Exercise 8

Strengths of Ruby-on-Rails workshops

• no strict time limit
• helps develop skills with rails framework
• different perspectives for students that want to become developers or students that don't

Weaknesses

• So much information out there that it can become confusing on how to complete some tasks
• Time consuming if u need to teach yourself from scratch
• Difficult for inexperienced developers

Most difficult

• Programming
• Finding exactly which rails app to install in the beginning
• Not getting carried away with other subjects and leaving this until the last minute

Improvements

• Maybe more guidance with getting the app started for the inexperienced like myself

Free response
I had trouble with getting it to work, but that was more of a user issue than an application issue. I think with the right information and in the right hands ruby on rails is quite effective, judging by the outputs some of the other students.

Elevator Pitch 2

During my studies in ITC382 business to business systems I have learnt a huge amount about web applications and their development. The internet and e-commerce have become a huge part of everyday life in a large amount of peoples lives throughout the world. Whether it be through online social networking, gaming or shopping, ecommerce systems are becoming more and more abundant and penetrating societies everyday life.
Coming into this subject I had little experience with the development of web applications and no experience with ruby on rails. Although I have not quite grasped the developers side of the subject, I have learnt a great deal about why web application frameworks are necessary to reduce production times and increase development efficiency.
I have found the most interesting part of the subject was learning about spiders, software agents and intrusion detection systems. The workshops helped me to understand how valuable development frameworks are throughout the development process and I have obtained a more in depth knowledge of Model View Controller. They have also helped me to grasp the concept convention over configuration.
This subject has been very insightful regarding web application development process and the behind the scenes development and planning that goes into an online system.

Exercise 16

XML and Web Services as the Glue

Systems integration is the core to providing a high-level set of features that provide functionality for business-to-business e-commerce and web based systems. These high-level feature sets are made up of a group of sub systems which each play their part to providing functionality to the one main system. This process of information technology integration gives a business the ability to provide more services and functionality to its clients. These systems are achieved through the use of these three service descriptions parts:

• Schema definition
• Interface definition
• Location definition

eXtensible Markup Language (XML) along with web services can be used to create a custom service definition that allows a system to be integrated. XML enable the data within a system to be described and formatted to meet the required systems needs. having a standardized schema allows for easier and more efficient sub-system integration.

Web services are "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. It has an interface described in a machine-processable format (specifically Web Services Description Language WSDL). Other systems interact with the web service in a manner prescribed by its description using SOAP messages, typically conveyed using HTTP with an XML serialization in conjunction with other web-related standards." As defined by W3C.

I have had no experience with online systems in my previous studies. As a network engineer student this subject has broadened my knowledge into this side of computing. While I find online systems very useful in a lot of day to day activities, while doing online banking and purchasing of goods, I think I might leave the creation of online systems to somebody with a bit more experience...well for the time being anyway, while I hone my skill set in this field. I have found this subject to be a quite worth while and have learnt so much about online systems, an area of IT that I had very limited knowledge.

Exercise 15

1. Location based service

"A location-based service (LBS) is a software application for a IP-capable mobile device that requires knowledge about where the mobile device is located. Location-based services can be query-based and provide the end user with useful information such as "Where is the nearest ATM?" or they can be push-based and deliver coupons or other marketing information to customers who are in a specific geographical area.[...]An LBS requires five basic components: the service provider's software application, a mobile network to transmit data and requests for service, a content provider to supply the end user with geo-specific information, a positioning component (see GPS) and the end user's mobile device." http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci532097,00.html

LBS can be used to find(nearest the users current location):

• Places, including restaurants, movie theaters, mechanics
• People, doctors, co-workers, friends
• Proximity based payment, EZ pass, bus tickets

2. Open Mobile Alliance Initiative

"The Open Mobile Alliance Ltd. has been established by the consolidation of the WAP Forum and the Open Mobile Architecture Initiative. The new Open Mobile Alliance is a group of companies and organizations, with a commitment to a shared set of principles, who have come together to drive the growth of the mobile industry. It intends to grow the market for the entire industry by removing barriers to interoperability and supporting a seamless and easy-to-use mobile experience for end users.

The mission of the Open Mobile Alliance is to grow the market for the entire mobile industry by removing the barriers to global user adoption and by ensuring seamless application interoperability while allowing businesses to compete through innovation and differentiation.

