COIT 20246: IT Solution Assignment on Parallel Processing & Security

This document presents a comprehensive IT solution assignment, addressing various computer science concepts across six weeks. Week 1 focuses on parallel processing architectures, comparing MIMD and SIMD. Week 2 delves into deadlock prevention algorithms, specifically the Wait/Wound/Die algorithm. Week 3 explores the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in smart farming. Week 4 examines the technologies enabling the simultaneous operation of IPv4 and IPv6. Week 5 discusses biometric authentication mechanisms as a network security tool. Finally, Week 6 addresses a recent data breach, providing insights into current security threats. Each week includes a summary of a selected resource, its relevance, and key takeaways, demonstrating a clear understanding of the concepts. The assignment is well-structured and provides valuable insights into the specified IT topics.

IT SOLUTION 1
IT Solution
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

IT SOLUTION 2
Week 1
The text discusses about different architectures for parallel processing used for
Multiprocessor Machines such as multiple-instruction stream - multiple-data stream
(MIMD), single-instruction stream - multiple-data stream (SIMD), etc. Find and
summarise ONE resource that compares between MIMD and SIMD architectures.
The resource and your summary must focus only on MIMD and SIMD architectures.
Title, Link, and Reference:
Differences Between SIMD and MIMD
https://techdifferences.com/difference-between-simd-and-mimd.html
Difference between SIMD and MIMD. (2019). [Blog] techdifferences. Available at:
https://techdifferences.com/difference-between-simd-and-mimd.html [Accessed 2
Oct. 2019].
Summary:
The article describes about the MIMD and SIMD parallel computer architecture. I
chose this article because it was simple to undusted and helped me to understand
MIMD and SIMD and how they work
In this resource the author has described what MIMD and SIMD is and how they
work. The two computer organization classified by Flynn along with other are SIMD
and MIMD, which are categorized as taking the number of the data stream and
instruction streams. SIMD architecture comes with a single control unit to control
various isolated processing elements. There is vector processing in SIMD where one
control unit controls the operation of all the execution elements. To interact with the
processors simultaneously shared memory is split in modules (Jiang and Agrawal,

IT SOLUTION 3
2017).
MIMD architecture consists of multiple processing units, instruction streams, as well
as data streams. In this architecture, different instruction is applied to various data
simultaneously. Concurrently multiple processors are executed to provide high
concurrency for concurrent processing. Here the main difference can be found with
their name single and multiple data streams with SIMD as Single Instruction Multiple
Data Stream and MIMD as Multiple Instruction with Multiple Data Stream. SIMD
computer-operated single instruction in numerous data streams. There is more
memory used in MIMD than the SIMD. The programming that requires for SIMD is
synchronous, and the MIMD is asynchronous.
There is a single decoder used in the SIMD, whereas there are multiple decoders used
in the MIMD architecture. As the performance comparison, MMD has higher
efficiency than the SIMD architecture, but the architecture of the MIMD is more
complicated than the SIMD architecture. There is implicit synchronization in SIMD,
whereas there is explicit synchronization in MIMD. Each copy of the program is
stored in memory in MIMD, whereas SIMD stores one copy of the program, which
requires less memory.
I found this resource of great importance since it did not just compare MIMD and
SIMD in terms of differences but also helped me comprehend how they work. I was
also able to know which programming requires SIMD and MIMD respectively.
Week 2
The text discusses about one of the common problems that can arise during resource
allocation in operating systems, which is known as deadlock. Find and summarise

IT SOLUTION 4
ONE resource that describes an algorithm of either deadlock avoidance or deadlock
prevention. The resource and your summary must focus on a single algorithm of
either deadlock avoidance or deadlock prevention, NOT both.
Title, Link, and Reference:
Deadlock Prevention: Wait/Wound/Die Algorithms
https://www.cs.uic.edu/~jbell/CourseNotes/OperatingSystems/7_Deadlocks.html
Rosenkrantz, R. (2019). Deadlock Prevention: Wait/Wound/Die Algorithms.
[Blog] cs.colostate.edu. Available at:
https://www.cs.colostate.edu/~cs551/CourseNotes/Deadlock/WaitWoundDie.html
[Accessed 2 Oct. 2019].
Summary:
The resource describes deadlock prevention algorithm. I chose this article because it
highlighted in detail one deadlock prevention algorithm that I did not know before.
The author explained deadlocks prevention algorithm. Wait die Algorithm (with the
queue) if process P currently has any resources with equal or higher priority than
resources R, then refuse the request
else if resource R does not
exist, then refuse
the request
else
{ if the resource R is not free,
then
put process P in a queue waiting for
resource R and when process

