Essay On Quantum Computing, Fedora Distribution Features, And Virtualization Software.

1. 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).

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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).

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. The text briefly mentions crowdsourcing 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 crowdsourcing and the outcomes of the engagement.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

Quantum Computing - Inside the weird world of quantum computers

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 explainswhy there is so much interest in this type of computing (for example, the potential applications).

Title: Inside the weird world of quantum computers

Reference: Beall, A. (2017, March 23). Inside the weird world of quantum computers. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.wired.co.uk/article/quantum-computing-explained

Summary: This interesting article starts by setting a background that if we continue to use the computers increasingly at the current rate for most of our activities, there will a shortage of capacity to power all machines around the world by 2040. The only solution for this is to increase the capacity by leaps and bounds. But every operation in a computer requires minimum energy which is highly inefficient. Recently, researcher also invented chips that can work with minimum energy however it will be long time before they will be into markets.

Quantum computing provides ability to consume very less amount of energy for operations and also perform operations very quickly and that is why it has been viewed by many as the future of computing industry. In classical computing, single piece of information can be either in 0 or 1 state but quantum computing uses quabits and it can store much more information and not only 0 or 1. Also, research is in nascent stages in this area. In 2016, Nasa and Google scientists created D-wave quantum machine that was 100 million times faster as compared to traditional computer but this speed will be difficult to bring to more commercial phase due to its high cost structure. IBM is another player where research is going on quantum computing.

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: 10 of the Most Popular Linux Distributions Compared

Reference: Hoffman, C. (2014, ). Retrieved from website, h. (Last accessed 15th May 2017). 10 of the Most Popular Linux Distributions Compared. Available at: https://www.howtogeek.com/191207/10-of-the-most-popular-linux-distributions-compared/

Summary: Many  people confuses linux with the operating system but actually linux is not the operating system, it is just the kernel and this kernel is then combined with various open source software packages to create complete operating systems which are known as Linux distributions. Not only this, anyone can create his own distribution using open source codes available. There are numerous popular Linux distribution like Ubuntu, FedoraLinux mint, debianRed hat, mandriva and many more.

Fedora distribution is highly focused software that provide excellent security and infrastructure services and easy to use. Of all the distributions available, it is the most easy to use and install graphics drivers. Also, it does not make its own software or desktop environment which is possible in another linux distribution, Ubuntu.Fedor uses the upstream software for the platform which will integrate its upstream software without adding custom tools. Also, it comes with GNOME3 dekstop environment and also provides the platform for Linux-Docker-Kubernetes popularly known as LDK application stack. This distribution is at bleeding edge and will not be supported for long time. It is supported by Red hat and if anyone wants version with longer support, they can consider enterprise product of the red hat.

Features of Fedora Distribution - 10 of the Most Popular Linux Distributions Compared

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: 4 Free Virtualization Software Solutions For Windows

Reference: Khurshid, U. (2015, November 02). 4 Free Virtualization Software Solutions For Windows. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.maketecheasier.com/4-free-virtualization-software-solutions-for-windows/

Summary: Virtualization refers to creating virtual partitions of the single hardware. There are many types of virtualization network virtualization, software virtualization, storage virtualization but the most common are server virtualization and operating system virtualization. Virtualization products are available both freely in open source software as well as in commercial markets. Before going in to discussion, please note that host is the operating systems on which virtualization software is installed and guest are other operating systems which are run on the virtualization software

One of such product is VirtualBox from Oracle which is free and open source. This VirtualBox can run most of the platforms including Mac, Linux and Window. This product also supports resizing the operating systems according to window of VirtualBox.It provides a variety of customization options and thus can be used in various ways. It also comes in extension pack that can be installed if anyone needs additional features like remote desktop connection, network booing capacity for LAN cards, USB device support. This product become very popular and there are no issues recorded in using this product on Linux host and window hosts however while using it on Mac host, there are several problems noted that creates a lot of stability issues at the host.

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: What is file transfer protocol (FTP)? - definition from WhatIs.Com

Reference: and Burke, M. (2015) What is file transfer protocol (FTP)? - definition from WhatIs.Com. Available at: https://searchenterprisewan.techtarget.com/definition/File-Transfer-Protocol (Accessed: 15 May 2017).