The Open Mobile Alliance encourages competition through innovation and differentiation, while ensuring the interoperability of mobile service through the entire value chain. The supporters of the Open Mobile Alliance recognize the significant industry benefits of creating a standards organization that will included all elements of the wireless value chain, and contribute to timely and efficient introduction of services and applications to the market." http://www.palowireless.com/wap/oma.asp

3. Mobile web services framework

The main components of the mobile web services framework as stated by IEEE Distributed Systems Online.

"Figure 1 shows our proposed framework’s architecture. We built it on the standard Web service architecture’s three pillars—a service provider, requestor, and registry—but we also introduced three new components: a service broker, a workflow engine, and a mobile Web service agent.

Figure 1. Our proposed framework’s architecture. The framework preserves the three roles in the standard Web service architecture, but also introduces three new components.

The new architecture complies with wireless portal networks and attempts to overcome both the processing overhead on mobile devices and the data load on wireless links with limited bandwidth.

Service broker

The service broker augments data stored on the UDDI registry with nonfunctional attributes such as service-area location, service time, and accessible network types. Each provider that implements a new service supplies this information; for this reason, we defined a service broker service ontology similar to one described elsewhere.⁹ Figure 2 shows this ontology’s Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagram.

Figure 2. UML class diagram for the service broker service ontology. The service broker provides Web services for mobile clients. By invoking these Web services, mobile clients can specify their domain or service-class-specific preferences and search all available services.

The service broker service ontology specifies a domain (such as food, rental, or entertainment) and a set of synonyms for flexible search. The rental domain, for example, includes “rent” and “lease” as synonyms as well as a set of service classes to define properties. Each service that belongs to a service class must have a unique name.

A service class is further specified by its attributes, which are service-class specific and can include URIs. These attributes also hold nonfunctional attributes, which the mobile agent uses to select available services that match user preferences and context. In the food domain, for example, the “pizza” class might have attributes such as minimum delivery time and minimum delivery amount.

Workflow engine

The workflow engine uses standard orchestration languages to execute any processes the service providers give as workflows. While executing a workflow, the engine communicates with Web service providers and invokes related services. All messaging between the engine and the provider is via standard SOAP messaging. Having several workflow engines on the network helps avoid a single point of failure.

Mobile Web service agents

A mobile Web service agent acts as a gateway to Web services for mobile clients and handles all communication between mobile clients and the service broker or workflow engine.

The mobile Web service agent is located inside the mobile network. It receives the input parameters required for service execution from the mobile device and returns the executed service. The agent also selects services according to user preferences and context information such as location, air-link capacity, or access-network type." http://dsonline.computer.org/portal/site/dsonline/menuitem.9ed3d9924aeb0dcd82ccc6716bbe36ec/index.jsp?&pName=dso_level1&path=dsonline/2006/06&file=w3bener.xml&xsl=article.xsl&

Exercise 6 and 7

I believe that Ruby-on-Rails will be a very suitable framework for the completion of this online taxi booking system. It provides a framework to which it is easy (for some) to create online booking systems such as the online taxi booking system. Some quotes from some developers tend to back up this assertion.

“Ruby on Rails is astounding. Using it is like watching a kung-fu movie, where a dozen bad-ass frameworks prepare to beat up the little newcomer only to be handed their asses in a variety of imaginative ways.”

-Nathan Torkington, O’Reilly Program Chair for OSCON

“Rails is the most well thought-out web development framework I’ve ever used. And that’s in a decade of doing web applications for a living. I’ve built my own frameworks, helped develop the Servlet API, and have created more than a few web servers from scratch. Nobody has done it like this before.”

-James Duncan Davidson, Creator of Tomcat and Ant

There are a couple of hosting solutions available for the new online taxi booking system. The first of which is the creation of an in house web server that is built and connected through the businesses internet connection to the internet. This might not be the best way to go about it depending on the size of the business and budget of the project. This solution could entail the purchasing of a dedicated web server that will need to be configured to host a secure website on facing the internet, this will also require the knowledge of an IT professional to configure and maintain.

