Server Admin Concepts

Question 1

What are examples of a Microsoft and Linux workstation?

Answer 1

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (RHEL 8)
Microsoft Windows Server 2019

Question 2

What are the 4 major server subsystems?

Answer 2

Processors, Memory (RAM), Storage, and network.

Question 3

What is a servers lifecycle?

Answer 3

Procurement, usage, EOL, and disposal & recycling.

Question 4

What is a software license?

Answer 4

A legal contract that governs the distribution and use of software.
Typically define how many installations of the software are allowed or how many concurrent users are allowed to use the software.

Question 5

What are the 2 different licensing structures software is governed by?

Answer 5

Proprietary- protects the source code of the software from modification or redistribution. Not normally free to use or modify. More likely to have reliable vendor support and documentation. May be subscription or volume based.

FOSS (free and open source software)- A licensing model where users are free to use, modify, and re-release. Not guaranteed to have reliable vendor support or reliable documentation.
While FOSS does not require a formal license, many vendors utilize a subscription service to maintain the OS or software. Red Hat, for example, has a subscription service associated with RHEL8.

Question 6

What are some common license types?

Answer 6

User- based:
per seat- one license per user
Per concurrent user- The amount of licenses owned is the amount of users that can use the software simultaneously. (ex If your organization has ten of these licenses, and there are twenty copies of the software installed, then only ten users may use the software simultaneously.)
subscription- a license that permits the use of software hosted in the cloud. Subscription licenses are billed yearly or monthly.

Hardware based:
per server- one license per server
per socket- licenses allocated to each processor socket that is enabled on the server’s motherboard.
per core- licenses allocated to each processor core that is enabled on the CPU

Environment based:
site based-licenses that permit the installation of software within a specified site, building, or organization.
Node locked- tied to specific hardware (ex licenses stored on a single node or on a USB)
Physical vs Virtual-not all licenses apply the same way between physical installations on a server and installations that are done on VMs.

Question 7

What is license count validation?

Answer 7

The ability to demonstrate that the number of installations or the number of users matches the license specifications.

As a systems administrator, you must understand the license requirements for OSs and software to ensure that your organization remains compliant.

Question 8

What is version compatibility for licenses?

Answer 8

Licenses may permit users to use a specified software version and any version previous to that one are backwards compatible.

Licenses that permit the use of the current software version and one or more future releases of the software are forwards compatible.