execution of various application software.

For hardware functions such as input and output and memory allocation, the operating
system acts as an intermediary between application programs and the computer hardware,
[2][3] although the application code is usually executed directly by the hardware and will
frequently call the OS or be interrupted by it. Operating systems are found on almost any
device that contains a computer—from cellular phones and video game consoles to
supercomputers and web servers.

Examples of popular modern operating systems for personal computers are (in alphabetical
order): GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Unix [4]
Types of Operating Systems:

Real-time Operating System: It is a multitasking operating system that aims at executing

real-time applications. Real-time operating systems often use specialized scheduling
algorithms so that they can achieve a deterministic nature of behavior. The main object of
real-time operating systems is their quick and predictable response to events. They either
have an event-driven or a time-sharing design. An event-driven system switches between
tasks based on their priorities while time-sharing operating systems switch tasks based on
clock interrupts.

Multi-user and Single-user Operating Systems: The operating systems of this type
allow a multiple users to access a computer system concurrently. Time-sharing system can
be classified as multi-user systems as they enable a multiple user access to a computer
through the sharing of time. Single-user operating systems, as opposed to a multi-user
operating system, are usable by a single user at a time. Being able to have multiple
accounts on a Windows operating system does not make it a multi-user system. Rather, only
the network administrator is the real user. But for a Unix-like operating system, it is possible
for two users to login at a time and this capability of the OS makes it a multi-user operating
system.

Multi-tasking and Single-tasking Operating Systems: When a single program is

allowed to run at a time, the system is grouped under a single-tasking system, while in case
the operating system allows the execution of multiple tasks at one time, it is classified as a
multi-tasking operating system. Multi-tasking can be of two types namely, pre-emptive or
co-operative. In pre-emptive multitasking, the operating system slices the CPU time and
dedicates one slot to each of the programs. Unix-like operating systems such as Solaris and
Linux support pre-emptive multitasking. Cooperative multitasking is achieved by relying on
each process to give time to the other processes in a defined manner. MS Windows prior to
Windows 95 used to support cooperative multitasking.

Embedded System: The operating systems designed for being used in embedded
computer systems are known as embedded operating systems. They are designed to
operate on small machines like PDAs with less autonomy. They are able to operate with a
limited number of resources. They are very compact and extremely efficient by design.
Windows CE and Minix 3 are some examples of embedded operating systems.

Role of Operating System:

• Operating systems are designed to provide uniform abstraction across multiple
applications: fair sharing of resources. Such as video games, data base servers, mail servers
OS gets in the way of these applications in the name of fairness (MSDOS is the ideal OS!!)

What is User Management?

User Management is an authentication feature that provides administrators with the
ability to identify and control the state of users logged into the network. This includes, but
is not limited to, the ability to query and filter users that are currently logged into the
network, manually log out users, and control user login counts and login times.

Why should I implement User Management?

 Most security-conscious enterprises today implement some form of authentication and
authorization for accessing network resources. The benefits to this approach are clear –
user permissions can be verified before granting access to resources, and user activity
can be monitored through various logging mechanisms. This solution is not without its
limitations however. In typical authentication and authorization deployments,
administrators have various options available with regard to how users are authenticated,
but have little control over how often users are authenticated. User Management enables
administrators to more granularly control the frequency of user authentication, allowing
them to configure the ProxySG to ignore cached browser credentials and force the user to
re-enter credentials, or to require more frequent authentication only if the user is
accessing critical resources. This kind of flexibility allows administrators to implement
authentication-based policies that more closely match their network security policies.

The User Management logout capability also provides more secure control over the state
of users. For example, when using IP authentication mode users are identified by the
specified IP address until the IP surrogate time expires. If another person were to use that
computer before the IP surrogate time expired, they would be treated as the original user.
The common solution for preventing this scenario is to decrease the IP surrogate expiry
time, causing the user to be challenged more often. User Management allows
administrators to instead configure user log out based on inactivity timeouts, user access
to a specific “logout” URL, or by manually logging out the user. For ease of use, logout
capability is available though policy, the CLI, or the Management Console.

Another key benefit of User Management is visibility into active user sessions. Using the
Management Console and CLI, administrators can view all active users and filter display
data by user, IP address, or realm for easier viewing. This can be useful for identifying the
general login status of users or for making real-time decisions such as immediately
logging off a user.

How does User Management work?