The second option is for the business to purchase some web hosting space from a dedicated website hosting company. This could be a more viable option for a small business as there will be no need to purchase dedicated web server hardware or hire an IT professional to maintain the system. This solution will entail a monthly fee for the website to be hosted.

Workshop 5

I have now had the easy decision of taking the IT Managers side of the Ruby on Rails ride for the rest of the workshops. It took me a whole of 2 seconds to make the decision after hours of frustrated ill attempts at being able to create a fully functioning rails app. I put this down to my network engineering major with little to no exposure to the realm of creating online systems.

Through vast research on the net I have found a variety of SMS devices but the one I am going to recommend is the SMS Prodigy version of a GSM modem sms hardware. This device can be configured to send personal SMS messages to the individuals that make a booking with the online taxi system. This device requires minimal system requirements.

Technical Data

The GSM Modem derives +5V DC power from the USB port, therefore, the PC must have a USB port conforming to the USB 2.0 standards. The device does
not require any external power supply for its operation.

Modem is dualband EGSM900 and GSM1800.

System Requirements

• Windows 2003, XP or Vista
• Pentium 1GHz and above
• 1 GB RAM
• 50MB HDD
• 1 free USB 2.0 Port

Information provided from http://smsprodigy.com/sms-hardware.html

The network needs for the taxi booking system will not necessarily change with the implementation of the SMS taxi booking system. Personnel will need to be trained and new people recruited for the implementation and everyday use/management of the new technologies and systems implemented.

Exercise 14

1. Spiders

A spider is an application that actively searches web pages and their links for search engines and other similar sites. Spiders collect information such as:

• Dead links
• Email addresses
• Web page titles, content etc.

Spiders are used by a majority, if not all, search engines on the web to add links in their databases for when people undertake a search. These applications are also commonly known as "bots" and "crawlers". Spiders have the ability to visit many sites in parallel, this is called the spiders "legs". In the case of deadlinks spiders can be used for maintenance tasks.

2. Software Agents

Intelligent - This type of agents have the ability of adaptation and the ability to learn. The ability to adapt allows the agent to sense the environment and reconfigure to meet. Algorithms and problem solving strategies can allow and agent to be able to adapt. The ability to learn can be established through trial and error which creates an illusion of behaviour.

Autonomous - Autonomous software agents claim to be autonomous through making independent decisions and taking action to meet the needs of an environment. These agents usually have the input of a user in order to make decisions within important applications.

Distributed - These agent can work together or be very loosely coupled, this allows them to be executed independently on distributed systems.

Multiagent Systems - Several agents can interact to form a multiagent system. Some agents may not have all data and methods inbuilt, this is when they may need to collaborate with other agents. These systems are also referred to as swarm systems and have their data is decentralized.

Mobile - These type of agents are able to move to other machines along with their data and execution state. These agents are used to backup files in client/server environments, monitoring network throughput and check resource utilization.

Fuzzy - "In computer science a fuzzy agent is a software agent that implements fuzzy logic. This software entity interacts with its environment through an adaptive rule-base and can therefore be considered as a type of intelligent agent." http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Fuzzy-agent

3. Software Agents in Use

Update Agents - These agents notify the user of when a change has occurred, eg:

• Alerting when news has been updated on a website
• Alerts a user when a job becomes available from a job board

Shopping Agents - These agents help with the purchasing of goods from retail websites. They can help find the best price for specific goods that the user is looking for.

Exercise 13

Shopping Cart Class Diagram

Exercise 12

MVC architecture of an online bookstore

Model

• Customer model - Holds customers information
  
• Order model - For processing orders
  
• Book model -Holds information and functions of books
  
• Shopping Cart model -Holds information of the customers transaction

View

• Book Controller - searching for books
• Book Controller - information on books
• Order Controller - ordering for books
• Order Controller - books availability
• Order Controller - order confirmation
• Order Controller - order status
• Shopping Cart Controller - add to cart, contents of cart
• Shopping Cart Controller - purchasing

Controller

• Books - lookup, return methods
• Orders - create, cancel and status of books
• Shopping Cart - add, modify, cancel
• Customer - get details
  

Exercise 11

1. ACID Properties and TP monitoring

ACID stands for Automicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability.

