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LISA 2000: 14th Systems Administration Conference, 
New Orleans, December 3-8, 2000
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Tutorials: Overview | By Day (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) | By Instructor | All in One File

Sunday, December 3, 2000    
Full-Day Tutorials
S1 Blueprints for High Availability: Designing Resilient Distributed Systems
Evan Marcus, VERITAS Software Corporation

S2 Advanced Topics in EDNS and BIND9 NEW
Paul Vixie, Internet Software Consortium

S3 Topics for System Administrators, 1 NEW
Evi Nemeth, University of Colorado; Ned McClain, XOR Network Engineering; Tor Mohling, University of Colorado; and Adam Boggs, Sun Microsystems

S4 Hacking Exposed: LIVE! NEW
George Kurtz and Stuart McClure, Foundstone, Inc.

S5 Configuring and Administering Samba Servers
Gerald Carter, VA Linux Systems

S6 Network Administration
Bryan C. Andregg, Red Hat, Inc.

S7 Windows NT/2000 Performance Monitoring, Troubleshooting, and Crash Dump Analysis NEW
Jamie Hanrahan, Azius Developer Training

S8 Network Security Profiles: A Collection (Hodgepodge) of Stuff Hackers Know About You
Brad Johnson, SystemExperts Corporation

Half-Day Tutorials - Morning
S9 Storage Area Networking NEW
Dan Pollack, AOL Inc

S10 Perl for System Administrators NEW
David Blank-Edelman, Northeastern University College

S11 Legal Issues for System Administrators
Daniel Appelman, Heller, Ehrman, White, and McAuliffe

S12 Professional Conduct and Computer Ethics
Lee Damon, QUALCOMM, Inc.

Half-Day Tutorials - Afternoon
S13 Linux: From Pieces to Prompt NEW
Ed DeHart, Prism Servers, Inc.

S14 Perl Saves the Day: Writing Small Perl Programs to Get Out of Big SysAdmin Pinches NEW
David Blank-Edelman, Northeastern University College

S15 Privacy and the System Administrator NEW
Daniel Appelman, Heller, Ehrman, White, and McAuliffe

S16 Documentation Techniques for SysAdmins NEW
Mike Ciavarella, Cybersource Pty Ltd


S1 Blueprints for High Availability: Designing Resilient Distributed Systems
Evan Marcus, VERITAS Software Corporation

Who should attend: Beginning and intermediate UNIX system and network administrators, and UNIX developers concerned with building applications that can be deployed and managed in a highly resilient manner. A basic understanding of UNIX system programming, UNIX shell programming, and network environments is required.

This course will explore procedures and techniques for designing, building, and managing predictable, resilient UNIX-based systems in a distributed environment. Hardware redundancy, system redundancy, monitoring and verification techniques, network implications, and system and application programming issues will all be addressed. We will discuss the trade-offs among cost, reliability, and complexity.

Topics include:

  • What is high availability? Who needs it?
  • Defining uptime and cost; "big rules" of system design
  • Disk and data redundancy; RAID and SCSI arrays
  • Host redundancy in HA configurations
  • Network dependencies
  • Application system programming concerns
  • Anatomy of failovers: applications, systems, management tools
  • Planning disaster recovery sites and data updates
  • Security implications
  • Upgrade and patch strategies
  • Backup systems: off-site storage, redundancy, and disaster recovery
  • Managing the system: managers, processes, verification

Evan Marcus (S1) marcus_evan_l is a senior systems engineer and high availability specialist with VERITAS Software Corporation. Evan has more than 12 years of experience in UNIX systems administration. While employed at Fusion Systems and OpenVision Software, Evan worked to bring the first high availability software application for SunOS and Solaris to market. Evan is the author of several articles and talks on the design of high availability systems.




S2 Advanced Topics in EDNS and BIND9 NEW
Paul Vixie, Internet Software Consortium

Who should attend: Name-server administrators and software developers who need a deeper understanding of the DNS protocol and of the internals of BIND. Participants should already be responsible for the operation of at least one campus or ISP name-server farm, should be familiar with Internet protocols such as TCP and UDP, and should know the basic theories of public- and private-key encryption.

This tutorial will explain how EDNS, DNSSEC, etc., differ from classic DNS, and how BIND9 differs from classic BIND4/BIND8.

