CHAPTER TWO

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT

2.1 DESCRIPTION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF ATTACHMENT
The Centre for Information and Technology Services (ITS) unit of the Federal University of

Technology, Minna, Niger State was recently established in August 2006 in pursuance of the

broad vision of the University to become one of Nigeria’s leading Universities and Centre of

Excellence in Information and Communication Technology. In setting up ICT, the management

of the University decided to integrate the Management Information Systems (MIS), the National

Universities Network (NUNET) and the Computer Centre together as a Unit.

The Centre provides training and research in information Technology for Nigerians, as well as

other neighboring countries in order to produce expert and skillful workforce that would

positively affect the economy of the Nation through the export and use of information and

communication technologies.

Termed as the backbone of data in the institution, the Centre which is equipped with a data

center, oversees and manages the university’s data, maintains her websites, internet and intranet

network services. They also ensure that all offices and classrooms are well equipped with good

internet at any time of the day, provided the internet service provider (ISP) does not go offline.

Also, they help departments and centers host various data on their servers.

Among the goals and objectives of the Centre are to:

 Train students in Information Technology.

 Focus on Information Technology application to industry needs. (Its research thrust will be

geared largely towards applied technology).

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  Be profit oriented as well as being a sanctuary of academic excellence.

Thus, the Centre also engages among others in:

i. Bidding of local and international projects in Information Technology.

ii. Developing software for sale to general public, institutions and industries.

iii. Preparing students to sit for and pass prescribed external certification examinations.

iv. Providing preliminary services for budding entrepreneurs who want to develop or expand

their Information Technology business.

2.2 ORGANOGRAM OF THE ORGANIZATION

DIRECTOR, ITS

DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ITS

HEAD OF SYSTEM HEAD OF MIS HEAD OF TRAINING HEAD OF POWER HEAD OF

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HARDWARE
DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT

Network
Programmers Trainers Technicians Technicians
Engineers/System
Analyst

2.3 UNITS/DEPARTMENTS
Information and Technology Services (ITS) Centre comprises of three (3) major departments

which are:

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  Management and Information Systems (Programming) unit: This unit is saddled with

the responsibility of carrying out software operations in the establishment and this deals

majorly on management of the school websites (which involves building and

maintenance of the school sites, constantly monitoring its functioning and resolving login

complains.

 Hardware and Maintenance Unit: They are responsible for maintaining system and

other IT peripheral devices including printers and scanners. Maintenance and

improvement of system performance and online availability. Inventory of all computer

equipment, keeping maintenance records, and ensuring adequate maintenance provision.

Identifying bottlenecks and problems, making recommendations to solve them, keeping

standard software and hardware recommendations under review and overseeing computer

security and Antivirus precautions, ensuring that software licenses are adhered to.

 System Engineering/Networking Unit: Aside being in charge of the data center that

handles all critical and non-critical data infrastructure of the university, this unit also

handles the configuration, installation, deployment and maintenance of networking

gadgets and accessories such as LAN cable, optic fiber cables, Wi-Fi radio, switches,

routers, etc.

Aside these major departments, there are other supporting department/unit that all together

ensures that the establishment functions properly. One of such is the training unit which is often

in charge of capacity training and retraining of the establishment staff and by extension, other

staff members of the university. Also, the power department is not left out, as they are in full

control of the electrical installation and maintenance in the establishment.

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 CHAPTER THREE

EXPERIENCE GAINED
As a student who underwent the compulsory SIWES at the Information Technology Service unit

of Federal University of Technology Minna, I was opportune to partake in activities carried out

in various departments of the establishment, though major part of the approximately six (6)

months were spent with the system engineering unit. Below is the walk through on the activities

performed and experiences gained from the departments which I worked under during the period.

3.1 SYSTEM ENGINEERING/ NETWORKING

During my stay at ITS working under this unit, I learnt more about networks, switches, router,

internet protocol and media access control addresses, Wi-fi Radio installations, network topology

used within the campus, cable crimping and a host of other things.

