Barebones

Barebones

A barebones PC is a computer that has minimal components. A typical barebones system includes a case, motherboard, CPU, hard drive, RAM, and power supply. Most barebones systems are sold as kits, in which the components must be assembled by the user.

Since barebones PCs usually do not come preassembled, they are not designed for the average computer user. Instead, barebones kits are aimed at computer enthusiasts and users who prefer to build their own PCs. By purchasing only specific components, a user can fully customize his computer system and avoid paying for unwanted extras. For example, if you buy a barebones kit, you can choose your own keyboard and mouse, since they are not included. Also, no software is bundled with barebones systems, so you avoid paying for software you don't need. Additionally, most barebones systems do not come with an operating system, so you can choose to install any operating system that is compatible with the hardware.

Nearly all barebones PCs are desktop computers since they are the most customizable. However, some companies also offer barebone laptop systems, or "barebooks," which can be homebuilt. While Macintosh computers now use most of the same components as PCs, the Mac OS X operating system requires proprietary hardware to run. Therefore, barebones systems are generally built to run either Windows or Linux

Bridge & Bridging (networking)

Bridge

A bridge is built to connect the two land masses. Since the car cannot swim or fly, the bridge makes it possible for automobiles to continue driving from one land mass to another.

In computer networking, a bridge serves the same purpose. It connects two or more local area networks (LANs) together. The cars, or the data in this case, use the bridge to travel to and from different areas of the network. The device is similar to a router, but it does not analyze the data being forwarded. Because of this, bridges are typically fast at transferring data, but not as versatile as a router. For example, a bridge cannot be used as a firewall like most routers can. A bridge can transfer data between different protocols (i.e. a Token Ring and Ethernet network) and operates at the "data link layer" or level 2 of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) networking reference model.

Bridges serve a similar function as switches, that also operate at Layer 2. Traditional bridges, though, support one network boundary, whereas switches usually offer four or more hardware ports. Switches are sometimes called "multi-port bridges" for this reason.


Bridging (networking)
Network bridging describes the action taken by network equipment to allow two or more communication networks, or two or more network segments, to create an aggregate network. Bridging is distinct from routing which allows the networks to communicate independently as separate networks. A network bridge is a network device that connects multiple network segments. In the OSI model bridging acts in the first two layers, below the network layer.


There are four types of network-bridging technologies: 
simple bridging; multiport bridging; learning, or transparent bridging; and source route bridging. Transparent bridging was originally developed by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in the 1980s.

Mobile browser

Mobile browser
A mobile browser, also called a microbrowser, minibrowser, or wireless internet browser (WIB), is a web browser designed for use on a mobile device such as a mobile phone or PDA. Mobile browsers are optimized so as to display Web content most effectively for small screens on portable devices. Mobile browser software must be small and efficient to accommodate the low memory capacity and low-bandwidth of wireless handheld devices.

Websites designed for access from these browsers are referred to as wireless portals or collectively as the Mobile Web. They may automatically create "mobile" versions of each page, for example this one.

The first mobile browser for a PDA was PocketWeb for the Apple Newton created at TecO in 1994, followed by the first commercial product NetHopper released in August 1996.

 Apple Newton

The so-called microbrowser technologies such as WAP, NTTDocomo's i-mode platform and Openwave's HDML platform fueled the first wave of interest in wireless data services.


The mobile browser usually connects via cellular network, or increasingly via Wireless LAN, using standard HTTP over TCP/IP and displays web pages written in HTML, XHTML Mobile Profile (WAP 2.0), or WML (which evolved from HDML). WML and HDML are stripped-down formats suitable for transmission across limited bandwidth, and wireless data connection called WAP. In Japan, DoCoMo defined the i-mode service based on i-mode HTML, which is an extension of Compact HTML (C-HTML), a simple subset of HTML.


 POCKET WEB

Since early 1994 the PDA Developers Group at TecO has been investigating Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) with respect to their integration and usability in distributed systems. The main platform for our research and development has been the Apple Newton MessagePad. Before Xmas 1994, we presented the first Web browser for Apple Newton, in fact the first web browser for a palmtop device. The browser won a best paper award at the WWW2 Conference in Chicago, October 1994.

