Principles of Network and System Administration focuses on the general principles involved in setting up, configuring and maintaining computer communities, and provides a conceptual overview of the subject. A robust discipline of System Administration is now coming of age and both academics and industry recognize the need to formalize the problems which system administrators tackle. Amongst these challenges are the need to design a network which is logical, efficient, easy to upgrade and secure. The system administrator also needs to keep track of the ever increasing amount of information, to ensure that problems are fixed quickly, and provide a comfortable environment for users. The breadth and complexity involved in adopting and integrating ever more sophisticated technology is covered in this greatly expanded new edition.

Whilst providing practical illustrations of technical specifics through examples, Burgess steers away from the overwhelming details of specific operating systems. Trainee administrators and students alike need to understand a wealth of issues relating to heterogeneous environments before understanding the quirks of any one particular system. Moreover this book teaches good practice for working in a global community of networked machines and organizations ? which extends beyond being technically savvy to being professionally and ethically responsible.