Importance of Understanding Storage Components

Hi Class,

Good work last night.  To recap: We covered various Storage components including RAM, hard drives, flash drives, dvds and back-up tapes.  We concluded by going through an activity involving auditing a server for hard drive partitions not showing under the My Computer view in Windows.

Next week we will cover Networking, which will include a hands on activity involving building a network with routers.

For next week: 1) Read Burd Ch 9 2) Submit the OS Assignments and Storage Assignments to me by 9/26

Have a great weekend!

Pat

Hi Class,

Good work last night.  To re-cap: We covered Operating System concepts, and went through the key aspects of the task manager, performance monitor and file directories of the windows OS.  In addition, we covered how to create a VM in both Azure and VMware, so should all have everything you need for the OS activities.

For next week: 1) Read Ch 5 and 12 2) Work on the OS Activities due 9/26

Again, these OS activities are a very important component of this class.  In addition to performing the actual steps I am expecting you all to work through the various install issues you may encounter with downloading, installing and configuring the software and vms (i.e. VMWare, SDM, the MIS Software  Website).  Working through these issues is a vital part of the assignment in addition to the actual submission.

Next week we will wrap up Operating Systems and move on to Storage.

See you all next week!

 

Pat

Hi Class,

Good work last night!  To re-cap: We went over the key components of  a computing system and how these key components work together to power every operation in a PC.  We then built a computer from scratch using the components covered in class.

Next week we will move on to Operating Systems and cover creating VM’s in both Azure and VMware.  We will close out the class by starting the OS Lab, which you will complete as an assignment.

For next week:

1) Complete Tech Challenge 1 which is essentially to build a Windows Server 2012 VM (Complete this in either Azure or VMWare)

2) Complete step 1 of the OS Lab which is to build a Windows Server 2008 VM. I would like everyone to complete this task in MS Azure.  Please sign up for the free trial, choose only the A0 and A1 basic VMs and be sure to completely shut down your VMs by clicking the “STOP” button in the Azure portal when you are not using them.  Be sure to monitor your VM costs, so you are not charged unnecessarily by Microsoft. I want everyone to become comfortable in both VMWare and Azure in this class.

3) Read Burd Ch 11

Finally, in terms of setting up the VMs I am expecting you all to make a significant effort to troubleshoot any issues you encounter.  This is a absolutely vital part of the learning process for this assignment!  Feel free to work in groups and work through the issues together.  Post to the IT Knowledge base with questions for the class.  I am happy to answer questions, but I want everyone to put in the technical work to figure this out on their own as it is a crucial part of this class.  If you get absolutely stumped I am always here to help!!

Have a great weekend!!

Pat

Hi Class,

If you are using MS Azure for your VMs please be sure to choose the cheapest options (B Series and A0-A4 Basic Options).  Many of the choices such as the D series are way beyond what we need in this class and are much more expensive to host).

Please see the following Azure pricing guide:  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-machines/windows/

Also, Azure charges you for running VM’s.  You can avoid costs by completely shutting down all of your VM’s when you are not using them.  Please see the following link on how to ensure all of your VM’s are shut down: https://buildazure.com/2017/03/16/properly-shutdown-azure-vm-to-save-money/

Also, please see the following videos on info on how to use Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/get-started/

If you are using VMWare here is a quick guide: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-VMware-Workstation

Hope this info helps!

 

Pat

Hi Class,

It was great meeting you all last night.  I am really looking forward to working with you all this semester, and hope that last night gave a good overview of what we will be covering in the course.

To re-cap, the main takeaway from last night was that the IT discipline encompasses a multitude of technical areas such as desktop computing, networking, storage, system administration, security etc. Gaining exposure to these areas is crucial for the anyone working in the IT discipline such as IT Auditing.

Each week I will be posting an update like this recapping what we did in the current week and what will be expected from you for next week.  Please check the course web site regularly as this will be where all of my announcements and class discussion will be.

I would like all questions for this class to be posted to the course website so everyone can benefit from the discussion. On the homepage you will see a number of discussion topics please feel free to post any questions to the appropriate category by clicking “Leave a Comment”.

For next week: 1) Purchase the textbooks 2) Install and configure VMWare and/or Setup an Azure account  3) Submit the Week 1 Assignment to me via e-mail before class next week (You can work in pairs of up to 2 people or individually). 4) Read Burd Ch 4 & 6 5)Give Tech Challenge 1 (Under Week 3 Materials) a try and see if you can configure a VM 6) Participate in the online class discussion

Next week we will be covering Computing Systems, where the main portion of the class will be building a computer!

Have a great Holiday weekend and see you all next Thursday!

Pat