The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Evidence of the following is essential:

Assessment must confirm the ability to select the required hardware and software and design the server based on business and technical requirements.

To demonstrate competency in this unit the learner will require access to:

Server hardware

Requirements documentation

Business planning documentation

Network operating software

Context of and specific resources for assessment

The breadth, depth and complexity covering planning and initiation of alternative approaches to skills or knowledge applications across a broad range of technical and/or management requirements, evaluation and coordination would be characteristic.

The demonstration of competency may also require self-directed application of knowledge and skills, with substantial depth in some areas where judgement is required in planning and selecting appropriate equipment, services and techniques for self and others.

Assessment must ensure:

Applications involve participation in development of strategic initiatives as well as personal responsibility and autonomy in performing complex technical operations or organising others. It may include participation in teams including teams concerned with planning and evaluation functions. Group or team coordination may also be involved.

Method of assessment

The purpose of this unit is to define the standard of performance to be achieved in the workplace. In undertaking training and assessment activities related to this unit, consideration should be given to the implementation of appropriate diversity and accessibility practices in order to accommodate people who may have special needs. Additional guidance on these and related matters is provided in ICA05 Section 1.

Competency in this unit should to be assessed using summative assessment to ensure consistency of performance in a range of contexts. This unit can be assessed either in the workplace or in a simulated environment. However, simulated activities must closely reflect the workplace to enable full demonstration of competency.

Assessment will usually include observation of real or simulated work processes and procedures and/or performance in a project context as well as questioning on underpinning knowledge and skills. The questioning of team members, supervisors, subordinates, peers and clients where appropriate may provide valuable input to the assessment process. The interdependence of units for assessment purposes may vary with the particular project or scenario

Guidance information for assessment

Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended.

An individual demonstrating this competency would be able to:

Demonstrate understanding of a broad knowledge base incorporating theoretical concepts, with substantial depth in some areas

Analyse and plan approaches to technical problems or management requirements

Transfer and apply theoretical concepts and/or technical or creative skills to a range of situations

Evaluate information, using it to forecast for planning or research purposes

Take responsibility for own outputs in relation to broad quantity and quality parameters

Take some responsibility for the achievement of group outcomes

Maintain knowledge of industry products and services

Required skills

Planning and designing servers

Performance analysis at the system and component level

Basic cost-benefit comparisons (including return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO) in relation to applications, NOSs and overall server design

Product analysis

The use of tools for measuring (e.g. generic benchmarks, software sizing models, workload testing, performance monitoring)

Required knowledge

Features of current server applications depending on requirements, (e.g. Lotus Notes/Novell GroupWise for messaging)

Apache/MS IIS for web services

Novel Border Manager/MS Proxy server for network services

Oracle/MS SQL server/IBM DB2 for databases and data warehousing, Novell Directory Services/iPlanet for directory services

HP Openview/Intel LAN Desk Server Manager/CA UniCenter for management

SAP/PeopleSoft/Baan for line of business applications

MS Terminal server/Citrix MetaFrame for terminal services

Linux Terminal Services

SMB servers (Linux, BSD-based)

Features of a range of hardware components, including:

Single and multiple processors

Memory (SD and RD RAM, memory leads, bandwidth)

Chassis (size, thermals, EMI specifications, security, drive bays, cable management, ease of maintenance, LED/LCD panels, aesthetics)

Disk drives and internal/external storage devices (RAID solutions and functionality, drive formats, back-up systems - DAT/DLT/AIT, storage area networks (SANs)

Load balancers

Power (supply requirements and management; protection: back-up/line-conditioning/surge suppression, power budgeting)

Hot plug peripherals (PCI expansion cards, power supplies, hard drives, fans)

Ancillaries (racks, keyboard, monitor, cabinets, air flow)

Scaling up and scaling out

Fault tolerant failover clusters

The data bus (SA bus, PCI bus)

Memory cache and storage cache in relation to server performance and scalability

Current storage interfaces (IDE, SCSI, SSA and Fibre Channel) in relation to storage selection

Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.

Client may include but is not limited to:

internal departments,

external organisations,

individual people

employees

Requirements may be in reference to:

business,

system,

application,

network

people in the organisation

Server -one or more servers depending on size and functionality of website and may include:

Apache HTTP

IBM VisualAge and WebSphere

Microsoft-Internet-Information-Server, Microsoft-IIS, Microsoft-IIS-W

Windows Server Family Products

NetDynamics

Lotus Domino

Netscape Enterprise server, Netscape-FastTrack, Netscape-Commerce

Sun Microsystems iPlanet web server

iPlanet-Enterprise

Sun Microsystems Java web server

Email servers

File and print servers

FTP servers

Proxy servers

Server application

File sharing,

printer sharing,

messaging,

web services,

network and remote access,

database and data warehousing,

directory services,

management,

line of business applications,

terminal services,

virtual private networks,

web-DAV directory sharing

Network operating system may include features relating to:

architecture,

scalability,

availability and reliability,

client support,

functionality (both features and limitations),

server management,

security,

application development tools,

middleware,

maintenance

cost

Business requirements may include:

customer,

supplier,

payroll,

inventory

tax requirements of the organisation

System may include but is not limited to:

hardware and software components that run a computer

Hardware may include but is not limited to:

workstations,

personal computers,

modems and other connectivity devices,

networks,

DSL modems,

remote sites

servers

Solution may include but is not limited to:

new hardware,

hardware upgrades,

new software,

software upgrades,

user training

implementing a new system