Modern Trends & Interpreting Schematics
Virtualisation
- Separates the operating system from the underlying hardware.
- Allows you to run multiple operating systems on the same system.
- Popular in servers for backups and for making full use of server resources.
Cloud Computing
- Accessing of computer resources on a remote server, rather than the local device.
- Three main categories:
- Infrastructure as a Service - servers that can be accessed to use for storage.
- Platform as a Service - servers that supply an environment for developing and testing software .
- Software as a Service - servers that deliver software applications over the Internet .
- Creates vulnerabilities which we looked at these in the lesson “System Vulnerabilities 2”.
Bring Your Own Device
- A policy which permits users to bring their own devices to use in the workplace.
- Believed to increase productivity and offer worker flexibility.
- Can make it easier to introduce malware to network or other malicious attacks.
Software-Defined Networking (SDN)
- A technology that separates the intelligence of the network from the hardware.
- This permits centralised configuration and management of a network and network devices, plus some automation.
- This is as opposed to having to individually configure each network device.
Internet of Things
- Everyday devices that can operate, connect to each other and exchange data within the Internet.
- E.g. Hive, which allows users to control their central heating and other systems from their phone or a website.
- Creates vulnerabilities which we looked at these in the lesson “System Vulnerabilities 2”.
Network Diagrams
- Network diagrams provide a visual representation of the structure of a network.
- There are a variety of software tools you can use to produce network diagrams:
- CISCO Packet Tracer
- Microsoft Visio
- Dia
Network Diagram Symbols
- Whichever software you use there are standard symbols you will often use. These include:
- The important part of being able to interpret a network diagram is understanding the purpose of the different devices.
Drawing Network Diagrams
- When we connect these devices together, they can form a network.
- To better understand how these may connect in a typical network diagram, we’ll look at a simple example: