COIT20246 ICT Services Management

Question:

Instructions

It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this assignment, please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using the Harvard format. 

Do not copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources:  this assignment is to be in your own words.  You will lose marks if you do not use your own words!

Please complete your assignment using this submission template file, inserting your responses where indicated.

Do not delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the formatting of other pages including the headers and footers.

Tasks

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.

Week 1

The text discusses how modern CPUs function.  Recently a critical flaw in microprocessor design has been discovered that allows two extremely serious security exploits:  Spectre and Meltdown. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes how either of these exploits work.  The resource (and your summary) should focus on what is occurring in the CPU that allows these exploits to occur.

Week 2

Prior to 1985, there were very fewOperating Systems (OSes) that used Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs).  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE of these GUI operating systems.  The OS must have been release prior to 1985 so cannot be Microsoft Windows.

Week 3

Low-Powered Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs) are wireless communication networks that are characterised by linking devices over large distances.  Devices (including simple sensors) typically can only communicate at very low bit rates, however, the communication and associated electronics consume very little power.  As such, LPWAN devices can be battery powered and operateindependently for many months or even years.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE platform or technology that implements a LPWAN. 

Week 4

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a group of hardware and software technologies that allow users to communicate via voice and video over the Internet.  VoIP uses a number of different software protocols, depending on the application.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE of these VoIP protocols.

One of the many uses of cryptography has been the development of the blockchain.  Blockchains are commonly used as the basis for maintaining the data integrity of crypto currencies, though have many, many more applications.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes how blockchains work.  Note that the resource should focus on the blockchain mechanism, NOT crypto currencies.

Week 6

Answer:

Week 1

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The article has discussed about the vulnerabilities named spectra and meltdown. The main reason for choosing this paper is that the paper gives a broad description about the security threats and the workings of these security threats. Apart from that it also discusses about the impacts of these threats on the system and the prevention methods.

The shuffling of the data in the computer CPU is done between the various parts of the memory chip, and this operation is controlled by the kernel of the computer. The main objective of the CPU is to present the data to the users when it is needed. The cache memory performs the operation. The mentioned vulnerability works on the data when the data is in cache and is controlled by the processor. The min working of the Spectra vulnerability is to make the programs to execute the unnecessary functions which can leak the important information regarding the system. The manipulation of the kernel is used by the meltdown vulnerabilities to get the necessary information regarding the system, both the vulnerabilities are of “speculative execution: in nature. This feature of the threats allows the generation of the result for an instruction before the execution of that instruction. This feature can allow the hackers to take the control over the system.

The companies those are giving services to other companies can be affected from these types of vulnerabilities. The release of the patches is made available to mitigate the impact of these vulnerabilities. However, it has been seen that the use of the patches is slowing down the working speed of the CPU.

The information I got from this discussion helps me to get an overview about these two security vulnerabilities. However, it has been found out that many chips were affected with these vulnerabilities. The mitigation plan and its effectiveness are also discussed in this paper which is helpful for indicating the future development of the mitigation plan of these vulnerabilities.

Week 2

Title and Reference:

Summary:

This paper gives the details about the Xerox Alto the first operating system that was operated the graphical user interface. The reason for choosing this paper is that, the article contributes in understanding the working principal of the Xerox Alto along with that it also provides the necessary information regarding g the hardware and the software configuration of the system which helps the readers to understand the system clearly.

The development of the Xerox Alto was done by the Xerox PARC I 1972. The speciality about this operating system is that the operating system used the graphical user interface. The system was the first noticed operating system which used the GUI. However, the use of this operating system was not commercial. This operating system was used in the universities and the libraries for the research purpose.

The design of the operating system was influenced by the on-line system (NLS). Some of the features of the Xerox Alto are:

·        Memory- 128 KB

·        Hard drive- Cartridge hard drive of 2.5 MB which was removable.

·        Three button Mouse

·        5.8 MHz CPU.

·        The display used in the operating system was black and white in nature.

The connect between the various operating system can be made through using the local area network(LAN). The use of the BCPL code was done to write the code for the user interface in this operating system. Texas Instruments made the hardware and infrastructure needed to implement the system.