IT SOLUTION 5
Preaches the front of the queue,
grant process P exclusive access to
resource R
end if
}
end if
let’s take an example
• Assume that people need both fork as well as a knife for eating.
• The priority for a knife is given as 2 and that of fork is1, let's suppose
that the highest priority is 0.
• People p1 needs both fork and knife and people p2 needs fork and knife
Person asks for a knife at first as it has lower priority than the spear
(Mittal, 2018).
• Person P2 also request fork after requesting knife
• Only one person p1 or p2 can get knife and then fork, let’s assume P1
get it
• Now the person p2 will be in the queue to get the knife
• And then p2 request for a fork
• The request is then granted
• Person P1 use the knife as well as fork until completed.
• Now the fork and knife is released by P1
• Now the person p2 is in the queue so the knife if provided to P2
Knife and fork is used by p2 until completed.
• And then the knife and fork is released by P2
Here the process waits in the queue to get the resource which is used by another

IT SOLUTION 6
process (Mittal, 2018).
This article was useful to me since I used to wonder how deadlock can be prevented
instead avoidance. I was also in a position to understand how the Wait die Algorithm
works in order to prevent deadlock
Week 3
Internet of things (IoT) is an emerging trend towards smart interconnected embedded
technologies that allow us to monitor and control our environment. Find and
summarise ONE resource that describes applications of the Internet of things in the
field of Smart Farming. The resource, and your summary, must focus on application
of Internet of Things ONLY in the field of smart farming.
Title, Link and Reference:
IoT Applications in Agriculture
https://www.iotforall.com/iot-applications-in-agriculture/
Writer, G. (2019). IoT Applications in Agriculture. [Blog] iotforall. Available at:
https://www.iotforall.com/iot-applications-in-agriculture/ [Accessed 2 Oct. 2019].
Summary:
This article is all about the definition and application of IoT in smart farming. This
article was not just educative but also interesting. This is because Internet of Things
has always been my favorite topic in today’s technology.
The writer of this article described how smart farming is now utilizing the Internet of
Things technology. The industries with advancement, communicative vehicles as well

IT SOLUTION 7
as smart cities all are from the Internet of Things principle. To feed the world
population in the coming years, farming and the production should be more than
todays as the world population will be about to be 10 billion by 2050. The
environment is facing many problems which reduces production.
Internet of Things based farming will increase production and reduce. As an
illustration, the smart farming concept is developed from the Internet of Things, and
smart farming is capital-intensive and hi-tech systems to grow food more cleanly as
well as in sustainable for large population. Implementation of information and
technology in agriculture is smart farming. The crops in the field are monitor by the
sensors, which include light, humidity, temperature moisture of soil with an automatic
irrigation system (Khanna and Kaur, 2019).
The crops and the product condition can be checked from anywhere in the world.
Some of the applications of the Internet of Things based farming are
• Agricultural Drones
This drones can be used for fertilizer spreading and other security purposes
• Precise farming
The precise farming of the crops can be done with the implementation of the
Internet of Things on agriculture.
• Livestock Monitoring
With the Internet of Things, the farmer can monitor their cattle about their
health condition, well-being, and location.
• Smart Greenhouse
The article was important since it helped me to figure out how Implementation of
Internet of Things in the greenhouse can be more effective than the convention
method as it automatically checks the condition of all the parameters required for

IT SOLUTION 8
crops production.
Week 4
The text discusses about IPv4. However, IPv6 is the emerging protocol which is in the
process of superseding IPv4. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes about
the technologies that are used to run both protocols simultaneously over the same
internet infrastructure.
Title, Link and Reference:
Understanding Dual Stacking of IPv4 and IPv6 Unicast Addresses
https://www.juniper.net/documentation/en_US/junos/topics/concept/ipv6-dual-stack-
understanding.html
Understanding Dual Stacking of IPv4 and IPv6 Unicast Addresses. (2019).
[Blog] juniper. Available at:
https://www.juniper.net/documentation/en_US/junos/topics/concept/ipv6-dual-stack-
understanding.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2019].
Summary:
This article has discussed in detail how dual technology combines both IPv4 and IPv6
technology simultaneously. However, I selected this article since the author narrated
well how dual-technology combines both IPv4 and IPv6.
The author has explained how the double-stack method as an IP address transition
enables each and every networking component, server, switch, router, and firewalls to
be configured with both IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity capabilities. As an illustration,
the dual-stack technology allows internet service providers to process IPv4 and IPv6

