SCALE University Returns for SCALE 8X

he SCaLE University training program continues for SCALE 8X. It is presented by the League of Professional System Administrators (LOPSA) in partnership with SCALE. The classes give a more intense and personal learning experience than a 45-minute seminar.

We are offering four half-day classes for system administrators of all skill and experience levels. The SCaLE University Pass includes a full day of training (two classes of your choice) and full access to all three days of SCaLE. To register, select the "SCALE 8X Full Access Pass" and then the "SCALE University Pass" which will include a $60 discount on your total charge. The SCALE University classes will be held on Friday, February 19th. 2010.

Morning Classes

9:00 - 12:30

An Introduction to BackupPC: A Linux/Unix solution for cross platform Disk to Disk backups

Instructor: Chris "Ski" Kacoroski

BackupPC (http://backuppc.sourceforge.net) is a free, enterprise-grade backup software suite with a web-based frontend for backing up Linux, Unix, Windows, and Mac OSX computers. No client is necessary, as the server is itself a client for several protocols that are handled by other services native to the client OS. BackupPC is highly configurable and easy to install and maintain.

Topics Include:

Background, history, strengths, weaknesses of BackupPC
Configuration
Home, Small Business, and Enterprise Scenarios
Scaling to several thousand machines
Performance and Troubleshooting Tips

Who should attend: System administrators who are interested in Disk to Disk backups for their servers or workstations. No prior experience with BackupPC is required, but a basic knowledge of Unix shell commands is helpful.

Take back to work: The strengths and weaknesses of BackupPC, capacity planning, configuration for various client machines, and how to design a BackupPC installation that will scale from a few up to several thousand machines.

Advanced Security: A self-assessment study

Instructor: David Parter

This class takes an unconventional approach to advanced security for system administrators. The approach is based on the idea that we can usually figure out how to secure something once we know what needs securing, but the difficulty is usually in enumerating the things that require security.

In this class, you will learn how to perform a comprehensive evaluation of your workplace security. This encompasses any organizational policies, applicable government regulations effecting system administration, network topology, personnel involved, systems, and other areas requiring evaluation to understand the full spectrum of security issues at a particular workplace.

The goal is for you to take home a detailed list of questions to answer and risks to evaluate, as well as the tools to answer those questions, evaluate those risks, and propose solutions to meet the security needs of your organization.

Afternoon classes

1:30 - 5:00

Introduction to LDAP: Provisioning, Managing, and Integrating

Instructor: Chris St. Pierre

This introductory class will give you the tools you need to competently deploy and manage an enterprise-class LDAP service. We will use extensive demos to cover the structure and vocabulary of the hierarchical LDAP database; standards and best practices for provisioning and integration; migration from other authentication systems, including NIS; integration with the Linux name service switch; and integration with several popular open source applications, including Apache, Samba, and Postfix.

Particular emphasis is given to understanding the concepts underlying LDAP, and translating those concepts into effective integration with client-facing network services.

Disaster Recovery: Will you survive?

Instructor: David Parter

Every IT operation eventually faces a disaster on some scale. Despite most disaster based damage being avoidable, the result is usually catastrophic in some way or another. In this class you will learn how to mitigate risk of disaster through a variety of methods.

This class covers Disaster Recovery (DR) as a discipline and the low level mechanics of evaluating risks and developing mitigation or reactive disaster plans. All system administrators, regardless of the size or scope of their operation, will benefit from a more in depth understanding of DR taught in this class.

The goal is to provide skills and knowledge that allows immediate changes to the disaster readiness of your own operations back at the office.

About The Instructors

Chris St. Pierre

Chris St. Pierre is the system administrator at Nebraska Wesleyan University, a small but growing liberal arts university. In his five years there, he has lead a charge to document and modernize the computing infrastructure. He has considerable experience and interest in issues of scalability, business continuity, and automation, and enjoys fighting spam in his spare time.

David Parter

David Parter has been a system administrator at the University of Wisconsin Computer Science Department since 1991, and is currently the Interim Director of the Computer Systems Lab. At the Lab he has worked as a manager; been involved in campus committees; and collaborated with other groups on campus. Areas of responsibility and experience include policy development, security, network administration, liaison with the research projects, and a technical leadership role for the lab staff overall.