Unit 11 – Maintaining Computer Systems
J/601/7329
LO2 - Know how to plan computer
system maintenance
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This unit will give learners an understanding of the role
of an IT services practitioner. Learners will identify that
in the role the IT services practitioner has to be able to
make good judgement based on advantages and
disadvantages of any planned changes to a company
system.
The practitioner will have to be able to monitor and
balance the improvements/ maintenance to the
computer system, without the company having too
much disruption.
The aim of this unit is to introduce learners to the role
and responsibilities of an IT practitioner with a focus on
the field of computer systems maintenance.
Scenario
Criteria
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Learning Outcome (LO)
The learner will:
Pass
The assessment criteria are the pass
requirements for this unit.
The learner can:
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P1
Explain the issues
organisations must consider
when planning computer
systems Maintenance
P2
Assess the health and safety
risks facing the practitioner
when maintaining computer
Systems
M1 - Identify the precautions
that should be taken during
routine maintenance procedures
M2 - Create a plan for scheduled
maintenance Activities
D1 - Explain the benefits to
an organisation of regular
maintenance activities
M3 - Test the functionality of the
system after upgrade
D2 - Compare the
improvements and
restrictions of the upgraded
system against the original
installation
Understand the
organisational issues
related to computer
system maintenance
2
Know how to plan
computer system
Maintenance
P3
Describe a planning
technique that can be used
to schedule maintenance
activities
3
Be able to perform
routine housekeeping
on computer systems
P4
Perform routine
housekeeping on a computer
system
4
Be able to monitor and
improve systems
Performance
P5
Use monitoring tools to
assess system Performance
P6
Improve a system by
upgrading hardware and
software
Scenario
Criteria
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Merit
For merit the evidence must show
that, in addition to the pass
criteria, the learner is able to:
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Distinction
For distinction the evidence
must show that, in addition to
the pass and merit criteria, the
learner is able to:
Assessment Criteria P3
 Learners should describe a planning technique that could be used by an
organisation to schedule their maintenance activities. This could be in the form
of a report supported by examples and details of the technique that could be
used and why this is the best option; alternatively it could be evidenced as a
presentation.
Assessment Criteria M2
 Learners should create a detailed plan that shows the activities for the
scheduled maintenance. This could be evidenced showing the planning
documents with route maps, upgrade paths, schedules, Gantt charts etc.
Assessment Criteria D1
 Learners will need to give detailed explanations of the benefits to an identified
organisation of regular maintenance activities identifying the problems that
can be avoided. This could be evidenced with detailed explanations of what
problems could occur without regular maintenance, to include a range of
problems for hardware and software.
Scenario
Criteria
Tasks
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The learner needs to be introduced to the planning techniques that could be
used and should be taught and be made aware as to why planning is needed and
to look at the different techniques and documents that could be used such as;
route maps, upgrade paths, schedules, Gantt charts. Learners will benefit having
practical exercises in creating and using some of these documents.
Learners will need to look at the operational and the tactical planning and to
have knowledge and understanding of the differences, this could be reinforced
by group working and discussions. Learners will also need to investigate what
problems could occur without regular maintenance which could involve looking
at what happens if updates are not regularly updated, virus protection not
updated, dust build up without regular cleaning, loss of space without careful
organisation of files and how these could relate to the computer not performing
correctly and how the regular maintenance of equipment would help the
organisation. This could be an exercise where they create small presentations
explaining the cost savings and benefits to an organisation.
The learners will benefit from a mixture of case studies and detailed
investigations to provide scope to their learning.
Scenario
Criteria
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All planning of projects from computer maintenance to building a stadium
have plans that vary from task to task, Gantt charts for the whole project,
route maps for problem solving, schedules that are linked to other
documents, upgrade paths that show when things should be done and
maintenance schedules showing when things should be looked at.
 All of these are useful as business tools, specifically when a new member of
staff or a team joins and needs to know when to do things and in what order
things get done. For this project you will need to create a series of plans for
the maintenance, upgrade and schedule repairs of computer equipment.
These projects may take only an hour to achieve or might need to last years
as a plan of replacement. For this project you will need to create at least two
plans but need to understand the benefits of dealing with each to a project
manager or line manager in order to maintain a routine.
P3.1 – Task 01 – Describe, explain and evaluate planning techniques that can be
used to schedule maintenance activities.
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Route maps
Scenario
Criteria
Maintenance
schedules
Tasks
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Upgrade paths
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Upgrade schedules
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Gantt charts/
project plans
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Route Maps - Like Gantt charts Route maps are used as a visual
means for a broader staff range to analyse timings and duties.
Route Maps are a means of pathing alternative routes to a final
conclusion.
Similar to a flow diagram, they indicate a path between A to B
taking into account all the actions necessary to achieve the task
along the line and considering junctures, parts of the path that
are vital to achieve before moving on to the next part or force
repeating the stage until a successful conclusion is made or a
by-pass is achieved.
Upgrade Schedule – This is a form of planning similar to a Gantt
chart in layout but loops, there is usually no end to the schedule
and takes into consideration company policy on rolling
replacements.
For instance, machines in one room will be upgraded for certain
components as the need arises or time can predict, the process
of replacing the equipment every three years is superseded by
replacing hard drives every 2 years, memory upgrades every 2
years and keeping the monitors after replacement for another 2
years, cascading them down to other rooms where the usage
load is not as high or the need not as great.
Scenario
Criteria
Tasks
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Upgrade Paths – This is the route a company has to take to change or upgrade
hardware or software that is currently in place. This can take the form of a table
that costs, designs and plans the upgrade components, when they should be
replaced and plan for contingencies.
The second form of this is a pathing plan, a chart of what gets replaced, how it
is replaced, the timing and scheduling of the method of replacement, the
purchase, the testing, the action, the evaluation. It should take into
consideration overlapping duties, redundant procedures and timescales.
Gantt Charts – These are dependant on the size of the project and the
intricacies involved. For instance internal events will have competition for
available resources, usually on a first come first served basis or on how
important the person wanting the resources is. Similarly rooms can be
overbooked, staff are given different priorities, internal conflicts and politics
can break up teams. Anything can change, contracts are not written in stone
and priorities often shift.
Similarly larger projects and longer term projects often risk changing because of
the nature of time and funding, new technologies come on the market, new
products released can shift a companies focus, economies can change and
influence budgeting.
In a similar way the success criteria can alter through the life cycle of a project,
primary focus can change with the change of client, increased and decreased
public interest can alter the budgeting and staffing. And not all outcomes can
be predicted or managed. From something as small as Vanilla Ice Microphone
to the Kyoto Earthquake, anything can have an impact on the success of a
project.
Scenario
Criteria
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Maintenance schedules - All equipment needs maintenance and the two
times it is most necessary is before a problem arises or as a problem is
building to the point where repair will pre-empt damage.
 Hardware Maintenance – charts that plan hardware maintenance can happen
as routine or non-routine. Routine maintenance can be a matter of a
technician switching every machine on in a room and logging in, either
through RDS or in person, a series of software checks like Scandisk,
Defragmentation and Drive imaging will pre-empt most of the damage that
will happen to the machines or is already happening. It is basically like
resetting a computer and the hard drive files, back to default.
 Charts drawn like those on the right will plan when this happens, what money
it will cost, how long they should take, what times they can happen, who will
carry them out and track the predicted and actual results. When there is a
hardware audit by a company, these plans will show what has been looked at,
when things are due and fault report those complete.
 Software maintenance – Like hardware there are reasons for doing this, a
software audit is a legal audit of a companies programs, it tracks through
system registry what is legal and covers the company against liability.
 Charts are drawn up, when the registers took place, what the results are, what
was checked and what was done to those with faults, reimaging, reinstalling
and reconfiguring then happens to protect a company.
P3.1 – Task 02 – Describe which planning techniques should be used to schedule
software and hardware maintenance, and software and hardware upgrade
activities within your 2 companies.
