Assignment 4

Contrast and discuss the enrolment input form (PRF) with the enrolment university interface. (at least 1000words, not to include illustrations/figures/diagrams)

For several semesters, the students had been using the Pre-Registration Form (PRF). They have to fill-up several fields such as Name, ID Number, Address, name of employer, semester, school year, course, class, section, sex, type, scholarship, code, course title and description, units, section, days, time and room. The Student Records Information System (SRIS) is used to record all the information from the PRF. After seeing the automated system, I noticed that there are some fields which cannot be found in the Pre-Registration Form and vice versa.

Further, I found some fields which I think are a little unecessary for the enrolment process and can be omitted. One example is the "parents" and "desired career" field. I think that the fields can be removed in the system because the information from the field will not be printed in the Certificate of Registration (COR) or it does not have anything to do about the enrolment. Further, there is a difference in the position of the fields. The class field can be repositioned and rather include it in the positions where the school information fields are placed. Further, I noticed that the "scholarship" field from the prf has been omitted. To conclude, there is a problem regarding the consistency of the information that are needed in the Pre-Registration Form (PRF) and the Student Records Information System (SRIS).

USEP Network Environment Assignment 3

Interview your university network specialist. Ask how various parts of the system communicates with each other throughout the university. (Q) Given the chance to redesign the existing setup, enumerate and discuss your keypoints for an effective and efficient network environment ideal for the university..

For our third assignment, we were tasked to interview the university network specialist. Last Wednesday, we gave our questions to Sir Reyes for him to answer. Below are the following questions and answers:

1. In system development, how various parts of the system communicate with each other throughout the university? In what way?
Regarding System Development, the best person to ask is our University Programmers, Mr. Fortich and Dr. Mercado.

2. What are the components involved in the system(s) in the university? (hardware, software, technology, etc.)
I am not in the right position to discuss the details of the software components used as there are other assigned personnel for such job. However, talking about hardware component and technology used, basically I, assigned as the network administrator, is entrusted to maintain our different servers to run 24/7. Currently, we have our Web Server hosted here in our University in our HP ProLiant ML350 Server. Its an old but stable server set-up here in our Networks Office and has been active since Engr. Val A. Quimno , not yet a dean, was appointed as the Network Administrator. The said server has the following specification:
Intel Xeon 3.0 GHz, 3.2 GHz, or 3.4 GHz processors (dual processor capability) with 1MB level 2 cache standard. Processors include support for Hyper-Threading and Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T)
• Intel® E7520 chipset
• 800-MHz Front Side Bus
• Integrated Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Adapter
• Smart Array 641 Controller (standard in Array Models only)
• NC7761 PCI Gigabit NIC (embedded)
• Up to 1 GB of PC2700 DDR SDRAM with Advanced ECC capabilities (Expandable to 8 GB)
• Six expansion slots: one 64-bit/133-MHz PCI-X, two 64-bit/100-MHz PCI-X, one 64-bit/66-MHz PCI-X, one x4 PCI-Express, and one x8 PCI-Express
• New HP Power Regulator for ProLiant delivering server level, policy based power management with industry leading energy efficiency and savings on system power and cooling costs
• Three USB ports: 1 front, 1 internal, 1 rear
• Support for Ultra320 SCSI hard drives (six hot plug or four non-hot plug drives supported standard, model dependent)
• Internalstorage capacity of up to 1.8TB; 2.4TB with optional 2-bay hot plug SCSI drive
• 725W Hot-Plug Power Supply (standard, most models); optional 725W Hot-Pluggable Redundant Power Supply (1+1) available. Non hot plug SCSI models include a 460W non-hot plug power supply.
• Tool-free chassis entry and component access
• Support for ROM based setup utility (RBSU) and redundant ROM
• Systems Insight Manager, SmartStart, and Automatic Server Recovery 2 (ASR-2) included
• Protected by HP Services and a worldwide network of resellers and service providers. Three-year Next Business Day, on-site limited global warranty. Certain restrictions and exclusions apply. Pre-Failure Notification on processors, memory, and SCSI hard drives.
Aside from it, our mail server running under Compaq Proliant ML330 Server, our oldest server, is also hosted here in our Networks Office. Together with other Servers, such as Proxy and Enrollment Servers, both proxy and our enrollment servers are running in a microcomputer/personal computers but with higher specifications to act as servers.

3. How do these communicate with one another? (topology, network connectivity, protocols, etc.) – may include data flow/ UML diagrams to better explain.

