Week 14: Clear

In this week's lesson, I learned about the multitude of ways in which a business or enterprise can store its data. Options include HSM (where data is migrated to cheaper storage if it is not used frequently in order to conserve valuable expensive storage for the data that is used frequently), SAN (where a network is designed specifically for sharing storage resources among a set of servers), Virtualization (a technique for running multiple "virtual computers" on a single physical host computer system, or through a Thin Client (small inexpensive--compared to a personal computer-- terminal-like computer that mostly relies on a server for data storage and processing.  This week began with sort of a throw back to the start of the course with the types of storage methods.

RAID 1 (Mirroring)--which involes a pair of drives, where each block of data is written to both drives. If a single drive was to fail, no data would be lost and the system would still run at full speed. This creates redudancy, which is great if you want to protect your data from drive failures. RAID 0 (Striping)--which involves two or more drives, where blocks of data spread across all drives equally. This creates a fast read and write speed due to multiple disks simultaneously working. There is no redundancy which means that if one drive fails...all data is lost. It is statistically less reliable than a single disk drive in that the more drives there are, the greater the total chance of there being a failure. Raid 5 involves three or more drives, where data blocks spread across all drives except one. This exception drive is used to store "parity" data--this is where data in the form of ones and zeros are added up to formulate an even or odd number..if even, the data is stored as "0" on the parity drive...if odd, the data is stored as "1" on the parity drive. This creates fast reads similar to striping, with moderate write speed due to the computations involved with storing data as parity. If a drive fails, no data is lost but the system will run at a reduced speed because the parity drive is being used to compute the data lost from the missing drive. There is even a "hot spare" which is an extra hard disk that remains idle only until a drive fails...then it will automatically begins to mirror the infomation of the lost drive. Finally, there is Raid 6 which is any RAID that can continue to run if there were to be two drive failures at the same time. It's performance is similar to RAID 5 and it protects agains read failure during rebuild of big disks which could result in data lost.

Secure Email Project

Thunderbird Inbox Screen Capture

Website link: http://www.indexel.net/actualites/pertes-de-donnees-1-entreprise-sur-4-n-est-pas-protegee-3107.html --Website may need to be translated from French to English.

The article exclaims that companies are sometimes oblivious to the fact that their are financial losses associated with data losses. According to a recent survey by Quocirca Research Institute, the loss of computer data directly affects respective companies-- in terms of billions of Euros. The lack of protection associated with this can arise hefty fines, especially with today's government system. According to Quocirca, businesses reduce computing security to the internal network, without realizing that a Data Flow actually exists on other devices i.e. removable hard drives, CDs, USB sticks, laptops, etc. They are often sensitive throughout their life cycle.

I found this article relevant because it comes from both a technological stand point and a business point of view as well. If one's data is not protected, or one chooses to not take the appropriate measures in order to protect important iformation, then it can only be that person or company's fault. At the end of the day, you are to blame for the unfortunate and preventable situation that comes with not protecting your data.

Week 13: Clear

This week's lesson was fairly simple but very crucial when it comes to computer safety. I learned that there are a plethora of ways that one's computer can suffer security risks; this is any action that can cause loss of data, and damage to your computer's software, hardware, or processing ability. However, there are also certain measures one can take to decrease the likelihood of their computer being attacked. Unauthorized access and use of a computer or network without permission is one way you can be affected. To prevent this, you can disable file and printer sharing on the network, use a firewall and protect your username and password. Moreover, creating a strong password is key when it comes to keeping information safe--the more characters you have in a password, the harder it will be for a hacker to figure out that password. Information theft, the stealing of personal or confidential information, is another security risk. Some components to information theft include phishing (often sent as an email that looks official but then asks users to verify personal information), spoofing (altering the header of an email to make it appear as if it is coming from someone else, and pharming (installing malicious code on a computer to redirect users to fake websites). Prevition can be accomplished by way of encryption, digital signatures, and authentication controls.

One of the most apparent securtiy risks are Internet and Network attacks. Information traveling over networks is at a higher risk than local information because there are more ways to intercept the information. Viruses are programs that alter the computer by damaging files and system software. It requires human action to spread--ex. through e-mail. Worms are programs that copy itself and take up resources on your computer. It does not require human action to spread. A Trojan Horse is something that looks like something else. It is software that hides behind something that may seem harmless. They do not spread to other computers like that of worms and viruses. In order to limit the risks involved with these types of attacks, you can use a firewall, anit-virus and make sure it is always up-to-date, being care of email attachments, and watching the news in order to be informed about when there are new cases of attacks.