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Scenario
Criteria
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Before the medium and longer term planning of repairs and scheduling takes place and can
become an action plan, operational considerations have to be negotiated. No point planning
to replace the whole memory on 30 computers unless there is a budget in place, network
staff around, duty staff clear of the rooms and contingencies set aside for potential
downtime. Three operational considerations will be in place:
 Scope of maintenance - Scope is just another word for range. Basically a company will
need the technicians to research and explain the range of maintenance tasks involved in
keeping a Computer Network healthy. The scope declared will need to include issues such
as Time, Cost, Man Hours, Contingencies, Allowances, Safety Procedures, Wastage and
possible external application (outside help). This will include:
◦ Hardware Maintenance - Keeping the PC components physically clean, replacing faulty/
out-dated parts, disk defragmenting and disk clean-up, and possible replacement of
redundant architecture etc. This can also cover upgrades, replacements and repairs.
◦ Software Maintenance - keeping all software up to date, Imaging, reinstalling,
upgrading, fault checking, logging and compatibility testing. This also includes ensuring
a computer is protected against viruses by installing anti-virus software and firewalls
etc.
 The Scope document provided is an important management document as it is taken into
consideration at a time of budgets being drawn up, it is the network Departments way of
stating the costing needs and considerations.
Scenario
Criteria
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Frequency (e.g. routine, non-routine) - this is where the user maintains the computer without it being on the systems
scheduled list of things to do. EG. Checking all the components are in working order. It is a set of service or procedures
performed to keep a computer in good working conditions.
◦ Routine maintenance may be needed if you see your system is running slow like a virus scan or if you can tell if
something is wrong, then defrag. Routine maintenance can be predicted and planned for, backups, schedules checks,
imaging, replacement and upgrades and so it can also be budgeted and planned for, staff, location, room allowance etc.
◦ Non routine maintenance isn't scheduled unlike routine maintenance which is done on a regular basis. This cannot be
planned for, involves things like on the spot repairs, replacements, one off decisions. 30% of all network faults are those
that can be repaired by a technician going to the room and fixing it but this cannot be budgeted for and allowances vary
between businesses on the tolerable and intolerable expense leading to replacement rather than repair.
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Other e.g. use of maintenance specialists – Put simply, those employed by the company may not be the best people for
the job to fix or replace things. Certain IT jobs are specialist like laying down fibre optic cabling, electrical installation,
advanced client management support.
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The support externally can be either telephone which is time consuming but can lead to benefitting the network support
team as they will still be involved in the repair process, through RDC, which adds a security risk to the process but is
usually quite safe and successful, or hiring in on contract.
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Contractual work is expensive so it is usually limited to when it needs to happen. Certain external technicians can charge
£250 an hour, more than plumbers and electricians, sometimes they charge by the contract. They are professional, will
get the job done and should be cost effective. They are also highly skilled.
P3.2 – Task 03 – Describe, explain and evaluate the operational planning techniques that can be used to schedule
maintenance activities.
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Scope
Frequency
Maintenance Specialists
P3.3 – Task 04 - Describe how these operational planning techniques can influence the decisions on software and hardware
upgrade and maintenance activities within your 2 companies.
Scenario
Criteria
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Now that you have considered the five different planning mechanisms in place you will need to
plan for the maintenance and u[grading of the system for this project. As part of the project you
should be given a system to manage. This system should be a single base unit with the OS
installed from scratch. The system will have MSOffice or OpenOffice, an installed motherboard,
working monitor, keyboard and mouse and perhaps has been in place and working before.
 For LO3 you will be configuring and scanning the computer for problems and issues, for LO4 you
will be adding three pieces of hardware and updating the machine to make it better. You will also
be adding software to protect the machine and prepare schedules for the maintenance of the
computer.
 These pieces of software and hardware are of interest to us now.
M2.1 - Task 05 - Create a plan for scheduled maintenance Activities, scanning, checking system
Integrity, defragmentation, virus checking, installing firewalls and verification for your selected
company.
 For this you will need to draw up two flow diagrams, either a Route Map or maintenance
Schedule for the software tasks. The list can be gained from the software task list in LO3 and
LO4. The diagrams need to contain alternative pathing for fault finding.
M2.2 - Task 06 - Create a Gantt or Upgrade Schedule Chart that outlines all the stages of upgrading
and testing 3 device cards and drivers for your selected company.
