Resource Summaries For Weekly Tasks

Week 1

The text discusses how Central Processing Units (CPUs) function but is silent on another processing component of modern computers, the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what a GPU is and how it differs from a CPU.  The resource (and your summary) should discuss at least one non-graphics related use for GPUs.

Title and Reference: Graphics processing unit (GPU) programming strategies and trends in GPU computing

Forbes.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/janakirammsv/2017/08/07/in-the-era-of-artificial-intelligence-gpus-are-the-new-cpus/#4409e3735d16 [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Summary:

This article is based on the discussion about the use of Graphical Processing Units (GPUs).

The article is selected about the proper understanding of the GPUs could be defined as a form of specialize circuit that would be able to manipulate the processing of memory. The GPUs are primarily imbedded within mobile devices, workstations, game consoles and computers. The modern form of GPUs are extremely efficient for manipulating the processing of different images and computer graphics. The article discusses about the fact that with the increasing number of usage of GPUs, there has been a huge form of development within the programming tools and languages.  

The main forms of differences of the GPU from the CPU is that they are able to perform complex calculations in order to render images, video and animations whereas the CPUs are only responsible for performing various complex works within the computer. The GPUs have thousands of simple cores that are clocked at 1 GHz while CPU has nearly 4-8 flexible cores that are mainly clocked at 2.3 GHz. Another difference is that though the GPU is mainly used for processing parallel tasks, the CPU would be efficient for performing sequential tasks.

This article is useful as it discusses about the overview of the GPU hardware and the different techniques used by them for achieving higher performance.  

Week 2

One of the potential next advances in Operating Systems (OSes) will be Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. Find and summarise ONE resource that discusses how AI could change the way OSes function and/or interact with users.

Title and Reference: Artificial Intelligence : A Modern Approach

Future of Life Institute. (2018). Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence – Future of Life Institute. [online] Available at: https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/?cn-reloaded=1 [Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].

Summary:

This article focuses on the aspect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the different kinds of capabilities that are provided by the technology within the use of in the recent form of Operating Systems.

This article is selected because of the understanding of the huge form of advancement within the sector of AI in the recent years. This has majorly helped for the purpose of increasing the level of productivity on the various forms of computing devices in order to get transitioned to a new paradigm of computing.

Some of the major form of capabilities that are provided by AI is the modelling of operating systems with the data provided by the user. This form of modelling would be able to highly predict the customized needs of the customers based on their preferences. This form of generic API would be helpful in understanding the relevant needs of the customer. The capabilities of AI is that the technology would be able to predict the needs of the customer within the OS and thus provide them with a varied array of changes.

The resource is useful as they help in the using of  of AI along with Machine Learning would be able to provide profound form of changes and would also bring newer form of possibilities within the development of higher form of use of OS and user interface. 

Week 3

The text discusses how Netflix uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE other commercial IaaS provider that is NOT Google. The resource and your summary should describe how the IaaS differs from AWS. 

Title and Reference: Microsoft Azure and Cloud Computing

Azure.microsoft.com. (2018). Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) | Microsoft Azure. [online] Available at: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/overview/what-is-azure/iaas/ [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Summary:

This article focuses on the technology of Microsoft Azure, which is one of the IaaS cloud based provider who provides commercial services. One of the online platform that makes use of Microsoft Azure is SharePoint. This article discusses on a brief application by Microsoft Azure as it is one of the IaaS providers of cloud services.

This article discusses about the application that covers a broad range of services and would hence provide the main foundational element within the space of cloud computing. SharePoint is one of the collaborative platform that is based on the internet and which helps in integrating the Microsoft Office platform.  

The SharePoint makes use of Microsoft Azure as the IaaS platform in order to run their platform. They would hence need various servers, virtual and physical machines. They help in providing the hosting of their services on the cloud based platform. The underlying usage of IaaS services within SharePoint are meant for storing the valuable content, storage of databases, balancing of load and connectivity with the high form of network.

The article is useful as the hosting of different kinds of services also requires the acquisition of different kinds of computer hardware such as switches, server machines, routers, firewalls and load balancers. There should also be a proper staffing system in order to maintain the installation of the SharePoint application.  

Week 4

IPv4 is discussed in the text, yet the emerging IPv6 protocol is only mentioned briefly.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes the IPv6 protocol.  The resource and your summary should describe how IPv6 differs from IPv4. 

