Storage System, Servers and Desktops, Client Operating System, and Network Security - Assignment Example

1 Storage System Describe the main components of a typical Storage system. RAM: RAM is a form of primary storage, it is volatile. RAM takes the form of integrated circuits and it is used to temporarily store data and allows quick access to this stored data. This data can be accessed in any order. ROM: ROM is a class of non-volatile storage device that is programmed at creation, it cannot be reprogrammed at any later time. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, therefore, it is mainly used to store. PROM: PROM is a form of ROM that is one-time programmable. This means that this device can only be programmed once and can never be reprogrammed. The key difference from ROM is that the programming is applied after the device is created. EPROM: EPROM is a type of ROM. EPROM Differs from PROM in that it can be erased by exposing it to strong ultraviolet light from a mercury-vapor light source. EEPROM: EEPROM is also a type of ROM. EEPROM Differs from EPROM in that it can be erased electronically. An example of an EEPROM device is the Flash Drive. 2. List and describe different File sharing services protocols and give example where each protocol is used. CIFS (Common Internet File Service) Description: Used mainly by MS Windows computers and sometimes Mac OS X computers, this protocol is enabled by default. It is sometimes referred to as the SMB file-sharing protocol. Example: If Windows users access your storage system, enable this protocol. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Many public file upload and download sites use FTP. Example: If users access your storage system using FTP, enable this protocol. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) Used on the world-wide web. If users access your storage system from a device with a web browser, including a smartphone or tablet computer, enable this protocol. NFS (Network File System) Linux and UNIX computers use NFS. If Linux or UNIX users access your storage system, enable this protocol. AFP (Apple File Protocol) Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X computers use AFP. Enable this protocol, only if Mac OS 9 and OS X users access your storage system. 3. Identify different types of storage systems and highlight advantages and disadvantages of each technology (NAS, SAN, DAS, ISCSI) Types of Storage Systems Primary and Secondary and Tertiary Storage Volatile and non-volatile storage Read only and Writable storage Random Access and Sequential Access storage Magnetic storage Optical storage Semiconductor storage 1. NAS Advantages Files can be shared easily between multiple computers on the network. Many NAS servers will also have large amounts of storage in a RAID configuration so that the possibility of losing data is reduced. Performance of serving files can also be increased because the file system is included in the NAS server and the specialized nature of its operating system. Disadvantages It may prove difficult to recover the data without professional data recovery service. Because a NAS device is often used by many computers on a network, it can be overwhelmed by everyone trying to access the device at the same time. 2. SAN Advantages Better disk utilization A good DR solution for multiple applications Better availability for your applications Quick backup Disadvantages It would be very difficult to keep up your data if it breaks down. Costly 3. DAS Advantages High availability. High access rate due to Storage Area Network (SAN) absence. Elimination of network setup complications. Storage capacity expansion. Data security and fault tolerance. Disadvantages Data not accessible by diverse user groups. Allows only one user at a time. High administrative costs. 4. iSCSI Advantages Simplicity Ethernet is ubiquitous— it’s easy to understand ISCSI storage networking eliminates the additional knowledge base required to build, expand and support Fibre Channel SAN deployments. Disadvantages iSCSI clients can reduce its performance 4. What is Disk Storage? Disk storage is a general category of storage mechanisms where data are recorded by various electronic, magnetic, optical, or mechanical changes to a surface layer of one or more rotating disks. 5. What are purposes of Storage system? The main purpose of storage system is to maintain records, those which contain information of a personal or commercially confidential must be stored securely is the main purpose of the storage system. Offices or cabinets containing such records must not be left unlocked and unattended. Records that have been removed from their usual storage must be secured at their temporary location to an equal or better standard. Electronic Record Keeping Systems Procedures should be put into place to ensure that confidential records are properly restricted. 