Starting in fall of 2014, the undergraduate Specialization in System Administration will see a significant change. The existing curriculum features two six-credit-hour courses, ITMO 451 and ITMO 452. ITMO 451 is essentially a Windows system administrator course, while ITMO 452 has been a UNIX sysadmin course taught using Solaris UNIX. As of fall, ITMO 456, Introduction to Open Source Operating Systems, will replace the existing ITM 302 Hardware and Operating Systems II requirement for all students and will form the foundation of the System Administration specialization, which will add three new three-credit-hour system administration courses (a similar change will be reflected in the Graduate specialization as well.) The revised undergraduate specialization will then look like this:

System Administration
Focuses on the administration and management of servers.
   ITMO 441 Network Applications and Operations
AND select two courses from the following:
   ITMO 450 Enterprise End-User System Administration
   ITMO 451 Enterprise Server Administration
   ITMO 453 Open Source Server Administration
AND select two courses from the following:
   ITMO 417 Shell Scripting for System Administrators
   ITMO 444 Cloud Computing Technologies
   ITMO 454 Operating System Virtualization
   ITMS 458 Operating System Security

The new courses in the specialization are:
ITMO 450 Enterprise End-User System Administration
Students learn to set up, configure, and maintain end-user desktop and portable computers and devices in an enterprise environment using a contemporary proprietary operating system, including the actual installation of the operating system in a networked client-server environment. User account management, security, printing, disk configuration, and backup procedures are addressed, with particular attention to coverage of networked applications. System installation, configuration and administration issues as well as network file systems, network access and compatibility with other operating systems are also addressed. Administration of central server resources associated with management and provisioning of end-user systems in workgroups, domains or forests is also addressed. Prerequisite(s): [(ITM 301)] (2-2-3)
(This is a Windows desktop/notebook/tablet system admin course with server functions specifically supporting these end-user systems included.)

ITMO 451 Enterprise Server Administration
Students learn to set up and maintain and administer X86-based servers and associated networks using a contemporary industry-standard proprietary operating system. Topics include hardware requirements; software compatibility; system installation, configuration and options and post-installation topics; administrative and technical practices required for system security; process management; performance monitoring and tuning; storage management; back-up and restoration of data; and disaster recovery and prevention. Also addressed is configuration and administration of common network and server services such as DNS, DHCP, remote access, email, basic virtualization, web and web services, and more. Prerequisite(s): [(ITM 301) and (ITMO 440)] (2-2-3)
(This is a Windows server system administration course covering all server functions except domains. Note that ITMO 450 and 451 do not have to be taken sequentially or together.)

ITMO 453 Open Source Server Administration
Students learn to set up, configure, and administer an industry-standard open source server operating system, including integration with client systems using a variety of operating systems in a mixed environment. Topics include hardware requirements; software compatibility; administrative and technical practices required for system security; process management; performance monitoring and tuning; storage management; back-up and restoration of data; and disaster recovery and prevention. Also addressed are configuration and administration of common network and server services such as DNS, DHCP, firewall, proxy, remote access, file and printer sharing, email, web and web services, and more, as well as support issues for open source software. Prerequisite(s): [(ITMO 456) and (ITMO 440)] (2-2-3)
(This is a Linux system administrator course that will be taught to the Linux Professional Institute LPIC-2 standard, with elements of the LPIC-3 Exam 300 Mixed Environments also included)

In addition, there is a new course description for
ITMO 456 Introduction to Open Source Operating Systems
Students learn to set up and configure an industry-standard open source operating system, including system installation and basic system administration; system architecture; package management; command–line commands; devices, filesystems, and the filesystem hierarchy standard. Also addressed are applications, shells, scripting and data management; user interfaces and desktops; administrative tasks; essential system services; networking fundamentals; and security, as well as support issues for open source software. Multiple distributions are covered with emphasis on the two leading major distribution forks. (2-2-3)