System Administrator Course

Lesson 1 • Data Centre and Server Hardware

Covers physical server components, rack layout, and power and cooling fundamentals. Provides hardware literacy needed before installing or configuring any OS.

Lesson 2 • Virtualisation and Cloud Basics

Introduces hypervisors, virtual machines, containers, and public cloud service models. Sets context for modern infrastructure that blends on-premises and cloud resources.

Lesson 3 • Operating System Concepts

Explains kernel functions, process management, memory allocation, and file system hierarchy. Grounds students in OS theory before hands-on Linux and Windows work.

Lesson 4 • Networking Fundamentals for Admins

Introduces IP addressing, subnetting, VLANs, and switching concepts essential for server connectivity. Connects hardware knowledge to logical network design.

Lesson 1 • Systemd and Service Management

Explains systemd units, service states, targets, and journal logging. Students can control any system service and diagnose startup failures.

Lesson 2 • Linux Installation and Initial Setup

Walks through distribution selection, partitioning, and post-install hardening steps. Prepares students to deploy a production-ready Linux server from scratch.

Lesson 3 • Linux Storage and File Systems

Covers disk partitioning, LVM, common file systems, and mount management. Provides the storage skills needed for server provisioning and capacity planning.

Lesson 4 • Users, Groups, and Permissions

Covers user account lifecycle, group membership, and Linux permission models including ACLs. Directly enables secure multi-user server management.

Lesson 5 • Package Management and Software

Teaches RPM and DEB package ecosystems, repository management, and dependency resolution. Enables consistent software deployment across Linux environments.

Lesson 1 • Windows Server Installation and Roles

Covers edition selection, installation modes, and role-based feature deployment. Establishes the Windows Server foundation required for all subsequent sections.

Lesson 2 • Active Directory Domain Services

Teaches AD DS architecture, domain setup, and object management for users, groups, and computers. Central to enterprise identity and access management.

Lesson 3 • Windows Storage and File Services

Teaches SMB shares, NTFS permissions, DFS namespaces, and Storage Spaces. Enables students to design and manage enterprise file storage solutions.

Lesson 4 • Windows Networking Services

Covers DHCP, DNS, and basic routing roles within Windows Server. Provides the network service skills needed to support domain-joined environments.

Lesson 1 • VPN and Remote Access

Covers site-to-site and remote-access VPN technologies, tunnel configuration, and authentication methods. Enables secure connectivity for remote users and branch offices.

Lesson 2 • Network Monitoring and Diagnostics

Teaches packet capture, SNMP polling, flow analysis, and latency diagnostics. Provides the visibility skills needed to detect and resolve network issues quickly.

Lesson 3 • DHCP Design and Troubleshooting

Teaches scope design, lease management, failover, and relay agent configuration. Ensures reliable IP address assignment across segmented networks.

Lesson 4 • Firewall Configuration and Policy

Explains stateful firewall rules, zone-based policies, NAT, and logging. Connects network segmentation concepts to practical traffic control.

Lesson 1 • OS Hardening Techniques

Covers CIS benchmark application, unnecessary service removal, kernel parameter tuning, and audit logging. Directly reduces exploitable attack surface on production servers.

Lesson 2 • Role-Based Access Control

Explains RBAC principles, least-privilege design, sudo policy, and service account scoping. Limits blast radius of compromised credentials or misconfigured permissions.

Lesson 3 • Patch Management and Vulnerability Remediation

Covers patch lifecycle, vulnerability scanning, risk prioritization, and rollback planning. Ensures systems remain protected against known exploits without causing downtime.

Lesson 4 • Identity and Authentication Management

Teaches password policies, multi-factor authentication, SSH key management, and PAM configuration. Strengthens identity controls that protect all administrative access.

Lesson 1 • Bash Scripting Fundamentals

Covers variables, conditionals, loops, functions, and error handling in Bash. Enables automation of Linux administrative tasks through reusable shell scripts.

Lesson 2 • Version Control for Admin Scripts

Teaches Git workflows, branching, commit hygiene, and repository hosting for infrastructure code. Brings software engineering discipline to sysadmin automation work.

Lesson 3 • PowerShell for Windows Automation

Teaches cmdlets, pipelines, objects, modules, and remoting in PowerShell. Enables automated management of Windows Server, AD, and cloud resources.

Lesson 4 • Cron, Task Scheduling, and Triggers

Covers cron syntax, systemd timers, Windows Task Scheduler, and event-driven triggers. Ensures automated jobs run reliably and are monitored for failures.

Lesson 1 • Restore Procedures and Testing

Covers file-level, bare-metal, and database restores, plus scheduled restore testing. Validates that backups are usable before a real disaster occurs.

Lesson 2 • Backup Tools and Implementation

Teaches agent-based and agentless backup tools, snapshot integration, and cloud backup targets. Translates strategy into working backup jobs across Linux and Windows.

Lesson 3 • High Availability and Failover

Explains clustering, load balancing, replication, and automatic failover mechanisms. Extends backup concepts into continuous availability for critical services.

Lesson 4 • Backup Strategy and Design

Covers RTO, RPO, backup types, retention policies, and the 3-2-1 rule. Aligns backup design with business continuity requirements before any tool is configured.

Lesson 1 • Performance Tuning Techniques

Explains kernel parameter tuning, I/O scheduler selection, memory management, and application profiling. Translates metric analysis into measurable performance improvements.

Lesson 2 • Capacity Planning and Forecasting

Teaches trend analysis, growth modeling, resource forecasting, and infrastructure scaling decisions. Enables proactive procurement before performance degradation occurs.

Lesson 3 • Log Management and Analysis

Covers log aggregation, parsing, indexing, and search for operational troubleshooting. Complements metric monitoring with event-level visibility across the environment.

Lesson 4 • Monitoring Stack Deployment

Teaches agent deployment, metric collection, dashboarding, and alerting pipeline setup. Provides a working monitoring infrastructure for all managed servers.