6. Highlight the features of each storage type. CD-R or CD-RW A type of disk drive that can create CD-ROMs and audio CDs. A feature of many CD-R drives, called multisession recording, enables you to keep adding data to a CD-ROM over time. This is extremely important if you want to use the CD-R drive to create backup CD-ROMs. DVD A type of disk drive that can create DVDs. The biggest difference between a CD and DVD is space – a DVD can hold more than 4 times as much data as a CD. USB Flash Drive USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable. USB flash drives offer potential advantages over other portable storage devices. They have a more compact shape, operate faster, hold much more data, have a more durable design, and operate more reliably due to their lack of moving parts. External Hard Drive An external hard drive sits outside of your computer and is usually connected via a USB or Firewire port. It can store large amounts of data. 1.5 Network Security 7. Identify different Security technologies. AAA: Authorization, Authentication and Accounting VPN: Virtual Private Network Firewall 8. Discuss Security measures needed for a secured Network Infrastructure. Firewalls By far the most common security measure these days is a firewall. A lot of confusion surrounds the concept of a firewall, but it can basically be defined as any perimeter device that permits or denies traffic based. Antivirus systems Everyone is familiar with the desktop version of antivirus packages like Norton Antivirus and McAfee. The way these operate is fairly simple -- when researchers find a new virus, they figure out some unique characteristic it has (maybe a registry key it creates or a file it replaces) and out of this they write the virus "signature." Intrusion-detection systems There are basically two types of intrusion-detection systems (IDS): Host-based IDS Network-based IDS Some other security measures are Patching and updating, General network tools, Port scanners, Network sniffers, Vulnerability scanners, Password crackers. 9. What is meant by NAT? List advantages and disadvantages. NAT means Network Address Translation. NAT is a method of connecting multiple computers to the Internet (or any other IP network) using one IP address. Advantages: Use of a single registered IP address for an entire network Independence of ISP IP addresses Transparent to end systems in some cases (increased security) Delays need for IPv4 replacement Mask the true internal IP addresses of the internal network Disadvantages: Breaks end-to-end model (the private IP space might already be in use) Enables end-to-end address conflicts (encourages poor address management) Increases local support burden and complexity Certain applications do not work properly in conjunction Increases the probability of mis-addressing It might require more work if assigning registered IPs to private IPs 10. What do Intrusion Detection & Prevention Systems mean? An intrusion detection system (IDS) inspects all inbound and outbound network activity and identifies suspicious patterns that may indicate a network or system attack from someone attempting to break into or compromise a system. 11. Describe the functionality of the Firewall. A firewall is a part of a computer system or network that is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting outward communication. It is a device or set of devices configured to permit, deny, encrypt, decrypt, or proxy all computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules and other criteria. 12. Discuss what DMZ means? Demilitarized Zone known as (DMZ). In computer networking, DMZ is a firewall configuration for securing local area networks (LANs). 13. What is CIA with respect to Security? Confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) is a model designed to guide policies for information security within an organization. 14. What are the differences between packet filter, application proxy and stateful firewall techniques? The main difference between these firewalls is that stateful inspection systems maintain a state table, allowing them to keep track of all open connections through a firewall, while packet-filtering firewalls do not. When traffic arrives, the system compares the traffic to the state table, determining whether it is part of an established connection. Stateful firewall checks more than just the ACK flag; it inspects the sequence numbers to ensure the correct state of the TCP session. Proxy firewalls, with two independent TCP connections for each application, can be more secure than packet filters. With no IP-layer packets passing directly between the inside and the outside, proxies are inherently immune to most kinds of reconnaissance and spoofing attacks. 15. Discuss what Tunneling means. Computer networks use a tunneling protocol when one network protocol encapsulates a different payload protocol. By using tunneling one can carry a payload over an incompatible delivery-network, or provide a secure path through an untrusted network. 16. What are differences between static and dynamic NAT and where are they used. Static NAT maps an unregistered IP address to a registered IP address on a one-to-one basis. Particularly useful when a device needs to be accessible from outside the network. Whereas Dynamic NAT maps an unregistered IP address to a registered IP address from a group of registered IP addresses. Dynamic NAT also establishes a one-to-one mapping between unregistered and registered IP address, but the mapping could vary depending on the registered address available in the pool, at the time of communication. 