Reflection
CYSE270 – Linux System for Cybersecurity was a very interesting class to take because I had already taken an operations and techniques course prior. This class was actually a prerequisite too that class, so I was required to take this course in order to graduate. So, for now, this is my last college class.
In a way, CYSE270 was a good refresher course. Not only is not the first time I am using Linux, but I have already taken two Unix classes (one for the Marine Corps and one for Tidewater Community College). Most of the subjects of the class were very simple, a lot of administrative procedure and simple scripting. I also had what must’ve been my seventh subnetting/networking class. That all said, the assignments had less impact on my experience with the class than gaining further familiarity with Linux and Virtualization.
I did gain a few preferences from this class. During some of the scripting assignments I decided to use nano over VI editor. When I first was introduced to VI editor, I felt a sense of accomplishment when I gained a level of aptitude for it, but the ease of nano cannot be denied and reminded me more of scripting with python. I have used a few hypervisors at this point, and, in terms of accessibility, I think VirtualBox is best for someone just getting into virtualization. Using VMware may be much more robust, but I don’t see the point for the average person to be running multiple VMs.
I also want to mention that, in terms of a class setting, I much prefer the approach in this class than some other classes I have taken. In some other classes, we were required to have our work in a virtualized network accessed through either power shell or a web application. This streamlined certain assignments, but technical issues were very common, and work would be slower overall. Very often, either just myself or the entire class were left without a way to work on assignments. The only drawback of students running their own VMs like in this class is that turning in assignments may be an issue because we have to show our work on documents and often that can be more of an issue of a student’s accessibility to Adobe Acrobat.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class, even though I wasn’t learning much new information. Attached to this page will be some of the assignments that I worked on for this class.