From this article I have found out about the working and the configuration of the Xerox Alto which is considered as the first operating system using the GUI. Moreover, this article has provided the information about the software and hardware configuration of the system and the working principal of the system.

Week 3

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The article discusses about the application of the Low power wide area network which is widely used in the field of the IoT. The main reason for choosing this paper is that it describes the application and other issues regarding the use of the LPWAN in the field of IoT.

There is a difference between the LPWA and LPWAN. The LPWAN is a network standard which provides the network connectivity and consumes the low power.

The main disadvantage of LPWAN is that there is no standardization of using it.

However, there are various non-cellular band which provides the service using the LPWAN.

I have found out some useful information regarding the use of LPWAN from this article which helps me to understand its significance.

Week 4

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The article provides information about the session initiation protocol which is one of the VoIP protocol. The main reason for choosing this article is that the article tells about the working method and the significance of the session initiation protocol.

 Session initiation protocol is the signalling protocol which helps to initiate the communication between the two communicating device. The communicating device can be the two systems.

With the use of the session initiation protocol the voice over calls through the internet can be made. The protocol is defined in RFC 3261. This session initiating protocol helps to determine the status of the communication between the two-connecting device. It helps to determine, modify and terminate the connection between the two systems. The standard of the SIP is defined by the engineering task force. The user location denotes the attribute of the connection which allows the users to use the device from anywhere.

There are five basic components of the session initiation protocol they are-user location, user availability, user capabilities and setup sessions. The user availability determines the willingness of the communication system to participate in the communication. The setup of the connection determines the creation of the communication between two devices based on some agreed parameter.

The main information I have found from this article is the working principal of the session initiation protocol. However, this article does not focus on the comparative study between the different network standards with LPWAN.

Week 5

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The article focusses on the information about the block chain technology. The paper discusses about the block chain technology and its working principals.

The block chain technology is an emerging technology which was initially used in maintain the transaction records in the crypto currency.

The working principal of the block chain technology depends on the utilization of the data blocks of the chained data. It is a way of maintaining the records. The block chain technology was primarily used for keeping the transaction record in the cryptocurrency.

The use of hash value in the block chain technology increases the security process. This technology helps to provide a more secured way for storage of the records and the data. The use of the hash value in the block chai technology prevents the outside stamping. This mechanism of the block chain technology helps to enhance the security. The block chain uses peer-to-peer decentralized way of communication.

The paper contributes in understanding the block chain technology and its working principal. It has been found from the paper that the block chain technology can be used in maintain the data records apart from being used in the crypto currency. However, the paper does not contribute regarding the discussion about the working principals off the block chain technology in details.

Week 6

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The discussion of the paper focuses on the topic of net neutrality in general sense. The findings of the paper indicate the impact of the net neutrality on the individuals and the organizations. The reason for choosing this paper is that the paper provides the impact of the net neutrality from the different aspects.

Net neutrality denotes the way, where the internet provider has to give the service of the internet in a equal way to all the users. This will not allow the internet service providers to charge the higher value of money for some facilities. According to the net neutrality, all the users will enjoy the internet service and the same benefits regarding the cost and the time and place.

There are some reasons behind the proposing of the idea of the net neutrality. It has been observed that the behaviour of the consumers has been changed over years. Some of the internet providers are differencing in the service providing of the network. To prevent these malpractices, the idea of net neutrality has been proposed. The use of the net neutrality will not allow the service providers to charge extra for accessing any websites.

The implementation of the net neutrality will not allow the internet service providers to slow down the speed of the internet. This make sthe concept of the net neutrality positive. However, according to some experts, the imposing of the net neutrality may have various disadvantages. One of the main disadvantages of the net neutrality is that the use of the accessing the free websites may become expensive as the net neutrality will make a way for the service provider to present the internet service under the cover of different packages. This will become a constraint for the small business farms and the individuals for accessing the internet.

I have found from this paper that the net neutrality has certain good and bad impact in the society. However, the objective of the net neutrality has been invented to providing the better purpose, but the impact of the net neutrality on the various organizations and on the individuals will not be positive.

