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Vdocuments - MX Siwes Report
Vdocuments - MX Siwes Report
REPORT OF THE
SCHEME (SIWES)
UNDERTAKEN AT
BY
SUBMITTED TO
CALABAR, NIGERIA.
MAY 2011.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
1.0 SIWES
2.3 Troubleshooting
4.1 Conclusion
4.2 Recommendations
ABSTRACT
This SIWES report gives details about all the work carried out and the relevant
experience gained at NIIT, Calabar, Center. During my six months attachment at NIIT Calabar
Center, I was involved in several activities. Firstly, I was assigned to assist the repairs and
components within the center in Calabar. Also, since I was a former student at NIIT, and having
being certified as an Oracle Professional before now, I was assigned a class to teach, as part of
my Industrial Training. Several softwares like ORACLE Universal Installer, Windows Server
This report gives concise information on all the subjects afore mentioned, and defines
clearly the experience gained. It also highlights some problems I encountered during the process
INTRODUCTION:
1.0 SIWES
SIWES is an acronym for Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme. SIWES is an effective
instrument used for exposing students to the realities of the work environment in Nigeria
especially, and the world in general, in their various professions, so as to achieve the needed
technological advancement for the nation. Some of the aims of SIWES are:
To provide, for the students, opportunities to be involved in the practical aspect of their
respective disciplines; thus, bridging the gap between the theoretical aspect taught in the class
professions.
To prepare students for industrial working environments they are likely to meet after
graduation.
When NIIT first came into Nigeria, it was called Nigerian Institute of Information Technology. It
was introduced to Nigeria from the main company in India. Over time, it spread all over the
world and it was decided that the name ‘Nigerian Institute for Information Technology’ was a
limitation to only Nigeria, whereas NIIT had spread over 35 countries of the world.
Therefore, to achieve a suitable and consistent reputation of the organization, the name was
changed to simply ‘NIIT’ as a brand name. Thus, NIIT no longer means Nigerian Institute of
NIIT has centers all over Nigeria. The centers are not managed by one general executive,
but are managed by individuals who have purchased the franchise from the Indian firm. So they
are simply running under the name of the Indian company, but the management is mainly
Nigeria. Calabar Center where I did my six months attachment, Uyo Center and the Two Centers
NIIT Calabar existed prior to 2007 and was later closed down due to non-compliance
with the policies of the main company in India. Then it was owned by other individuals and the
center was located at the Murtala Mohammed Highway. In 2008, the center at IBB was re-
NIIT offers training programs in major professional courses offered in the Information
Technology niche. Some of these courses include ORACLE, Linux, Sun Java (now
ORACLE/Sun Java), CISCO trainings (Cisco Certified Network Associate), CompTIA, Web
Design, Creative or Desktop Publishing and Computer appreciation (IT Fundamentals). The
This report gives details about the various activities performed within the six months attachment
at NIIT Calabar, Center from August 2010 to February, 2011. It covers the major roles
performed which include Repairs/Maintenance and Database Administration. It highlights all the
tools and softwares or materials used in carrying out day to day activities and it serves as an
evidence of the experience gained during the six months period of attachment.
CHAPTER TWO: REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE/ASSEMBLY
Briefly, computer systems are made up of hardware and software. The physical touchable part of
the computer is called the hardware. This is the part that we can touch and feel. The hardware
parts of a computer include the keyboard, monitor, mouse and printer, usually called the
peripherals. Other hardware parts include scanner, lightpen, Random Access Memory (RAM)
The software is a set of instructions that control the computer’s functionality. It cannot be seen or
touched. We have two types, system software and application software. System software is
Operating systems are sets of instructions that enable interaction between the computer and the
hardware. They act as an interface between the user and the computer. Application softwares are
instructions which service a specific need such as Microsoft Excel, which is used for
spreadsheets etc.
In performing maintenance operations on computer systems and components, some sets of tools
are required to make the job easier. Some recommended tools are screwdrivers (precision
screwdrivers preferably), pliers, parts bag, flashlight, Compact Disk (CD) and portable hard disk
parts or insert screws so as to assemble component parts. They are several types based on the
shape of the head. Commonly used ones are star head screw drivers and flat screw drivers. For
laptop computers, precision screw drivers are needed. These screw drivers are adapted for
Pliers are used as alternatives to the fingers where the fingers may be too large, especially
on the motherboard where most of the components are small. Commonly used for this purpose
Flashlights are small lighting devices which are used when working in the dark or in
places that are darkened, for instance, one may need a light within the system unit to see the
Compact Disks (CDs) are storage devices which are used to keep information. You have
the recordable CD, which is typically used once, and the re-writeable CD, which can be used and
re-used. CDs are necessary for installation of software during maintenance activities, where
necessary.