Zero Day Exploit

A zero day exploit is a malicious computer attack that takes advantage of a security hole before the vulnerability is known. This means the security issue is made known the same day as the computer attack is released. In other words, the software developer has zero days to prepare for the security breach and must work as quickly as possible to develop a patch or update that fixes the problem.

Zero day exploits may involve viruses, trojan horses, worms or other malicious code that can be run within a software program. While most programs do not allow unauthorized code to be executed, hackers can sometimes create files that will cause a program to perform functions unintended by the developer. Programs like Web browsers and media players are often targeted by hackers because they can receive files from the Internet and have access to system functions.


While most zero day exploits may not cause serious damage to your system, some may be able to corrupt or delete files. Because the security hole is made known the same day the attack is released, zero day exploits are difficult to prevent, even if you have antivirus software installed on your computer. Therefore, it is always good to keep a backup of your data in a safe place so that no hacker attack can cause you to lose your data.

Repeater

1) In digital communication systems, a repeater is a device that receives a digital signal on an electromagnetic or optical transmission medium and regenerates the signal along the next leg of the medium. In electromagnetic media, repeaters overcome the attenuation caused by free-space electromagnetic-field divergence or cable loss. A series of repeaters make possible the extension of a signal over a distance.
Repeaters remove the unwanted noise in an incoming signal. Unlike an analog signal, the original digital signal, even if weak or distorted, can be clearly perceived and restored. With analog transmission, signals are restrengthened with amplifiers which unfortunately also amplify noise as well as information.
Because digital signals depend on the presence or absence of voltage, they tend to dissipate more quickly than analog signals and need more frequent repeating. Whereas analog signal amplifiers are spaced at 18,000 meter intervals, digital signal repeaters are typically placed at 2,000 to 6,000 meter intervals.

2) In a wireless communications system, a repeater consists of a radio receiver, an amplifier, a transmitter, an isolator, and two antennas. The transmitter produces a signal on a frequency that differs from the received signal. This so-called frequency offset is necessary to prevent the strong transmitted signal from disabling the receiver. The isolator provides additional protection in this respect. A repeater, when strategically located on top of a high building or a mountain, can greatly enhance the performance of a wireless network by allowing communications over distances much greater than would be possible without it.

3) In satellite wireless, a repeater (more frequently called a transponder) receives uplink signals and retransmits them, often on different frequencies, to destination locations.

4) In a cellular telephone system, a repeater is one of a group of transceivers in a geographic area that collectively serve a system user.

5) In a fiber optic network, a repeater consists of a photocell, an amplifier, and a light-emitting diode (LED) or infrared-emitting diode (IRED) for each light or IR signal that requires amplification. Fiber optic repeaters operate at power levels much lower than wireless repeaters, and are also much simpler and cheaper. However, their design requires careful attention to ensure that internal circuit noise is minimized.

6) Repeaters are commonly used by commercial and amateur radio operators to extend signals in the radio frequency range from one receiver to another. These consist of drop repeaters, similar to the cells in cellular radio, and hub repeaters, which receive and retransmit signals from and to a number of directions.


7) A bus repeater links one computer bus to a bus in another computer chassis, essentially chaining one computer to another.

IOTP & OLTP

Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP) is a set of standards that makes all electronic purchase transactions consistent for customers, merchants, and other involved parties, regardless of payment system. IOTP accommodates a wide range of payment systems such as Secure Electronic Transaction, digital cash, e-checks, and debit cards. Payment system data is encapsulated within IOTP messages. IOTP is designed to handle a transaction that involves a number of different parties: the customer, merchant, credit checker and certifier, bank, and delivery handler. IOTP uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) to define data that encompasses everything that may be needed in a transaction.

Companies contributing to the development of IOTP include Hewlett Packard, IBM, JCP, MasterCard International, Smart Card Integrations, Sun Microsystems, and Wells Fargo Bank.