User Management is based on the concept of users logging in and logging out of the
ProxySG appliance. A login is the combination of a unique IP address with a unique
username in a unique realm. A user is considered logged in when first authenticated to
the ProxySG appliance. Identifying users as logged in, or active, allows administrators to
create flexible User Management policies to fine tune user access and control. The
majority of User Management is done in policy using either the Visual Policy Manager
(VPM) or Content Policy Language (CPL). Using policy, administrators can create rules that
more granularly control the timeout values associated with configured realms, such as the
surrogate refresh, credential refresh, and authorization refresh, and they can perform
specific actions on users such as logging them out based on predefined criteria. For
extreme cases where more immediate action is necessary, such as disconnecting a user
being terminated, User Management functions such as logging off a user can be
performed via the CLI or the Management Console.

Typical Use Cases

Log out users after a period of inactivity. -> -
Provide a logout URL for users to manually log out. -> -
Limit the number of IP addresses associated with a single username. -> -
Limit the number of logins associated with a single IP address. -> -
Force a re-authentication to gain access to a particular network resource. -> -
Limit the login session time allowed in a particular timeframe. -> -

User-Based Policy
 The ability to identify users on the network not only provides visibility into user behavior,
but also enables administrators to control users with user-based policies. By creating user-
based policies, administrators can not only dictate how, when, and where users make
requests, but also apply other policy features to users such as imposing bandwidth
management restrictions.

Local Users and Groups overview

Local Users and Groups is a tool you can use to manage local users and groups. It is
available on the following operating systems:

• Windows 2000 Professional

• Windows XP Professional

• Member servers running

Windows 2000 Server

A local user or group is an account that can be granted permissions and rights from your
computer. Domain or global users and groups are managed by your network administrator.
You can add local users, global users, and global groups to local groups. However, you
cannot add local users and groups to global groups

Local Users and Groups is an important security feature because you can limit the ability of
users and groups to perform certain actions by assigning them rights and permissions. A
right authorizes a user to perform certain actions on a computer, such as backing up files
and folders or shutting down a computer. A permission is a rule associated with an object
(usually a file, folder, or printer) and it regulates which users can have access to the object
and in what manner.

Local Users and Groups is not available on domain controllers. Use Active Directory Users
and Computers to manage global users and groups.

Default security settings

Before modifying any security settings, it is important to take into consideration the default
settings.

There are three fundamental levels of security granted to users. These are granted to end
users through membership in the Users, Power Users, or Administrators groups.

Administrators

Adding users to the Users group is the most secure option, because the default permissions
allotted to this group do not allow members to modify operating system settings or other
user's data. However, user level permissions often do not allow the user to successfully run
legacy applications. The members of the Users group are only guaranteed to be able to run
programs that have been certified for Windows. As a result, only trusted personnel should be
members of this group.

Ideally, administrative access should only be used to:

• Install the operating system and components (such as hardware drivers, system services,
and so on).
• Install Service Packs and Windows Packs.

• Upgrade the operating system.

• Repair the operating system.

• Configure critical operating system parameters (such as password policy, access control,
audit policy, kernel mode driver configuration, and so on).
• Take ownership of files that have become inaccessible.

• Manage the security and auditing logs.

• Back up and restore the system.

In practice, Administrator accounts often must be used to install and run programs written
for versions of Windows prior to Windows 2000.

Power Users

The Power Users group primarily provides backward compatibility for running non-certified
applications. The default permissions that are allotted to this group allow this group's
members to modify computerwide settings. If non-certified applications must be supported,
then end users will need to be part of the Power Users group.

Members of the Power Users group have more permissions than members of the Users
group and fewer than members of the Administrators group. Power Users can perform any
operating system task except tasks reserved for the Administrators group. The default
Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional security settings for Power Users are very
similar to the default security settings for Users in Windows NT 4.0. Any program that a user
can run in Windows NT 4.0, a Power User can run in Windows 2000 or Windows XP
Professional.

Power Users can:

• Run legacy applications, in addition to Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional certified

applications.
• Install programs that do not modify operating system files or install system services.

• Customize systemwide resources including printers, date, time, power options, and other
Control Panel resources.
• Create and manage local user accounts and groups.

• Stop and start system services which are not started by default.
Power Users do not have permission to add themselves to the Administrators group. Power
Users do not have access to the data of other users on an NTFS volume, unless those users
grant them permission.

Users

The Users group is the most secure, because the default permissions allotted to this group
do not allow members to modify operating system settings or other users' data.

The Users group provides the most secure environment in which to run programs. On a
volume formatted with NTFS, the default security settings on a newly installed system (but
not on an upgraded system) are designed to prevent members of this group from
compromising the integrity of the operating system and installed programs. Users cannot
modify systemwide registry settings, operating system files, or program files. Users can shut
down workstations, but not servers. Users can create local groups, but can manage only the
local groups that they created. They can run certified Windows 2000 or Windows XP
Professional programs that have been installed or deployed by administrators. Users have
Full Control over all of their own data files (%userprofile%) and their own portion of the
registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER).

