Network and System Administration - Essay Example

Network and Sys Admin Updates are essential for any operating systems to work properly but it’s also essential to authenticate the updates source. The question here is not on whether to test updates first before deployment. The issue here is network security and a backup policy and procedures. Aside from the usual backup methodologies there are also some other measures to ensure data integrity and availability. Updates are not only for operating systems, there are also some programs that have updates or newer version that the programs used detects and suggest updating the current version running on your computer or network. So the approach needs to be looked at using multiple theories and technologies without changing the current status or procedures that the company is using. It’s merely adding more features or programs to help protect the company’s data and operating systems without reorganizing the whole procedure that would complicate things. It’s not only complicated but expensive. The approach is very simple and less expensive. The ideal strategy is implementing a strict and robust web security that is available and another program that would ensure data reliability aside from the regular tape backup that the company is currently using. The idea is to have a network security that is dependable and an image server that would help ensure data security that would also be transparent to users once the server goes down. The standard backup schemes that the company uses can be further enhanced by implementing certain guidelines for backup procedures. For example data can be backed up in several ways. 1. Daily Backups 2. Weekly backups 3. Monthly backups 4. Incremental backups can be scrapped on a monthly basis and the tapes can be re-used for the next cycle 5. Monthly backups should be verified and should be secured for a certain number of months based on the company’s requirements. NOTE: Daily and weekly backups can be either incremental or full backups. What type of backup procedures that would be implemented would be based on the company’s goal or objective. First the network security needs to be addressed. The current network setup that the company is using does not have enough security feature to prevent attacks from the outside or hackers. Firewalls and other anti virus or anti spy wares are not enough to protect the company’s network setup. Since PUSH is using Windows NT and Linux servers there’s no real network security currently in place. The first order of business is implementing a robust network security, a freeware called Kerberos. NHG has the program embedded on their Windows 200X servers and using Kerberos would further enhance the security and reliability on exchange of data or access from one user to the other using either one of the company’s network resources. Creating a Kerberos server would help ensure network security and authenticity of updates from legitimate software manufacturers. Kerberos uses tickets to authenticate users when clients are accessing resources over the network. Tickets are small amount of encrypted, session specific data issued by the domain controller. The ticket needs to be authenticated first by the domain controller before the user can access resources over the network.  Kerberos provides mutual authentication for both client and server. By the use of timestamps and other techniques Kerberos protects tickets from hackers on the network.  Kerberos was originally designed or developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for its Athena Project. Kerberos is freeware software and Microsoft saw the benefits of the system and incorporated it to their Windows Server 200X Operating Systems. Microsoft also took advantage of an optional feature of Kerberos called pre-authentication. With pre-authentication the domain controller checks the user’s credentials before issuing the authentication ticket. Kerberos is very beneficial when used to authenticate request remotely or over the internet. It is a standard applied or used by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that allows Web servers to authenticate users. The company resources are very vulnerable to hackers if there’s no tight security that would be implemented especially the company’s desire to use wireless technology as part of patient recording and tracking. The other measure that needs to be in place is an image server for each critical data. The system is called “LIFE KEEPER” or some call it Data Warehousing. There are a number of manufacturers that can offer a better solution in handling critical data. This technology is a combination of both hardware and software. The first pioneer in this field was NCR and they called it Teradata. It offers a choice of several operating systems: NCR UNIX SVR4.2 MP-RAS, a variant of System V UNIX from AT&T Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on 64-bit Intel servers. As mentioned earlier, System Administrators can use the mirroring system to help maintain data availability and reliability. This would also have transparent effect to users of the server if it goes down. The way it works is that the other server who has a mirror image of the main server would activate and become the main server once the original main server goes down. This way clients or users of the server would not know the difference whether the server went down or not. It’s only the System Administrator would know if the server went down due to the systems capability of sending messages either thru email or pager. An alert would be sent to corresponding support teams and would give information on the server’s downtime. It’s also advisable to have 1 or 2 spare servers that already have the Operating System installed but not yet configured so server uptime is much faster. Using the tape backup, data can be uploaded immediately and would replace the server that went down and becomes the secondary server. The server that took over the main server would then sync its data with the server replacement. This way the server and data availability is always there and transparency to clients is implemented and maintained. Life keeper or now known as Teradata is an enterprise wide solution that offers a wide array of applications and solutions. Choosing one for the company’s goal can be formulated using proven solutions provided by the vendor. It’s the most commonly used methodology or theory in addressing data reliability and availability. Using this methodology to keep critical data and systems would ensure availability of said critical systems and data without sacrificing or affecting the networks performance. Microsoft formed an alliance with Teradata and both companies are working on a incorporating the technology or methodology in future Windows Operating Systems. Using this as early as now would make the company aligned for the future even if Microsoft would update or release a new Operating System. The company would be less affected with any changes. Bottom line is that the technology is available and it’s a matter of implementing the recommendations that are stated in this document and formulating processes that the Information Technology group would be following to make sure that the company’s critical data and systems are available 24x7. Read More