 For this you will need to draw up one diagram, either a Gantt or Upgrade Schedule Chart for the
hardware tasks that needs to include concurrent, contingencies, deadlines and milestones. You
may wish to use OpenProj or Project Manager for this of create the pathing within Excel.
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Scenario
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Companies would not run these software and hardware routines unless it was necessary.
Decisions made about what to how, how to avoid issues, how to keep things running
smoothly are made by management teams in all medium sized companies. Costs are
negotiated and plans drawn up, at least for larger projects. On the network side everything
has to be micro managed, staff indicate faults on the system, events get added to a list,
detailed, assigned and then someone comes and fixes it. At the end of the year all the lists
are added up, counted, jobs completed are analysed in terms of time and success rates.
But there are other benefits other than job justification:
Updates maintained – all updates on a system either supersede previous versions or add
to the installation version. When a drive is imaged (a ghost version of a working machine is
copied directly over a cleaned hard drive) the updates will be part of that image, replacing
everything that went before. This way machines are completely up t date when imaged,
newest drivers, most compatible software, most reliable versions and a cleaner, smaller,
sleeker OS. This also reduces the backdoor access for hackers and viruses.
Reduced risk of viruses – With the newest .dat files and an up to date firewall, the risk of
viruses and threats from the outside are massively reduced. There are up to 5000 new
viruses and variants every week, it only takes one to destroy the information on a machine,
the need for the best version cannot be emphasised enough. Better to avoid the threat
than to treat the damage. Updated hardware and new cards with better drivers reduces
the number of backdoor or OS holes that allow hackers to gain access.
Scenario
Criteria
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Equipment clean and dust free – For health and safety reasons as well as computer speed
and welfare, this is good to have. Fans will get clogged up, causing crashes, slow downs and
risk of fire. Similarly, a clean computer sets a standard, especially when computers are hotswopped by staff and customers.
 Maximised efficiency of equipment – At the end of the day all upgrades, cleans, images,
repairs, scans etc. are designed to make the computers better at what they do. Maximising
their potential, their speed, their efficiency, maximising the icons, the accessibility, the
speed at which it takes to open files and find information will only benefit a business.
When a customer rings up or stands at a desk asking for help from the system, they do not
care that your machines are slow, they want to know their answer. Bosses with deadlines
do not care about the excuses, just the results, especially when it impacts them.
D1.1 – Task 07 - Give detailed explanations of the benefits to your selected company of
regular software maintenance activities identifying the problems that can be avoided.
D1.2 – Task 08 - Give detailed explanations of the benefits to your selected company of
upgrading, adding and replacing legacy hardware.
 For this your explanation needs to be detailed and include what problems could occur
without regular maintenance, to include a range of problems for hardware and software.
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Updates
maintained
Scenario
Criteria
Reduced risk of
viruses
Tasks
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Equipment clean and dust
free
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Maximised efficiency of
equipment
P3.1 – Task 01 – Describe, explain and evaluate planning techniques that can be used to
schedule maintenance activities.
P3.1 – Task 02 – Describe which planning techniques should be used to schedule software
and hardware maintenance, and software and hardware upgrade activities within your 2
companies.
P3.2 – Task 03 – Describe, explain and evaluate the operational planning techniques that
can be used to schedule maintenance activities.
P3.3 – Task 04 - Describe how these operational planning techniques can influence the
decisions on software and hardware upgrade and maintenance activities within your 2
companies.
M2.1 - Task 05 - Create a plan for scheduled maintenance Activities, scanning, checking
system Integrity, defragmentation, virus checking, installing firewalls and verification for
your selected company.
M2.2 - Task 06 - Create a Gantt or Upgrade Schedule Chart that outlines all the stages of
upgrading and testing 3 device cards and drivers for your selected company.
D1.1 – Task 07 - Give detailed explanations of the benefits to your selected company of
regular software maintenance activities identifying the problems that can be avoided.
D1.2 – Task 08 - Give detailed explanations of the benefits to your selected company of
upgrading, adding and replacing legacy hardware.
Scenario
Criteria
Tasks
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