However, user-level permissions often do not allow the user to successfully run legacy
applications. Only the members of the Users group are guaranteed to be able to run
Certified for Windows applications. (For more information, see the Certified for Windows
Program on the

To secure a Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional system, an administrator should:

• Make sure that end users are members of the Users group only.

• Deploy programs that members of the Users group can run successfully, such as certified
Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional programs.

Users will not be able to run most programs written for versions of Windows prior to
Windows 2000, because they did not support file system and registry security (Windows 95
and Windows 98) or shipped with lax default security settings (Windows NT). If you have
problems running legacy applications on newly-installed NTFS systems, then do one of the
following:

1 Install new versions of the applications that are certified for Windows 2000 or
. Windows XP Professional.

2 Move end users from the Users group into the Power Users group.
.

3 Decrease the default security permissions for the Users group. This can be accomplished
. by using the Compatible security template.

Backup Operators
Members of the Backup Operators group can back up and restore files on the computer,
regardless of any permissions that protect those files. They can also log on to the computer
and shut it down, but they cannot change security settings.

Special Groups

Several additional groups are automatically created by Windows 2000 and Windows XP
Professional.

When a Windows 2000 system is upgraded to Windows XP Professional, resources with

permission entries for the Everyone group (and not explicitly to the Anonymous Logon
group) will no longer be available to Anonymous users after the upgrade. In most cases, this
is an appropriate restriction on anonymous access. you may need to permit anonymous
access in order to support pre-existing applications that require it. If you need to grant
access to the Anonymous logon group, you should explicitly add the Anonymous Logon
security group and its permissions.

However, in some situations where it might be difficult to determine and modify the
permission entries on resources hosted on Windows XP Professional computers, you can
change the security setting.

• Interactive. This group contains the user who is currently logged on to the computer.
During an upgrade to Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional, members of the
Interactive group will also be added to the Power Users group, so that legacy applications
will continue to function as they did before the upgrade.
• Network. This group contains all users who are currently accessing the system over the
network.
• Terminal Server User. When Terminal Servers are installed in application serving mode,
this group contains any users who are currently logged on to the system using Terminal
Server. Any program that a user can run in Windows NT 4.0 will run for a Terminal Server
User in Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional. The default permissions assigned to
the group were chosen to enable a Terminal Server User to run most legacy programs.

What is File System ?

In a computer, a file system (sometimes written filesystem) is the way in which files are
named and where they are placed logically for storage and retrieval. The DOS, Windows,
OS/2, Macintosh, and UNIX-based operating systems all have file systems in which files are
placed somewhere in a hierarchical (tree) structure. A file is placed in a directory (folder in
Windows) or subdirectory at the desired place in the tree structure.
File systems specify conventions for naming files. These conventions include the maximum
number of characters in a name, which characters can be used, and, in some systems, how
long the file name suffix can be. A file system also includes a format for specifying the path
to a file through the structure of directories.

Sometimes the term refers to the part of an operating system or an added-on program that
supports a file system as defined in (1). Examples of such add-on file systems include the
Network File System (NFS) and the Andrew file system (AFS).

In the specialized lingo of storage professionals, a file system is the hardware used for
nonvolatile storage , the software application that controls the hardware, and the
architecture of both the hardware and software.
Hard Disk Management

The hard disk is the secondary storage device that is used in the computer system. Usually
the primary memory is used for the booting up of the computer. But a hard disk drive is
necessary in the computer system since it needs to store the operating system that is used
to store the information of the devices and the management of the user data.

The management of the IO devices that is the Input Output devices, like the printer and the
other peripherals like the keyboard and the etc; all require the usage of the operating
system. Hence the information of the all such devices and the management of the system is
done by the operating system. The operating system works as an interpreter between the
machine and the user.

The operating system is a must for the proper functioning of the computer. The computer is
a device that needs to be fed with the instructions that are to be carried out and executed.
Hence there needs to be an interpreter who is going to carry out the conversions from the
high level language of the user to the low level language of the computer machine.

The hard disk drive as secondary memory is therefore needed for the purpose of installing
the operating system. If there is no operating system then the question arises where to
install the operating system. The operating system obviously cannot be installed in the
primary memory however large that may be. The primary memory is also a volatile memory
that cannot be used for the permanent storage of the system files of the operating system.
The operating system requires the permanent file storage media like the hard disk.

