Analytical Network and System Administration: Managing Human-Computer Systems

Analytical Network and System Administration......Page 3
Contents......Page 7
Foreword......Page 13
Preface......Page 17
1.1 What is system administration?......Page 19
1.3 What is administration?......Page 20
1.4 Studying systems......Page 21
1.5 What’s in a theory?......Page 24
1.7 Some notation used......Page 28
2.1 The aim of science......Page 31
2.2 Causality, superposition and dependency......Page 34
2.3 Controversies and philosophies of science......Page 35
2.5 Hypotheses......Page 38
2.6 The science of technology......Page 39
2.8 Abuses of science......Page 40
3 Experiment and observation......Page 43
3.1 Data plots and time series......Page 44
3.2 Constancy of environment during measurement......Page 45
3.3 Experimental design......Page 46
3.4 Stochastic (random) variables......Page 47
3.6 Observational errors......Page 48
3.7 The mean and standard deviation......Page 49
3.8 Probability distributions and measurement......Page 50
3.8.2 The ‘normal’ distribution......Page 53
3.8.3 Standard error of the mean......Page 54
3.8.4 Other distributions......Page 55
3.9 Uncertainty in general formulae......Page 56
3.10 Fourier analysis and periodic behaviour......Page 57
3.11 Local averaging procedures......Page 59
3.12 Reminder......Page 61
4.1 The concept of a system......Page 63
4.2 Data structures and processes......Page 64
4.3 Representation of variables......Page 65
4.4 The simplest dynamical systems......Page 66
4.5 More complex systems......Page 67
4.6 Freedoms and constraints......Page 68
4.7 Symmetries......Page 69
4.8 Algorithms, protocols and standard ‘methods’......Page 70
4.9.1 Energy and power......Page 71
4.9.3 Social currency and the notion of responsibility......Page 72
4.10 Open and closed systems: the environment......Page 74
4.11 Reliable and unreliable systems......Page 76
5.1 Sets......Page 77
5.3 Addresses and mappings......Page 79
5.4 Chains and states......Page 80
5.5 Configurations and macrostates......Page 82
5.7 Theory of computation and machine language......Page 83
5.7.1 Automata or State Machines......Page 84
5.7.2 Operators and operands......Page 86
5.7.3 Pattern matching and operational grammars......Page 87
5.7.4 Pathway analysis and distributed algorithms......Page 88
5.8 A policy-defined state......Page 89
6.1 Diagrams as systems......Page 91
6.2 The concept of a graph......Page 92
6.4 Centrality: maxima and minima in graphs......Page 95
6.5 Ranking in directed graphs......Page 98
6.6 Applied diagrammatical methods......Page 102
7.1 Information systems......Page 109
7.2 Addresses, labels, keys and other resource locators......Page 110
7.4 Digital comparison......Page 112
8.1 Renditions of change......Page 115
8.2 Determinism and predictability......Page 116
8.3 Oscillations and fluctuations......Page 117
8.4 Rate of change......Page 120
8.5 Applications of the continuum approximation......Page 121
8.6 Uncertainty in the continuum approximation......Page 123
9.1 What is information?......Page 127
9.2 Transmission......Page 128
9.4 Classification and resolution......Page 129
9.5 Statistical uncertainty and entropy......Page 132
9.6 Properties of the entropy......Page 136
9.7 Uncertainty in communication......Page 137
9.8 A geometrical interpretation of information......Page 141
9.9 Compressibility and size of information......Page 145
9.10 Information and state......Page 146
9.11 Maximum entropy principle......Page 147
9.12 Fluctuation spectra......Page 151
10.2 Types of stability......Page 153
10.3 Constancy......Page 154
10.4 Convergence of behaviour......Page 155
10.5 Maxima and minima......Page 156
10.6 Regions of stability in a graph......Page 157
10.7 Graph stability under random node removal......Page 159
10.8 Dynamical equilibria: compromise......Page 160
10.9 Statistical stability......Page 161
10.10 Scaling stability......Page 163
10.12 Eigenstates......Page 166
10.13 Fixed points of maps......Page 169
10.14 Metastable alternatives and adaptability......Page 173
10.15 Final remarks......Page 174
