Analytical Network and System Administration: Managing Human-Computer Networks / Edition 1

Analytical Network and System Administration: Managing Human-Computer Networks / Edition 1

by Mark Burgess
ISBN-10:
0470861002
ISBN-13:
9780470861004
Pub. Date:
04/23/2004
Publisher:
Wiley
ISBN-10:
0470861002
ISBN-13:
9780470861004
Pub. Date:
04/23/2004
Publisher:
Wiley
Analytical Network and System Administration: Managing Human-Computer Networks / Edition 1

Analytical Network and System Administration: Managing Human-Computer Networks / Edition 1

by Mark Burgess
$139.95 Current price is , Original price is $139.95. You
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Overview

Network and system administration usually refers to the skill of keeping computers and networks running properly.  But in truth, the skill needed is that of managing complexity.  This book describes the science behind these complex systems, independent of the actual operating systems they work on. 

It provides a theoretical approach to systems administration that:

  • saves time in performing common system administration tasks.
  • allows safe utilization of untrained and trained help in maintaining mission-critical systems.
  • allows efficient and safe centralized network administration.

Managing Human-Computer Networks:

  • Will show how to make informed analyses and decisions about systems, how to diagnose faults and weaknesses
  • Gives advice/guidance as to how to determine optimal policies for system management
  • Includes exercises that illustrate the key points of the book

The book provides a unique approach to an old problem and will become a classic for researchers and graduate students in Networking and Computer Science, as well as practicing system managers and system administrators.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780470861004
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: 04/23/2004
Pages: 384
Product dimensions: 6.61(w) x 9.61(h) x 1.06(d)

