IT for Non-Techies 2003

8/14/2019 IT for Non-Techies 2003

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IT for Non-Techies

Brett Richard

Bob DavisIdaho Department of Labor


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IT for Non-Techies

My Background BSCS University of Idaho Idaho Dept of Labor 8 years

Mostly Software Development COBOL, RPG, Visual Basic, ASP

Development Manager

Our goal is to explain some terms andanswer some questions about technology

Questions? Go ahead and ask.


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The Basics

Mainframes Large computers Typically a centralized computing model Used dumb terminals

Servers Provide services to other computers Database Servers, Web Servers Wait for a request, then respond quickly

Personal Computers (PC) A computer designed for a single user Richer functionality graphics, etc


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The Basics

Databases / Relational Databases An organized place to store your data

Data stored in tables Each table has multiple rows/records

Tables are related by keys hence relational


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The Basics

Relational Databases Easier to:

Get data in

Get data out Expand and change data structures, types, and sizes


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The Basics

Data Warehousing (aka OLAP) Operate on top of a relational database Organize data to allow easier retrieval of data for

reporting Put data into cubes

Good for analyzing data in ways you cant (orshouldnt) with OLTP

Not good for updating data Usually take a periodic snapshot from production data

Normally housed on a separate server


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Internet Basics

What is the Internet? A worldwide system of computer networks Millions of computers Multiple servers and connections ensure stability

No single point of failure World Wide Web

The part of the Internet that uses HTTP/web pages Also e-mail & FTP

TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) Set of rules that describe how information is transferred

on the network Its the nuts & bolts of the internet, and probably the

network in your office as well.


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Internet Basics

HTML HyperText Markup Language Just a way to describe how to display text, and allow links

from one document to another Tags mixed with text to tell the browser how to display the

information Example: This text is bold Basically just pages of text & images

HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol Defined rules for transferring HTML pages
http://www.microsoft.com/http://www.microsoft.com/


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Internet Domain Names

Domain Names Meaningful and easy-to-remember "handle" for an

Internet address.

www.mycompany.com Map to IP Addresses

125.134.10.205

.com, .org, .net, .us, .biz, .ws, etc, etc .gov is carefully controlled See www.internic.net orwww.nic.gov
http://www.mycompany.com/http://www.internic.net/http://www.nic.gov/http://www.nic.gov/http://www.internic.net/http://www.mycompany.com/


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Internet Domain Names

Taken from:www.nic.gov


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Internet Security

The Internet is loosely connected, and looselysecured.

Need to make sure no-one can intercept data

between website and browser Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption

Even if they grab it, its very difficult to decrypt

There should be a LOCKED PADLOCK image in thelower right of the browser thats how you know your

data is encrypted


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Internet & E-mail

SPAM Unwanted e-mail, especially mass

e-mail marketing Name comes from a Monty Python

skit

Spam spam spam spam spam andeggs No matter what you ordered, you

got this spam with it Hormel Spiced Ham

One persons spam is anotherpersons ham

Try SpamBayes or similar software Just delete them best not to

respond


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Internet Filtering

Restricting Pages users can visit Keywords Known bad sites

Can be done at an enterprise level orfor an individual machine IDOL uses WebSense

PC packages

Cybersitter, NetNanny, CyberPatrol, etc etc None of them block every bad site


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Internet & Viruses

Whats a virus? A program that Propagates itself (usually) Does something unwanted

What can they do? Delete files cause you to lose data Send annoying message May act immediately, may lay dormant Annoy your friends

What cant they do? Set you computer on fire Completely ruin your computer


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Internet & Viruses How do I get one?

Get and run a program that is infected Open e-mail attachment that is infected

What should you do or not do?

Dont run programs you dont trust Do consider using antivirus software.