Title and Reference: Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification

Docs.oracle.com. (2018). IPv6 Addressing Overview – System Administration Guide: IP Services. [online] Available at: https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23823_01/html/816-4554/ipv6-overview-10.html [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Summary:

This article focuses on the security of networks with the help of the IPv6 protocol. This protocol could be defined as an upgrade of the IPv4 protocol. The use of IPv6 is mainly related to the operational security.

The article is selected for the understanding about the various kinds of protocol that contains several kind of features that would be aimed for improving the security levels and thus meeting various kinds of challenges to the protocols. There are various challenges that are faced by the organisations based on the various kinds of issues related to the security aspects such as IPv6 ICMP vulnerabilities, lack of experience in countering the attacks, vulnerabilities based on multiple protocol stack and different kinds of hacking tools.

There are some major differences between IPv4 and IPv6. While the address space of IPv4 is 32 bits in length, the IPv6 has 128 bits of length. While the process of fragmentation is optional in IPv4, the fragmentation is done only by the sender in IPv6. The identification of the flow of packets is not identified in IPv4, while in IPv6 the identification of the flow of packets is done with the help of Flow Label field.

This article was useful for gaining knowledge based on IPv4, the manual configuration of the IPv4 addresses is performed while the auto-configuration of addresses is performed in IPv6.   

Week 5

WannaCry and NotPetya were two of the most significant malware attacks of 2017.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes how ONE of these pieces of malware work.  Note that the resource should focus on ONE of these, NOT both.

Title and Reference: Ransomware: the most popular form of attack

Hern, A. and Gibbs, S. (2018). What is WannaCry ransomware and why is it attacking global computers?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/12/nhs-ransomware-cyber-attack-what-is-wanacrypt0r-20 [Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].

Summary:

This article focuses on the major and heaviest form of ransomware attacks that had penetrated into the big form of computing devices. These kind of ransomware attacks had grabbed a huge form of attention of the public as they had threatened the organisations and employees by hacking their computer systems. This article mainly focuses on the WannaCry ransomware attack.

The WannaCry ransomware attack occurred in May 2017. It had mainly targeted the operating systems that were working on Microsoft Windows. This ransomware had encrypted the computers and then were demanding payments from the host systems based on the cryptocurrency of Bitcoin. The WannaCry ransomware had mainly targeted those computers who were running on the older versions of Windows OS and was spreading widely.

This article focuses on the depths of the spread of the ransomware and the emerging form of risks that were posed to the various organisations. This article is also based on an interview conducted over a manager of security project management.

The article was useful for focusing on the ways in which this kind of ransomware had widely spread across the computing systems within the organisation and the ways in which the organisation could have taken measures to protect the organisation.

Week 6

OpenFlow is a protocol that enables Software-Defined Networking (SDN). Find and summarise ONE resource that describes how OpenFlow works and/or how it enables SDN.

Title and Reference: Software-Defined Networking Using OpenFlow: Protocols, Applications and Architectural Design Choices

Summary:

This article focuses on the in-depth concept of Software defined networking (SDN) and the ways in which the interface of SDN would be implemented with the help of the OpenFlow protocol.

This article is selected for gaining knowledge of the details of the various kinds of ways in which the operation of the Open Flow protocol have been summarized in details. The article also focuses on the choices of architectural design of SDN with the help of OpenFlow protocol have been discussed in order to provide better insights on the use of the protocol.

The OpenFlow protocol had been widely standardized with the help of the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). This kind of protocol has been widely been useful as they are able to describe more than one form of control servers that would have switches based on the OpenFlow compliance. The switches of OpenFlow primarily depend on the use of the configuration based on controllers. These kind of controllers permit the process of installation of the different kind of entries based within switches. These switches help in the forwarding of traffic based on the different kind of entries.

This article was helpful for providing a detailed form of description of the entire working form of the OpenFlow protocol and is also able to define the usability of the protocol within the SDN.

Week 7

Historically, organisations have been able to improve business processes by implementing Information Systems.  However, as these systems age they can negatively impact on organisational agility and can ultimately prove problematic.  Such systems are broadly referred to as Legacy Systems. Find and summarise ONE resource that discusses the impacts of legacy systems on organisations.  The resource and your summary should clearly identify problems with maintaining legacy systems.

Title and Reference: Relative impact of different ERP forms on manufacturing organisations: an exploratory analysis of a global manufacturing survey

Summary:

This article focus on an in-depth analysis of the different kinds of systems based on enterprise resource planning (ERP) that might be ranging from small scale to large scale enterprises.

