expert systems

a computer program that stores knowledge from one or more experts in their domain, and uses this knowledge to ask them questions and come up with advice for the user based on their answers, this is called a consultation, also it provides the user with why is asking the questions and how it came up with the advice.

an expert system has three main parts-

the user interface-is what the user sees

the inference engine-decides the order of the rules

the knowledge base-contains facets and rules

an expert system shell is a empty expert system, a system with no rules or expertise but with a user interface and a inference engine.

Relaxing music to help us STUDY :-D

Relaxing music to study to hmmm… i dont like any noise when im studying

Here are some quick suggestions;

Pink – So What -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XKZh3vWeGc

Lady Gaga- Paparazzi

Lady Gaga- Bad Romance

The Saturday’s(Jonathan’s suggestion :-] )

i cant think of relaxing music…gotta go n Study for Bio now

o and i dont actually no how to put music on to this

Any Suggestions anyone??

leave a comment

x

Upgrade Strategy

On friday in Information Systems We went over the last few things about software strategy. And went over the things about Upgrade strategy
The Upgrade strategy has three issues they are:

Future Proofing
Compatibillity and integration testing
Support for legacy Systems

Future Proofing involves selecting hardware and software resources which will have a lifespan generally of three to five years, All new resources deployed by an organisation should be future proof.

An example of future proofing would be ensuring that a new computer system can be upgraded with additional memory and storage if required. If Upgrades or additional resources are to be used with existing systems, It is important that these resources and systems are tested for compatibility.

Compatibility Testing checks for unintended interactions that disrupt normal operation or decrease any other functional or non-functional properties of the system.
An example of compatibility testing would be ensuring that an upgrade version of a computer’s operating system was compatible with the organisation’s main applications.
There are several interrelated elements of computer systems which require testing when a new item of hardware or software is introduced to an existing system.

Integration testing is another type of testing which software and/or hardware components are combined and tested to confirm that they interact according to their requirements. Integration Testing can continue progressively until the entire system has been integraded.

An example of Integration Testing would be if a new stock control system were to be introduced in a large supermarket. The system would first be tested for compatibility with existing systems within the stock control area.

Legacy Systems are the systems which are in existance and either deployed or under development at the start of an upgrade program. All Legacy Systems will be affected by upgrading, to a greater or lesser extent.
Issues of cost make it important to support Legacy Systems as part of any upgrade strategy. Many effective and vital business applications were developed for mini and mainframe computer systems. These systems are costly to replace. Often the cost of developing new software to replace these applications is higher than the cost of purchasing new hardware.

One more quick thing

Emulation

Emulation requires an Emulator. An emulator is a product designed to imitate one system while running on another. The emulator accepts the same data, executes the same programs, and achieves the same results as the system it is emulating. The concept was invented by IBM Systems engineer Larry H. Moss in 1964 to describe the new IBM Systems/360 would provide support for programs that had been designed to work with older IBM Systems.
The downside of using an emulator is that often( but not always) the performance of the emulator may be slower than the native program, and it is possible that the emulator will not fully support modern hardware which was not supported by the emulated program.

Please leave comments

software/upgrade strategys

Software strategies

When updating any network a strategy  is needed to ensure there are no problems caused by the update such as incompatible applications, lack of staff able to work the new software, and buying the wrong software.

Upgrading

Cost

Whenever upgrading software the merits of the new software have to be compared to the costs of the software and the installation and a decision made about whether the upgrade is viable. It might be more cost than its worth to upgrade in some cases.

Time

There will always be a problem with time in an organization, for example it takes time to install the program, to test it and to train the employees. The organization will not only have to pay for each part of the update but its also time where the employee isn’t making them money.

Risk

Installing new software is risky as there will always be errors that weren’t found during testing. These errors could result in losses of large amounts of data.

Compatibility

There may be problems with compatibility. This means that existing  hardware may not be able to run the new software e.g. the Macs inability to use any of the new Word software. Files from new software may be unreadable by the existing software.  e.g. Laura’s docx file was unreadable by the old version of Word installed on the Macs. The existing files may also be unusable by the new software, this would make transferred to a newer version difficult as all files created on the old software would need to be converted.

Support

Software support can be a critical factor in the successful launch of a piece of software. It takes time to learn how to use a new piece of software so support features are used to shorten this process and to stop mistakes being made. These support features include online help, online tutorials, web tutorials, hard copy user manuals and call centers.

Update strategies

Computer hardware and software progress at a fast rate making new hardware and software outdated within a couple of years. Large organizations do this on a large scale so they need to plan their upgrading to determine how their new and replacement resources will be provided, developed and tested.