• Automicity - The ability for a transaction to be fully processed and completed or cancelled or rolled back to ensure data integrity.
• Consistency - The data of a transaction must be left in a continuous stable state until the transaction is completed.
• Isolation - A transaction must be isolated while being processed, ensuring it is not interrupted or modified by any process or other transactions.
• Durability - Transactions must not be able to be changed due to hardware failure and system crashes or the like. Other transactions must still be able to alter the processed data.

TP stands for Transaction Process monitoring. A transaction process monitor is used to ensure data integrity in a multi-threaded environment. A distributed client/server system is an example of a TP where all transactions are enforced with the properties of ACID. A TP monitor schedules threads and processes to evenly spread the processing load to ensure that an operating system is not overwhelmed.

Exercise 10

1. Thread Syncronisation

"In a multithreaded environment, each thread has its own local thread stack and registers. If multiple threads access the same resource for read and write, the value may not be the correct value. For example, let's say our application contains two threads, one thread for reading content from the file and another thread writing the content to the file. If the write thread tries to write and the read thread tries to read the same data, the data might become corrupted. In this situation, we want to lock the file access. The thread synchronization has two stages. Signaled and non-signaled.

The signaled state allows objects to access and modify data. The non-signaled state does allow accessing or modifying the data in the thread local stack." http://www.codeproject.com/KB/threads/Synchronization.aspx

2. Locks

A Lock is a synchronization method that controls access to resources for threads and processes. Data integrity of resources is ensured through the use of locks as it does not allow any 2 threads to access the same 1 data source at the same time.

3. Dead Locks

"In computer science, deadlock refers to a specific condition when two or more processes are each waiting for each other to release a resource, or more than two processes are waiting for resources in a circular chain (see Necessary conditions). Deadlock is a common problem in multiprocessing where many processes share a specific type of mutually exclusive resource known as a software lock or soft lock. Computers intended for the time-sharing and/or real-time markets are often equipped with a hardware lock (or hard lock) which guarantees exclusive access to processes, forcing serialized access. Deadlocks are particularly troubling because there is no general solution to avoid (soft) deadlocks." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadlock

4. Semaphores

"Semaphores are routines that ensure orderly access to regions of code. Like spinlocks, semaphores guard kernel data structures by controlling access to regions of code associated with a set of data structures. Unlike spinlocks, semaphores require the waiting thread to relinquish the CPU while awaiting the lock. Semaphores are implemented using a swtch() to allow another thread to run....Semaphores serve two functions mutual exclusion and synchronization. Mutual-exclusion semaphores protect data and are further classified by their degree of restrictiveness." http://docs.hp.com/en/5965-4643/ch01s08.html

5. Mutex

"A mutex object is a synchronization object whose state is set to signaled when it is not owned by any thread, and nonsignaled when it is owned. Only one thread at a time can own a mutex object, whose name comes from the fact that it is useful in coordinating mutually exclusive access to a shared resource. For example, to prevent two threads from writing to shared memory at the same time, each thread waits for ownership of a mutex object before executing the code that accesses the memory. After writing to the shared memory, the thread releases the mutex object." http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms684266%28VS.85%29.aspx

6. Thread

"In computer science, a thread of execution results from a fork of a computer program into two or more concurrently running tasks. The implementation of threads and processes differs from one operating system to another, but in most cases, a thread is contained inside a process. Multiple threads can exist within the same process and share resources such as memory, while different processes do not share these resources." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_%28computer_science%29

7. Event

"In computer science, an event is a type of synchronization mechanism that is used to indicate to waiting processes when a particular condition has become true.

An event is an abstract data type with a boolean state and the following operations:

• wait - when executed, causes the executing process to suspend until the event's state is set to true. If the state is already set to true has no effect.
• set - sets the event's state to true, release all waiting processes.
• clear - sets the event's state to false.

Different implementations of events may provide different subsets of these possible operations; for example, the implementation provided by Microsoft Windows provides the operations wait (WaitForObject and related functions), set (SetEvent), and clear (ResetEvent). An option that may be specified during creation of the event object changes the behaviour of SetEvent so that only a single process is released and the state is automatically returned to false after that process is released." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_%28synchronization_primitive%29

8. Waitable Timer

"A waitable timer object is a synchronization object whose state is set to signaled when the specified due time arrives. There are two types of waitable timers that can be created: manual-reset and synchronization. A timer of either type can also be a periodic timer.

Object	Description
manual-reset timer	A timer whose state remains signaled until SetWaitableTimer is called to establish a new due time.
synchronization timer	A timer whose state remains signaled until a thread completes a wait operation on the timer object.
periodic timer	A timer that is reactivated each time the specified period expires, until the timer is reset or canceled. A periodic timer is either a periodic manual-reset timer or a periodic synchronization timer.

" http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms687012%28VS.85%29.aspx

Exercise 9

1. S.E.T. and RSA 128-bit Encryption fort e-commerce

SET stands for Secure Electronic Transaction. SET is a standard protocol for securing credit card transactions over insecure networks, i.e. the internet. SET was initially supported by Mastercard, Visa, Microsoft, Netscape plus others. A SET user is given an 'electronic wallet' (digital certificate) and a transaction is conducted and verified using a combination of digital certificates and digital signatures among the puchaser, merchant and the purchasers bank.

RSA 128-bit encryption is a public-key cryptography algorithm that allows for secure communications over an insecure network through public and private keys. 128-bit RSA encryption is widely used today for secure communications over the internet as it is considered to be out of reach of current computing power.

2. Network and Host-based Intrusion Detection Systems

A Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) is an intrusion detection system that is used to detect malicious attacks on networks, including denial of services attacks, port scans etc through the monitoring of network traffic. The NIDS scans all incoming packets and looks for suspicious patterns known as signatures or rules. NIDS also scan outgoing packets as some attacks can be undertaken from within the monitored network or network segment.

Host-based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) started in the early 1980's are intrusion detection system that monitors and analyzes the communication traffic in and out of a computer and also checking the integrity of your system files and watching for suspicious processes. HIDS can detect which program accesses which processes, also, they look at RAM, file system, log files etc to make sure that the contents appear as expected.

3. What is Phishing

Phishing is the fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as bank account details, user names, passwords, credit card numbers by masking itself as a legitimate and trustworthy entity. An email is sent to an unsuspecting user which looks quite legitimate and links to an illegitimate website that also looks legitimate, where the user is prompted for their username and password or credit card details.

4. SET Compared to SSL

SET is explained earlier in the post.

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, which is a cryptographic protocol that provides security over insecure networks, i.e. the internet. SSL encrypts segments of network communications at the transport layer. SSL uses public and private keys, the public key is used to encrypt data at the browser end and the private key is used by the e-commerce system to decrypt and read the data. SSL is a system used by millions of websites worldwide to protect the data of their online transactions.

5. Cookies

A cookie is a small amount of text that is sent by a web server that is stored on a computer by a web browser. Cookies are used by a web browser to "remember" specific information that is later used by a web browser. This information can consist of preferences, shopping cart contents and other data used by websites.

Cookies can be used for authentication and session tracking among others. HTTP cookies can be used by web servers to track a persons particular web movements. Cookies cannot be used to gain access to a computers hard drive or steal sensitive information about a person.

6. Firewall Security

Firewalls protect a PC through the blocking of ports according to specific criteria. If a computer is connected to the internet then it needs to be protected from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by external sources. Attacks on a system can come from a number of sources, whether it be from someone that wishes to steal or alter your data or viruses and worms. Through the use of a firewall these types of attacks can be minimized, however, not all attacks can be prevented by a security measures.

Firewalls can be hardware or software based and sit between a network and the internet for hardware and the operating system and the internet when installed on your home PC. Firewalls allow the user more control of what comes in and out of the network or local PC. They control and monitor ports, protocols url's and IP's etc. The acquiring of which type of firewall, hardware or software, is purely determined by the size and type of the network or PC it is to protect.

Zonealarm is a type of firewall that is specifically software based that is perceived by some users that protects a PC more effectively than an inbuilt firewall.

7. Measures to create trust

E-commerce provides security features such as SET, SSL, encryption and the use of Digital Certificates to create trust amoung their customers.

8. Other Authentication Techniques

CHAP Authentication - Challenge Handshake Authentication is a one-way authentication method, however, you use CHAP in both directions on the link to create a two-way authentication. This type of authentication requires a shared secret which is usually a username and password which is set up when the link is first established.

Form Based Authentication - This type of authentication is where websites use a web form to collect and authenticate credential information, like a username and password, from a user. This technique is useful for developers as it allows them to customize the authentication user interface. Internet banking use such authentication methods.

Exercise 8

Elevator Pitch 1

This is the first of two elevator pitches for ITC382 business to business systems. This subject will follow our progress through the use of ruby on rails as a framework for the development of an online system. During this 13 week period we will delve deep into the world of developing online systems and plan, design and develop our way to the final goal. During our studies we will utilize a blog to comment on our research and experiences with ruby on rails.
Ruby on rails is an open source web framework that has been optimised for greater efficiency and sustained productivity. Ruby on rails can be used to create e-commerce solutions including online booking systems as well as client/server computing in general. The design concepts that are used in ruby on rails are REST, DRY and convention over configuration. The REST architecture is implemented by ruby on rails through representing its states in http format. The DRY concept states that the unnecessary repetition of code is wasteful and hinders productivity. Toolsets and programming practices help overcome these issues. Convention over configuration is a model that reduces the amount of configuration needed by the administrator that increases the simplicity of development without reducing flexibility.

Exercise 7

The perception that integration will be getting stronger in the near future is coming about as businesses strive to make available more resources in the one place. If a business is able to provide more features for their service than any of its competitors than it is more likely to have a higher number of users. Through integration the features and components of multiple systems can be integrated into a larger, more efficient and more powerful system, which in the long run will see a reduction in costs. An example of two systems that have been integrated is a website for woolworths supermarket and the ability to order groceries online.

Representational State Transfer, when compared to other web services, has many highly desirable architectual properties: scalability, performance security, reliability and extensibility.

Exercise 6

I spent hours on end for this exercise, I really must be missing something with Ruby on Rails. I can get most of the basics working but when I try to get further into it I seem to confuse myself. I really need to step back and start from the beginning again, hopefully it clicks.

Exercise 5

This exercise examines some environment variables on the server. I did this exercise on a windows machine using the $_SERVER[variable] and got these results:

• $_SERVER[$REMOTE_ADDR] - You are connected from: 127.0.0.1


• $_SERVER[$PHP_SELF] - You are connected from: 127.0.0.1

The second exercise creates a variable, $myvar, and assigns it a value, Hello World!. The echo function is then used to display the variable, Hello World!, on the screen for the user.

The third exercise creates a form to enter your name which uses the "Return" key to submit the text. The result was:

The fourth exercise builds a php file that uses the input from the last exercise and prints it on the screen for the user. Although I did not get the desired result, from purely ready the code I could see what the outcome was supposed to be.



For the fifth exercise I could create the database and tables, no worries. Using the database commands:

CREATE DATABASE mydatabase;

USE mydatabase;

CREATE TABLE employees

(First varchar(20) NOT NULL,

Last varchar(20) NOT NULL,

Address varchar(50) NOT NULL,

Position varchar(20) NOT NULL);

The rest of exercise five is where I had trouble and run out of time to complete. Hopefully have a bit of time towards the end of semester to fix it up.

Workshop 4

I have spent a couple of hours on the coding examples at http://www.fincher.org/tips/Languages/Ruby/, I found these tutorials good for the basics and learnt a few extra things on top of what I had already picked up. Also, a couple of different ways of doing similar things. I have become more familiar and confident with the basic functionality of Ruby through this workshop.

The syntax for a Javascript "If" statement is as follows:

• if (condition) { code to be executed if condition is true }

The syntax for a Ruby "If" statement is as follows:

• if object < method =" action">

The major difference here is the use of parentheses. Ruby is written with perentheses for purpose of precedence, while in Java conditions must be inside perentheses and curly brackets are used around the code block.

Some of the similarities between Java and Ruby include:

• They both include public, private and protected methods
• Memory is managed via a "grabage collector"
• Both are object-orientated languages

References

• http://www.w3schools.com/JS/js_if_else.asp
• http://www.indicthreads.com/1739/ruby-and-java-similarities-and-differences/

Workshop 3

The MySQL Graphical User Interface contained tools including:

• MySQL Administrator 1.2
• MySQL Query Browser 1.2
• MySQL Migration ToolKit 1.1

Rails is installed and running, however, my lack of development skills/knowledge is showing as a large portion of my time has been spent getting this section up and running with little success. I am understanding what Rails is and why it is used, however, when it comes to fitting it all together to get a working app, that is where I fall in a heap. I am studying network engineering and through my frustrations with getting Ruby on Rails to work I am becoming more and more confident that I have chosen the right path for me.

