Exercise 3: From DNS and DHCP to Clouds and Grids

Topic 1

Explain DNS and DHCP. How does DNS differ from DCHP configuration?

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a protocol that automatically provides an Internet Protocol (IP) host with its IP address and other related configuration information such as the subnet mask and default gateway (Webopedia, 2010).

The Domain Name Server (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. The purpose is to translate domain names into IP addresses (Wikipedia, 2010). Whenever user use a domain name, then a service is used for translating domain names into IP addresses and is known as DNS. For example, the domain name www.dns.com might translate to 192.101.202.2.

In terms of how DNS differs from the DCHP configuration, as we understand it in a network, a DHCP server manages a pool of IP addresses, as well as default gateway details, including the DNS details and also other information for the clients’ network configuration. When a new computer is introduced into a DHCP server-enabled network, it will forward a query to the DHCP server requesting all the necessary information. When the query reaches the DHCP server, it will grant the new computer a new IP address as well as other configuration details.

Topic 2

Why is it important for your online business application to use a static IP address rather than have it dynamically assigned?

It is important when implementing an online business site/server to utilise a static IP address other than a dynamically assigned address as a static IP address best supports name resolution by the DNS system, so that a computer can be most reliably reached over the network by its host / domain name. Web and FTP servers in particular benefit from fixed addressing for this reason, as do online businesses. Clearly, having an online business which is consistently easily able to be accessed, then customers are more likely to return, than a site which is inaccessible.

Topic 3

What role can the following play in business-to-business e-commerce?

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) or Grid computing services
• Next generation of wireless mesh networks
• Cloud or Social Cloud applications.

With the introduction of globalisation over the past decade, instead of simply dealing with local or regional concerns, many businesses now have to imagine about global markets and logistics. Many large companies have facilities spread out across the country or around the world. In perfectly competition, where competitive advantage can mean the difference between success and failure, there is one thing that all of them need: A way to maintain fast, secure and reliable communications irrespective of where their offices are located. All of the above networks, whilst vastly different, offer businesses means connectivity. Each of these is briefly described below in terms of the role they may play in B2B E-commerce.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is called a private network that uses a public network (usually the Internet) to connect remote sites or users together, but maintains privacy through security procedures which encrypt the data (Reynolds, 2010). These remote sites or users may be employees of the one company, however VPNs can be establish between business to allow trading partners to maintain secure contact even when employees are on the road or geographically dispersed. Because it is a virtual network using a public network, the cost to the business, when compared to having to lease a dedicated line, is reduced.

Grid computing is a form of distributed computing whereby a “super and virtual computer” is composed of a cluster of networked loosely coupled computers acting in concert to perform very large tasks. Burman, Fox and Hey (2003) have published a book on this topic and state that this system is built on pervasive Internet standards enables organisations to share computing and information resources across department and organisational boundaries in a secure, highly efficient manner. In most B2B platforms, browser-based access co-habits with electronic data exchange. The weak point of many B2B platforms is that business partners usually connect only through a browser connection using the internet, without putting in place any electronic data exchange. This makes the interaction slow and allows frequent human errors. In addition data is updated infrequently, typically only 1-2 times a day, even when some form of automation is available. With the higher computer processing cycles and ability to process large amounts of data, grid computing presents a solution to B2B interactions for large volumes of electronic data exchange required in many modern B2B scenarios such as large database replication.

A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a communications network made up of radio node organised in a "mesh topology". The mesh clients are often laptops, mobile phones and other wireless devices while the mesh routers transfer traffic to and from the gateways which may but need not connect to the Internet. WMNs may consist of mesh clients, mesh routers and gateways. Wireless mesh technology enables businesses to deploy secure, high-bandwidth, scalable access to fixed and mobile applications across metropolitan and city areas, extending existing wired networked services and applications beyond current physical infrastructure (Wikipedia, 2010). It also means, for businesses, that consumers now have unprecedented accessibility to the internet, enabling them to access e-commerce sites even when they are mobile.

Cloud computing is a way of computing, through the Internet, that broadly shares computer resources instead of using software or storage on a local PC. Whatis.com (2010)  it provides an interesting definition and description of cloud computing. With cloud computing, businesses can scale up to massive capacities in an instant without having to invest in new information technology infrastructure, train new personnel, or license new software. Cloud computing is manly benefit to small and medium-sized businesses who wish to completely outsource their data-center infrastructure, or large companies who wish to get peak load capacity without paying the bigger cost of creating larger data centers internally. In both instances, service consumers use internet and pay only for what they use. The consumer does not own the infrastructure, software, or platform in the cloud. It means the business has lower upfront costs, capital expenses, and operating expenses. This also means that the business does not have to think about how servers and networks are work and maintained in the cloud. Reasonable

Topic 4

If clouding computing is the 'black box', then grid computing is a component as the 'white box'.
Explain what you interpret about that statement.

I believe that, in the context of the above statement the cloud represents a "black box" in those users does not have to know the inner workings of the cloud; all they want to know is the interfaces. There is no doubt that this is based on the black-box framework, which essentially means that a user does not need a deep knowledge of the framework in order to use it. By contrast, a white-box framework requires the user to understand the internals of the framework to use it effectively and that the framework has a level of transparency. The above statement relates the "white box" to the grid computing framework that the network is known, as it is made up of whole computers and components connected by a defined network.