CNIT 182 Chapter 12 Tilley Textbook

What are the main forms of user support?

User training and help desks (technical support)

What is the goal of user training?

To show users how the system helps them perform their jobs.

What is a help desk (service desk)?

A centralized IT resource providing assistance, guidance, and support to users.

What are the three main objectives of a help desk?

1. Teach effective system use
2. Answer technical or operational questions
3. Improve user productivity.

What are some typical help desk tasks?

Troubleshooting, password issues, showing users how to run reports, data recovery, hardware setup.

What are the pros and cons of outsourcing IT support?

Pros: Cost reduction, focus on development
Cons: Lower service quality, customer dissatisfaction if poorly managed.

What are the four types of maintenance?

Corrective, Adaptive, Perfective, Preventive

Define Corrective Maintenance.

Fixes errors in an operational system.

Define Adaptive Maintenance.

Adds new features or enhancements to meet business changes.

Define Perfective Maintenance.

Improves efficiency, reliability, or maintainability.

Define Preventive Maintenance.

Prevents future problems through proactive measures.

What is a “patch”?

Temporary software fix allowing operations to resume.

What is the purpose of a maintenance log?

To track problems, fixes, and trends for better support management.

What is software reengineering?

Analyzing and improving existing software for better performance and quality.

What are the key goals of maintenance management?

Effective management, quality assurance, and cost control.

Who are the members of a maintenance team?

System administrator, systems analysts, and programmers.

What is configuration management (CM)?

A process to control and document system changes and versions.

What is version control?

Tracking and managing system releases to ensure stability and rollback capability.

What is a maintenance release?

A collection of updates bundled into a new version (e.g., v1.1, v2.0).

What is a baseline?

A reference point measuring system features or performance at a specific time.

What is fault management?

Detecting, logging, diagnosing, and correcting system problems.

What is benchmark testing?

Using standard tests to evaluate system performance.

What are key performance metrics?

Response time, bandwidth, throughput, turnaround time.

What is response time?

Time between user request and system response.

Define bandwidth and throughput.

Bandwidth = potential data capacity; Throughput = actual data transfer rate.

What is capacity planning?

Forecasting future system requirements based on current usage and growth.

Define confidentiality.

Protecting data from unauthorized disclosure.

Define integrity.

Preventing unauthorized data modification or deletion.

Define availability.

Ensuring authorized users have reliable access to information.

What are the three main risk management tasks?

Risk identification, risk assessment, and risk control.

Give examples of system threats.

Extortion, natural disasters, software attacks, technical obsolescence, theft, vandalism.

What is the purpose of backup and recovery?

To protect data and restore operations after data loss or disaster.

Name common backup types.

Full, incremental, and differential backups.

What is disaster recovery planning?

Preparing for and minimizing downtime after system failure.

What are signs that a system has reached the end of its life?

High maintenance cost, poor performance, obsolete technology, incompatible with new systems, declining support.

What are future challenges for IT professionals?

Increased cybersecurity threats, managing cloud systems, automation, and evolving regulations.