Topics include:

  • Incremental zone transfer
  • Real-time change notification
  • Dynamic updating
  • Current status of BIND and ISC
  • Using TSIG for queries and updates
  • An overview of DNS security
  • The politics of DNS
  • BIND Version 9

Upon completion of the course, attendees will know what the IETF has been up to lately, and what to expect in upcoming BIND releases. This tutorial will not be a rehash of prior material--new subjects will be covered.

Paul Vixie (S2) vixie_paul was the maintainer of the BIND software system through version 8. BIND, the Berkeley Internet Name Domain, includes the name server ("named") used everywhere on the Internet. Paul is also a coauthor of Sendmail: Theory and Practice (Digital Press, 1995).





S3 Topics for System Administrators, 1 NEW
Evi Nemeth, University of Colorado;
Ned McClain, XOR Network Engineering;
Tor Mohling, University of Colorado; and Adam Boggs, Sun Microsystems

Who should attend: This class will cover a range of timely and interesting UNIX system administration topics. It is intended for system and network administrators who are interested in picking up several new technologies in an accelerated manner. The format consists of five topics spread throughout the day.

Topics in file systems: This section will cover features of modern file systems and how they affect the life of a system administrator. We will survey existing file systems, ending with a brief discussion of the future of file systems and storage.

Machine room design: With the ever-increasing popularity of the Web as well as the general necessity for reliable data-access, more and more sites are requiring 24x7 server availability. We will look at the transition from small machine room to (large) data center, and what you can do to make it easier to manage cables, power, A/C, and so on.

What's new in BIND9? BINDv9 includes a long laundry list of features needed for modern architectures, huge zones, machines serving a zillion zones, co-existence with PCs, security, and IPv6--specifically, dynamic update, incremental zone transfers, DNS security via DNSSEC and TSIG, A6, and DNAME records.

Security topics: We will cover a hodgepodge of topics relating to host- and network-based security, including:

  • CFS, the crypto file system
  • TCFS, CFS's new, faster cousin
  • ipfilter: firewalling on a UNIX host
  • nmap, security auditing tool or (depending on your perspective) security hacking tool

Wireless networking: A brief look at local area networking via wireless bridges. We look at installation, compatibility, range, price, and throughput.

Evi Nemeth nemeth_evi (S3, T3), a faculty member in computer sci ence at the University of Colorado, has managed UNIX systems for the past 20 years, both from the front lines and from the ivory tower. She is co-author of the UNIX System Administration Handbook.




Ned McClain mcclain_ned (S3, T3) is a lead engineer at XOR Network Engineering. He is currently helping with the 3rd edition of the UNIX System Administration Handbook (by Nemeth, Snyder, and Hein). He has a degree in computer science from Cornell University and has done research with both the CS and Engineering Physics departments at Cornell.





S4 Hacking Exposed: LIVE! NEW
George Kurtz and Stuart McClure, Foundstone, Inc.

Who should attend: Network and system administrators, security administrators, and technical auditors who want to secure their UNIX/NT—based networks.

Is your UNIX/NT—based network infrastructure up to meeting the challenge of malicious marauders? In this tutorial we'll present the methodologies used by today's hackers to gain access to your networks and critical data. We'll demonstrate a typical attack exploiting both well-known and little-known NT-based vulnerabilities. We'll show how NT attackers can leverage UNIX vulnerabilities to circumvent traditional security mechanisms. And, during the attack, we'll identify opportunities to better secure the host and networks against more esoteric attacks. All examples will be demonstrated on a live network.

Topics include:

  • Footprinting your e-commerce site
    • Port scanning
    • Banner grabbing
  • Exploiting common configuration and design weaknesses in NT networks
    • Enumerating user and system information from NT 4 and Windows 2000 hosts
    • Exploiting Web services
    • Logging on to NT using only the password hash
    • Routing through IPX and NetBEUI networks
    • Grabbing remote shells on NT
    • Hijacking the GUI
    • Hidden trojans: executing streamed files
  • Bypassing routers and firewall filtering
    • Using source ports
    • Leveraging port redirection
    • 101 uses for Netcat
  • Linking NT and UNIX vulnerabilities for maximum exploitation
  • Securing NT systems

George Kurtz (S4) kurtz_george has performed hundreds of firewall, network, and e-commerce­related security assessments throughout his security consulting career. He is a regular speaker at many security conferences and is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, InfoWorld, USA Today, and the Associated Press and is a co-author of the widely acclaimed Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions.



