Microsoft Word Hardware Reconfiguration Methodology V final2

2.5 Summary

Understanding how modern complex operating systems function can be a cumbersome task. It is not necessary to fully understand all the finer details; however, a basic understanding of dependencies and their affect on the system’s overall stability and integrity is important. Many tools can be used alone or combined to provide a clearer of view of dependencies and their interaction with one another. The type of system maintenance that will be chosen to keep the system’s kernel (at a minimum) up to date will depend in part on the expertise of the system administrator and the availability of updates and upgrades. There is no clear-cut solution. In certain circumstances, it is more appropriate to apply an update or upgrade. In other cases, these should be altogether overlooked when manual system maintenance is the simplest and clearest solution for a specific update of the kernel, application, or library.
Furthermore, although the Navy has expressed its desire to resist performing operating system updates and/or upgrades, it is very likely that at one point they will no longer have any choice. It is unrealistic for the Navy to expect that manual system maintenance is the solution for all their maintenance needs. The cost in resources and capital will too high and complex, especially at the beginning of a deployment. The Navy has many options available to it for providing various forms of maintenance [2]. In addition, whether only the first few years (most likely for the first half of the C2 system’s lifespan), regardless is maintenance is provided through updates and/or upgrades, both are customizable. Upgrades, however, are generally less customizable than updates. Therefore, for at least the first 10 to 15 years the Navy should not have to worry about having to perform manual system maintenance. Unfortunately, once a point has been reached where the vendor no longer exists, no longer provides support, changed its business line or the Navy can no longer approve of newer operating system versions due to excessive compatibility- based issues (or other issues) then the Navy will have little choice but to pursue manual system maintenance. Until that time, however, it is not suggested.

In conclusion, the Navy will very likely have no choice about performing updates and upgrades if they plan to periodically change hardware. Even a system’s hardware that is never changed (which over a 15 to 25 lifespan is very unrealistic) must still be periodically maintained for a variety of reasons, as already put forward earlier in the section. A non-maintained system will eventually suffer from software degradation, a condition that all software experiences through long-term use and often the only remedy is software maintenance.

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