Important! Bring your own system configured according to these instructions!
A properly configured system is required to fully participate in this course. If you do not carefully read and follow these instructions, you will likely leave the class unsatisfied because you will not be able to participate in hands-on exercises that are essential to this course. Therefore, we strongly urge you to arrive with a system meeting all the requirements specified for the course.
Students need to have:
- A laptop with a Chrome Internet browser. The laptop should have unrestricted access to the Internet and full administrative access. Chrome should allow for the addition of Chrome Extensions. Before class, the user should install the Secure Shell App in Chrome, https://url.sec488.com?id=425.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- A brand new free tier Amazon Web Services (AWS) account or an existing AWS account with root access and no restrictions (estimated cost is $5)
- A brand new free trial Azure account or an existing Azure account with owner access and no restrictions
SANS will provide:
- Supplementary content via download
Important! Bring your own system configured according to these instructions!
A properly configured system is required to fully participate in this course. These requirements are the mandatory minimums. If you do not carefully read and follow these instructions, you will likely leave the course unsatisfied because you will not be able to participate in hands-on exercises that are essential to this course. We strongly encourage you to arrive with a system meeting all the requirements specified for the course.
It is critical that you back-up your system before class. it is also strongly advised that you do not bring a system storing any sensitive data.
System Hardware Requirements
1. CPU: 64-bit Intel i5/i7 2.0+ GHz processor: Your system's processor must be a 64-bit Intel i5 or i7 2.0 GHz processor or higher.
2. RAM: 8 GB RAM (4 GB min): 8 GB RAM (4 GB min) is required for the best experience. To verify on Windows 10, press Windows key + "I" to open Settings, then click "System", then "About". Your RAM information will be toward the bottom of the page. To verify on a Mac, click the Apple logo at the top left-hand corner of your display and then click "About this Mac".
3. Hard Drive Free Space: No course VM is used in this course: Labs are performed via a browser-based application.
4. Operating System: Windows, macOS, or Linux have been tested to perform well with the course exercises.
Additional Hardware Requirements
The requirements below are in addition to the baseline requirements provided above.
1. Laptop Requirements for SEC488: Network, Wireless Connection: A wireless 802.11 B, G, N, or AC network adapter is required. This can be the internal wireless adapter in your system or and external USB wireless adapter. A wireless adapter allows you to connect to the network without any cables. If you can surf the Internet on your system without plugging in a network cable, you have wireless.
Additional Software Requirements
1. Adobe Acrobat or other PDF reader application
2. Google Chrome Browser: You need the Google Chrome browser installed on your system before you arrive for class. The course exercises have been tested with Chrome and not other browsers. You can download Chrome from here.
Your course media will then be delivered via download. The media files for class can be large, with some in the 40 - 50 GB range. You need to allow plenty of time for the download to complete. Internet connections and speed vary greatly and are dependent on many different factors. Therefore, it is not possible to give an estimate of the length of time it will take to download your materials. Please start your course media downloads as you get the link. You will need your course media immediately on the first day of class. Waiting until the night before the class starts to begin your download has a high probability of failure.
SANS has begun providing printed materials in PDF form. Additionally, certain classes are using an electronic workbook in addition to the PDFs. The number of classes using eWorkbooks will increase quickly. In this new environment, we have found that a second monitor and/or a tablet device can be useful for keeping the class materials visible while the instructor is presenting or while you are working on lab exercises.
If you have additional questions about the laptop specifications, please contact laptop_prep@sans.org.