Stuart McClure (S4), president and CTO of Foundstone, has over ten years of IT and security experience. He specializes in security assessments, firewall reviews, e-commerce application testing, hosts reviews, PKI technologies, intrusion detection, and incident response. For the past two years, Stuart has co-authored a weekly column on security for InfoWorld magazine. For the past four years, he has worked both with Big 5 security consulting and the InfoWorld Test Center, where he tested dozens of network and security hardware and software products. Before InfoWorld, Mr. McClure spent over seven years managing and securing networks and systems, including Cisco, Shiva, Novell, Solaris, AIX, AS/400, Window NT, and Linux, in corporate, academic, and government environments.


S5 Configuring and Administering Samba Servers NEW
Gerald Carter, VA Linux Systems

Who should attend: System and network administrators who wish to integrate Samba running on a UNIX-based machine with Microsoft Windows clients. No familiarity with Windows networking concepts will be assumed.

Samba is a freely available suite of programs that allows UNIX-based machines to provide file and print services to Microsoft Windows PCs without installing any third-party software on the clients. This allows users to access necessary resources from both PCs and UNIX workstations. As Samba makes its way into more and more network shops all over the world, it is common to see "configuring Samba servers" listed as a desired skill on many job descriptions for network administrators.

This tutorial will use real-world examples taken from daily administrative tasks.

Topics include:

  • Installing Samba from the ground up
  • The basic Microsoft networking protocols and concepts, such as NetBIOS, CIFS, and Windows NT domains (including Windows 2000)
  • Configuring a UNIX box to provide remote access to local files and printers from Microsoft Windows clients
  • Utilizing client tools to access files on Windows servers from a UNIX host
  • Configuring Samba as a member of a Windows NT domain in order to utilize the domain's PDC for user authentication
  • Using Samba as a domain controller
  • Configuring Samba to participate in network browsing
  • Automating daily management tasks

Gerald Carter carter_gerald (S5, M9) has been a member of the Samba Team since 1998 and is employed by VA Linux Systems. He is currently working with O'Reilly Publishing on a guide to LDAP for system administrators. He holds a master's degree in computer science from Auburn University, where he was also previously employed as a network and systems administrator. Gerald has published articles with various Web-based magazines such as Linuxworld and has authored instructional course for companies such as Linuxcare. He acted as the lead author of Teach Yourself Samba in 24 Hours (Sams Publishing.)


S6 Network Administration NEW
Bryan C. Andregg, Red Hat, Inc.

Who should attend: This tutorial is directed at system administrators who are implementing network services and are looking for a background in the configuration of those services, and for the basics of the protocols and performance tuning. Attendees should have used or been the client of an IP network and have a basic knowledge of systems administration, but do not need to be experienced network administrators. Both new network administrators and gurus will leave the tutorial having learned something.

System administrators are increasingly being tasked with bringing their office environments on-line, with the meaning of "on-line" ranging from a stand-alone client attached to the Internet to a distributed network of Web servers. The prospect of the network services to be configured can be daunting to administrators who aren't familiar with the applications. Configuration examples, discussed with brief overviews of the underlying protocols, can be taken away for direct application at home.

Topics include (with a special emphasis on security):

  • Networking overview
  • Client networking
  • Serving networked clients
  • Network services, including SSH, FTP, HTTP, SMTP, NFS, and DHCP
  • Network troubleshooting
  • Neat network tricks
  • Up-and-coming topics: VPN, IPv6

Attendees should leave the course feeling confident in their ability to set up and maintain secure network services. The tutorial will be conducted in an open manner that encourages questions at all times.

Bryan C. Andregg andregg_bryan (S6, M6) works for Red Hat, Inc. In the past three years Bryan has worked in or with almost every position at the company, sometimes to a good end. His current projects include Coffee Making 101 and Linux for Land Rovers. Prior to Red Hat, Bryan was the systems and network administrator for an ISP. His current title is "Smoke Jumper."




S7 Windows NT/2000 Performance Monitoring, Troubleshooting, and Crash Dump Analysis NEW
Jamie Hanrahan, Azius Developer Training

Who should attend: Windows NT/2000 administrators and users who want to keep their systems up and running at peak efficiency.

Why isn't my application performing as it should? Why does the file server hang after it's been up for a while? Why does this machine keep crashing? This tutorial presents various Windows NT/2000 system monitoring tools and methods from the point of view of application developers, system administrators, or IT support personnel with problems to solve. We'll review the relevant principles of the operating system and then present a number of system-failure and performance-problem scenarios, each carefully designed to illustrate the value and use of a particular analysis technique. Yes, crash dump analysis is included, but it's by no means our only focus.

