Handbook of Network and System Administration

System administration is about the design, running and maintenance of human-computer systems. Examples of human-computer systems include business enterprises, service institutions and any extensive machinery that is operated by, or interacts with human beings. System administration is often thought of as the technological side of a system: the architecture, construction and optimization of the collaborating parts, but it also occasionally touches on softer factors such as user assistance (help desks), ethical considerations in deploying a system, and the larger implications of its design for others who come into contact with it.

This book summarizes the state of research and practice in this emerging field of network and system administration, in an anthology of chapters written by the top academics in the field. The authors include members of the IST-EMANICS Network of Excellence in Network Management.

This book will be a valuable reference work for researchers and senior system managers wanting to understand the essentials of system administration, whether in practical application of a data center or in the design of new systems and data centers.

- Covers data center planning and design
- Discusses configuration management
- Illustrates business modeling and system administration
- Provides the latest theoretical developments

1. Introduction
2. Arena
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. Scaling Data Centre Services (M. Burgess)
3. Automating System Administration: Landscape, Approaches and Costs (A.B. Brown, J.L. Hellerstein and A. Keller)
4. System Configuration Management (A. Couch)
3. Technology
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. Unix and z/OS (K. Stav)
3. Email (C.P.J. Koymans and J. Scheerder)
4. XML-Based Network Management (J.W. Hong and M-J. Choi)
5. Open Technology (J. Scheerder and C.P.J. Koymans)
6. System Backup: Methodologies, Algorithms and Efficiency Models (A. Frisch)
7. What Can Web Services Bring to Integrated Management? (A. Pras and J-P. Martin-Flatin)
8. Internet Management Protocols (J. Schoenwaelder)
4. Networks
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. Management of Ad Hoc Networks (R. Badonnel, R. State and O. Festor)
3. Some Relevant Aspects of Network Analysis and Graph Theory (G.S. Canright and K. Engo-Monsen)
4. Knowledge Engineering Using Ontologies (J. Strassner)
5. Application Integration Using Semantic Web Services (J. Vrancken and K. Koymans)
5. Policy
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. Security Management and Policies (M. Bishop)
3. Policy-Based Management (A. Bandara, N. Damianou, E. Lupu, M. Sloman and N. Dulay)
6. Computation
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. On the Complexity of Change and Configuration Management (M. Burgess and L. Kristiansen)
3. Complexity of System Configuration Management (Y. Sun and A. Couch)
4. Predictable and Reliable Program Code: Virtual Machine-Based Projection Semantics (J.A. Bergstra and I. Bethke)
7. Models
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. System Administration and the Scientific Method (M. Burgess)
3. System Administration and the Business Process (M. Burgess)
4. System Reliability (T. Reitan)
8. Business
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. State-of-the-Art in Economic Management of Internet Services (B. Stiller and D. Hausheer)
3. Service Provisioning: Challenges, Process Alignment and Tool Support (M. Brenner, G. Dreo Rodosek, A. Hanemann, H-G. Hegering and R. Koenig)
4. IT Service Management (P.F.L. Scheffel and J. Strassner)
5. Decision and Control Factors for IT-Sourcing (G. Delen)
6. How Do ICT Professionals Perceive Outsourcing? (D. Hoogeveen)
9. Professional
1. Comment (J. Bergstra and M. Burgess)
2. Systems Administration as a Self-Organizing System: The Professionalization of SA via Interest and Advocacy Groups (S. Rose Chalup)
3. Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of Systems (S. Fagernes and K. Ribu)