OLTP (online transaction processing) is a class of software programs capable of supporting transaction-oriented applications on the Internet.

Typically, OLTP systems are used for order entry, financial transactions, customer relationship management (CRM) and retail sales. Such systems have a large number of users who conduct short transactions. Database queries are usually simple, require sub-second response times and return relatively few records.
An important attribute of an OLTP system is its ability to maintain concurrency. To avoid single points of failure, OLTP systems are often decentralized.


IBM's CICS (Customer Information Control System) is a well-known OLTP product.

IP address spoofing

In computer networking, IP address spoofing or IP spoofing is the creation of Internet Protocol (IP) packets with a forged source IP address, with the purpose of concealing the identity of the sender or impersonating another computing system.
The basic protocol for sending data over the Internet network and many other computer networks is the Internet Protocol ("IP"). The header of each IP packet contains, among other things, the numerical source and destination address of the packet. The source address is normally the address that the packet was sent from. By forging the header so it contains a different address, an attacker can make it appear that the packet was sent by a different machine. The machine that receives spoofed packets will send a response back to the forged source address, which means that this technique is mainly used when the attacker does not care about the response or the attacker has some way of guessing the response.

IP spoofing can be a method of attack used by network intruders to defeat network security measures, such as authentication based on IP addresses. This method of attack on a remote system can be extremely difficult, as it involves modifying thousands of packets at a time.

Defense against spoofing attacks

Packet filtering is one defense against IP spoofing attacks. The gateway to a network usually performs ingress filtering, which is blocking of packets from outside the network with a source address inside the network. This prevents an outside attacker spoofing the address of an internal machine. Ideally the gateway would also perform egress filtering on outgoing packets, which is blocking of packets from inside the network with a source address that is not inside. This prevents an attacker within the network performing filtering from launching IP spoofing attacks against external machines.

Socket

Definition: Sockets are the fundamental technology for programming software to communicate on TCP/IP networks. A socket provides a bidirectional communication endpoint for sending and receiving data with another socket. Socket connections normally run between two different computers on a LAN or across the Internet, but they can also be used for interprocess communication on a single computer.

Socket Libraries

Network programmers typically use socket libraries rather than coding directly to lower level socket APIs. The two most commonly use socket libraries are Berkeley Sockets (for Linux/Unix systems) and WinSock (for Windows systems).

A socket library provides a set of API functions similar to those programmers use for working with files, such as open(), read(), write() and close().

Sockets and Addresses

Socket endpoints on TCP/IP networks each have a unique address that is the combination of an IP address and a TCP/IP port number. When creating a new socket, the socket library automatically generates a unique port number on that device, and the programmer can also specify their own port numbers in specific situations.

USB - Universal Serial Bus

Definition: USB is a high-performance serial bus communication technology. Most new computers and associated peripheral devices like printers and scanners contain built-in support for this technology. USB hubs for file and printer sharing also exist. USB and FireWire are the most popular, competing standards for networking computer peripherals.

Multiple versions of USB have been developed by the computer industry:

• USB 1.0 and 1.1: the first commercial versions supported a maximum data rate of 12 Mbps
• USB 2.0: the current version supports a much faster theoretical maximum rate of 480 Mbps
• USB 3.0: the future standard is expected to support up to 4.8 Gbps

To build a USB network, simply connect USB cables to the USB ports on those devices. USB is plug and play compatible, meaning the operating system USB driver software automatically detects and configures device connections. One USB network supports up to 127 devices.

USB Keys

As an alternative to using USB technology for local area networking, USB keys can be used to transfer files between two devices without requiring cables. To use a USB key (also known as a memory stick), copy files from one computer onto the key, then physically carry the stick to a different computer and copy the files onto that device.

DNA Computing

DNA Computing is a form of computing which uses DNA, biochemistry and molecular biology, instead of the traditional silicon-based computer technologies. DNA computing, or, more generally, biomolecular computing, is a fast developing interdisciplinary area. Research and development in this area concerns theory, experiments, and applications of DNA computing.