Topics include:

  • Review of key principles of WinNT/Win2K operating system internals
  • Types of application-oriented problems
  • Analyzing performance bottlenecks
  • Detecting and analyzing "leaks" (memory, handles, threads, etc.)
  • Types of system failures
  • Analyzing crash dumps and system "hangs"
  • Setting up the kernel debugger and WinDbg
  • Typical and not-so-typical bugcheck codes

Jamie Hanrahan (S7) hanrahan_jamie provides Windows NT driver development, consulting, and training services to leading companies. He is co-writing a book on Windows NT device drivers, to be published by O'Reilly and Associates. He also has an extensive background in VMS device drivers and internals. He is co-author of VMS Advanced Driver Techniques and received the Instructor of the Year award while teaching VMS device drivers and internals courses for Digital.



S8 Network Security Profiles: A Collection (Hodgepodge) of Stuff Hackers Know About You
Brad Johnson, SystemExperts Corporation

Who should attend: Network, system, and firewall administrators; security auditors and those who are audited; people involved with responding to intrusions or responsible for network-based applications or systems that might be targets for crackers (determined intruders). Participants should understand the basics of TCP/IP networking. Examples will use actual tools and will also include small amounts of HTML, JavaScript, and Tcl.

Network-based host intrusions, whether they come from the Internet, an extranet, or an intranet, typically follow a common methodology: reconnaissance, vulnerability research, and exploitation. This tutorial will review the tools and techniques crackers use to perform these activities. You will learn what types of protocols and tools they use, and you will become familiar with a number of current methods and exploits. The course will show how you can generate vulnerability profiles of your own systems. Additionally, it will review some of the important management policies and issues related to these network-based probes.

The course will focus primarily on tools that exploit many of the common TCP/IP— based protocols, such as WWW, SSL, DNS, ICMP, and SNMP, which underlie virtually all Internet applications, including Web technologies, network management, and remote file systems. Some topics will be addressed at a detailed technical level. This course will concentrate on examples drawn from public-domain tools that are widely available and commonly used by crackers.

Topics include:

  • Profiles: what can an intruder determine about your site remotely?
  • Review of profiling methodologies: different "viewpoints" generate different types of profiling information
  • Techniques: scanning, on-line research, TCP/IP protocol "mis"uses, denial of service, cracking clubs
  • Important intrusion areas: discovery techniques, SSL, SNMP, WWW, DNS
  • Tools: scotty, strobe, netcat, SATAN, SAINT, ISS, mscan, sscan, queso, curl, Nmap, SSLeay/upget
  • Defining management policies to minimize intrusion risk

Topics not covered:

  • Social engineering
  • Buffer overflow exploits
  • Browser (frame) exploits
  • Shell privilege escalation

Brad Johnson (S8) johnson_brad is a vice president of SystemExperts Corporation, a consulting firm that specializes in system security and management. He is a well-known authority in the field of secure distributed systems and has recently served as a technical advisor to both Dateline NBC and CNN on network security matters. He has participated in seminal industry initiatives, including the Open Software Foundation, X/Open, and the IETF, and has often published about open systems.Brad was one of the original members of the OSF DCE Evaluation Team. He has a B.A. in computer science from Rutgers University and an M.S. from Lesley College.


S9 Storage Area Networking NEW
Dan Pollack, AOL Inc

Who should attend: System administrators and system engineers responsible for the design and implementation of storage systems. Attendees should be aware of storage systems concepts; a basic familiarity with SAN is helpful but not required.

This tutorial, taking a hands-on approach, will provide practical guidelines for the design and implementation of a functional SAN. Beginning with fundamental SAN concepts, we will work through to the implementation of a SAN. A particular focus of the tutorial will be on design models and decisions, the physical and logical SAN layout, and control and monitoring of a SAN.

The goal of the tutorial is to enable the attendee to make effective design choices for a SAN and then proceed to a successful SAN implementation, including control and monitoring of the implemented SAN.

Dan Pollack (S9) pollack_dan was introduced to UNIX in 1988 and has been a system administrator of one sort or another since 1990. He has worked in the financial, government, and on-line service industries. For the past four years he has been designing and implementing storage systems for database applications. He currently resides at America Online Incorporated in Reston, Virginia, where he is a Principal System Administrator.




S10 Perl for System Administrators NEW
David Blank-Edelman, Northeastern University College

Who should attend: System administrators with at least advanced-beginner to intermediate experience with Perl, who would like a clear understanding of how to use Perl to make their job easier.

Perl was originally created to help with system administration, so it is a wonder that there isn't more instructional material available for helping people in our field use Perl to advantage.

This tutorial hopes to begin to remedy this situation by presenting a solid three hours of instruction on using Perl for systems administration. You are also likely to deepen your knowledge of Perl.

Based on the instructor's just-published O'Reilly book, this tutorial will take a multi-platform approach to the subject. We'll be exploring cutting-edge and old standby systems-administration topics as they manifest themselves on both UNIX and Windows NT/2000 platforms.

Topics include:

  • Secure Perl scripting
  • Files and file systems (including source control, XML, databases, and log files)
  • SQL databases via DBI and ODBC
  • Email as a systems administration tool (including spam analysis)
  • Network directory services (including NIS, DNS, LDAP, ADSI)
  • Network management (including SNMP and WBEM)

David N. Blank-Edelman blank-edelman (S10, S14) is the Director of Technology at the Northeastern University College of Computer Science and the author of the new O'Reilly book Perl for System Administration. He has spent the last 14 years as a system/network administrator in large multi-platform environments including Brandeis University, Cambridge Technology Group, and the MIT Media Laboratory. He has served as Senior Technical Editor for the Perl Journal and has written many magazine articles on world music.



S11 Legal Issues for System Administrators
Daniel Appelman, Heller, Ehrman, White, and McAuliffe

Who should attend: This tutorial is designed for system administrators at all levels of experience and without regard to particular employment situations. Of course, the legal situation of the system administrator and the appropriate resolution of legal issues may vary depending on many factors, including the status of the employer. We will attempt to address these variations as they become relevant during the tutorial.

This tutorial presents an overview of the laws of cyberspace, with particular emphasis on system administrators' rights and liabilities. It then focuses on those current legal and policy developments that are most relevant to system administrators.

The format allows plenty of time to ask questions. The course aims to provide attendees with a better understanding of how the law views system administrators, of the sensitive legal issues and potential liabilities they face, and of ways they can help their employers minimize their liability.

Topics include:

  • Overview of the law and its effect on system administrators
  • Employer rights vs. employee rights
  • Defamation liability
  • Intellectual property rights
  • Your responsibilities on the job
  • How to deal with potential legal issues as they arise

Daniel Appelman appelman_dan (S11, S15) is a lawyer with a major Silicon Valley law firm. He has been practicing in the areas of cyberspace and software law for over fifteen years. Dan is the attorney for the USENIX Association and for many high-tech companies.





S12 Professional Conduct and Computer Ethics
Lee Damon, Amazon.com

Who should attend: Anyone who is a system administrator or has access to confidential information, and anyone who manages system administrators or makes policy decisions about computer systems and their users.

This introductory tutorial will start by examining some of the ethical responsibilities that come along with access to other users' data, accounts, and confidential information. We will look at several case studies, and all attendees will be encouraged to participate in the discussion. Numerous viewpoints will be considered, in order to give students a perspective from which to develop their own reasoned response to ethical challenges.

The SAGE Ethics statement will serve as our model.

Topics include:

  • Implicit expectations of ethical behavior: A sysadmin reads another person's email to see how that person feels about someone or something
  • Coercion to violate ethics: Your manager, to "get the dirt" on another manager, asks you to examine her email and files for anything "wrong"
  • Well-intentioned violations of privacy: An ISP manager asks that a customer's home directories be examined for kiddy porn
  • Collection, retention, and protection of personal data: Your site collects names, addresses, and other information on-line. What should you do or not do with that data?
  • Your fellow employee has been terminated "for cause" and their account disabled. Your manager wants you to look through their files. Should you protect their privacy? If so, how?
  • Your company buys a one-seat license for some very expensive software and tells you to duplicate it on all 1,000 hosts on your network

The answers to these and other problems are often far more complicated than one would initially guess. After completing this tutorial, you will be better able to resolve questionable situations and will have the means to support your decisions.

Lee Damon damon_lee (S12, T4) holds a B.S. in speech communica tion from Oregon State University. He has been a UNIX system administrator since 1985 and has been active in SAGE since its inception. He is a member of the SAGE Ethics Working Group and was one of the commentators on the SAGE Ethics document. He has championed awareness of ethics in the systems administration community, including writing it into policy documents.




S13 Linux: From Pieces to Prompt NEW
Ed DeHart, Prism Servers, Inc.

Who should attend: Linux enthusiasts and administrators who want to build their own systems from scratch. Hardware experience is helpful but not necessary. No previous Linux experience is needed, but you should know how to use a screwdriver.

