UniVerse Administration

The UniVerse Administration course is intended for users of the UniVerse database involved in system administration. It includes practical exercises to explore the topics presented and is accompanied by a detailed student manual which will be a useful book for later reference.

The main topics covered are:

The UniVerse data model. This module discusses the general relational database model and the extensions to provide the multi-valued fields that make UniVerse so powerful and easy to use. Although System Administrators do not usually need a detailed understanding of the data model, it is useful background material.

System Administrator Interfaces. This module looks at the various UniVerse interfaces available for system administration; system startup, the UniAdmin tool, the Unix system administration menus and the command line interfaces.

Configuration Parameters. UniVerse has many parameters that affect the operation of the system. This module discusses the more important ones and explains how they can be adjusted and the effect it will have on the system.

Setting up Users and Accounts. Administrators are usually responsible for adding new users to the system and creating accounts for new applications. This module discusses the tools provided to perform these tasks and explores the major features of a UniVerse account that administrators may need to be familiar with.

Monitoring the System A System Administrator needs to be able to identify what is going on in the system and to handle cases where processes are apparently stuck. A variety of monitoring tools are discussed in this module with emphasis on explaining what can be deduced from the output from these tools.

Lock Management. Applications frequently suffer from locking problems. A thorough understanding of locks is essential if the problems are to be resolved without compromising data integrity.

Tuning the File System. System Administrators can spend a large proportion of their time trying to get the best performance out of the system. This module explains the causes of performance problems and examines the tools available to help resolve the issues.

Shared Memory Programs. Large multi-user installations can gain significant performance by correct use of the shared memory program system. This module discusses the mechanism itself and how to use it to best effect.

Security and Backup Policies. This module covers two inter-related topics; preventing unauthorised access to the system and securing data against loss through user error, software faults or harware failure. Issues relating to maintaining data integrity are also discussed.

Managing Printers and Other Devices. UniVerse can be configured to drive printers, tapes amd other devices. This module explores the way in which devices are configured and looks in detail at the UniVerse Unix spooler system.