Summary: Filenet transfer protocol often known as FTP is a client server protocol which is used for transmitting data file over the TCP/IP connections on internet. In this, client machine generally opens up connection with the server on a particular port and the server then respond appropriately to the request. After that, client machine tells the server if it wants to establish passive or active data connection. In active connection, once connection is established server begun transferring data back to client machine while in passive, server responds based on the command coming from the client machine.

Once connection is established, then communication starts using ports. There are concern about security features in FTP and there are many patches and updates applied on FTP to make it more reliable and secure. Secure file transfer protocol is also applied on FTP protocol to make it secure) also called as SSH transfer protocol. Client machines can edit, upload, delete or downloads the files available on the server. Some servers make information available without log in also. In current times, most of the file transfer is done by using HTTP, FTO is still used behind the scenes. This protocol was defined in 1971 and is older than TCP and IP and thus has been redefined many times.

Virtualization Software - 4 Free Virtualization Software Solutions For Windows

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: Foreign hackers attack Canadian government

Reference: Weston, G. (2011, February 17). Foreign hackers attack Canadian government. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/foreign-hackers-attack-canadian-government-1.982618

Summary: In 2011, there is a cyberattack on Canadian government IT systems particularly Defence research and development centre Canada. As per the analysis, the attack was coming from the Chinese servers but it is also possible that hackers from different country have routed their attack through china to protect their identity. This was a very serious attack because defence and research wing of any country generally have very confidential data and which can be misused in number of ways. This shocking attack has raised many questions and Canadian techno-gurus carried out international investigation and their findings are quite shocking. They have find out that this attack was actually begun in 2009 and the group of servers hacked around 1300 government offices in 103 countries. However, they were not able to find out how that leaked data is being used or shared with someone. Another finding is that this hack was possible by intruders due to lack of awareness among some of the people who on receiving emails from unknown sources helped the intruders in providing the network details. People thought the mail is coming from official sources. Thus, after this program government strengthens its training program for people to understand about various aspects of internet and be very careful in sending the emails.  

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: Tsunami, earthquake damage undersea fiber-optic cables in Japan

Reference: B. (2011, March 16). Tsunami, earthquake damage undersea fiber-optic cables in Japan. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/2011/03/tsunami-submarine-cable-damage.html

Summary: In March 2011, there was a tsunami and massive earthquake in Japan that have disrupted the various under water sub marine fiber optic cables. On the next working day, there was huge slowdown occurred in accessing the internet specially which is going to access files in US servers. Pacific crossing which belongs to Japan’s NTT group have witnessed severe failure its services. Some of the network cable between US and Japan due to cutting down of cable which makes its services and network unavailable. However, the company managed well by taking use of its backup servers and rerouting data through satellites. China Telecom Corp. (CHA) also faced issues and start the repair work very quickly for the undersea damages cables. As per the company, sub-marine fiber optic cables carrying connection between Japan and US were malfunctioning near one of city of Japan and which is impacting the speed and availability of the internet. However, the restoration work was quickly taken up by the company. Also, though there was slowdown and unavailability of services witnessed but there is no major financial impact and complete shutdown because of the alternative routes, cables backup, routing of data through satellite. Back-ups and alternatives helped the Japanese company to restore connectivity quite fast.

The text briefly mentions crowdsourcing 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 crowdsourcing and the outcomes of the engagement.

Title: Examples of Companies Innovating with Crowdsourcing

Reference: J. (n.d.). 5 Examples of f Companies Innovating with Crowdsourcing. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://blog.innocentive.com/2013/10/18/5-examples-of-companies-innovating-with-crowdsourcing

Summary: Coco-cola is one the well-known company which is using crowdsourcing to get the innovate ideas not only from inside the company but from across the world. Company always encourages new ideas from people about how it can market its products better and rewards them appropriately. There are many initiatives also going on in Coco-cola for the same. It has one very popular initiative “Shaping a better future” under which entrepreneurs are invited to showcase their idea how they can improve the social problems existing in the society be it youth unemployment, working conditions, basic sanitary and amenities conditions to poor people, education related work and if it found a venture convincing, it will find the project and that is how it is also effectively branding itself by corporate social responsibility. From time to time, it contests online by asking people about its slogan for upcoming brand for particular campaign and thus involve people. It also ask people about recording their videos  and what had created happiness in their life and filtered videos will be showcased on Youtube as well as TV channels to build a brand under its famous initiative “Where Will Happiness Strike Next?”

