Unit Synopsis
This unit gives you a practical introduction to system and network service management and administration. You are provided with the skills necessary to configure and manage secure server environments and deliver network services. You will cover topics such as managing computer systems and users, managing network services, configuring and managing system and network software, computer security mechanisms and ethics, and developing administrative policies and procedures. You will use a Linux operating system as a practical platform to apply and demonstrate knowledge.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite: COIT12206 - TCP/IP Principles and Protocols OR, COIT13147 - Networks. Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 15% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 25% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 60% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 68.18% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 24.44% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Student Feedback and Unit Coordinator Reflection
Automated Git syncing, which could significantly streamline administration workflow, was not introduced in this unit.
Include a section on automated Git syncing, along with practical examples, to enhance the unit by providing students with a more comprehensive understanding of Git’s capabilities beyond the basics.
The use of Git has been strengthened in the workshop, and the majority of students performed well in the Git usage assessment.
Source: Student Feedback and Unit Coordinator Reflection
Some students found the final project instructions unclear and would benefit from better elaborated instructions.
Review the final project instructions and provide more detailed guidance, including specific expectations, examples, and potential pitfalls to avoid.
The project instructions have been reviewed and revised to offer more detailed guidance to the students.
Source: Student Feedback
Some students reported that the assignment specifications and marking criteria were inconsistent.
Revise the assignment specifications and marking criteria for better consistency.
In Progress
Source: Teaching Team
The instructions for installing and using DokuWiki in Week 7 are outdated, as the new Ubuntu versions (22.04 or later) no longer support older PHP versions.
Update the Week 7 teaching materials to align with the new Ubuntu version, i.e., 22.04 or 24.04.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Use administration commands and utilities to manage and secure computer systems
- Configure and deploy the common system and network services
- Demonstrate the ability to perform user management and maintenance tasks
- Describe how elements of relevant codes of ethics inform professional practice
- Develop, deploy and evaluate security policies and rules.
The Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is adopted by organisations, governments and individuals in many countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles. ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile.
This unit contributes to the following workplace skills as defined by SFIA 7 (the SFIA code is included):
- Network Support (NTAS)
- Problem Management (PBMG)
- System Design (DESN)
- Incident Management (USUP)
The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework defines knowledge, skills and tasks needed to perform various cyber security roles. Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the NICE Framework is used by organisations to plan their workforce, including recruit into cyber security positions.
This unit helps prepare you for roles such as Systems Security Analyst, Network Operations Specialist and Systems Administrator, contributing to the following knowledge and skills:
- K0035 Knowledge of installation, integration, and optimization of system components.
- K0060 Knowledge of operating systems.
- K0076 Knowledge of server administration and systems engineering theories, concepts, and methods.
- K0088 Knowledge of systems administration concepts.
- K0130 Knowledge of virtualization technologies and virtual machine development and maintenance.
- K0167 Knowledge of system administration, network, and operating system hardening techniques.
- K0275 Knowledge of configuration management techniques.
- K0289 Knowledge of system/server diagnostic tools and fault identification techniques.
- K0290 Knowledge of systems security testing and evaluation methods.
- S0043 Skill in maintaining directory services. (e.g., Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP, etc.).
- S0143 Skill in conducting system/server planning, management, and maintenance.
- S0144 Skill in correcting physical and technical problems that impact system/server performance.
- S0150 Skill in implementing and testing network infrastructure contingency and recovery plans.
- S0151 Skill in troubleshooting failed system components (i.e., servers)
- S0153 Skill in identifying and anticipating system/server performance, availability, capacity, or configuration problems.
- S0154 Skill in installing system and component upgrades. (i.e., servers, appliances, network devices).
- S0155 Skill in monitoring and optimizing system/server performance.
- S0157 Skill in recovering failed systems/servers. (e.g., recovery software, failover clusters, replication, etc.).
- S0158 Skill in operating system administration. (e.g., account maintenance, data backups, maintain system performance, install and configure new hardware/software).
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | |||
| 5 - Team Work | • | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • | |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |