Resource Summaries For 10 Week Tasks

Week 1

There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week:  the tasks are detailed below.  There is a table to complete for each task.  Please fill in the information required.

Note:  Each resource summary should be around 200-300 words.

The text discusses conventional binary computing architecture.  However, an emerging field of research focuses on the development of quantum computers.  Find and summarise a resource that explains why there is so much interest in this type of computing (for example, the potential applications).

Title: Future scope of Binary computing and quantum computer

Reference: IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. (2017). Qudits: The Real Future of Quantum Computing?. [online] Available at: https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/qudits-the-real-future-of-quantum-computing [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/qudits-the-real-future-of-quantum-computing

Summary: With the advancement of binary computing and the advancement of the new generation computers there are several new fields are created which can be utilised in order to get suitable results in data analysis and decision making processes. Quantum computer is one of the most important inventions which can be utilised from several aspects. Quantum computers can solve any problems faster than the classical computers. It also provides better security environment for the transmission and storage of data. In classical computing system digital bits are used as the unit of data whereas in quantum computing bits are in quantum nature utilizing the superposition of states. Quantum computing uses the quantum mechanical phenomenon and depends upon the principles based upon superposition and entanglement. The quantum computers use the sequence of quantum bits that may be 0 or 1 state and also the superposition of these two states. These small digits or states are called Quibits. These Quibits can be utilised in several future aspects by implementing them by applying the digits into the several fields like data analysis and many more. The application of quibits can be used to provide main advantage of making the system more advanced in terms of accuracy.

The text briefly makes mention of the Linux operating system, an open-source Unix variant developed in the 1990s.  There are many popular Linux distributions (look up “Linux Distribution” if you don’t know what that means).  Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and advantages of ONE of these distributions.

Title: Linux operating system and Linux distributions

Reference: MakeUseOf. (2017). The Best Linux Operating Systems. [online] Available at: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-linux-distributions/ [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-linux-distributions/

Summary: The main advantage of using Linux is that it is an open source platform that refers that anyone is free to get the information about the system structure, algorithms and procedures related to Linux. The term Linux distribution refers that it can match to any type of users whether the user is new or well known to the computer. The most popular distributions arte Ubuntu Linux, Linux Mint, Arch Linux, Deepin, Fedora, Debian and open- USE. Linux is an operating system which is open source in nature. It is a cross platform operating system which is freely distributable and it is based on UNIX system software that can be installed in personal computers, laptops, mobile or tablet devices and gaming consoles. Servers and supercomputers also use Linux as the operating system. Linux operating system consists of Boot-loader, kernel, Daemons, shell, graphical server, desktop environment and several applications. The kernel is the heart of the Linux and it manages the memory, CPU and the peripheral devices. Daemons provide the background services like sound, printing. The main advantage of using Linux is that it provides an operating system which is free of viruses, malwares, and slowdowns. It has also zero cost entry and provides the most reliable operating system. The zero cost entry refers that Linux can be installed and distributed in any number of computers without paying any amount of money.

Week 2

The text discusses the concept of virtualisation.  There are several “type 2” or hosted virtualisation products (software) on the market (both commercial and open source).  Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and advantages of ONE of these products.

Title: Type 2 and hosted virtualisation 

Reference: VMWare. (2017). [https://www.vmware.com/in/solutions/virtualization.html [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.vmware.com/in/solutions/virtualization.html

Summary: There are mainly two type of virtualization and those are full virtualization and para-virtualization.  The advantage of using virtualization is that several applications can run parallel in a computer by using a single processing unit. Due to this parallel use of the applications the overhead cost is reduced. Another main advantage of virtualization is multitasking which refers to run several applications at the same time. As a result of implementing virtualization the efficiency and the availability of resources are improved in the computing system. There are many applications of virtualization in desktop virtualization, video games, smart phones and smart televisions. Modern technologies are continuously working on the advancement of the virtual world created by the computers and mobiles phones that can bring a new experience to the users. Virtualization is the method of making a virtual version of any object. The object may be a computer hardware platform, storage device or computer network resource. Virtual machines refer to the virtualization of the hardware that creates the virtual object of the hardware and it acts like a real computer. In computing system the virtualization is taken place in the host computer and the guest machine is the virtual machine.

TCP and UDP are examples of two Layer Four (L4) transport protocols that are discussed in the text.  Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and uses of ONE other L4 protocol that is not discussed in the text (i.e. NOT UDP or TCP).