Such engagements really helped the company not only to build the brand but also getting visibility on corporate social responsibility front and save cost by not recruiting full time employees instead relying on ideas from wide range of people online.

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: Depot to Reimburse Customers for Losses in Data Breach

Reference: Home Depot to Reimburse Customers for Losses in Data Breach | Money. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://time.com/money/4251435/home-depot-data-breach-reimburse/

Home depot is a very famous American retailer that sells the product related to home improvement and home decoration and tools, similar to Bunnings warehouse in Australia. Home depot accepted in 2014 that there is some security breach and people who uses their cards for payments during April-Sep 2-14 on its self-payment terminals in US and Canada. It confirmed that intruder entered into the system by using credentials of one of the suppliers and after that installed the malicious software in their system that was capturing the payment details as well as personnel details. According to the article, around 40 million people’s details were compromised and it was a huge setback for the major company like Home depot. It was criticized for not spending enough money on appropriate measures to keep it security intact. There were lot of cases filed against this company for claiming the money and data theft and company was facing huge costs for lawyers and legal fees. In fact, it agreed to setup a $ 13 million fund to compensate the money of the people who are the victims for the data theft. Apart from it, it also defined a 6.7 million US dollars budget to improve its security systems and update its IT systems.

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: Why Yahoo faded: The Internet changed, but it didn't

Reference: Stephen Shankland December 9, 2015 12:25 PM PST @stshank. (2015, December 09). Why Yahoo faded: The Internet changed, but it didn't. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.cnet.com/news/why-yahoo-faded-the-internet-changed-but-it-didnt/

Summary: There is hardly anyone who is not aware about the Yahoo Inc which was one of the successful company in the world of web, internet and email. In fact, for many people, Internet is synonymous to Yahoo. Search engine was one of the most important things during that time and yahoo only has that capability. But Later when Google and Microsoft joined the league, it search become infamous because it was not updating its content with proper indexing, searching which Google is doing. Next is email messenger. While Yahoo messenger and email system was one of its kind, it failed to provide the features like Gmail and failed to keep up the pace with technology. Facebook, Smart phone, Amazon web services are some of the new things that have put the Yahoo further back in the league. Yahoo was focusing on its core ideas while Google and other companies adopted innovation and experimentation which helps these companies to become the leader and provide better services to their customers. Also, with the advent of smartphones, more people are using their smart phones for their day to day activities and checking emails. Google make its products scalable for mobile phone also as compare to Yahoo and that provide competitive edge to Google. Rest is the history and everyone know how the things evolved at Yahoo and it is surviving today just by having a stake in Alibaba, Chinese e-commerce giant.

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: a Failed Implementation Took Down a $5 Billion Pharma Company

Reference: How a Failed Implementation Took Down a $5 Billion Pharma Company. (2016, December 23). Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://leanb2bbook.com/blog/how-failed-erp-implementation-took-down-5-billion-pharma-company/

Summary: This article talks about the EPR implementation project undertaken by FoxMeyer Drugs which was $ 5 billion company in 1993 based out of US. FoxMeyer was one of largest distributors of pharmaceuticals and drugs and with the increasing operations and business, its business processes and large no. of transactions were becoming difficult to manage. Most of the departments were working in Silos and there were redundant tasks and people are just struggling to manage the huge set of data and transactions. There were many similar companies that have implemented ERP and tasted success in improving their business and efficiency. There were many ERPs available during that time like JD Edwards, SAP, Oracle and FoxMeyer finalizes SAP for its operations. FoxMeyer also collaborated with Andersen consulting for implementing the SAP software. Once the project Go-live, customer order processing decreased drastically as the new ERP systems are not able to support that large volume of data. SAP was leading service provider with enough testimonials and Andersen is also renowned service implementation but yet this ERP project failed because ERP projects are very big projects with huge budget and timeline and risk mitigation is important aspect of such projects. This failure impacted company very badly and 4 years later, it filed for bankruptcy. Thus, ICT projects must be dealt with huge caution and proper planning and risk mitigation techniques.