I will try to increase my learning and skills with rails through more Ruby on Rails reading and hopefully get my head around this development process. Resources currently being looked at are:

• The “Rolling with Ruby on Rails” series and “Cookbook recipes by Curt Hibbs and others beginning at http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/20/rails.html
• and, “Fast-track your Web apps with Ruby on Rails” at http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-rubyrails/

WorkShop 2

Convention over configuration means the developer only needs to specify unconventional aspects of the application. Assumptions are made of what the developer wants to do and how to do it. For example if there is a class 'sale' in the model, by default the corresponding table is called 'sale'. The Rails framework reduces the amount of tweaking and configuration, by the developer, that is needed to get things working.

I have learnt more about the Model-View-Controller (MVC) through the
http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/1767. I have learnt that MVC is the pattern behind the traditional SmallTalk80 user interface and is one of the earliest and most successful design patterns. MVC was developed in 1979 by Tygve Reenskaug.

In MVC the user input, modelling of the external world and the visual feedback to the user are separated and handled by 3 types of object:

• The view manages the graphical and/or textual output
• The controller interprets the mouse and keyboard inputs from the user
• And, the model manages the behaviour and data of the application domain, responds to requests for information about its state, and responds to instructions to change its current state.
  

References

• http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/1767

• http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html

Workshop 1

So firstly I haven't got much of a clue how Ruby on Rails works but through a bit of reading I'm beginning to get an idea of what it does. To start with I had a few troubles figuring out which Ruby on Rails to use but I got v2.0 and now seems to be running fine. Time will tell how it goes from here.

I have dabbled a little bit in in php and Java during my TAFE course but very little!! Did a bit of work with VBScript, SQL and HTML though. Been a long time since I've used any of them so I'm re-learning a bit.

Ruby is an interpreted scripting language as it is compiled at run time. It does not need to be interpreted into binary code before it is run.

Rails is a web framework separated into various packages that the Ruby code is run and encapsulated to produce web applications. This results in the developing process requiring less tweaking and configuring than other methods of development.

Exercise 4

A P2P system is a network of clients sharing some of their processing power, network bandwidth and disk space directly with their peers, which totally cuts out any go-between servers. Thus peers become both the suppliers and the consumers of the resources. The most common of these P2P networks today comes in the form of BitTorrent. While using bittorrent a tracker is downloaded with information such as a checksum, file size and tracker. Ther bittorrent client is used to make the connections and download the files, piece by piece. The pieces of the file that you have already been downloaded are uploaded to other users that need them. In order for peers to be able to download files from others they must be uploading what they have already received. The tracker constantly updates the list of peers and seeds that are connected.

Client/Server architecture is most commonly used throughout the internet and within business networks. Everytime you type in a web address and connect to a website, you are the client and the website is the server. In the client/server architecture server's hold the bulk of the data and the clients access the server to retreive or manipulate that data. In some cases servers run applications aswell as store the data. This is typical of a ThinClient setup, where the desktop has little processing power and hard disk space or memory. All of the processing is performed on a central server.

Exercise 3

Domain Name Service is a service which translates IP addresses into words. DNS was developed to translate numeric binary identifiers associated with networking addresses into domain names that are meaningful for humans, and vice-versa. For example, http://www.google.com.au/ is much easier to remember and determine where you are actually going than the IP address 66.102.11.99. DNS will become even more important when IPv6 takes over from IPv4, in possibly the not too distant future.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a service which is used by devices to automatically obtain configuration information necessary to operate in an IP network. DHCP servers send information to clients on the network such as IP addresses, subnet mask and the default gateway etc.

The main differing feature of DNS and DHCP is the information given by both, DHCP allocates the IP configuration information for a device and DNS allocates a meaningful name for an IP address.

It becomes important for an online business application to use a static IP address rather than a dynamically assigned one from DHCP because DHCP allocates the next available IP address to a device, let’s say 'device1'. This can be an issue if another device, 'device2', receives the IP information that was originally used by 'device1', this will result in the DNS table being incorrect and using the domain name will result in 'device1' being inaccessible. The DNS server can resolve this issue but it takes time and any time that the device is inaccessible is money lost in the business world.