IT SOLUTION 9
data traffic simultaneously (Te Lu, Wu, Lin, Chen and Hsueh, 2017). This means that
the user can continue serving the net without worrying that the connection will stop
due to IP address conversion.
Conversely, this transition is usually driven by the DNS. If the device is dual-stack
and queries the name of the destination and the DNS gives n IPv4 address, this means
the IPv4 packet will be send. However, if the DNS responds with the IPv6 address,
then it sends the IPv6 packet. In that case, the interface needs both IPv6 and IPv4
address in case you want to dual-stack the network devices. However, if the IPv4 is
not enough, then dual stacking can be used, but the supply needs to be conserved by
the use of network address translation.
This article was useful since it did not just discuss dual-stack technology but also
made me understand how IPv4 and IPv6 work in a real-life situation. I was also able
to know how the DNS assigns both IPv4 and IPv6 interchangeably.

ASSIGNMENT PAPER 10
Week 5
Network security has become a significant concern of the ICT world, and user
authentication is one of the popular tools to assure network security. Find and
summarise ONE resource that describes any ONE authentication mechanism except
the password. The resource and your summary should focus purely on ONLY ONE
type of authentication mechanism.
Title, Link and Reference:
What is biometrics? 10 physical and behavioral identifiers that can be used for
authentication
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3339565/what-is-biometrics-and-why-collecting-
biometric-data-is-risky.html
Korolov, M. (2019). What is biometrics? 10 physical and behavioral identifiers that
can be used for authentication. [Blog] csoonline. Available at:
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3339565/what-is-biometrics-and-why-collecting-
biometric-data-is-risky.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2019].
Summary:
This article covered the biometric user authentication and how it is done in the field of
Network security. I selected this article because it was straight to the point.
The writer of this article describes how biometric authentication has played a
considerable role in securing most businesses. The palm print has features such as

ASSIGNMENT PAPER 11
wrinkles, datum points, minute lines, and points. This mechanism is an automatic
technique, and each identity is confirmed via unique behavioral features such as iris
(Bae, Lee, Son, Hwang and Kim, 2018). This mechanism usually compares the
person's identity with the pre-stored finger, iris, and palm print. However, the research
found out that this mechanism also has a few drawbacks especially in Android
Devices and was able to remotely pull out the user's fingerprints using the backdoor
software's to hijack payments, secured data or can even install malware. They were
able to do all this remotely, without having to be present physically with the device.
Since this weakness, mitigation methods like patches have come up for these
vulnerabilities, but as usual bug hunter is still on the hunt for new loopholes.
This article made to understand how the biometrics works and where it is applied in
order to prevent unauthorized access to data. I also understood how this mechanism
works by analyzing biological data of an individual by involving the palm print,
fingerprint together with iris to provide more accurate information
Week 6
The text discusses about a massive data breach that happened in Target company,
which is referred to as ‘Target Breach.' Find and summarise ONE resource that
describes another recent (within last 5 years) well-publicized attack or security breach
on a public company or government organization. The resource, and your summary,
should describe about A SINGLE EXAMPLE of security breach.
Title, Link and Reference:

ASSIGNMENT PAPER 12
What is WannaCry ransomware, how does it infect, and who was responsible?
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3227906/what-is-wannacry-ransomware-how-
does-it-infect-and-who-was-responsible.html
Fruhlinger, J. (2019). What is WannaCry ransomware, how does it infect, and who
was responsible?. [Blog] csoonline. Available at:
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3227906/what-is-wannacry-ransomware-how-
does-it-infect-and-who-was-responsible.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2019].
Summary:
The article that I choose describes the Wannacry attack and how the malware
works and how it affects the systems and its effects. It also describes about steps
taken to deplete it.
The author states that Wannacry is a computer malware worm which infected
many computer networks in may of 2017. It entered the computers in the form of a
dropper which is a self-contained program. This program extracts the other
application components in the system containing application encrypts and decrypts
data and files containing encryption keys.
When the malware worm enters into the computers systems it typically accesses a
hard-coded URL named as kill switch. If it can't access, it starts encrypting essential
files such as MS Office files, MP3's and MKV's too and makes the users impossible
to access. Then after it displays a notice demanding money in the form of bit coin to
decrypt This malware attacks the system by exploiting the lies in the window’s