More over the hard disk management is an important part of maintaining the computer,
since it requires an efficient management of the data or the user information. The
information regarding the Master Boot Record is stored in the hard disk drive. This is the
information that is required during the start up of the computer. The computer system
needs this information for loading the operating system.

The file management and the resources management is also a part of the hard disk
management. The hard disk management requires an efficient knowledge of the operating
system and its resources and the methods of how these resources can be employed in order
to achieve maximum benefit. The operating system contains the resources and the tools
that are used to manage the files in the operating system. The partitioning and the
installation of the operating system itself may be considered as the hard disk management.

The hard disk management also involves the formatting of the hard disk drive and to check
the integrity of the file system. The data redundancy check can also be carried out for the
consistency of the hard disk drive. The hard disk drive management is also important in the
case of the network where there are many hard disk drives to be managed.

Managing a single hard disk in a single user operating system is quite easy in comparison
with the management of the hard disk drives in a multi user operating system where there is
more than one user. It is not that much easy since the users are also required to be
managed.

Partitioning:
Disk partitioning is the act of dividing a hard disk drive into multiple logical storage units
referred to as partitions, to treat one physical disk drive as if it were multiple disks.
Partitions are also termed "slices" for operating systems based on BSD, Solaris or GNU Hurd.
A partition editor software program can be used to create, resize, delete, and manipulate
these partitions on the hard disk.

Defragmentation:
In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation is a process that
reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically organizing
the contents of the mass storage device to store files in a contiguous region if possible, or in
the smallest possible number of regions (fragments) if not. It also attempts to create larger
regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation. Some
defragmenters also try to keep smaller files within a single directory together, as they are
often accessed in sequence.

Defragmentation is advantageous and relevant to file systems on electromechanical disk

drives. The movement of the hard drive's read/write heads over different areas of the disk
when accessing fragmented files is slower, compared to accessing the entire contents of a
non-fragmented file sequentially without moving the read/write heads to seek other
fragments.

Planning a backup and restoration of files for disaster recovery.

Planning a backup and restoration of files is the most important step to protect data from
accidental loss in the event of data deletion or a hard disk failure. The backup copy can be
used to restore lost or damaged data. For taking backups and restoring files, Microsoft has
provided a utility called Backup. The Backup utility creates a copy of data on a hard disk of a
computer and archives data on another storage media. Any storage media such as
removable disks, tapes, and logical drives can be used as a backup storage.

While taking a backup of files, the Backup utility creates a volume shadow copy of the data
to create an accurate copy of the contents. It includes any open files or files that are being
used by the system. Users can continue to access the system while the Backup utility is
running without the risk of losing data.

Volume Shadow Copy

Backup provides a feature of taking a backup of files that are opened by a user or system.
This feature is known as volume shadow copy. Volume shadow copy makes a duplicate copy
of all files at the start of the backup process. In this way, files that have changed during the
backup process are copied correctly. Due to this feature, applications can continue writing
data to the volume during a backup operation, and backups can be scheduled at any time
without locking out users.

Data repository models

Any backup strategy starts with a concept of a data repository. The backup data needs to be
stored somehow and probably should be organized to a degree. It can be as simple as a
sheet of paper with a list of all backup tapes and the dates they were written or a more
sophisticated setup with a computerized index, catalog, or relational database. Different
repository models have different advantages. This is closely related to choosing a backup
rotation scheme.
Unstructured
An unstructured repository may simply be a stack of floppy disks or CD-R/DVD-R media with
minimal information about what was backed up and when. This is the easiest to implement,
but probably the least likely to achieve a high level of recoverability.

Full + incrementals
A full + incremental repository aims to make it more feasible to store several copies of the
source data. At first, a full backup (of all files) is made. After that, any number of
incremental backups can be made. There are many different types of incremental backups,
but they all attempt to only back up a small amount of data (when compared to the size of a
full backup). An incremental backup copies everything that has changed since the last
backup (full, differential or incremental). Restoring a whole system to a certain point in time
would require locating the last full backup taken previous to that time and all the
incremental backups that cover the period of time between the full backup and the
particular point in time to which the system is supposed to be restored.[4] The scope of an
incremental backup is typically defined as the period of time between other full or
incremental backups. Different implementations of backup systems frequently use
specialized or conflicting definitions of these terms.

Differential backup
A differential backup copies files that have been created or changed since the last full
backup. It does not mark files as having been backed up (in other words, the archive
attribute is not cleared). If you are performing a combination of full and differential backups,
restoring files and folders requires that you have the last full as well as the last differential
backup.