This field was initially developed by Leonard Adleman of the University of Southern California, in 1994. Adleman demonstrated a proof-of-concept use of DNA as a form of computation.

Leonard Adleman

In 2002, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, unveiled a programmable molecular computing machine composed of enzymes and DNA molecules instead of silicon microchips. On April 28, 2004, Ehud Shapiro, Yaakov Benenson, Binyamin Gil, Uri Ben-Dor, and Rivka Adar at the Weizmann Institute announced in the journal Nature that they had constructed a DNA computer coupled with an input and output module which would theoretically be capable of diagnosing cancerous activity within a cell, and releasing an anti-cancer drug upon diagnosis.

In January 2013, researchers were able to store a JPEG photograph, a set of Shakespearean sonnets, and an audio file of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech I Have a Dream on DNA digital data storage.

In March 2013, researchers created a transcriptor (a biological transistor).

Capabilities

DNA computing is fundamentally similar to parallel computing in that it takes advantage of the many different molecules of DNA to try many different possibilities at once. For certain specialized problems, DNA computers are faster and smaller than any other computer built so far.

Free Space Optics

Free space optics technology (FSO), also referred to as open-air photonics or optical wireless or infrared broadband, transmits data from point-to-point and multipoint using low-powered infrared lasers. Unlike traditional copper wires or fiber-optic technology, which transmits data by light across glass, FSO uses laser technology to send optical signals through the air using lenses and mirrors to focus and redirect the beams and send data from one chip to another. And unlike radio frequencies, FSO technology does not require a spectrum license.

An FSO system uses optical amplifiers and a telescope that sends multiple wavelengths of light in direct line of sight through the atmosphere to another telescope waiting to receive the information. The receiving telescope is connected to a highly sensitive receiver through an optical fiber and a DWDM demultiplexer.

Since the system is bidirectional, each telescope can simultaneously send and receive information. The only weather condition that affects an FSO transmission is fog. Fog can corrupt the direct line of sight between the two telescopes because the moisture particles in the air are so small and dense that they act as millions of tiny prisms dissipating the band of light sent from the laser.


Free space optics provides a higher bandwidth to the end user at a faster speed. The photons transmitted by the laser are much quicker than electrons moving along a wire and they can pass straight through each other, which charge-bearing electrons cannot do. Because of this, large amounts of data, such as IP -based voice and video, can be transmitted through a narrow corridor of space.

IMT-2000

International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000), better known as 3G or 3rd Generation, is a family of standards for mobile telecommunications defined by the International Telecommunication Union, which includes GSM EDGE, UMTS, and CDMA2000 as well as DECT and WiMAX. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Compared to 2G and 2.5G services, 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates (up to 14.0 Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8 Mbit/s on the uplink with HSPA+). Thus, 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defined the third generation (3G) of mobile telephony standards – IMT-2000 – to facilitate growth, increase bandwidth, and support more diverse applications. For example, GSM (the current most popular cellular phone standard) could deliver not only voice, but also circuit-switched data at download rates up to 14.4 kbps. But to support mobile multimedia applications, 3G had to deliver packet-switched data with better spectral efficiency, at far greater bandwidths.

While EDGE is part of the 3G standard, most GSM/UMTS phones report EDGE (“2.75G”) and UMTS (“3G”) network availability as separate functionality.

APPLICATIONS

The bandwidth and location information available to 3G devices gives rise to applications not previously available to mobile phone users. Some of the applications are:

·         Mobile TV - a provider redirects a TV channel directly to the subscriber's phone where it can be watched.

·         Video on demand - a provider sends a movie to the subscriber's phone.

·         Video conferencing - subscribers can see as well as talk to each other.

·         Tele-medicine - a medical provider monitors or provides advice to the potentially isolated subscriber.

·         Location-based services - a provider sends localized weather or traffic conditions to the phone, or the phone allows the subscriber to find nearby businesses or friends. 