Future proofing

Future proofing involves selecting hardware and software that can last 3-5 years and be readily upgraded.

Support for legacy systems

Legacy systems are the systems that are being used by a company and are usually software and hardware that are out of date. Legacy systems hardware generally needs upgrading, often by adding extra parts, to keep them functioning at the speed the company needs, and extra memory. These systems can be used as transitional systems to keep the company operating while a new system is developed.

backup strategy’s :)

Heyy

okay well the blog today is about backup strategy’s Backups are useful mainly for two purposes;

The first is to restore a state following a disaster such as the server blowing up

or

to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted

a back up strategy is developed by determining which data need to be backed-up and what media to use such as magnetic tape or hard discs can be used. Back ups should be made when no one is likely to being using any of the computers such as in a school a back up should be done around 9pm just making sure that the back up will have finished by the time the school opens. And a backup should always be stored on a secure offsite location

Back up methodology

The most common method of backing up are ;

Full

this methodology transfers a copy of all data within the scope of the back up to the chosen media whether or not the data has been changed since the last back up.

Differential

this backs up all the files changed since the last FULL back up.

incremental

in this case only the files which have changed since the last back up of any kind will be backed up.

Media rotation and storage

a backing up strategy requires media rotation and storage to be considered although most organisations tend to store the back up near the sever which means if there is physical diaster the chance’s are that the back up’s will also be destroyed so it needs to be stored in a secure location offsite which can be retrieved quickly if needed.

Grandfather-Father-Son

If backups are taken each friday on magnetic tape, then daily incremental backups take place from Monday until Thursday, on a Friday , all files will be backed up whether they have been modified or not , the backup runs automatically at a chosen time when the server isnt doing anything else,  on the last working day of each month there is a full back up , after a certain amount of time the tape are re-written with information.   ( i think that is right ?)

The daily backups have the least amount of data, these are son files.
The weekly backups consist of a greater volume of data. These are father files.
The monthly backups contain the oldest data stored and are known as grandfather files.

I hope this right :S

Melissa

Network Strategy

Yesterday in class we were talking about Security strategies. I will now explain them.

Security Strategies

Encryption-

This is the process if changing data into a form that can only be read by the person/company receiving the information which then they can translate it using the decryption key. Companies do this so people’s personal information within that company cannot get accessed by just anyone.

Virus, Trojan and Worms-

Virus-

This is a program or a piece of code that can be loaded and run onto your computer without your knowledge. Most viruses make replicates of themselves and attaching themselves onto files.

There are 3 main categories of viruses which are-

Boot sector- If the boot sector is affected then you wont be able to turn your computer on as the Boot sector is the area of the hard drive that is accessed when you first turn your computer on.

File Virus- Infects programs, which then led onto it affecting other documents and programs they are opened or run in.

Macro Virus- These are written using Macro programming Language which affect Microsoft Office programs such as Excel and Word which is mostly found on the internet by downloading free programs.

Trojan-

Normally called a Trojan horse. They aren’t like a virus as they don’t replicate themselves they are just very destructive. Once a Trojan is installed, hackers can access your computer system and files. Normally Trojan horses main use is to allow spammers to send thousands of emails from another computer. The main type of Trojan horse is spyware which secretly gathers user information through the user’s internet but the spyware is usually attached to a piece of shareware or freeware which usually get set off once the program is installed.

Worms-

This is a self-replicating program which uses the resources on one machine to attack other machines. A worm is a normal piece of program code that inserts itself into other programs. This makes it different from a virus.

Denial of Service-

This only happens if you flood a network or server or attempt to disrupt access to a service. Illegal uses of resources can also be result of a Denial of Service. Flooding can be a website or a server.

Firewall-

The purpose of a Firewall is to prevent unwanted intrusions from the internet and other networks. Within the Firewall there are thousands of ports which, each port prevents a certain thing from accessing your computer for example, one would be for the internet and another one could be for the files on your computer.

Have i missed anything out?.

Laura x

Netword Strategy

• What is a network ?

Networks exists when a group of two or more computers are connected together. There are a few different types of networks.

• Local-area networks(LAN) : Computers are usually close together such as in a library or a school.
• Wide-area Networks(WAN) : The computers are far apart , such as the internet or many schools connected together.
• Campus-area network : Computers are usually in a university campus or military base.
• Metropolitan-area network : Networks restricted to a town or a city area.
• Home area networks : A series of computers connected in a house.