A network mostly consists of two or more computers that are linked together in order to share

resources, exchange files, or allow for electronic communications. The computers on a network

may be linked through cables, radio waves, satellites or infrared light beams. Principally, a

network is a route used for communication between two or more electronic devices. To connect

various computers together to form a network, components called network devices would be

needed and using means such as the local area network connection, metropolitan area network

connection or the wide area network connection amongst others, network devices can be

interconnected to form a network.

Network can serve divers purposes. At home, offices, business centres, research centres, even in

an educational setting like FUT MINNA, it can serve amongst other things, as a means of

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 communication between management, staff and students through videoconferencing or electronic

mails, it offers a means to access remote information by surfing the World Wide Web, etc.

Basic Network Diagram

3.1.1 NETWORK TOPOLOGY

This happens to be the first thing we were exposed to in the networking unit of the establishment

from our tour of the data center. As explained by an instructor, network topology is also known

as physical topology which refers to the configuration of connected devices on a network.

Network topology are categorized into the following basic types;

i. Star Topology: In this topology, all computers are connected directly to a single

hub/switch/server as the case may be through a cable and this act as the control node.

ii. Ring Topology: This forms a ring as each computer is connected to another computer,

with the last one connected to the first two neighbors for each device.

iii. Tree Topology: It has a root node and all other nodes are connected to it forming a hierarchy,

it is also called hierarchical topology.

iv. Bus Topology: In this topology, all stations are attached to a single cable. When a station

sends a message, it is broadcast down in both directions. Terminators at the end of the cable

prevent the signal from reflecting back to the sender.

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3.1.2 NETWORKING TOOLS/EQUIPMENT
During my stay at ITS, I was exposed to and used most of the equipment and tools used in

networking and they are as follows;

1. REGISTERED JACK-45 (RJ-45): An eight-wire connector used commonly to connect

computers onto local area networks (LAN), most especially ethernets cables.

2. PUNCH DOWN TOOL: A small hand tool used by network technicians for inserting
wire into insulation-displacement connectors on patch panels, punch down blocks or
modular jack.

3. PATCH PANEL: This serves as a sort of static switchboard, using cables to interconnect
computers within the local area network.

4. FACEPLATE/MODULAR JACK: Usually in form of metal or plastic plate, designed to

fit a RJ-45 Ethernet cable. A modular jack connects the switch to a port using a LAN
Ethernet cable.

5. CRIMPING TOOL: A tool designed to crimp or connect a connector (e.g. RJ-45 and RJ-
11) to the end of a cable.

6. PATCH PANEL: A patch panel serves as a sort of static switchboard, using cables to
interconnect computers within the local area network.

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 Cross section of some networking tools

7. ROUTER: A device that forwards data packets between computer in networks. Routers
perform traffic directing functions on the internet. A data packet is typically forwarded
from one router to another through the networks that constitute the internet until it
reaches its destination node.

8. SWITCH: An intelligent device that filters and forwards packets between LAN segments
is termed switch. Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) and sometimes the
network layer (layer 3) of the OSI model and therefore support any packet protocol.

3.1.3 NETWORK CABLE CRIMPING

Cable crimping is a term that describes the fixing of an RJ-45 connector permanently into a

network cable of any category (cat 5 or cat 6) to make a LAN cable used for network

connection and the LAN cable in turn is used to transfer signal (voice or voltage) and data in

a network topology. This can be carried out only using the crimping tool. To carry out crimping

of cable, it is important to understand the two standards involved in crimping, and these are

standards A and B. The table below shows the arrangement of colors in both standards.

WIRE STANDARD A (T568A) STANDARD B

(T568B)
1 White/ Green White/ Orange
2 Green wire Orange
3 White/ Orange White/ Green
4 Blue Blue
5 White/ Blue White/ Blue
6 Orange wire Green
7 White/Brown White/Brown
8 Brown Brown

When the same standard is used at both ends of a LAN cable, it is called a straight-through

cable, and is used for connecting dissimilar devices together. While if different standards are

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used at both ends of a LAN cable, it is called a crossover cable, and this is used in connecting

similar devices on a network.