Cheque truncation system(eDesk)

Cheque Truncation System (CTS) or Image-based Clearing System (ICS), is the conversion of a physical cheque into a substitute electronic form for transmission to the paying bank. Cheque truncation eliminates cumbersome physical presentation of the cheque and saves time and processing costs.

In India, is a project undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India – RBI, for faster clearing of cheques. CTS is basically an online image-based cheque clearing system where cheque images and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) data are captured at the collecting bank branch and transmitted electronically.
                      Truncation means, stopping the flow of the physical cheques issued by a drawer to the drawee branch. The physical instrument is truncated at some point en route to the drawee branch and an electronic image of the cheque is sent to the drawee branch along with the relevant information like the MICR fields, date of presentation, presenting banks etc.

Cheque truncation, would eliminate the need to move the physical instruments across branches, except in exceptional circumstances. This would result in effective reduction in the time required for payment of cheques, the associated cost of transit and delays in processing, etc., thus speeding up the process of collection or realization of cheques.

Banks and financial institutions use cheque truncation systems (CTS) to manage this process. These systems have to deal with two main processes, outward clearing and inward clearing.

Ø  In outward clearing the deposited items are scanned and the operator performs amount entry, account entry, item verification, balancing and bundling of the items at the branch level. The items are then sent to a service branch.

Ø  In inward clearing, the items received from branches are processed in the service branch where the operator performs amount entry, account entry, item verification, balancing and bundling of the items. Once verification is complete, the items are sent to the clearing house. Those items that failed validation due to discrepancies are sent back to the originating branch to be corrected.

Expected Benefits

For Banks:

1)   Banks can expect multiple benefits through the implementation of CTS, like faster clearing cycle means realization of proceeds of cheque possible within the same day.

2)   It offers better reconciliation/verification process, better customer service and enhanced customer window.

3)   Operational efficiency will provide a direct boost to bottom lines of banks as clearing of local cheques is a high cost low revenue activity.

4)   Besides, it reduces operational risk by securing the transmission route.

5)   Centralized image archival system ensures data storage and retrieval is easy.

6)   Reduction of manual tasks leads to reduction of errors. Customer satisfaction will be enhanced, due to the reduced turn around time (TAT).

7)   Real-time tracking and visibility of the cheques, less fraudulent cases with secured transfer of images to the RBI are other possible benefits that banks may derive from this solution.

For Customers:

1)   CTS / ICS substantially reduces the time taken to clear the cheques as well enables banks to offer better customer services and increases operational efficiency by cutting down on overheads involved in the physical cheque clearing process.

2)   It also offers better reconciliation and fraud prevention.

3)   CTS / ICS uses cheque image, instead of the physical cheque itself, for cheque clearance thus reducing the turn around time drastically.

eDesk

eDesk is a generic reference to image processing (cheque truncation) products developed and owned by VSoft Corporation, a software company based in Duluth, Georgia, US and Hyderabad in India.

VSoft Corporation’s eDesk Capture™ solutions addresses the capture, validation, processing, archive and transmission of cheque images from all points of presentment. The features in eDesk allow financial institutions to automate deposits at branch tellers, branch back counters, and merchant locations of varying volumes and value, and image enabled ATMs.

Functions

• Teller Capture – Image cheques at the teller counter
• Branch Capture – Image cheques at the branch back office
• Merchant Capture – Enable corporate and business customers to send image cheques to the branch. Merchant Capture allows them to image cheques at their office and send the electronic data and images securely to their branch
• ATM / CDM Capture – Capture and securely transmit cheque images from image enabled ATMs and Cheque Deposit Machines.

eDesk's flexible architecture facilitates the deployment of business rules that are appropriate for each point of presentment and institution. The solutions also address the need for multi-institution capability from the outset, making it ideal for organizations processing transactions from multiple institutions.

eDesk Capture solutions allow merchants and corporations to capture cheque images at the convenience of their locations, and send them electronically to their financial institutions.