Amazing Blog :)

Okay well to be honest I actually can’t remember what we did in class the other day so ill write about what jack didn’t

So first of all the characteristics of information…

Cost- how much the information cost you?

Relevance- how suitable the information is.

Timing- how up to date that information is.

Objectivity - If your source of information is trust worthy….. would you trust it if it came from Johnathan?

Completeness – if you have all the information required.

Presentation – how the information is shown

Accuracy – how correct the information is.

Conciseness- the amount of detail on your information.

Availability – how assessable your information is.

Value - the importance of the information you have …not the cost.

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So the other thing I Remember is the Anagram thing :S

Some nuts love to frequently use form types

Source this refers to the origin of the source whether it be, primary, secondary, internal or external

Primary information is information which comes from a primary source, and is less likely to contain errors.

Secondary information any information which is not primary and errors are more likely to occur during processing.

Internal information is any information originates from the company itself such as marketing reports.

External information is any information which originates from outside the organisation such as a report into what type of people like there products.

Nature of information

Quantitative information is facts and figures such as statistics.

Qualitative information is opinions.

Formal information is the way in which it is presented such as you wouldn’t write a job application on the back of a receipt.

Informal is Information which is casual such as they way you talk on msn.

Level- refers to the level in which it is processed at within the organisation.

Strategic-  top level of management such as the board of executives deciding on big major decisions such as whether or not to change the name of the company these decision are highly risky and are normally over a long time period such as 5 years.

Tactical- middle level of management such as managers and will involve decisions such as whether or not to improve staff training and carry a small level of risk and time scale of 6-12 months.

Operational would be made by every day staff and involve simple tasks set out by managers carry virtually no level of risk and are day to day decisions.

Time

Past- information which is gathered and stored over a long period of time

Present- information which is current to the time period.

Future- you can base future predictions on present and past such as predicting the weather will get cold in winter we know this as it happens every year.

Form- how the information is presented to you such as

Aural- such as listening to a tutorial or the radio.

visual- information which is created graphically.

Written- information which you need to read to gain information on the subject such as the big computing book.

Use – what is the point in the information

Planning involves decision making such as when to do something or what resources are required to do something.

Control is the process of monitoring the operation by organisation and taking the necessary action if the outcome of the monitoring is unsatisfactory.

Decision making is the key to an organisation and is the outcome of planning and control decision making cannot be done without information.

Frequency refers to when information becomes available

Continuous information is available in real time such as a multiple choice test which is being marked as you do it.

Periodic when information is updated information is available at certain points in time eg hourly, daily, and weekly.

Ramdom- created by an event eg, booking concert tickets.

Type

Aggregated – a summary of information eg, the total of tickets sold for a gig.

Sampled on some information is used such as when to find out how many people like the x factor they would take a sample of people and work it out from that.

Detail- the increase or decrease of information specific to the place of importance in the organisation.

Okay well this is me done no idea if this is what i was to do  but ohh well !

Melissa

Website Update

www.jhigh.co.uk has been updated regarding Using Information.  The site now contains the course notes and has some details regarding what has been covered in class this far.  The website points mainly to some blog post from “the others” – because they’re good posts.  Use them, guys, but ideally let’s get even better content in here.  Speaking of such, jack has set the blog ball rolling again.  Go Jack – good stuff.

Come on, the 10 Spartans.

Organisational Information Systems.

Organisational Info. System (OIS) – This is when a collection of information system work across the operations of an organisation.

You get different kind of OIS for different levels of a company;

Strategic – Executive Information Systems

Tactical – Decision Support systems & Management Information Systems

Operational – Data Processing Systems

Data Processing Systems work with a lot of internal information on a daily basis. They serve most daily activites for a company, are often compulsary for the survival of a company and used for mostly structured tasks.  It also contains a lot of input and output, it provides data used later by higher levels who summarise the information.

Decision Support Systems help managers and people who use them to make decisions ( THEY DO NOT MAKE THE DECISIONS ) They are interactive systems and provide models, data manipulation and information.  It’s used for analytical work and helps with unique decisions.  A great help for multiple decisions and what-if conclusion of data.

Management Information Systems converts data into the type of information it needs to be (via reports).  They use large amounts of input data and create summary reports.  They are often dedicated to a  certain area of a organisation and they allow users to create specific reports for the criteria they need.  It doesn’t predict information.  It’s also good for producing reports.

Executive Information Systems show summarised easily understood inforamtion to the head of a company.   It uses graphical information to show graphs and such to show inforamtion.  It uses internal and external information and can be used to see the detail used in lower levels.  These information systems use alot of technical support is a summary of the lower level information systems.

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