Reverse delta
A reverse delta system stores the differences between current versions of a system and
previous versions. A reverse delta backup will start with a normal full backup. After the full
backup is performed, the system will periodically synchronize the full backup with the live
copy, while storing the data necessary to reconstruct older versions. This can either be done
using hard links, or using binary diffs. This system works particularly well for large, slowly
changing, data sets. Examples of programs that use this method are rdiff-backup and Time
Machine

Continuous data protection

Instead of scheduling periodic backups, the system immediately logs every change on the
host system. This is generally done by saving byte or block-level differences rather than file-
level differences. It differs from simple disk mirroring in that it enables a roll-back of the log
and thus restoration of old image of data.

Full system backup

This type of backup is designed to allow an entire PC to be recovered to "bare metal"
without any installation of operating system, application software and data. Most users
understand that a backup will prevent "data" from being lost. The expense in a full system
recovery is in the hours that it takes for a technician to rebuild a machine to the point of
restoring the last data backup. So, a full system backup makes a complete image of the
computer so that if needed, it can be copied back to the PC, usually using some type of
bespoke software such as Ghost, and the user can carry on from that point.

Storage media
Regardless of the repository model that is used, the data has to be stored on some data
storage medium somewhere.
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape has long been the most commonly used medium for bulk data storage,
backup, archiving, and interchange. Tape has typically had an order of magnitude better
capacity/price ratio when compared to hard disk, but recently the ratios for tape and hard
disk have become a lot closer.[6] There are myriad formats, many of which are proprietary
or specific to certain markets like mainframes or a particular brand of personal computer.
Tape is a sequential access medium, so even though access times may be poor, the rate of
continuously writing or reading data can actually be very fast. Some new tape drives are
even faster than modern hard disks. A principal advantage of tape is that it has been used
for this purpose for decades (much longer than any alternative) and its characteristics are
well understood.

Hard disk
The capacity/price ratio of hard disk has been rapidly improving for many years. This is
making it more competitive with magnetic tape as a bulk storage medium. The main
advantages of hard disk storage are low access times, availability, capacity and ease of use.
[7] External disks can be connected via local interfaces like SCSI, USB, FireWire, or eSATA, or
via longer distance technologies like Ethernet, iSCSI, or Fibre Channel. Some disk-based
backup systems, such as Virtual Tape Libraries, support data deduplication which can
dramatically reduce the amount of disk storage capacity consumed by daily and weekly
backup data. The main disadvantages of hard disk backups are that they are easily
damaged, especially while being transported (e.g., for off-site backups), and that their
stability over periods of years is a relative unknown.

Optical storage
Blu-ray Discs dramatically increase the amount of data possible on a single optical storage
disk. Systems containing Blu-ray discs can store massive amounts of data and be more cost
efficient than hard drives and magnetic tape. Some optical storage systems allow for
cataloged data backups without human contact with the discs, allowing for longer data
integrity. A recordable CD can be used as a backup device. One advantage of CDs is that
they can be restored on any machine with a CD-ROM drive. (In practice, writable CD-ROMs
are not always universally readable.) In addition, recordable CD's are relatively cheap.
Another common format is recordable DVD. Many optical disk formats are WORM type,
which makes them useful for archival purposes since the data can't be changed. Other
rewritable formats can also be utilized such as CD-RW or DVD-RAM.

Floppy disk
During the 1980s and early 1990s, many personal/home computer users associated backing
up mostly with copying to floppy disks. The low data capacity of a floppy disk makes it an
unpopular and obsolete choice today.[8]
Solid state storage
Also known as flash memory, thumb drives, USB flash drives, CompactFlash, SmartMedia,
Memory Stick, Secure Digital cards, etc., these devices are relatively costly for their low
capacity, but offer excellent portability and ease-of-use.

Remote backup service

As broadband internet access becomes more widespread, remote backup services are
gaining in popularity. Backing up via the internet to a remote location can protect against
some worst-case scenarios such as fires, floods, or earthquakes which would destroy any
backups in the immediate vicinity along with everything else. There are, however, a number
of drawbacks to remote backup services. First, Internet connections are usually slower than
local data storage devices. Residential broadband is especially problematic as routine
backups must use an upstream link that's usually much slower than the downstream link
used only occasionally to retrieve a file from backup. This tends to limit the use of such
services to relatively small amounts of high value data. Secondly, users must trust a third
party service provider to maintain the privacy and integrity of their data, although
confidentiality can be assured by encrypting the data before transmission to the backup
service with an encryption key known only to the user. Ultimately the backup service must
itself use one of the above methods so this could be seen as a more complex way of doing
traditional backups.