ASSIGNMENT 1 WEEK 7 | INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

DETAILS:

In the weeks up to week 7, we’ve learned about various components of the IT Infrastructure.
From week 7, we will look at security and management.

Your task for Assignment 1 is to produce a report that describes the range of features in any of the component types of the topics listed below.  For example, in the first case, we have selected:

1.2    End-user Devices / Laptop / Overall size of the device

In this case, you would need to describe the features of the largest laptop down to the smallest laptops now available on the market.  Clearly here you might reach a point where they are no longer called laptops.  You would restrict yourself to those devices that are described as laptops in the marketing, and you would not include tablets, etc.You should then describe what has changed to in going from largest to smallest, including design and packaging.  

Pick one item from the following list:

1. Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Smartphones
   1. CPU / Disk / Graphics Speed
   2. An overall size of the device
   3. Network speed & traffic volume
   4. Reliability, Ruggedness, Robustness
2. Sensor features
   1. Body sensors (heart rate, blood sugar, etc…)
   2. Motion senses (Gyro/accelerometer – eg step counter for exercising
   3. Environmental Sensors (eg pollution or radiation counters)
3. Compute
   1. CPU Speed
   2. I/O Volume
   3. Multiplicity (number of cores, 1 core to N core – what does core mean?)
   4. Type (CPU / GPU)
   5. Virtual (degree / SIze)
4. Storage
   1. I/O Speed, for characters, for blocks
   2. Size,
   3. Memory (RAM)
   4. Media (disk, SSD, …)
   5. Network Architecture (what different kinds are there?)
   6. Backup and Recovery (Simplest to the most comprehensive, slowest to fast, etc.)
5. Operating Systems
   1. Size (number of  processes, amount of RAM/process
   2. Speed (Calculator speed to Real-time performance)
   3. A degree of Virtualisation (PC to Cloud)
6. Networks
   1. Speed (traffic speed, volume)
   2. Size and complexity (architectures from client-server to distributed neural computing (eg Google AI))
   3. Reliability (High error-rate UDP to TCP)

Other combinations will be permitted but with prior email permission.  In this case, please email me and explain which combination you wish to select, and once permission is given, please write this in the report.

For the report, you need to select a particular aspect of one of the above categories, and describe the smallest / cheapest / simplest version of that aspect, up to the largest / dearest / most complex version of it.  In other words, you need to explain how this aspect of the category scales and how it changes by scale.

4.3 Storage, / Memory,

The report should describe the features of the smallest / cheapest / slowest  RAM, to the most expensive, largest and fastest RAM. 

You must then describe how scale has affected the design or use of this feature.  For example,  how is L1 cache RAM different or differently used compared to (say) GPU RAM.

The title of the assignment should be “Report” followed by the above category and then the feature (so “Report 4.3 Storage Memory ” in the example above) and “Report 1.1 End-user Laptop Speed” for the first example.

An example of how you could write this up is in a discussion about scale given in the Wikipedia article on Memory Hierarchy (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..  Notice how the article first describes the term and then lists the hierarchy in terms of speed, or latency.  It then describes how the technology is different for each of the four levels shown to support the use at that speed.

                                                                                               

 Points to consider.  In your report there should be at least:

• • 5 items in the scale from ‘best’ to ‘worst’
  • one non-intel or Intel compatible product
  • one citation as evidence for where you found each piece of information from 
  • You must cite using “credible” references.  These would include:
    • Specification sheets for the relevant devices from their manufacturer website;
    • Review articles from well-known magazines (no more than 2 citations from the same article);
    • Academic journals or conference papers (can be found using Google Scholar);
    • NOT Wikipedia!!
    • NOT blogs or videos (unless clearly from credible organizations, such as the manufacturer, a university or similar independent body – no personal blogs);
    • NOT daily newspapers or similar general reading outlets, unless also supported by more credible references.
  • Turnitin will be used for assignment submission and markup.

Submission file format:

• PDF and all references are to have clickable links to their sources.

Submission Size

• 4 to5 pages of printed text, using size 12 font and including figures and tables

Content Format

• A title page is optional, but it must have:
  • Snappy Title (think of something that grabs the attention);
  • Abstract:  A single paragraph (around 100 words summarising your findings)immediately following the title;
  • Student Name;
  • Student ID;
  • Course Title and Semester/Year; 
  • Images of the 5 items with options which should include name, company and model numbers.

Feedback will be provided using Turnitin’s inline marking tool and general comments. 

Learning Objectives Assessed:

This assignment assesses Learning Objectives: 

• CLO1: Describe all of the IT Infrastructure Architecture components and the issues relating to each of them
• CLO2: Demonstrate knowledge of higher level aspects of data communications and network technology appropriate for the development of software applications in a networked environment;
• CLO6: Describe and review emerging networking technologies

Graduate Outcomes supported: 

1. Enabling Knowledge
2. Critical Analysis
3. Communication