Portable hard disk drives or flash drives are needed during maintenance operations to
move files from one place to another if necessary. A CD can also be used in this case, but flash
drives and portable hard disks are needed when the file or files to be moved around are not too
large, because it may be waste of the CD. These portable hard disks or flash drives may also
contain utility diagnostic softwares to be used for diagnostics of the system to be maintained.
A multimeter may also be required for checking of power supplies especially on desktop
systems.
2.2 Basic Components and Their Functions
They are several component parts of a computer, we have the outer parts of the computer like the
monitor, keyboard, mouse, system unit and we have the inner part of the computer which
contains the motherboard, the processor, the RAM sticks or modules, the cables, the hard disks
or secondary storage and many other components. Let us look at them in detail.
Monitor:
This is the visual part of the computer that looks like a television. It is called an output device
because it enables the user to view an output of whatever operation he or she is performing. It is
also called the visual display unit (VDU). Common problems we find with it include, slacking of
Keyboard/Mouse:
The keyboard is an input device and is typically used for inputting data into the computer. The
mouse is also an input device used as an alternative to the keyboard. The common problem with
the keyboard and the mouse is breaking of the pins in the PS/2 connectors on their connector
The system unit basically holds the core components of the computer. It has a casing or
container. This container is designed such that some of the features of the core components
within the casing can be used. Within the system unit, we can find the motherboard.
Chassis or case
Motherboard:
This is the most important component on a computer system. It is also called the main board.
Every internal component in a computer connects to the motherboard and its features largely
determine what the computer is capable of plus its overall performance. Motherboards are
classified based on form factors (form factor refers to the physical dimensions, sizes and shape as
well as certain connector, screw hole, and other positions that dictate into which type of case the
Motherboard sample
Processor:
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) or processor could be thought of as the engine of the
computer. It is identified by mainly two features, its speed and its width. The speed is a simple
concept graded in Megahertz (MHz). The faster the speed of the processor, the better the
Processor examples
Processor examples
continued
Memory (RAM): The system memory is often called Random Access Memory (RAM). This is
the primary working memory. It holds all the programs and the data that the processor is using at
a given time.
RAM (memory) modules
Power Supply: The power supply feeds electrical power to the internal components in the
computer.
Video Card: This is the component on the motherboard that controls the information that we see
on the monitor.
Sound Card: A sound card is the component on the motherboard that enables the PC to generate
complex sounds.
Sound/audio device
Hard Drive: The hard disk is the primary high-capacity storage media for the system. All you
Network Card
2.3 Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting is simply the process of finding out why a particular device or component is
malfunctioning, and fixing or repairing that problem. There are various ways of troubleshooting
depending on the type of component to be repaired or fixed or the type of problem experienced.
Some basic troubleshooting tips I learnt during my attachment are given in the table below.
Before we define databases generally, let us use lay-man terms. The word database comes from
two words, data and base. Data is simply information while Base can be said to be a warehouse
or store for something. From this, we can say that a database is simply a base where information
stored. In this context, we mean an electronic database, hence, a database is the storage of
information in form of text, images or other computer defined formats for several purposes.
as a unit. This information may be anything from personal details, to messages, historical data,
A database could also be defined as an organized collection of data for various purposes, usually
The term database is different from DBMS (Database Management system), which is the
software itself that is used to organize, update, edit and retrieve this data. Some examples of
database management systems include ORACLE, MySql, and Microsoft SQL Server etc. Every
database belongs to one model or the other. Examples of database models are relational model,
The ORACLE database management system is an open, comprehensive and integrated approach
opportune to teach ORACLE. Oracle database management system has three main areas,
Structured Query Language, Workshop 1 (Administration 1) and Workshop 2 (Administration
2).