All Servers are connected in a shared medium grouped as one subnetwork. In general, our network follows the extended star topology which is connected to a DUAL WAN Router that serves as the load balancer between our two Internet Service Providers. All other workstations are grouped into different subnetworks as in star topology branching out from our servers subnetwork as in extended star topology. At present, we are making use of class C IP Address for private IP address assignments. Other workstations IP assignments are configured statically (example: laboratories) while others are Dynamic (example: offices). All workstations are connected via our proxy servers that do some basic filtering/firewall to control users access to the internet aside from router filtering/firewall management. So, whenever any workstation has to connect to the internet, it has to pass through software and hardware based firewall.

4. What are the processes involved in the communication (each system to other systems)?
As mentioned above, in item 3, all workstations are connected via a proxy server. It means that whenever a workstation is turned on, it requests for an IP address from the proxy server (for dynamically configured IP address) and connect to the network after IP address is acquired. As connection is established, each system can now communicate and share resources within the same subnetwork and to server following the concepts discuss in your Computer Network Class.

5. How do you go along with the maintenance of the system?
Basically, our servers are expected to be in good condition since it is required to be up 24/7. Daily, during my vacant period, monitoring on the servers are observed that includes checking logs, checking hardware performance such as CPU health, etc. If problems are observed, remedies are then and then applied. Once in a week, regular overall checkup is observed as preventive maintenance to ensure not to experience longer downtime if possible.

6. Does the system follow a specific standard? Explain Please.
As I was appointed as the Network Administrator, everything was already in place except for some minor changes. Basically, different networking standards was already observed such as cabling standards, TIA/EIA 568A-B, different IEEE standards as discussed in your Computer Networks Subject, etc.

7. How is the security of the system? Are there any vulnerabilities? Risks? Corresponding mitigation techniques? Access control?
As I have mentioned, we have implemented both software and hardware based filtering/firewall. Basically, Risks or vulnerabilities and different mitigation techniques were considered to increase security in our network. Aside from filtering/firewall, constant monitoring on networks activity also increases the security of the system.

8. Are there any interference? During what (most) times do these occur? Explain their effects especially with regards to the business of the university?
Major Interferences are normally encountered as an effect of unforeseen and beyond our control events such as black outs, and the like. The said interference would of course affect University’s day-to-day businesses for obviously this will paralyze all our activities that rely on electricity and further this might cause damage on our network devices, etc. that may later be the reason for longer downtime. Problems encountered by our providers such as connection to the National/International Gateway also affect University’s business such as correlating to University’s Business Partners outside and within the country.


All the answers came from Sir Reyes

Enrollment System Evaluation Assignment 1

Subject: Assignment 1 (Due: before July 9, 2010, 13:00hrs) Sat Jun 19, 2010 8:49 am

Assuming you were tapped by the university president to evaluate the new enrollment system implemented this semester, enumerate your observations/comments and suggest possible areas and ways where improvements can be made. Your observations/suggestions should be properly validated with facts and literatures...(you may start with the diagrams posted in the strategic locations of the university)... (1000words)

As what I had experienced in the past enrollment periods, I had observed that the enrollment process in the University of Southeastern Philippines is slow. There had been a lot of instances where some students, including me, can consume a whole or more just to get enrolled. However, as time goes by, the enrollment process is improving. There had been a lot of changes done in the enrollment system of the university. From outsourcing, the university decided to switch into in sourced enrollment system. Assuming that I was tapped by the university president to evaluate the new enrollment system implemented this semester, I observed that there had been a lot of improvements or changes in the enrollment process. Further, However, the present enrollment system is no doubt tiresome. The whole process is slow because of some factors which the system was not able to control. Human factor is one of the reasons why the pace of the enrollment process is slow.

For the old students, they will have to get their scholarship cards validated. It is applicable for the scholars. Next is that they have to pay the outer fees such as the Local Council, Collegiate Headlight and OSCS fees. After having their outer fees paid, they will have to go to their respective class advisers and present their receipts, clearance and grades for advising in which they will also receive their Student Pre-registration form for them to fill up. After which, they will go back to their adviser and have it verified. Then, they will have it encoded. The COR or certificate of registration will be given to the students. The scholars will have to proceed to the book keeper and cashier for those who are not scholars and present their scholarship cards or payments, respectively. If they are finished with the book keeper or cashier, they will have to fall in line to the registrar’s office, get themselves officially enrolled and have their id’s validated.

Among the changes that I observed are the COR or certificate of registration’s form. Next are the additional windows in the registrar’s office which will help in making the process a little bit faster. Further, the schedules for the enrollment are not followed. I would suggest that the university shall be strict with the schedules during the enrollment period.

Introduction

Hello! I am Jerusalem M. Alvaira, a 4th year BSIT student and taking SAD2. My expectations on this subject is to learn more. I also expect that we will be able to comply all the requirements on time and that all our systems will be successfully deployed. God Bless!