A Virtual Private Network could be used in a Business to Business system to allow the secure transfer of client and mission critical data between business sites or clients. A VPN can also give a means of securely connecting to a private part of a business’s website. VPN's can be useful to business by segregating networks into departments of a business rather than the geographical location.

Grid computing is a combination of computer resources are collectively used to manipulate and process data. Grid computing is commonly used when needing a great number of computing cycles or there is a need to process large amounts of data. This allows smaller businesses the chance to utilise their computing power to meet the demand without having to fork out thousands of dollars to buy a new server.

The next generation of wireless mesh networks will aid businesses in the cost of wired networks and increase the mobility of its staff. Wireless mesh networks are made up of multiple wireless nodes overlapping to produce a much larger network coverage area, this will allow staff to roam anywhere within the coverage area without losing good quality coverage or connection to the network.

Cloud applications can be used in business to aid in clients not needing to run some applications on their local machine. Other types of cloud applications such as P2P systems remove the need for data to be stored on a server, instead the data is stored and load balanced between the peers connecting to each other.

Cloud computing may be viewed as a 'black box' because it is not necessary to know the inner workings of the system to be able to get the most out of it. All that is needed is the appropriate information to be able to connect and receive information from it, for example in a P2P network. Grid computing is known as a 'white box' because in order to get the most efficiency out of the grid computing setup, you must know the inner workings of the system and load balance processing between them.

Exercise 2

Rapid Evolutionary Prototyping is an approach that aids in reducing the time between planning and implementation. The use object orientated programming such as Java and C++ enable developers to program software components that can be reused time after time in applications other than those which they were originally meant for. Using a prototype aims to help refine the stakeholders requirements for a product and quickly make it ready for testing. The steps that are undertaken in REP include:

• Gathering data and requirements from stakeholders
• Develop/Implement prototype
• Test and validate and get user feedback
• Iterate to satisfy all users needs

REP and Agile Development are closely related as close contact is required between the developer and the stakeholder to ensure that the delivered prototype, and ultimately, the delivered system meet the stakeholder’s needs.

Exercise 1

An online community is a group of people interacting via a computer network through communications such as newsletters, email, internet social network services or instant messaging rather than face to face, for social, education, professional and many other purposes. Online communities depend upon social interaction and exchange between users online.

These online communities allow the people involved to share their interests, views and thoughts with other like minded people. Websites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo have created the means for online communities generally for people that have some form of real life relationship, whereas, websites like Tapped In (for educational professionals) and Charity Channel (for non-profit professionals) provide a place for professionals to share their experiences and thoughts etc.

Online communities have become important for e-commerce as it allows people to buy and sell goods and services. This 'new' type of community has provided different benefits and opportunities for businesses that were never possible in the past, some of these include online purchasing where a business does not require a physical shop front, which allows small businesses to compete with large enterprise, and also create the ability to advertise to specific groups of people.

Online communities allow for people to rate and comment on a businesses goods or services which allows other potential buyers to determine which items to purchase or whether or not to make a purchase. This rating system has been a large benefit for the online ordering website www.amazon.com, the site is able to bring together like minded people through the use of forums on the products they provide and entice discussion on those particular products. Items are easily ordered from the site through a shopping cart system, a virtual representation of buying groceries at a supermarket, where items can be viewed, then added to the cart and paid for at the 'check-out' through the sites secure payment system.

Price comparison sites are emerging throughout the internet which allows online users to compare prices and products in there own time, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, which saves time and the need to travel all over town finding the best deal. Some sites even allow for user input and discussions on products and even businesses which can help when choosing a product that may require follow up service from the business.

Intro

I am currently in my 3rd and final year of an integrated IT course at TAFE and UNI in Wagga. So far I've completed a Diploma in Network Engineering and by the end of this year have a B.I.T. and out earning a bit of money. I kept studying fresh out of year 12, so not a lot of IT experience, however, I am currently working in the Division if IT at CSU Wagga. My interests include cricket, rugby league and I currently playing my 1st year of rugby union after 14 years of league, although a headless chook would have a better understanding of the rules.