11.1 What is a system resource?......Page 177
11.2 Representation of resources......Page 178
11.3 Resource currency relationships......Page 179
11.4 Resource allocation, consumption and conservation......Page 180
11.5 Where to attach resources?......Page 181
11.6 Access to resources......Page 183
11.7.1 Logical regions of systems......Page 185
11.7.2 Using centrality to identify resource bottlenecks......Page 186
11.8 Directed resources: flow asymmetries......Page 188
12.1 Task list scheduling......Page 191
12.2 Deterministic and non-deterministic schedules......Page 192
12.4 Service provision and policy......Page 194
12.5 Queue processing......Page 195
12.6 Models......Page 196
12.7 The prototype queue M/M/1......Page 197
12.8 Queue relationships or basic ‘laws’......Page 199
12.9 Expediting tasks with multiple servers M/M/k......Page 204
12.10 Maximum entropy input events in periodic systems......Page 206
12.11 Miscellaneous issues in scheduling......Page 207
13.1 Policy for organization......Page 209
13.2 Informative and procedural flows......Page 210
13.4 Dependence policy......Page 211
13.5 System design strategy......Page 213
13.6 Event-driven systems and functional systems......Page 218
13.7 The organization of human resources......Page 219
13.9.1 Layered systems: Managers and workers......Page 220
13.9.2 Efficiency......Page 221
13.10 Prediction, verification and their limitations......Page 222
13.11 Graphical methods......Page 223
14.1 Dependency......Page 225
14.2 The database model......Page 227
14.3 Normalized forms......Page 228
15.1 System administration as communication?......Page 233
15.2 Extensive or strategic instruction......Page 237
15.3 Stochastic semi-groups and martingales......Page 241
15.4 Characterizing probable or average error......Page 242
15.5 Correcting errors of propagation......Page 244
15.6 Gaussian continuum approximation formula......Page 246
16.2 Average changes in configuration......Page 249
16.3 The reason for random fluctuations......Page 252
16.4 Huge fluctuations......Page 253
16.5 Equivalent configurations and policy......Page 254
16.7 Convergent maintenance......Page 255
16.8 The maintenance theorem......Page 258
16.9 Theory of back-up and error correction......Page 259
17 Knowledge, learning and training......Page 267
17.2 Knowledge as classification......Page 268
17.3 Bayes’ theorem......Page 270
17.4 Belief versus truth......Page 272
17.5 Decisions based on expert knowledge......Page 273
17.6 Knowledge out of date......Page 277
17.7 Convergence of the learning process......Page 278
18.1 Faults and failures......Page 281
18.2 Deterministic system approximation......Page 283
18.3 Stochastic system models......Page 287
18.4 Approximate information flow reliability......Page 291
18.5 Fault correction by monitoring and instruction......Page 293
18.6 Policy maintenance architectures......Page 297
18.7 Diagnostic cause trees......Page 304
18.8.1 Faults......Page 308
18.8.2 Conditions and set logic......Page 309
18.8.3 Construction......Page 311
19.1 Causal analysis......Page 313
19.2 Decision-making......Page 314
19.3 Game theory......Page 315
19.4 The strategic form of a game......Page 319
19.5 The extensive form of a game......Page 320
19.6 Solving zero-sum games......Page 321
19.7 Dominated strategies......Page 322
19.8 Nash equilibria......Page 323
19.9 A security game......Page 327
19.9.1 Zero-sum approximation......Page 328
19.9.2 Non-zero sum approximation......Page 331
19.10 The garbage collection game......Page 333
19.11 A social engineering game......Page 339
19.13 Coda: extensive versus strategic configuration management......Page 346
20 Conclusions......Page 349
A.1 Conditional probability......Page 353
A.2 Boolean algebra and logic......Page 354
B.1 Local averaging procedure......Page 357
B.2 Scaling and self-similarity......Page 361
B.3 Scaling of continuous functions......Page 362
C.1 Random graph condition......Page 365
C.2 Bi-partite form......Page 368
C.3 Small-graph corrections......Page 369
Bibliography......Page 371
Index......Page 377