Academic year/semester: 2026/27/1

ECTS Credits: 5

Available for: Only for the faculty’s students

Lecture hours: 2
Seminarium:0
Practice: 0
Laboratory: 2
Consultation: 0

Prerequisites: Modern Operational systems (NKXMO1EMNF)

Course Leader: Dr. Valéria Póser

Faculty: John von Neumann Faculty of Informatics, 1034 Budapest, Bécsi út 96/b

Course Description:
The course defines and illustrates, at both theoretical level and through practical examples, the basic concepts of modern scalable service environments. The overview of the open virtualization and containerization ecosystem is supported by short practical assignments carried out in Linux KVM and Docker environments.



The subsequent thematic unit covers both the theoretical foundations and related practical tasks concerning basic configuration management and automation operations in Linux environments, primarily using Ansible, as well as the management and orchestration of complex service environments built on these technologies, primarily using Terraform and Kubernetes.



The course also presents virtualization, containerization, and configuration management solutions available for Windows-based systems. Both the Linux- and Windows-based topic areas conclude with an overview of general and specific security measures, including system hardening.

Competences:
The aim of the course is to provide students with both theoretical and practical knowledge of modern server environments for implementing scalable services, as well as the toolsets that support them. Students will gain extensive knowledge of clustering, configuration management, and orchestration solutions built on virtualization and containerization technologies, with particular emphasis on open environments and preparation for solving short practical assignments. In delivering the course material, the subject also places general emphasis on the requirements for the secure design, deployment, and maintenance of services.

Topics:
1.  Introduction to modern, scalable service environments

2.  Scalability and efficiency

3.  Virtualization technologies

4.  Containerization technologies

5. Introduction to clusterization concepts

6. Clusterization algorithms

7. Configuration management with Ansible

8. Infrastructure as code with Terraform

9. Container orchestration with Kubernetes

10. Comparison of Linux and Windows-based solutions

11. Security considerations for virtualization and containerization

12. Hardening Linux and Windows systems

13. Course summary, midterm test

14. Midterm test (retake)

Assessment: Calculation of the exam mark: 50% midterm test, 50% oral exam The final grade will be calculated using the following scale: Achieved result - Grade 87% - 100% - excellent (5) 75%- 86% - good (4) 64% -74% - satisfactory (3) 51% - 63% - pass (2) 0 - 50 % - failed (1)

Exam Types:

Oral Exam

Mid Term Exam

Compulsory bibliography: Lectures and notes presented during the classes.

Recommended bibliography: [1] Y. Brikman, Terraform: Up & Running: Writing Infrastructure as Code, Third Edition. Sebastopol, CA: O’REILLY, 2022. [2] J. Hassell, Learning PowerShell, First edition. Boston: De/G Press, 2017. [3] B. Burns, J. Beda, K. Hightower, és L. Evenson, Kubernetes: up and running: dive into the future of infrastructure, Third edition. Beijing Boston: O’Reilly Media, 2022. [4] S. P. Kane, K. Matthias, Docker up & running: shipping reliable containers in production, Third edition. Beijing Boston Farnham Sebastopol Tokyo: O’Reilly, 2023. [5] L. Hochstein, R. Moser, Ansible: up and running: automating configuration management and deployment the easy way, Second edition. Sebastopol, California: O’Reilly Media, 2017.

Additional bibliography: -

Additional Information: -