Week 7

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The article focuses on the negative impact of the advancement of the ICT. The reason for choosing this article is that the paper as discussed both the positive and negative side of the advancement of the ICT. So, in this case it can be said the discussion is not biased to one side and the conclusion drawn from the discussion has considered all the impacts of the digitization.

The advancement of the ICT has certain positive and negative impacts. Some of the positive impacts of the advancement of the ICT is that, it enables the use of various technologies in the different application field.

The major concern about the advancement of the ICT is that, its impact on the social and economic life of the people. Smart machines are replacing the human. The organizations are interested to cut down the human resource and implement the advanced ICT as the machines and the system can deliver accurate service within the small-time span. This reason raises the issue regarding the unemployment. The machines are replacing the humans, causing the increase of the unemployment, which is not desirable.

The positive effect of the digitization and the ICT is that the jobs regarding the technical field is increasing. The experts in the digital technology will get the jobs and the professionals in the technological field will help to upgrade their knowledge in order to increase their efficiency.

The information I have found from this paper reflects the positive and negative side of the using of ICT. The advancement of the ICT has helped for most of the business organizations to expand their business and apart from that it also helps to get the more profit benefits for the organization. However, the extensive use of the ICT has increased the unemployment.

Week 8

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The article released by the SAP has discussed the significance of the machine learning and its advantages in the technological field. The reason for choosing this article is that the paper gives a description about the basic of the machine learning along with its advantages and the issues. 

Machine learning is derived from the pattern reorganization. The concept of the machine learning defines a computational way of getting the output, where the users put the information as the input to the machines and the machine processes the output based on its own decision-making system. The system can use the information from the previous computational data for the processing of the information provided by the users.

The importance of the machine learning lies on the fast processing of the data. The self computation of the system can reduce the execution cost and can advance the accuracy of the computational result. The use of machine learning in the system can increase the functionality of the system along with that it also provides the organizations competitive advantages.

There are certain issues regarding the implementation of the machine learning. The implementation of the machine learning needs the complex algorithm and the expert handling of the system.

From this paper I have gained the knowledge about the basic concept of the machine learning. Moreover, the impact of using the machine learning on the organization and technological field has been discussed in this paper. However, the detailed description and the working methodology of the machine learning has not been discussed in this paper.

Week 9

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The Nim programming language was initially known as the Nimrod. The Nim can be considered as the extension form of the python programming language. In this programming language the run time efficiency is not compromised. The syntax used in the Nim is like the python. The main feature of this programming language is that it merges the effectiveness of the Lisp, Go, and the Rust. The nature of this programming language is object oriented.

The message passing is done between the heap and the threads in the Nim. The benchmark followed by the Nim is the C. The compiler of this programming language generated the scripts in the C by default. The software is licensed by the MIT.

The main objective the Nim is to merge the effectiveness of the various programming languages. however, the use of this programming language is not so popular is by only the few people in the software development area.

The information I have found from this article has helped me to gain basic knowledge about the Nim programming language. However, the detailed description of this programming language is not given in the paper, only the over view of the article has been discussed.

Week 10

Title and Reference:

Summary:

The paper tells about the significance of the bots is spreading the fake news over internet. The reason for choosing this article is that the paper discusses about the current situations and the different fields in the socio economical area affected by the fake news spread by the bot.

The spreading of the fake news is done much faster by the bots through the social media. The main objective of the social media is to make the communication between the people of the different parts. However, the social media has become the main medium of spreading the fake news which is not desirable.

According to this article the main source of spreading the fake news is done through the twitter and the unknown twitter chians.

The psychology of the people also plays an important role in spreading and accepting the fake news. The people get interested about the novel nature of the fake news presented in the social media. This interest of the people helps to spread the fake news.

The paper has given the knowledge about the spreading of the fake news and the role of the bots in spreading the fake news. However, the paper does not discuss about the detailed description about the impacts of the bots and the fake news on the different aspects of the social life. It can be said from the paper that most of the fake news are related to the political issues.