This tutorial will help you understand what hardware will be best for your applications, so that you can avoid both underpowering your system and overstressing your budget. You will learn how to avoid certain hardware problems and still find your niche in the cheap/fast/good triad.

Topics include:

  • Finding the correct motherboard and CPU chip
  • Selecting a power supply and case
  • Picking size and speed for your disk
  • Choosing the best video board
  • Avoiding IRQ conflicts
  • Sizing the swap space
  • Loading Linux

When you have completed this tutorial, you should be able to comfortably purchase your computer hardware, load Linux, and log into the server.

Ed DeHart dehart_ed (S13, M7) is a former member of Carnegie Mellon University's CERT Coordination Center, which he helped found in 1988. Ed has also owned an ISP, Pittsburgh OnLine Inc., which operated several UNIX servers. Currently, Ed is President of Prism Servers, Inc., a manufacturer of Internet firewalls and UNIX-based Internet servers.




S14 Perl Saves the Day: Writing Small Perl Programs to Get Out of Big SysAdmin Pinches NEW
David Blank-Edelman, Northeastern University College

Who should attend: System administrators with at least advanced-beginner to intermediate Perl skills.

Perl is an excellent language for rapid development and prototyping. Thanks to the power of the core language and the large body of additional modules, it is often possible to write quick programs to solve pressing problems. System administrators have no shortage of pressing problems, so knowing how to wield this "Swiss Army chain saw" can be a lifesaver.

Centered around a set of "battle stories" and the Perl source code used to deal with them, we'll discuss various approaches to solving systems administration crises using Perl. The code will be mostly UNIX-related, with a sprinkling of Windows NT/2000 examples, but the approaches won't be specific to any particular operating system. Students are welcome to bring their own pressure-cooker problems (solved or not) for class discussion.

David N. Blank-Edelman blank-edelman (S10, S14) is the Director of Technology at the Northeastern University College of Computer Science and the author of the new O'Reilly book Perl for System Administration. He has spent the last 14 years as a system/network administrator in large multi-platform environments including Brandeis University, Cambridge Technology Group, and the MIT Media Laboratory. He has served as Senior Technical Editor for the Perl Journal and has written many magazine articles on world music.



S15 Privacy and the System Administrator NEW
Daniel Appelman, Heller, Ehrman, White, and McAuliffe

Who should attend: System administrators in any employment situation and at any level of experience. Of course, the legal situation of the system administrator and the appropriate resolution of legal issues may vary depending on many factors, including the status of the employer. We will attempt to address these variations.

This tutorial focuses on the developing right of privacy in cyberspace and on how privacy expectations often conflict with other demands, including those of law enforcement generally, the protection of special categories of users such as children, and the unrestricted use of information available on the Net. We will examine the current status of privacy as an enforceable legal right and see how it fares in competition with other legal rights, such as the rights of speech and press, national security, and fair use of published information.

Particular emphasis will be put on addressing how far the system administrator's duties go in policing and enforcing the privacy rights of others. We will discuss real-life situations and the methodology for analyzing and resolving legal issues.

Daniel Appelman appelman_dan (S11, S15) is a lawyer with a major Silicon Valley law firm. He has been practicing in the areas of cyberspace and software law for over fifteen years. Dan is the attorney for the USENIX Association and for many high-tech companies.





S16 Documentation Techniques for SysAdmins NEW
Mike Ciavarella, Cybersource Pty Ltd

Who should attend: System administrators who need to produce documentation for the systems they manage or who need to improve their documentation skills.

This tutorial covers basic techniques for writing effective documentation and improving existing documentation practices. Particular emphasis is placed on documentation as a time-saving tool rather than a workload imposition.

Topics include:

  • Why sysadmins need to document
  • The documentation lifecycle
  • Targeting your audience
  • An adaptable document framework
  • Common mistakes
  • Useful tools

Mike Ciavarella (S16) has been producing and editing technical documentation since he naively agreed to write application manuals for his first employer in the early 1980s. He has been a technical editor for MacMillan Press and has been teaching system administrators about documentation for the past four years. Mike has an Honours Degree in Science from the University of Melbourne in Australia, and is currently a Senior Partner with Cybersource Pty Ltd, where he heads Cybersource's Security Practice. In his spare time, Mike is a caffeine addict and photographer. Attendees should be able to make immediate practical use of these techniques.


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Last changed: 18 Oct 2000 bleu
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