STEPS INVOLVED IN CABLE CRIMPING

 Peel off about 2 inches of the cable sheath using a cuter to expose the four pairs of wires.
 Untwist the pairs, straighten to have 8 wires and then trim to same length of about 1.5 inches
with the crimping tool.
 Arrange the wires according to a desired standard and then fic into the RJ-45 without
displacing the arrangement.
 Place the wired plugged into the RJ-45 connector into the crimping tool and press (crimp)
tight.

3.1.4 WI-FI RADIO CONFIGURATION & DEPLOYMENT

Wi-Fi is a technology for wireless local area networking with device based on the IEEE 802.11

standard. Devices that use this technology include personal computers, phones, smart TVs. Wi-Fi

devices can connect to the internet via Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). While with ITS, I

was opportune to configure and deploy wireless access points as one of the several projects

worked on. Before deploying one, there is need to configure so as to ensure security and the

right set of persons access to the network.

3.1.5 ITS NETWORK SERVER ROOM

A network server is a computer system which is used a central receiver of data and various

programs that are shared by users within a network. The establishment houses that of the

university and this comprises of servers that houses various functions, from the e-portal website,

to the e-results, university’s main website and other centers’ data running on servers situated in

the data center. During the third week of our stay in ITS, we were taken on tour of the data center

and detailed explanation was given on its operation. It contains a core switch which has been

configured, that takes in data from the internet service providers and then distribute it to a RAD

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switch, from which internet is being sent through optical fiber cables to other buildings within

the university. Also, a router which carries out DHCP, firewall and encryption functions and the

cables used in the room are mostly CAT 5 and fibre optic cables. The network topology used in

the university is that of ring topology in which each RAD switch is connected directly to two

other RAD switches as the case may be within the network and data moves down a one-way path

from one point to another. The basic operations that we carried out while in the server room

includes cable crimping, components troubleshooting, configuration of wi-fi radio amongst other

things.

3.2 HARDWARE AND MAINTENANCE UNIT

A computer system could develop various hardware faults, such as hard disk failure, fan fault

which causes overheating, processor failure, power supply unit failure etc. and as a result of

these failures the computer system might become vulnerable. A few of these repairs were carried

out in the hardware and maintenance unit while I was with this unit on an occasional basis.

One effective way to identify the fault to solve in a computer system, is to receive a client

complain of the problem, another is to troubleshoot the computer system in search for the

problem to solve, and this was what we do if complains comes in from member of staff.

Troubleshooting is the processing of identifying the possible fault of a system by checking the

functionality of each component that relates to the fault and in order to ensure system efficiency

and avoid system failure, maintenance could be carried out on the system, this maintenance

could be any of the following:

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 Preventive maintenance is a step taken to keep equipment in a better condition and

not waiting till it is in need of maintenance. It involves cleaning, adjusting and

changing of small system component to avoid fault or failure.

 Predictive maintenance is the repairing of a machine or device before any failure

occurs.

 Corrective maintenance is a type of maintenance that is carried out after the system

has failed, in order to make it function properly.

S/N TOOL USES

1. Screwdrivers For driving or removing screws
2. Spanners For tightening or loosing bolt and nut
3. Soldering iron For melting the solder lead in soldering of
electronic component.
4. Electric blower For blowing away of dirt and debris upon a
component.
5. Pliers For peeling and cutting conductor wire.
Table Some Tools and Their Uses

3.2.1 CORRECTING HARD DISK FAILURE

Often time, complaints come in from staff members of the university about their computer

system not booting, I thereafter carry out troubleshooting to be sure, it can then be confirmed

that it is a hard disk failure. The hard disk can experience mechanical failure, which occurs

internally when the moving parts in the disk degrade over time and resulting to damage of the

disk. This fault can be resolved by installing a new hard disk. The hard disk can also experience

failure when is does not receive the required voltage, either too low or too high. This can be

solved by ensuring that the hard disk receives the specified amount of voltage.

3.2.2 FIXING VENTILATION FAILURE

The fan or cooling unit of a computer system can experience fault, due to partial contact

connection, dirt and debris. The cooling unit of the system can easily be restored by changing the

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fan (cooling system), or reconnecting the fan to ensure firm and correct connection, or simply

blowing away the dirt and debris with the use of an electric blower.