Title:  Transport layer protocols

Reference: VMWare. (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.vmware.com/in/solutions/virtualization.html [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/internet-control-message-protocol-icmp/

Summary: Redirect is a mechanism used by ICMP that sends routing information to the hosts. In this protocol information is sent with very high speed and accuracy. ICMP follows a sequence to send the information. If the sequence is full then the data is not sent any longer and wait for the next sequence. Transport protocols are used in the computer networking system to divide the methods regarding the networking of the computer system. There are different kinds of layers in a network protocol. Level 4 network is one of the advanced network protocol systems. Other than TCP and UDP another layer four transport protocol is the ICMP or Internet Control Message Protocol. The main function of the ICMP protocol is to send the error messages and operational information that indicates the availability of the service. Mainly network devices and the routers use the ICMP protocol. Time to live (TTL) field is an indicator of the ICMP protocol and if TTL is 0 then the packet of information is considered to be discarded and the ICMP sends the signal. A copy of IPV4 header is included in a data section and the function of the ICMP is to send the data section. These packets are used for the denial of service attacks.

Week 3

Cyber-attacks on governments or government assets are receiving increasing publicity and media attention.  Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE recent cyber-attack (within the last 3 years) against a government website or asset.

Title: Cyber attacks against government website

Reference: Ft.com. (2017). Cyber attack hits global businesses and Ukraine government. [online] Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/6ee9147a-5b43-11e7-b553-e2df1b0c3220 [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.ft.com/content/6ee9147a-5b43-11e7-b553-e2df1b0c3220

Summary: In recent times several cases are found inwhich the government websites are hacked by the cyber attacks and the number of such cases are increasing day by day. Cyber attacks are not a new issue to the security systems of different websites. In recent times different government websites are also affected by the cyber attacks. Government websites contains several confidential data which are related to the security of the nation. Recently many sources are trying to attack the government websites to break down the security of the country. One of the recent attacks was on the government website of Canada on March 9 2017. Senior government officials were tensed about the privacy of the website. Many viruses and threads were distributed in the website. Canada Revenue agency shut down its tax filling portal over the weekend. The vulnerability detected was due to the upgraded version of Apache Struts 2. As part of a hunt across government that involved Treasury Board and CSE, which is also the agency that advises the government on how to protect its computer networks, officials also decided to take offline portions of the CRA where Canadians file taxes.

Flood, fires and earthquakes are events beyond our control, yet impact heavily on ICT infrastructure.  Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation’s ICT infrastructure being impacted by such an event and the resulting effects on the business and/or its operations.  For example, you might want to search for “data centre fire” or “network cable earthquake” to find suitable resources.

Title: Impact of natural risks to ICT infrastructure of an organisation

Reference: BusinessBlogs Hub. (2017). Natural Disasters and Data Loss!. [online] Available at: https://www.businessblogshub.com/2012/10/natural-disasters-and-data-loss/ [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.businessblogshub.com/2012/10/natural-disasters-and-data-loss/

Summary: ICT infrastructure refers to the computer system or network system in a business or other organisation. ICT is a digital platform that is used to store and analyse data in an organisation. As we know the main disadvantage of a digital system is that it falls down drastically if any natural calamity happens to it. Natural calamities like earthquake or other incidents which are out of our control, can damage the whole ICT project. One of the examples of the earthquake affected communication system is discussed here. Taiwan faced a huge earthquake and many aftershocks which affected many people and created fire in different places. Almost 12 people were injured due to the earthquake. Different telecom workers reported that the undersea fiber-optic cables which were used for telecommunication were disconnected. Taiwan’s biggest telecommunication company informed that the magnitude of the earthquake was almost 6.4. The earthquake attacked in Pingtung which is a city near the southern Taiwan. It is informed that more than four undersea cables were affected due to the earthquake. The Fiber Optic Link Around The Globe or FLAG which is situated near North Asia Loop was also affected. As a result the communication in several places of Taiwan and Hong Kong were affected.

Week 4

The text briefly mentions crowd sourcing which is a form of social business that organisations employ to engage with the public to achieve a goal.  Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation using crowd sourcing and the outcomes of the engagement.

Title: Crowdsourcing 

Reference: Forbes.com. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2015/08/03/crowdsourcing-your-key-to-a-more-effective-engaged-organization/#6ca99f01eaef [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2015/08/03/crowdsourcing-your-key-to-a-more-effective-engaged-organization/#6ca99f01eaef

Summary: Crowd sourcing is a process between the traditional production and the user production. It is a shared top-down and bottom-up process. Examples of crowd sourced organizations are Peer-to-patent, Amazon Mechanical Turk. In the above source public health is discussed as a field of application of the crowd sourcing. Different websites or platforms use crowd sourcing in the field of providing medical service to people. It can be concluded from the above discussion that crowd sourcing may be useful in broadcast search problem, Peer-Vetted creative production problem and many more. : In crowd –sourcing, an online community is used to communicate among the participants and an organization. Then the community members send the solutions to the problem, which is processed by the crowd-sourcing organization and advance it to a unified product. Crowd-sourcing is in general a well structured process from the organization’s point of view. In this field the organization tries to draw the creativity and the intelligence of an online community openly. This should be done in a controlled way. This kind of approach is like almost community engagement. In a community based approach the main advantage is that the community members can provide solutions to many problems that a scientists or a technician may not provide sometimes.

