Fundamentals of Information Technology Essay Example

Fundamentals of Information Technology Essay Example Fundamentals of Information Technology Essay Fundamentals of Information Technology Essay Fundamentals of Information Technology Name: Course: Institution: : Lecturer: Date: Table of Contents Fundamentals of Information Technology.. 1 1. Importance of observing the correct shut down procedures using; 1 a) Hard disk. 1 b) Thumb drive. 1 2. a) Information system that can be installed on the doctor’s computer is; 1 b) How Expert system works. 1 c) Advantages and disadvantages of the system.. 2 d) The purpose of each of the following items and why each would not be suitable to the scenario in item 2. 2 3. a) Differences between Internet and Intranet 3 b) The role of each network identified in 3a in ; 3 c) The roles of the following components on a network; 4 d) Computer security risk. 5 Fundamentals of Information Technology Importance of observing the correct shut down procedures using; a) Hard disk Observing the correct shutdown procedures when using hard disk is vital in minimizing the data loss risks because it helps to prevent the hard disk that acts as permanent memory storage of information from crashing. Failure to shutdown correctly will prevent the machine from starting up well the next time. It prevents spyware, malware, rootkits and viruses as well as extends the life of the computers. b) Thumb drive When initiating a correct shutdown procedure, windows starts to write data to the thumb drive, which acts as a portable memory storage. This operation needs proper procedures of shutting down the computer and failure to do so might lead to corruption of files or they may fail to read the next time they are opened. a) Information system that can be installed on the doctor’s computer is; Expert system can be installed on the doctor’s computer b) How Expert system works. First, it must be fed with knowledge from experienced doctors specializing in bacterial infections. Second, the doctors may contribute the information on a particular subject like the HIN1 issue. The subject issue will be programmed into the system and the information will be presented. Extra information may be needed in order to help the expert system eliminate possible options. The expert will eventually use the data and apply ruling system in suggesting the possible solutions to the bacterial infections causing the HIN1 thus providing a cause for medical treatment. c) Advantages and disadvantages of the system One of the advantages of the expert system is that it is reliable and it operates as a human brain thus grants one the ability to exploit a substantial amount of knowledge. Secondly, the system usually contains knowledge-based information necessary for educating a particular situation as described in the program. Nevertheless, one of the disadvantages is that the expert system requires an expert or someone with experience to operate in a particular field. Secondly, they work manually thus opening many possibilities for errors. d) The purpose of each of the following items and why each would not be suitable to the scenario in item two i) Management information system The purpose of the management information system is to provide information required as well as manage an organization efficiently and effectively. Management information systems cannot work in the scenario presented in item 2. This is because management information systems highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the company in order to improve the business operation thus cannot work well in this scenario. Moreover, the scenario requires diagnosis of HIN1 disease and yet management information system tries to provide an overall picture of the organization as well as act as a communication or planning tool in an organization (Singh, 2004). ii) Decision support system The purpose of this system is to help individuals to be more consistent when they are making decisions because people are usually subjective and are likely to alter their decisions any time. Thus, this system may not be appropriate in the scenario of HIN1 diagnosis because an individual may chose to override the analysis of the computer thus the system will be completely automated (Mohan, 2010). Hence, it will not work well because the decisions are subjected to changes thus proper information about the disease infection and diagnosis procedures may not be achieved. iii) Transaction processing system Its purpose is to maintain the integrity of data, which is being processed. In case one of the steps that make up data fail, then the whole transaction may fail, thus data may be rolled back to the same state it was before the transaction started. This system will not be suitable in the HIN1 scenario because the transaction system deals with financial situations in tracking funds. a) Differences between Internet and Intranet i) Internet Internet is a network used for the public and it can be accessed by anybody connected to it across the globe. ii) Intranet Intranet is a network for private use and it can only be used by those people who are allowed to access to it. Intranet is an inward facing system within an organization and it may include interlinked local area network connections. b) The role of each network identified in 3a i) Banking In the banking sector, Internet plays diverse roles and it is used by everyone in accessing the information about the banking system and the services provided by different banks. Internet is used in the banking sector for ecommerce, communication purposes within and outside the organization as well as in electronic transfer funds by clients. Additionally, the Internet in banking can help to reduce fraud through providing customers with passwords for accessing information through using unique sets of communication protocols. In addition, Intranet plays vital role of sharing the banking information through telecommunicating within the banking organization. Employees within the banking organization may share information as well as use the intranet in computation purposes. The information is shared within the organization that uses web technologies in communication purposes internally. Such information may include teleconferencing, organization policies or any information about new banking systems. It enables banks to share confidential information on banking systems within the banking sector. Lastly, banking organizations may use extranet in exchanging large volumes of data through using electronic data interchange. They can share services exclusively with their customer from outside as well as use extranet in ecommerce through collaborating with other companies on joint development efforts. Extranet is a private network that extends outside the organization and it uses private Internet protocols and telecommunication system to secure information of business or operation with vendors, clients or other businesses. c) The roles of the following components on a network; i) Client The role of the client is to make applications or make requests to the server through sending messages to the server. The web client works with a large screen display and the client manages information or application results sent by the server. ii) Server The role of the server is to respond to the client through acting on each request the client send to the server thus returning the required results. One server supports diverse clients and multiple servers may be networked together in order to handle increased processing loads to many clients. d) Computer security risk i) Types of computer risks Physical theft and electronic threats are among the types of the computer security risks. ii) Reasons each is considered a risk Physical theft is considered as a computer security risk because it contributes to loss of data confidentiality thus making the data stored on the disk suspect. Additionally, electronic threat is considered a risk because other malicious threats such as spoofing emails or other website links in social networking can steal personal information is a threat to computer security. iii) Risk management strategy that lessen or eliminates physical theft risks One way of managing physical theft risks is through use of firewall appliances. Peltier (2001) recommends that the use of firewall products such as network appliances or individual software packages is vital because they lessen or eliminate the risks. Intruders keep on scanning the user systems constantly for unknown vulnerabilities. Thus, it is vital to use network firewalls whether software or hardware based because they can provide some degree of protection against these physical threat as well as malicious attacks. Although firewalls cannot detect or stop all the attacks, it can lessen the risks. References Mohan, P. (2010). Fundamentals of information technology. Mumbai [India: Himalaya Pub. House. Peltier, T. R. (2001). Information security risk analysis. Boca Raton, Fla: Auerbach. Singh, P. (2004). Fundamentals of information technology. Jaipur, India: Sublime Publications.