This article is based on the fact that these major form of ERP systems have their major hands to turn into a hybrid based integration in order to combine their existing based ERP with the help of a SaaS based productivity system. The article discusses about the various forms of implications if the organisations would keep the legacy systems.

The article is based on a survey that focuses on the fact that the legacy systems could prove to be harmful for the ERP based organisational systems. With the removal of the legacy systems it would be extremely useful for the organisations as they would be able to increase the level of productivity within the workplace, improve the level of management based on the production levels, keep a control over the quality of the products, optimize the shipping experience and thus incur better cash flows for the organisation.

The article was helpful for putting light on the fact that the implications of the legacy systems would also affect the tax based compliance and regulatory features.

Week 8

With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come the use of these datasets for data mining and analysis.  Recently, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook have come under intense scrutiny for their use of user data, allegedly in order to influence the US 2016 election.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what Cambridge Analytica did and why their services were so controversial.

Title and Reference: The Cambridge Analytica Files

Summary:

This article focus on the in-depth analysis of the scandal of data breach. The kind of data scandal had involved the wide collection of different forms of personal information of 87 million of Facebook users.

The article is selected for focusing on the impact of the number of the data of the users might have reached to a much higher extent. The Cambridge Analytica had been collecting the data of the users of Facebook since the year 2014. The wide collection of data was mainly used to be attempted in order to gain a wide form of influence over the opinions of the voters based on the behalf of different politicians who had hired them.

On the part after discovering the data scandal, the multinational giant Facebook had shown an apology regarding the vast form of public outcry, which had led to the rising prices of the stock. The article terms the incident of Cambridge Analytica to be widely inappropriate. The article discusses about the fact that the data scandal was mainly intended for inciting the discussion of the public on several kinds of ethical based standards based on several social media companies, politicians and different kinds of political consulting organizations.

This resource was useful for understanding the impact of the incident, the consumer advocates were mainly hired in order to provide better form of protection of the consumers within the domain of social media.

Week 9

Load (or performance) testing is a critical step in the information systems development process.  The purpose of this testing is to simulate the peak expected load on a system to ensure both hardware and software can operate effectively and meet key metrics.  To do this, specialised performance testing tools are used.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE such tool.  The resource (and your summary) should include information on the principle uses and features of the tool.

Title and Reference: Evaluating capture and replay and model-based performance testing tools: an empirical comparison

Summary:

This article is based on the fact of representation of the different forms of performance testing tools, which are very much successful for the deployment in various kinds of businesses. These kinds of testing are extremely vital for conducting the best form of tests based within the organisation. This article delves on one of the most popular form of performance testing tool that are used within the testing of different kinds of systems of the organisation.

The article is selected for focusing on one such performance testing tool that is, LoadRunner. It is defined as a form of testing tool based on software applications. This kind of tool is extremely crucial as they are majorly responsible for measuring the behaviour of the systems.

The article puts the major focus on the LoadRunner system is widely used for performing different kinds of testing on the various forms of applications that would be able to measure the behaviour of the computing systems under different kinds of vital load conditions. The LoadRunner system is able to simulate thousands of users based within the software application. They are able to record the performance of the systems and produce the results based on the test conditions.  

The resource of the article was useful for focusing on the detailed analysis of the functionality of the LoadRunner system and the ways in which it would be able to help in the proper functioning of the systems.

Week 10

While information systems and technology deliver many benefits to society, there is a high incidence of failure in attempting to implement them.  These IS/IT implementation project failures frequently result in substantial financial losses. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE example of an Australian IT/IS project that has failed.   Note that the resource should focus on ONE single example and it and your summary should clearly explain the cause(s) of the failure.

Title and Reference: Managing large-scale IS/IT projects in the public sector: Problems and causes leading to poor performance

Summary:

This article focuses on the different kinds of various kinds of failures within the systems of IT systems. The IT system are thought to be highly reliable when they are compared to the traditional based systems.

This article helps in the understanding of the various kinds of agile based developments within the IT sector have led to the huge rise of dependency within the sector. There have also been a major rise in the development of various kinds of management based techniques within the development of the various kinds of applications.

The article also discusses on the fact that these forms of IT systems sometimes lead to the failure within the system in spite of huge insights within the projects. Continuous form of delivery with the help of these systems have led to the higher form of maintenance within the systems. Due to the lack of proper form of maintenance within the systems, there have been major cases of faults that have taken place within the systems.

The article was also useful for putting light on one such incident in which there had been a major situation of IT/IS fault within an organization based in Australia and the techniques that were adopted in order to mitigate the risks within the systems.