Enterprise applications administration the definitive guide to implementation and operations

Enterprise Applications
Administration


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Dedication

To My Wife, Christina Faircloth
I don’t think you expected this when you said “for better or for worse,” but
you’ve stuck with me through all of it anyway. Thank you, Chris, for supporting me, loving me, and putting up with the life of an “IT Widow.”

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................... ix
PREFACE ...................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Enterprise Applications
Administration...................................................................... 1
Purpose of This Book...................................................................... 1

Defining Enterprise Applications Administration ...................... 7
Enterprise Applications Administrators .................................... 14
Summary ........................................................................................ 26

CHAPTER 2

Networks............................................................................. 27
Network Fundamentals................................................................ 27
Network Troubleshooting ............................................................ 64
Summary ........................................................................................ 79

CHAPTER 3

Servers................................................................................. 81
Hardware ....................................................................................... 81
Windows ........................................................................................ 95
*NIX .............................................................................................. 118
Summary ...................................................................................... 128

CHAPTER 4

Databases.......................................................................... 131
Basic Concepts ............................................................................ 131
Database Design ......................................................................... 151
Access Control ............................................................................ 159
Troubleshooting .......................................................................... 163
Summary ...................................................................................... 172

CHAPTER 5

Information Security ........................................................ 175
Basic Concepts ............................................................................ 175
Authentication, Authorization, and Audit ............................... 182
Administration of Access Control............................................. 195
Assessment ................................................................................. 199

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Acknowledgments

A full year went into this book and I still feel that I could have spent another
year working on it to make it right. Three laptops met their doom, multiple
mice met walls in frustration, and there is now a permanent dent in both my
desk and my forehead. Through all of that, there are many people who still
decided it was worth sticking through this with me and supporting this effort
along the way.
My family, as always, are my greatest fans, best supporters, and the people
that suffer the most when I’m running behind schedule. I’d like to thank my
wife Christina and my son Austin for all of their support year after year as I
continue to try to get the words out of my head and onto paper. Thank you
both so much for everything that you do to support me and keep this dream
of mine alive.
I’d also like to thank all of my other family members who helped and supported me with this in some way or another: Jeff Landreth (I can never call
you Scott), Joann Faircloth, John and Mary Faircloth, Barbara Landreth, and
all the rest of you good folks. I’d list you all, but I only have so much space
and there are so many of you that I appreciate! Thank you all so much!
A big thank you also to Steve Elliot and Kaitlin Herbert, my editor and project manager with Elsevier. You really helped keep me on track and keep this
moving even when the going got rough. Your support through this project is

very much appreciated and none of us authors could be successful without a
great team like you guys.
Finally, I want to thank all of the individuals that have worked with me in
supporting enterprise applications through the years. There have been great
times, huge challenges, and many surprises that have affected all of us.
Through it all, we have all learned a lot and I appreciate all of the things that
each one of you has taught me through the years. Chuck Chilton, Mark
Seely, Scott Bilyeu, Travis Perry, Mike Mashburn, Mike Angeloff, Christina
Angeloff, Albert Zhu, and so many more of you all taught me many things
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Preface

BOOK OVERVIEW AND KEY LEARNING POINTS
This book addresses a need within the information technology field to bring
back a level of generalization needed to support today’s enterprise applications. Over the years, there has been a trend toward technology specialization
to such a high degree that many information technology professionals no
longer have the breadth of skills necessary to support multiple technology
disciplines with the same level of expertise. This trend is acceptable when
dealing with silos of technology but begins to be an issue when working
with large, complex enterprise applications.
Enterprise applications administration is the skill and art of working in a crossdiscipline role with a holistic view of the enterprise application and all of its
component technologies in mind. This book is intended to provide a knowledge
base to the reader that covers the primary technologies that enterprise applications administrators work with on a daily basis. In addition, some of the softer
skills needed within this role are covered so that there are no gaps in the basic
knowledge necessary to become or lead enterprise applications administrators.

BOOK AUDIENCE

The intended audience for this book is any technical professional who has
an interest in working with enterprise applications, any instructor who is
teaching the skills needed to become an enterprise applications administrator, and any manager who needs to manage high-performing enterprise
applications administration teams. In addition, technical experts specialized
in any technical area will find value here by learning the basics of other disciplines and better understanding the entire ecosystem utilized by enterprise
applications. Database administrators can learn about server hardware and
operating systems. Security professionals can learn about networks and applications. Developers can learn about databases and architecture. All technical
specialties associated with enterprise applications are discussed and present
learning opportunities to any technical professional.

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