Features

• Compatible with wide range of industry standard scanners
• Automated amount recognition (CAR/LAR)
• Intelligent repair image system (IRIS™) for automated correction.
• Image Quality Assurance
• Duplicate item detection
• Intuitive user interface

Some eDesk Products

• eDesk Branch™- Teller
• eDesk Branch™-Back Counter
• eDesk Merchant™- Capture
• eDesk ATM/CDM

Network Tap

Network Tap

A network tap is an external monitoring device that mirrors the traffic that passes between two network nodes. A tap (test access point) is a hardware device inserted at a specific point in the network to monitor data.

A network tap usually has four ports. The first two ports connect to the two network nodes at either end of the wire that the tap is monitoring. The additional ports connect to the monitoring devices that receive the mirrored packet flows.

Network tap manufacturers build their products to be resilient and transparent so as to minimize or eliminate the effect they can have on production traffic. Taps designed to mirror the traffic without impeding the flow of the production traffic.

   

NETWORK TAP CIRCUITS

NETWORK TAP MACHINE

Tap manufacturers also strive to make the device resilient in the event of a hardware failure. Some taps will draw power from the network itself rather than rely on its own power supply. Many taps are engineered to allow traffic to continue passing through them even if the tap itself stops functioning.

File Transfer Access Method (FTAM)

File Transfer Access Method (FTAM), also known as File Transfer Access and Management or Electronic File Transfer Access Method (EFTAM), is an ISO standard (8571) that specifies methods of transfering files between networked computers. FTAM is based on the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model and is similar to File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Network File System (NFS).

FTAM can be broken down into functional categories known as service classes, as follows:

•        Transfer class, which facilitates the simple exchange of files.

•        Management class, which facilitates the creation, modification and deletion of files.

•        Transfer-and-management class, which facilitates directory navigation and manipulation.

•        Access class, which facilitates operations on file access structures

Phantom Dialing

Phantom Dialing

1) On a computer using a dial-up connection, phantom (meaning ghost) dialing is a term used to describe what occurs when a computer's auto-connect feature has been enabled and the computer attempts to dial out and establish an Internet connection on its own.

2) In mobile wireless communication, phantom dialing is a term used to describe what occurs when a user unintentionally presses a pre-programmed auto-dial number on their cellular telephone keypad and unintentionally initiates a phone call.

When emergency services receives a phone call, the operator must, by law, remain on the phone long enough to determine whether or not the call is an emergency. If the operator listens and determines that the call is probably a result of phantom dialing, they may terminate the call, but must dial back the caller and verbally confirm that there is no emergency. Phantom dialing can be prevented by using the cell phone's keyguard, a feature that locks the keypad, or by disabling the auto-dial feature.

64-bit processor

64-bit processor

A 64-bit processor is a microprocessor with a word size of 64 bits, a requirement for memory and data intensive applications such as computer-aided design (CAD) applications, database management systems, technical and scientific applications, and high-performance servers. 64-bit computer architecture provides higher performance than 32-bit architecture by handling twice as many bits of information in the same clock cycle.

The 64-bit processor is backwards compatible with older applications and operating systems; it detects whether an application or operating system is 16-bit, 32-bit, or 64-bit and computes accordingly. This is essential for enterprise situations where purchasing new software is not feasible.

Intel, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard, and AMD currently develop or offer 64-bit processors.

Clock Cycle

In a computer, the clock cycle is the time between two adjacent pulses of the oscillator that sets the tempo of the computer processor. The number of these pulses per second is known as the clock speed, which is generally measured in Mhz (megahertz, or millions of pulses per second) and lately even in Ghz (gigahertz, or billions of pulses per second). The clock speed is determined by a quartz-crystal circuit, similar to those used in radio communications equipment.

Some processors execute only one instruction per clock cycle. More advanced processors, described as superscalar, can perform more than one instruction per clock cycle. The latter type of processor gets more work done at a given clock speed than the former type. Similarly, a computer with a 32-bit bus will work faster at a given clock speed than a computer with a 16-bit bus. For these reasons, there is no simple, universal relation among clock speed, "bus speed," and millions of instructions per second (MIPS).