About the Author

Mark Burgess is an Associate Professor at University College in Oslo, Norway,

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Preface xiv

1 Introduction 1

1.1 What is system administration? 1

1.2 What is a system? 2

1.3 What is administration? 2

1.4 Studying systems 3

1.5 What’s in a theory? 6

1.6 How to use the text 10

1.7 Some notation used 10

2 Science and its methods 13

2.1 The aim of science 13

2.2 Causality, superposition and dependency 16

2.3 Controversies and philosophies of science 17

2.4 Technology 20

2.5 Hypotheses 20

2.6 The science of technology 21

2.7 Evaluating a system—dependencies 22

2.8 Abuses of science 22

3 Experiment and observation 25

3.1 Data plots and time series 26

3.2 Constancy of environment during measurement 27

3.3 Experimental design 28

3.4 Stochastic (random) variables 29

3.5 Actual values or characteristic values 30

3.6 Observational errors 30

3.7 The mean and standard deviation 31

3.8 Probability distributions and measurement 32

3.8.1 Scatter and jitter 35

3.8.2 The ‘normal’ distribution 35

3.8.3 Standard error of the mean 36

3.8.4 Other distributions 37

3.9 Uncertainty in general formulae 38

3.10 Fourier analysis and periodic behaviour 39

3.11 Local averaging procedures 41

3.12 Reminder 43

4 Simple systems 45

4.1 The concept of a system 45

4.2 Data structures and processes 46

4.3 Representation of variables 47

4.4 The simplest dynamical systems 48

4.5 More complex systems 49

4.6 Freedoms and constraints 50

4.7 Symmetries 51

4.8 Algorithms, protocols and standard ‘methods’ 52

4.9 Currencies and value systems 53

4.9.1 Energy and power 53

4.9.2 Money 54

4.9.3 Social currency and the notion of responsibility 54

4.10 Open and closed systems: the environment 56

4.11 Reliable and unreliable systems 58

5 Sets, states and logic 59

5.1 Sets 59

5.2 A system as a set of sets 61

5.3 Addresses and mappings 61

5.4 Chains and states 62

5.5 Configurations and macrostates 64

5.6 Continuum approximation 65

5.7 Theory of computation and machine language 65

5.7.1 Automata or State Machines 66

5.7.2 Operators and operands 68

5.7.3 Pattern matching and operational grammars 69

5.7.4 Pathway analysis and distributed algorithms 70

5.8 A policy-defined state 71

6 Diagrammatical representations 73

6.1 Diagrams as systems 73

6.2 The concept of a graph 74

6.3 Connectivity 77

6.4 Centrality: maxima and minima in graphs 77

6.5 Ranking in directed graphs 80

6.6 Applied diagrammatical methods 84

7 System variables 91

7.1 Information systems 91

7.2 Addresses, labels, keys and other resource locators 92

7.3 Continuous relationships 94

7.4 Digital comparison 94

8 Change in systems 97

8.1 Renditions of change 97

8.2 Determinism and predictability 98

8.3 Oscillations and fluctuations 99

8.4 Rate of change 102

8.5 Applications of the continuum approximation 103

8.6 Uncertainty in the continuum approximation 105

9 Information 109

9.1 What is information? 109

9.2 Transmission 110

9.3 Informationandcontrol 111

9.4 Classification and resolution 111

9.5 Statistical uncertainty and entropy 114

9.6 Propertiesoftheentropy 118

9.7 Uncertainty in communication 119

9.8 A geometrical interpretation of information 123

9.9 Compressibility and size of information 127

9.10 Information and state 128

9.11 Maximum entropy principle 129

9.12 Fluctuation spectra. 133

10 Stability 135

10.1 Basic notions 135

10.2 Types of stability 135

10.3 Constancy 136

10.4 Convergence of behaviour 137

10.5 Maxima and minima 138

10.6 Regions of stability in a graph 139

10.7 Graph stability under random node removal 141

10.8 Dynamical equilibria: compromise 142

10.9 Statistical stability 143

10.10 Scaling stability 145

10.11 Maximum entropy distributions 148

10.12 Eigenstates 148

10.13 Fixed points of maps 151

10.14 Metastable alternatives and adaptability 155

10.15 Final remarks 156

11 Resource networks 159

11.1 What is a system resource? 159

11.2 Representation of resources 160

11.3 Resource currency relationships 161

11.4 Resource allocation, consumption and conservation 162

11.5 Where to attach resources? 163

11.6 Access to resources 165

11.7 Methods of resource allocation 167

11.7.1 Logical regions of systems 167

11.7.2 Using centrality to identify resource bottlenecks 168

11.8 Directed resources: flow asymmetries 170

12 Task management and services 173

12.1 Task list scheduling 173

12.2 Deterministic and non-deterministic schedules 174

12.3 Human–computer scheduling 176

12.4 Service provision and policy 176

12.5 Queue processing 177

12.6 Models 178

12.7 The prototype queue M/M/ 1 179

12.8 Queue relationships or basic ‘laws’ 181

12.9 Expediting tasks with multiple servers M/M/k 186

12.10 Maximum entropy input events in periodic systems 188

12.11 Miscellaneous issues in scheduling 189

13 System architectures 191

13.1 Policy for organization 191

13.2 Informative and procedural flows 192

13.3 Structured systems and ad hoc systems 193

13.4 Dependence policy 193

13.5 System design strategy 195

13.6 Event-driven systems and functional systems 200

13.7 The organization of human resources 201

13.8 Principle of minimal dependency 202

13.9 Decision-making within a system 202

13.9.1 Layered systems: Managers and workers 202

13.9.2 Efficiency 203

13.10 Prediction, verification and their limitations 204

13.11 Graphical methods 205

14 System normalization 207

14.1 Dependency 207

14.2 The database model 209

14.3 Normalized forms 210

15 System integrity 215

15.1 System administration as communication? 215

15.2 Extensive or strategic instruction 219

15.3 Stochastic semi-groups and martingales 223

15.4 Characterizing probable or average error 224

15.5 Correcting errors of propagation 226

15.6 Gaussian continuum approximation formula 228

16 Policy and maintenance 231

16.1 What is maintenance? 231

16.2 Average changes in configuration 231

16.3 The reason for random fluctuations 234

16.4 Huge fluctuations 235

16.5 Equivalent configurations and policy 236

16.6 Policy 237

16.7 Convergent maintenance 237

16.8 The maintenance theorem 240

16.9 Theory of back-up and error correction 241

17 Knowledge, learning and training 249

17.1 Information and knowledge 250

17.2 Knowledgeasclassification 250

17.3 Bayes’ theorem 252

17.4 Belief versus truth 254

17.5 Decisions based on expert knowledge 255

17.6 Knowledge out of date 259

17.7 Convergence of the learning process 260

18 Policy transgressions and fault modelling 263

18.1 Faults and failures 263

18.2 Deterministic system approximation 265

18.3 Stochasticsystemmodels 269

18.4 Approximate information flow reliability 273

18.5 Fault correction by monitoring and instruction 275

18.6 Policy maintenance architectures 279

18.7 Diagnostic cause trees 286

18.8 Probabilistic fault trees 290

18.8.1 Faults 290

18.8.2 Conditions and set logic 291

18.8.3 Construction 293

19 Decision and strategy 295

19.1 Causal analysis 295

19.2 Decision-making 296

19.3 Game theory 297

19.4 The strategic form of a game 301

19.5 The extensive form of a game 302

19.6 Solving zero-sum games 303

19.7 Dominated strategies 304

19.8 Nash equilibria 305

19.9 A security game 309

19.9.1 Zero-sum approximation 310

19.9.2 Non-zero sum approximation 313

19.10 The garbage collection game 315

19.11 A social engineering game 321

19.12 Human elements of policy decision 328

19.13 Coda: extensive versus strategic configuration management 328

20 Conclusions 331

A Some Boolean formulae 335

A.1 Conditional probability 335

A.2 Boolean algebra and logic 336

B Statistical and scaling properties of time-series data 339

B. 1 Local averaging procedure 339

B. 2 Scaling and self-similarity 343

B. 3 Scaling of continuous functions 344

C Percolation conditions 347

C. 1 Random graph condition 347

C. 2 Bi-partite form 350

C. 3 Small-graph corrections 351

Bibliography 353

Index 359

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