With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come a surge of instances of data theft.  Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example where data has been stolen from a private company or corporation and explain the impacts on the customers.

Title: Impact of Data theft from a organisation

Reference: Bankinfosecurity.com. (2017). Case Study: Omni American Bank Takes on Data Loss Prevention. [online] Available at: https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/case-study-omni-american-bank-takes-on-data-loss-prevention-a-898 [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/case-study-omni-american-bank-takes-on-data-loss-prevention-a-898

Summary: Due to several security issues regarding the data storage system it is very frequent case where an organisation loses the important information from their database. Zomato, which provides users with an online guide to restaurants, cafes and clubs, reported that data from 17 million users had been stolen, including email addresses and hashed passwords. The Indian firm said that it had discovered the breach “recently” and subsequently logged affected users out of their accounts, as well as resetting passwords on the app and the website. Zomato reported that those customers who had logged in by Facebook or Google id would not be affected. Almost 40 percent of people got affected. People who were using the application used their personal information due to the login process. Due to the loss of the information from the company website the data came from the users was also under theft. People security is really an issue in this case. Their confidential personal information should not be shared with other organisations. People were advised not to log in the Zomato website for some days in which the organisation again restore their security system. These loss of data may lead to serious problems like the transfer of information like credit card,, debit card to the unwanted people.

Week 5

The failure to adapt business processes and embrace technology, particularly ICT, has led to the downfall of many previously successful companies.  Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of an organisation that failed to adapt to changes in technology and explain what the organisation failed to do/respond to.

Title: Failure of companies for not adapting new technology

Reference: Fortune.com. (2017). Why corporate giants fail to change. [online] Available at: https://fortune.com/2013/05/08/why-corporate-giants-fail-to-change/ [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://fortune.com/2013/05/08/why-corporate-giants-fail-to-change/

Summary: One of the examples of failure to adaptation with technology is the Kodak. Kodak was founded in the year of 1888. In 1999 the illustrious picture company collected almost $80 stock prices in the share market. In 2010 the stock is down to 78 cents. Although it seems like the fall of the Kodak company is recent, but actually the company is failed to adapt for more than last few decades. In the last few decades technologies have emerged and advance a lot. Many different technologies came in the camera and the photo industry which are not utilized in case of Kodak. Kodak provided high quality instant pictures to the customers giving away their cameras. It was a good technique until the advantage of instant photography took the market after 1948. Kodak also tried to make their instant camera in order to respond with the growing trend. Kodak took the idea of instant camera from Polaroid and Polaroid started suing for damages from Kodak and it did cost a lot to Kodak. From the above discussion it can be clouded that the adaptation of the technology to the company is important in order to sustain in the competitive market.

Large, complex ICT projects are more likely to fail than succeed.   Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of a large ICT project that failed and explain the impacts of the failure.

Title: Failure of ICT project

Reference: Widman, J. (2017). IT’s biggest project failures — and what we can learn from them. [online] Computerworld. Available at: https://www.computerworld.com/article/2533563/it-project-management/it-s-biggest-project-failures—-and-what-we-can-learn-from-them.html [Accessed 7 Sep. 2017].

URL: https://www.computerworld.com/article/2533563/it-project-management/it-s-biggest-project-failures—-and-what-we-can-learn-from-them.html

Summary: World’s fastest supercomputer was made by IBM in 1956 by a group of scientists. The first transistorized supercomputer was made by IBM in the Los Alamos national Laboratory just five years after. This supercomputer was also known as IBM 7030 or Stretch. It was capable of analyzing a half-million data per second. Up to 1964 Stretch was the fastest computer in the world. The IBM 7030 is never considered as a failure. IBM’s next big project was to design a system which was hundred times faster than the previous one. Because the system is previously developed it only came with a speed of 30 or 40 times greater value. Due to the failure of the goal reaching, IBM decreased the price of the Stretch to almost $7.8 million form the planned value of $13.5 million. For being below cost the company stopped selling IBM 7030 model and in fact only 9 systems were only made. As the project was very big, the impact of failure of the project was also very big to the organization. Intel took a lot of new information and experiences regarding designing such big computing system. After this project Intel introduced many more technologies like pipelining, memory protection, VLSI technology that resulted fruitfully in future.