IT Infrastructure I & II: Design and Practices

Text & Materials

Texts

Linux Administration: A Beginner's Guide, Sixth Edition by Wale Soyinka (Paperback - Sep 23, 2008)
ISBN: 0071767584 / 9780071767583

List: 39.99
Amazon.com: ~$25.00

Computer Networking Illuminated by Diane Barrett and Todd King (Paperback -2005)
ISBN: 13: 978-0-7637-2676-8
ISBN: 10: 0-7637-2676-8
List: 101.95
Amazon.com: 81.85

Link to book:

http://fhq.hcmute.edu.vn/staffs/quang/resources/Computer_Networking_Illuminated.pdf

Raspbery Pi User Guide by Eben Upton and Gareth Halfacree

ISBN:978-1-118-46446-5

Materials

Raspberry Pi

The labs will have some assignments based on the Raspberry Pi

Required:

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
• Earlier Pi's should be OK, but will be much slower
• 1 amp power module (usb to micro usb)
  • Above may be either a complete wired module or a 1 amp USB charger with a USB to micro cable
• SD memory cards for OS images
  • (1) 8GB module (or larger)
  • (1) 32GB module (or larger)
  • optional: extra SD cards to keep other images
  • Notes:
  • The Pi 2 and 3 use micro SD cards.  The original Pi uses a full size SD.  Make sure if you get a micro SD it has an adaptor
• HDMI - DVI cable 3-6 feet
• Inexpensive one can be got at Amazon.com or Monoprice.com
• ~$5
• WiFi
• Not needed for Pi 3
• USB-SD adaptor
• Not needed if your computer has an SD slot

Optional:

• Case (highly recommended)
• Powered USB hub
• WiFi
• SD card adapter

There will be a limited number of USB hubs and WiFi dongles available for lab use.  It is advised to get your own.

If your laptop or pc has a SD reader you are set, otherwise you may want your own.  There will be a limited number available in the lab.

Sources:

• Newark Electronics

• Adafruit.com

• Amazon.com

• newegg.com

USB Storage Device

A USB Flash Drive 32GB or larger (a.k.a. thumb drive) or a USB hard drive of 40GB is required.  Labs will consist of creating and using several VM images, each consisting of about 4GB-8GB of data.   There will be storage space available on the class network, but accessing and updating the large files is slow.   The uploading and downloading of  the VMs via network can take 10-20 minutes or more.  Saving the images on a USB drive will take 2-3 minutes.  Watch for sales at Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Max, etc.  A good sized USB hard drive (500GB or larger) can be found periodically on sale for well under $100.  If you choose a hard drive look for a drive which does not require an external power supply (USB powered).

Notes:

• Get a USB 3.0 drive for your VMs. It will copy 10x faster for your image transfers.
• Watch out for thumb drives offered on eBay, students in the past have had mixed success with their quality
  • Get a name brand!
• For ease of use, the drive must be FAT32, most USB Hard Drives are NTFS
• NTFS sometimes have compatibility problems
• FAT32 has size restrictions
• Will need to repartition drive to set up a FAT32 partition about 30 GB
• Note: the lab may support NTFS drives this Fall depending on new HW installed

The following table has links to the USB portable drive section for several of the stores in the area that sell USB hard drives.  I don't recommend any particular source.  Look for a relatively well known brand name with a reasonable warranty.  Avoid "bargains" from e-Bay, some of the items are of sub-standard quality. There are plenty of other stores, in the area and nation wide; consider this a starting place to start looking.