3.2.3 HOW TO INSERT RAM INTO THE RAM SLOT

Amongst other technical skill learnt, it was how to replace the RAM (Random Access Memory)

of the system if faulty. The RAM is simply inserted into the RAM slot, after ensuring that it fits

firmly into the RAM Slot. Additional RAMs can be installed in a system to aid system

efficiency. and also, the RAM cab be cleaned and adjusted when carrying out preventive

maintenance.

3.2.4 UPGRADING OF COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM (OS)

Part of my almost everyday function while with the establishment was installing, upgrading and

fixing operating system related issues especially for desktop systems which I was not familiar

with prior to the SIWES period. We worked on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Kali

Linux systems.

3.3 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM/PROGRAMMING UNIT

The MIS unit of the establishment is tasked with the duty of creating and maintaining web

services of the university, and as a result we were exposed to the technologies involved and how

it functions. One of which is the content management system, Joomla in particular, and for this

to function properly, there will be a need for a web browser, a server and the package itself to be

installed.

3.4 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Given the availability to an uninterrupted data access in the establishment, we were encouraged

to take some development courses in our field of study and most of the time, these were

supervised by the training unit of the establishment. Amongst what I personally learnt were:

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 Cisco Introduction to Internet of Things (IoT): This course gave an opportunity of having

hands on experience of using packet tracer in designing IoT enabled home network,

understanding the concept of intent Based networking and need for enhanced security in the

digitalized World.

 Cisco Cybersecurity Essential: The Cybersecurity essential course provided me with the

fundamental understanding of cybersecurity as it relates to information and network security

by providing procedures to implement security controls on network, servers and application

through the use of labs and Cisco Packet Tracers activities.

 Cybrary Cyber Threat Intelligence: Having an understanding of the security triad which was

a prerequisite, I was able to undergo this course. In its core, it explained what approaches,

frameworks and resources that are available or necessary to implement a Cyber Threat

Intelligence unit in an organization and all what is needed to become a threat intelligence

analyst.

 NDG Linux Unhatched: With Linux being everywhere and it reach continues to grow

especially in the field of information security, I took out time to learn the basis from this

course.

3.5 NON-TECHNICAL EXPERIENCES GAINED

During the SIWES period, I was exposed to some skills/experience that were non-technical

based and these includes but not limited to:

 Working etiquettes within a corporate environment

 Discipline and human relations
 Ability to make decisive decisions in solving problems.
 Information Chain of custody.
 Importance of Team work in service delivering.

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 Communication, decision-making skills and situation-awareness skills.

CHAPTER FOUR

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

4.1 SUMMARY
As written above, this report covers details of the compulsory six (6) months SIWES mandated

by the university. Chapter one gave an overview of SIWES and its objectives, chapter two was

on the establishment of attachment as at the time of the program, while chapters three and four

covers experiences gained, summary, challenges, recommendation and conclusion.

4.2 CHALLENGES ENCOUTERED

 Lack of adequate financial support.

 Getting an IT Placement.

 Instructors not having adequate time to put SIWES student through on hands on practical.

4.4 CONCLUSION

This Industrial Training has afforded me the basic practical and theoretical knowledge that I may

not have gotten from the lecture room. It also gave me the opportunity to have a feel of what it

would be like after graduation when I step into the labour market. Secondly, I have been able to

use this training period to explore various avenues available at my disposal career-wise. It has

given me the opportunity to have a look into the future and access my readiness for employment

or entrepreneurship. Finally, the internship has bridged the gap between academic theory and

practical and has built a good degree of confidence especially in my abilities to perform.

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4.3 RECOMMENDATION

Though my IT experience was worthwhile, however the availability of certain things would have

made the experience more interesting and productive. Some of these I’ll enumerate as

recommendations. They are under listed below:

 More of hands on practical experiences being thought.

 Greater value should be placed on the training.

 IT supervisors should visit their assigned students on time and often if possible.

 The school management should assist students in securing placement

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