17. What is the use of security penetration testing? Security penetration testing is valuable for several reasons: Determining the feasibility of a particular set of attack vectors Identifying higher-risk vulnerabilities that result from a combination of lower-risk vulnerabilities exploited in a particular sequence Identifying vulnerabilities that may be difficult or impossible to detect with automated network or application vulnerability scanning software 18. What are the access control technologies used in your company? Biometric Authentication and Card access system are the two access control technologies used in my company. 1.6 Servers & Desktops 1. Identify the differences between Server, Desktop and Laptop. Desktop computers are intended to use at home or at office at the same place. They dont have integrated screen, keyboard and mouse. Server computers are designed to be used to be a server (such as a web server, SQL server or other). Laptop computers are made for taking them to travel. They are much smaller and lighter, and they have screen, keyboard and mouse integrated. 2. List the main components of Servers. a) Motherboard b) Processor c) Memory d) Hard drives e) Network connection f) Video/Graphics card g) Power supply 3. List the functions of DNS Server. A DNS server takes a domain or computer name and returns an IP address. A DNS server translates a computer or domain name to the associated IP address. 4. List the difference between NFS and CIFS filesystems. Differences: NFS is for Linux or UNIX based OS, whereas CIFS is used for Windows operating systems. CIFS is regarded as the more chatty, or talkative network system protocol, when compared to NFS. NFS has a very simple implementation process compared to CIFS’ talkative, response-based nature. NFS also boasts of a safer file caching as compared to CIFS. 5. What do you understand by "Open Systems"? A system that allows third parties to make products that plug into or interoperate with it. For example, the PC is an open system. Although the fundamental standards are controlled by Microsoft, Intel and AMD, thousands of hardware devices and software applications are created and sold by other vendors for the PC. 6. What are Active Directory, Domain and Workgroup? Active Directory: Active Directory (AD) is a directory service implemented by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems. Domain: In a domain if you have a user account on the domain, you can log on to any computer on the domain without needing an account on that computer. You probably can make only limited changes to a computers settings because network administrators often want to ensure consistency among computers. Workgroup: Computers on home networks are usually part of a workgroup. In a workgroup all computers are peers, no computer has control over another computer. 1.7 Client Operating System 1. Identify different ways to share Folders with your colleague. Method 1: The quickest way to share Folders is by selecting the Folders you want to share with your colleague, then ‘Right click’ and point to ‘Share with’ menu, and click Specific People. Then you can type in the name of your colleague or simply choose ‘Find People’ from the drop down menu. Then click ‘Add’. At this point you can choose level of permission and click ‘Share’. Method 2: Search your colleague by the IP Address of their computer and share the folder you want to share with them. Method 3: Copy a folder in the Public Folder and give permission to your colleague with whom you want to share the folder. Method 4: Use Cloud Application like Dropbox to share folders with your colleague. Just place the folders you want to share in the Dropbox folder and give access to your colleague. 2. What is an Operating System? An operating system (OS) is a collection of software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs. The operating system is an essential component of the system software in a computer system. Application programs usually require an operating system to function. 3. What are the main differences between Windows, UNIX and Linux? Manufacturer Linux is an example of Open Source software development and Free Operating System (OS) unlike UNIX and Windows. Cost Linux can be freely distributed, downloaded freely, distributed through magazines, Books etc. There are priced versions for Linux also, but they are normally cheaper than Windows. For desktop or home use, Windows can be expensive. A single copy can cost around $50 to $ 450 depending on the version of Windows. Different flavors of UNIX have different cost structures according to vendors. GUI Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. But there are millions of alternatives such as LXDE, Xfce, Unity, Mate, twm, etc. Initially UNIX was a command based OS, but later a GUI was created called Common Desktop Environment. Most distributions now ship with Gnome. The Windows GUI is an integral component of the OS and is not replaceable. File system support Linux: Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, Jfs, ReiserFS, Xfs, Btrfs, FAT, FAT32, NTFS UNIX: jfs, gpfs, hfs, hfs+, ufs, xfs, zfs format Windows: FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT Read More