Week 12: Clear

This week contained a large amount of information to be absorbed in regards to Communication and Networks. The lesson started out very general, giving an overview of communications and its protocols. Protocols are rules that enable orderly communications to occur. Mr. Olson compared it to the way two people would talk to each other...how only one person would talk at a given time while the other would listen. In addition, networks are a collection of devices connected together via communication devices and transmission media. There are four types of networks, PAN, LAN, MAN, WAN. All of which vary in terms of scale or "reach" that is available. For example, PAN (Personal Area Network) has a 10 foot reach, while a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network has the possibility of a 50 mile reach, connecting several organizations under one network). Bandwidth (measure of data transfer capacity) also plays a key role.

I learned about TCPIP addressing vs. DHCP. The latter being easier to scale to a multitude of clients.  Routers link multiple networks together and is responsible for traffic (data) that passes through it. It provides somewhat of a network security by the use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network) by encrypting data whenever it receives data to be sent out to another party, such as the untrused public WAN (Internet). The benefits of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) were also clear to me. It is basically telephone over the internet. There are situations where it can be free, VoIP-to-VoIP calls, and situations where you can be charged. The only time you the average person will be charged is when a VoIP call is made to a PSTN--normal telephone network--and the data must be converted in order to go through the Public Switch Telephone Tetwork. However, one down side is that if Internet connection is lost, then one is not able to make emergergency calls. For ex: 911. It can also be incorporated with video and web conferencing. This week contained a an abundance of information that was interesting and of course useful in both a business and personal aspect.

Extra Credit: Avatar

For my avatar creation, I used the "Face Your Manga" to create an avatar that I felt was as close in resemblance as possible. The web tool was very easy to use and understand. The steps included simply clicking the create option on the website and you are immediately started on creating a new avatar. There are many details that could be altered to your pleasing. These included fatial features, hair style, clothing options, and background. I have never created an avatar before, so this was fun for me. Although it may not be totally accurate (of course), it shows what people think of themselves. I'm sure if you were to tell someone else to design an avatar based on another person, that avatar would be quite different from the original avatar. It was an enjoyable extra extra credit opportunity.

Week 11: Clear

This week talked about the Information Systems and those who utilize this (System Analysts). What exactly is a system? It is a collection of interrelated components that interact with each other to a achieve a certain goal. A good correlation to this is the Ecosystem. In comparison, an information system deals with a collection of hardware, software, data, people and processes that work together to produce quality information. The System Development Cycle involves planning, analysis, design, implementation, operation, support and security. This cycle repeats over and over again, however, humans' intelligence are still needed to keep its functionality. System Analysts, often called Program Managers, put projects together and help to keep everything moving along smoothly. They enable other people to do work efficiently and effectively. They create road maps to get things done. The key to this is *communicaiton*.

A system analyst must derive the benefits and risks associated with a certain system. A well designed system is effective, easy to use and meets objectives. Poorly designed systems cost more than their value. They are hard to understand or use and are not dependable. The SDC (System Development Cycle) was develped to improve quality and create an overal better system. A great system analyst must accept certain leader responsibilities. This includes setting goals, objectives, expectations, estimating time constraints, estimating cost, defining order of activities and deciding the relationship of those activities. In conclusion, there are a plethora of reasons why there should be effective information systems and system analysts.

Database Project

Watching the lectures and taking notes on Microsoft Access is one thing, but actually following guidelines to complete an Access project and putting what I learned in the lectures to use was quite a challenge. I learned how to create tables and the how to edit those tables to fit a certain criteria. In addition, I gained the knowlegde of importing and exporting data. There are two methods of importing data so that it can be merged with the current table. The first method involves appending where you make your table structure *identical* to the structure of the file being imported. Fields must be in the same order, with everything alike, including names. The other is the Copy/Paste method, where you import the external data to a new table and format the order of the fields in the original file so that it is the same as the exported file. Then all that is left to do is copy and ammend. I also learned how to create Queries, Forms and Reports. These are all specific ways of viewing a condensed form of the information that stems from an original data source. I also learned how to use functions and formulas, similar to Excel, in order to derive a range of data that was being asked for.

In terms of how Access can enhance its functionality, I would have to say that it can be more user friendly when it comes to the average user. In my case, I had opened up Access for the first time during Week 10 of this class. At that point in time, I was bewildered as to how to go about using the software. Without the lectures and having to do this project, I would probably still be clueless as to the majority of Access's functionalities. This can be anywhere from how one is to import or export a file, form queries/forms/reports and how to edit these as well. Simply reading a lot of text in Microsoft's help pane may not seem all that palpable to the average computer user. Instead, there should be example videos. The person shouldn't be forced to go searching online as to how to use this function or feature of Access. It is an extrememly great organizational tool however, one that most people do not utilize. This should not be the case. Now that I have some basic knowledge, I will spread the word on the usefullness of Microsoft Access.