Structured Query Language is a database computer language designed for managing data in
relational database management systems (RDBMS), and originally based upon relational algebra
and calculus. Its scope includes data insert, query, update and delete, schema creation and
modification, and data access control. SQL is wide and varies a bit across other database
(DDL), Data Manipulation Language (DML), Data Control Language (DCL), and Transaction
Control (TC).
Data Definition Language includes SQL commands that are used to change the structure
of a database like creating a new database, dropping or deleting a database, creating a table,
altering or modifying a table and commenting on a table. Examples include CREATE, ALTER,
Usage:
char(1));
Here, a table called result is created with three columns, student_name having character data type
with maximum width of 12 characters, score having a data type of number and maximum width
work with the data in the database like, editing or updating, deleting a record and inserting a new
Usage:
Here, a record or row is inserted into the ‘result’ table. In the ‘student_name’ field, the value
‘Daniel’ is inserted, in the ‘score’ field, the value 85 is inserted and in the
Data Control Language includes SQL commands that are used to control data access to
users within the database, like granting privileges to view or not to view a particular table or
Usage:
Transaction control includes SQL commands that are used to control the way a
transaction (a transaction is a set of SQL commands run concurrently and having a particular
target in general) is achieved like when it should end, whether it should be saved for restore etc.
Usage:
does an operation error. To undo that operation, he ‘rolls back’ to the restore point ‘error’, in the
last command.
developer. These clients are said to be Command Line Interfaces because all operations are
After SQL, is the administration stage. This part is broken down into two main areas,
principles and activities carried out using SQL can be carried out using Graphical User Interfaces
(GUI) like Enterprise Manager (EM). Enterprise manager is another ORACLE client used to
connect and administer the database via GUI. Operations like creation of tables, inserting records
However, they are some additional tasks which are exclusive to enterprise manager like
The second part, Administration 2 simply involves backup and recovery operations.
As suggested by the name, a backup is simply a copy of the database files, or any section of the
database files, kept for the purpose of bringing back the state of the database in case of a system
backups. Backups and recovery operations can be performed at both the Command Line
Interface (SQLplus) or through Graphical User Interface (GUI). A typical command to backup
Here the database is being backed up, with the custom name ‘first’ given to the backup.
In ORACLE, I learnt that databases are made up of tablespaces, which are made up of
segments; segments are also broken down into extents, and extents into oracle data blocks. This
DATABASE
TABLESPACE DATAFILES
SEGMENT
EXTENT
The structure stated above comes in handy in backup and recovery operations because we
may not always want to backup our entire database. We may want to backup just a tablespace,
which is a work area in the database, and you can have different work areas. These tablespaces
are further broken down into internal components like segments, extents and oracle data blocks.
Of all these, the part we use (the physical part or structure) and work with, is that on the right
hand side, the ‘data files’. Every tablespace has one or more datafiles. These datafiles store the
Hence to backup a tablespace, we simply backup its datafiles, to backup a data base, we
Other important files exist in an ORACLE database. They include the Control files and
the Redo Log files. The control files are the brain box, containing control information and must
always be present, hence regular backups are taken of the control files.
The redo log files are used to store the changes that have taken place in a database, hence they
need to also be backup up to ensure that the database can be recovered to the point of failure.
Backups and recovery operations from command line, are performed using a client called
RMAN. RMAN means Recovery Manager. From a GUI interface like enterprise manager, we
During the six months attachment period I learnt a lot of things as indicated by my report so far.
Before starting I knew little or nothing about hardware, computer assembly and disassembly, but
now I can carry out basic troubleshooting operations on a computer, assemble a computer from
Also, since I was opportune to teach ORACLE, I was able to acquire practical experience on live
databases, which I used to carry out class practices. I was also able to learn far more than I had
Firstly, I was overloaded, I worked from Monday to Sunday because I was teaching, and classes
are held on Sunday, and it was difficult for me to transport myself to and from the NIIT center at
4.1 Conclusion
SIWES was established to provide opportunities for students to be involved in the practical
aspect of their respective disciplines in the industrial working environments. During my 6-month
industrial training, I gained a wide range of experience from the various assignments undertaken
such as the teaching of ORACLE students, assembly of systems, and fixing of small networks.
Having gone through the 6 months industrial training, I have the following suggestions
Students or trainees should learn to comport themselves well in these companies so as not
to send a bad signal which may discourage such company from taking or accepting future
SIWES students.