Will scan files periodically and e-mail attachments

Keep the software updated (we update nightly)

99% of what our AV software finds is in e-mail

Virus Hoaxes If you get this e-mail, run screaming from the room Cost as much as actual viruses

www.vmyths.com
http://www.vmyths.com/http://www.vmyths.com/


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Telecommunications

Dial-Up Call Internet Service Provider (ISP) using standard modem 28-56 Thousand Bits per Second (Kbps) Ties up your phone line

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) 256-640 Thousand Bits per Second (Kbps) Shares existing phone lines. Can also use phone

Cable Modems 500K 1Million Bits per Second Uses existing cable with Cable TV


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Telecommunications

T1 1.544 Million Bits per Second Enough bandwidth for a medium sized office

DS3 44.7 Million Bits per Second Separate into multiple T1s, Support very large

office, etc

Switches, Routers & Hubs Hardware that manages/transfers data packets on

a network


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IP Telephones

Also known as Voice Over IP (VOIP)

Standard phones work with an

analog signal

IP Phones digitize the data and sendit as packets over a TCP/IP network.

(Like the Internet)


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IP Telephones - Why?

Manage calls like other data Coordinate Calls with Applications Manage who gets calls

Track call information Virtual Call Center

Manage phones as intelligent devices Just take it with you and plug it in

Eliminate long distance charges Unified Messaging

Voice messages in e-mail inbox


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New Trends and Technologies

Open Source Cant be any good for free, right?

Linux

Recognized as highly reliable and stable MySQL ASP.Net IBuySpy Portal/Rainbow Portal

In use today at Idaho Dept of Labor

OpenOffice (Similar to MS Office) Functionality can be somewhat limited


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XML eXtensible Markup Language A set of rules to define data as plain text rather

than in proprietary binary representations.* Data Exchange

Human Readable Looks like HTML

Example: John Smith Widely Supported by many Vendors Relational Databases Support XML *Computerworld, May 19, 2003


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Web Services Services (programs) available on the

Internet/Intranet for use by other programs

Based on XML How would we use web services?

A list of all jobs for a specific employer They send us a request with an employer number

We return an xml document that contains the data They format the data to fit their site


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Peer to Peer File Sharing Allow users to share data between each other Napster

Had some central coordination Kazaa

Truer Peer to Peer Optimized to share and copy files across the Internet

eDonkey, Gnutella, BitTorrent Not just sharing music

Deploying Software (Linux Red Hat) Reduced dependence on single source

Many legitimate uses


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Wireless Networks (Wi-Fi) User can connect PC to the network through a

wireless connection

Wireless network card is required PC or Laptops 10 Mbps or faster 802.11(a,b,g) Wireless LAN Standard

WarChalking Drive around with an active wireless card Identify and mark open wireless access points


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Telecommuting Using telecommunications to be able to work from

home instead of the workplace

Broadband (DSL & Cable Modems) enables this Similar concerns as people working on site

How do I know if theyre doing the right things?


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Hardware - Monitors CRT Cathode Ray Tube

The same technology as your TV set

Flat Panel Displays LCD Liquid Crystal Display

Thin, flat screens Use less energy, generate less heat Still more expensive, but theyre cheaper

every day Also LED and Gas Plasma but these less

common


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Hardware Devices A device can be just about any piece of hardware Laptops

Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) Palm Computers Combined Devices

Phone/PDA/Internet Browser/e-mail


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Other Acronyms & Terms

WAN Wide Area Network LAN Local Area Network DNS Domain Name

System ATM Asynchronous

Transfer Mode Cluster 2 or more servers

configured to fail over in

case one breaks

CICS CustomerInformation Control System

VSAM Virtual StorageAccess Method

SQL Structured QueryLanguage SAN Storage Area

Network Web Farm Multiple web

servers linked together toservice web requests


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Where to Find More Info

www.WhatIs.com Good definitions of IS terms

www.internic.net Information about Internet

Domain Names

www.nic.gov Information about .gov

registration and domain names www.w3.org

World Wide Web Consortium

(w3c) Web Standards Setting Body Good background info on html,

xml

www.google.com Google has it all

www.howstuffworks.com Just like it says

www.vmyths.com Virus Hoax site
http://www.whatis.com/http://www.internic.net/http://www.nic.gov/http://www.w3.org/http://www.google.com/http://www.howstuffworks.com/http://www.vmyths.com/http://www.vmyths.com/http://www.howstuffworks.com/http://www.google.com/http://www.w3.org/http://www.nic.gov/http://www.internic.net/http://www.whatis.com/

IT for Non-Techies 2003

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