MINS 214
California State University, Chico
Distributed Business Systems
Fall 2001
Class meets 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays in Ayers 106
Instructor: Ron Pike
Office: Glenn Hall rm. 203
Phone: (530) 898-4832
Email: rpike@csuchico.edu
Office Hours:
Monday 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Other times by appointment
Office hours will be held in either Glenn 203 or 221, depending on the time in the semester I may be in the Glenn 221 lab as the material is “hands-on”.
Objectives:
This course deals with the managerial aspects of distributed computer systems. We will be dealing with a broad range of topics. Hence, the emphasis of the course will be to look into the present and emerging data communication / networking technologies and to examine the important decision making issues associated with those technologies.
Wherever possible, you will be doing class projects that involve working with current technology.
Course conduct:
1. Academic honesty is required. Any cases of cheating may result in a failing grade in the course and will be forwarded to Student Judicial Affairs. Some work will be done in groups. It is important to review your group member’s work before you put your name to a paper. In a case of cheating, all group members will be forwarded to Judicial Affairs. Be diligent in reviewing your group members work and talk to me if any problems are perceived.
2. It is assumed that you have a certain level of knowledge upon enrolling in this course. You are to have completed a database management course (MINS 118 or its equivalent).
3. The chapters to be read in the texts and the examinations are detailed in the course syllabus section. The dates associated with these items are not absolute, since it may be necessary to do some mid-course adjustments determined by the pace at which the material is being covered. Any changes to this schedule will be announced in class. Unless otherwise announced, assume that this schedule is accurate.
4. While attendance will not be taken on a regular basis, it is assumed that you will attend all classes unless there are circumstances that absolutely prevent you from attending. This means that you are responsible for everything that is covered in class, including topical material and information dealing with assignments, homework, exams, etc.
5. Lectures will expand on the material in the textbook. Hence, it is very important to read the chapters before the lecture. If you don’t understand the material in the chapter, you should ask questions in class.
6. Project assignments will be handed out in class. The due dates for these are included in the attached syllabus. These projects are due on or before the due date noted in the syllabus and should be submitted before class begins on the due date.
7. All assignments must be submitted both electronically and in print in a professional format in which a word processor will be used to generate written text. Graphics, if used, should be computer generated or digitized.
8. Your grade will be determined by your performance on the following items:
|
Quizzes(4) |
400 points |
|
Comprehensive Final Exam |
200 points |
|
Project 1 (Internet Tools) |
50 points |
|
Project 2 (Client Server Install) |
100 points |
|
Project 3 (Research Project) |
200 Points |
|
Homework |
50 points |
|
|
|
|
Total |
1,000 points |
9. Your grade for the course will be based on the percentage of total possible points earned according to the table below:
|
A |
93 - 100 |
C+ |
77 - 80 |
|
A- |
90 - 93 |
C |
73 - 77 |
|
B+ |
87 - 90 |
C- |
70 - 73 |
|
B |
83 - 87 |
D |
65 - 70 |
|
B- |
80 - 83 |
F |
< 65 |
Major assignments and examinations:
Projects - There are three major project assignments applying the concepts in the course. One of these assignments is a group project. The projects are listed in the course syllabus and detailed below:
- Project 1: You will learn to use a wide variety of UNIX and Internet tools. You will demonstrate your ability to use these tools by showing us what you learned in what we call a "terminal exam". You must sign up for a designated time to take this exam. It is your responsibility to sign up for a test time. This means you must sign up when the sign-up list is posted. Signing up late only to find all remaining testing slots filled will result in a zero.
- Project 2: You will be a member of a team that installs and configures a Red Hat Linux server. Your team will demonstrate its ability through a "terminal exam". There is a written individual quiz that is also associated with this material. You must join a team to carry out the project (teams size will be five persons) and sign up for a designated time to take this exam. Again it is your responsibility to get a testing time (see Project 1)
- Project 3: You will be a member of a team (four to five members) that finds a company or agency at which the IT environment is analyzed and a formal set of recommendations made to correct any deficiencies or add needed functionality. A complete document will be required outlining the investigation process, the solutions considered and the final solution(s) recommended. In almost all cases this will require a cost/benefit analysis process.
Quizzes - Each quiz will cover material in a specific part of the course. There will be a quiz for each major part of the course. As the material is cumulative you will find material learned for earlier quizzes will be needed for the following quizzes as well as the final.
