Exercise 3: From DNS and DHCP to Clouds and Grids

Questions

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

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

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

a. Virtual Private Network (VPN) or Grid computing services

b. Next generation of wireless mesh networks

c. Cloud or Social Cloud applications.

If clouding computing is the 'black box', then grid computing is a component as the 'white box'.

Explain what you interpret about that statement

Answers

1

DNS ( Domain Name Server)
Hierarchical naming system used in translating domain names which are meaningful to people
into IP addresses that are used for communication in the internet / network.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
Automatically assigns IP addresses from a range to a computer in the network

The main distinguishing difference is: DNS translated URL into IP addresses while DHCP Assigns IP addresses.

2

Having a static IP address means having a fixed address to reach the site. This address is indexed by DNS servers throughout the internet. Having a dynamic IP means having your IP changing all the time. This could be a problem if DNS servers are not responding quickly to the IP address change as connections to the site could be disturbed. Static IP addresses also helps sites in performing better in search engine optimization (SEO)

3

VPN (Virtual Private Networks) can be used for a number of roles within a B2B system, one of the main role it would take up is as a secure channel to access private sections of the site, it could also be used for businesses to communicate securely between each other. This not only speeds up business processes but also aid and improves data accuracy.

Grid computing could greatly increase the speed of business processing. This involves clustering a number of computers, sharing their CPU resources across the network which then will virtually act as one large computing power; this enables us to run more resource demanding applications.

Wireless mesh network involves a number of overlapping wireless nodes which are organized in a mesh architecture, the coverage of the different nodes within this make up a single network or ‘mesh cloud’ this will allow users to roam freely within the network without losing a connection and still retaining a quality of service. From the business point of view, they can cut down the cost of network architecture by running it on the mesh network while also monitor the user with explicit detail in geography (can pin-point the location of a user).

Cloud or Social Cloud applications will contribute a major advantage for the business especially in the cost for application. Using cloud computing, a piece of software application could be run as a service. Furthermore, the need for a server could be eliminated by fully utilizing could computing's peer to peer connectivity.

Cloud computing is referred to as the black box as in programming terms which indicates that a user does not need to understand the programs internals to be able to utilize it. Whereas on the other hand, white box refers to a condition in which a user needs ti understand the programs' internals in order to fully utilize it.

References

Sebesta, R. Programming The World Wide Web .2008

Turban, Leidner, McLean, Wetherbe: Information Technology for Management 7th edition