Homework problems - You will be responsible for doing homework assignments that will involve solving practical networking problems.
Final Examination - The final examination is a comprehensive written exam that applies all of the material in the course. This exam will be given during finals week.
Other administrative items:
1. We will have a series of facilities that will allow efficient communication within the course. Learning and using these services is part of the first project assignment.
In order to do this and other assignments every student must obtain a UNIX account.
2. The university allows withdrawing from a course with only the instructor’s signature during the first two weeks of class. A serious and compelling reason, with accompanying formal documentation, and the approval of the Department Chair and Dean of the College are required after that deadline. Any student who does not attend any of the class
meetings during the first week of classes may be administratively dropped from the course.
3. An incomplete grade is given only if a student is forced by some unforeseen circumstance to discontinue attending class. It is not given because a student is unable or unwilling to keep pace with the requirements of a course.
This syllabus gives you a day-by-day description of the course. It includes the topic to be covered on that day, reading assignments to be done before class, and major milestones that are occurring. It may be necessary to change the flow of the course. Hence, the dates and the material covered may have to change slightly. However, unless notified in class you are to assume that all activities will occur on the dates given below.
The readings in the syllabus are from the textbook, a second text has been listed as recommended for the Linux project, each team will need at least one copy of this text and its CD’s to perform the project:
DAY DATE MODULE ASSIGNMENTS DUE
Mon 27 Aug Course Introduction and Binary and Hex Math Review
Homework #1 Assigned
Wed 29 Aug Introduction to Networking Read Chapter 1 (Fitz)
Mon 3 Sep Labor Day – No Class
Wed 5 Sep Application Layer Read Chapter 2 (Fitz)
Homework Assignment #1 Due (collected in your lab section)
Start Project 1 (Internet/Unix tools)
Mon 10 Sep Physical Layer Read Chapter 3 (Fitz)
Wed 12 Sep Hex Math Review – Physical Layer
Review for Quiz #1
Mon 17 Sep Quiz #1
Wed 19 Sep Review UNIX Commands
Start Project 2 (Client/Server)
Mon 24 Sep Data Link Layer Read Chapter 4 (Fitz)
Homework #2 Assigned
Wed 26 Sep Network and Transport Layers Read Chapter 5 (Fitz)
Mon 1 Oct Network and Transport Layers
Homework #3 Assigned
Wed 3 Oct IPv4/IPv6 overview
Subnet Masks / Route Summarization
Homework #2 Due (collected in your lab section)
Mon 8 Oct Local Area Networks Read Chapter 6 (Fitz)
Ethernet, Switched Ethernet
Wed 10 Oct Local Area Networks – Quiz #2 Review
Wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth
Must have completed Project 1 (Internet/Unix)
Homework #3 Due (collected in your lab section)
Mon 15 Oct Quiz #2
Wed 17 Oct Backbone Networks Read Chapter 7 (Fitz)
Mon 22 Oct MAN’s and WAN’s Chapter 8 (Fitz)
Wed 24 Oct Variable Length Subnet Masks CIDR
Homework #4 Assigned (VLSM)
Mon 29 Oct Review Criteria for Project 3
Start Project 3 (Research Project)
Wed 31 Oct The Internet Read Chapter 9 (Fitz)
Mon 5 Nov Internet Access Technologies – Project 3 Discussion
Wed 7 Nov Wireless Applications
Homework #4 due in your lab section
Mon 12 Nov Quiz #3
Wed 14 Nov Network Security Read Chapter 10 (Fitz)
Homework #5 Assigned
Mon 19 Nov Thanksgiving Break
Wed 21 Nov Thanksgiving Break
Mon 26 Nov Network Design Read Chapter 11 (Fitz)
Wed 28 Nov Network Management Read Chapter 12 (Fitz)
Homework #5 due in your lab section
Mon 3 Dec Total Cost of Ownership / Network Management Tools
Wed 5 Dec Quiz #4
Project 3 Due in your lab section
Mon 10 Dec Course Overview
Wed 12 Dec Final Exam Review
Mon 17 Dec Final Exam 4:00 – 5:50
Location currently listed as Glenn 212 but it’s too small and I’m awaiting word on a new location Other critical dates pertaining to the terminal exams (Internet Project 1 and the Linux Project) will be determined by the dates you have chosen on the sign-up sheets.