Category: 500-Word Summary

TO: Prof. Ellis

FROM: Mahir Faisal

DATE: 03/03/2021

SUBJECT: 500-Word summery of Article about Cloud Storage Security Assessment Through Equilibrium Analysis

The following is a 500-word summery of a peer-reviewed article about essential Security Analysis of cloud storage solution. The authors discussed about how cloud providers and third-party providers can provide strong security measurements and effective data protection to make the data more secured and reliable in cloud infrastructure. Cloud storage solution has been widely used by the companies and enterprises to put their data and information to the cloud servers. Users can upload their data on the cloud and access to the data without having any issues. however, as user data contains confidential information Network attackers target third-party cloud service providers to hack the user data. Some methods and schemes have been proposed for risk assessment of the cloud which will help cloud providers to act as a defender of security. However, Users cannot have full trust in These service providers because they may ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the data, but they may have accessed the content of the data. For example- Cloud service providers are responsible for the security of the data whereas cloud infrastructure providers make resources available on the cloud, they do not do security assessments as cloud service providers do. There is a chance of having conflicts of benefits between attackers and defenders. This conflict of benefits may drive users to think that cloud providers have a lack of appropriate assessment mechanisms. Some Third-party Service providers serve security services to cloud providers by encrypting user data. But the benefit conflicts with cloud providers and users make them semi-trustworthy the same as cloud providers. According to the author’ each person’s benefit is determined by the security level of the whole system.” (Wu et al., 2019, p. 739). If the layer of security is strong, then an attacker needs to solve security mechanisms one by one which will become difficult for the attackers to decrypt it. Another point to be noted that decision-makers can be divided into attackers and defenders, Users and cloud providers can act as attackers or defenders. However, to solve this issue, game theory offers tools and models help decision-makers to make a strategy. study shows that by assessing the security of public cloud storage providers and third-party mediators through equilibrium analysis. To be precise, we conduct evaluations and assessments on a series of game models between public cloud storage providers and users to analyze the security of different services. By using the game theory model, users can analyze the risk of whether their private data is likely to be hacked by the cloud service providers. Moreover, Cloud service providers can make effective strategies to improve their service and make it more trustworthy. For example- if a cloud service provider uses a Nash equilibrium strategy and would not steal user data then the cloud system has effective internal security and confidentiality to the user data and privacy. A semi trustworthy Third-party Service providers will give additional security to the user data if users have trust in Third-party providers as same as Cloud service providers. I believe that cloud providers should emphasize strong security measurements and assessment mechanisms to protect the confidentiality and integrity of user data.

Reference

Y. Wu., Y. Lyu., & Y. Shi. (2019) “Cloud storage security assessment through equilibrium analysis,” in Tsinghua Science and Technology, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 738-749,    Dec.2019,  DOI :   10.26599/TST.2018.9010127

TO: Professor Ellis  

FROM: Alexander Rossler 

DATE: 02/24/2021 

SUBJECT: 500 Word Summary of “A “No Data Center” Solution to Cloud Computing”

    Cloud Computing services are extremely helpful to many, but are complex and expensive to begin as a new company. To begin with, Cloud Computing is the availability of computer resources over the internet, this could be anything from storage to softwares being streamed straight to another device.  Of course there are consumer level options, things like Google Drive and even Adobe Creative Cloud, when working at a company level, having your own private Cloud Service for employees and others involved is much more professional and organized. On top of this, having your own control of something this important makes it all the safer, on top of whatever other forms of security you incorporate into it. Developing your own private Cloud Computing service can be expensive and time consuming, but in the long run would be quite inexpensive compared to services that charge extremely high fees depending on the hardware you require from them. You would be able to cut out the middleman pricing, and handle everything on your own for a much more affordable price. 

Instead of setting up data centers filled with expensive servers, we could instead use the Credit Union Cloud Model (CUCM) which would allow for us to use resources from computers that are either overabundant in resources or not being used currently. This model of sharing resources across multiple computers is not specifically only for the cloud computing model, we’ve seen it used for other missions in the past. This includes things like allocating small amounts of GPU power to solve complex algorithms being studied by scientists. For our CUCM though, would still need one or more machines dedicated to managing the volunteered machines (Member Nodes) which would be considered the server for the Cloud. This would be the only set in stone permanent machines in the model, considering any one computer can opt out of the model at a given point in time. In order to make this Cloud Model work, there needs to be software installed on all nodes involved, including the Member Nodes and the Management Node(s) allowing for the resources to be managed and allocated properly. There are quite a few decisions to make in-terms of which software to choose, with different optimizations to different hardware being utilized. Deciding on what program to use is mainly dependent on what hardware you decide you will be using as a resource manager and allocator. 

References:

T. Mengistu, A. Alahmadi, A. Albuali, Y. Alsenani and D. Che, “A “No Data Center” Solution to Cloud Computing,” 2017 IEEE 10th International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD), Honolulu, CA, 2017, pp. 714-717, doi: 10.1109/CLOUD.2017.99.

TO: Prof. Ellis

From: Angel Rojas

DATE: Feb 27 2021

Subject: 500-word Summary

The paper is a summary of a series of benchmark tests between two major processor companies putting their high-end chips to their test. Over the years Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have been on the leading edge of competition throughout the years while also collaborating. Although there are speculations on which side surfaced the new technology first the first breakthrough would be when Advanced Micro Devices settled with 64 bits computing on the x86 instruction set which was then purchased by Intel. Since then, each generation of processors have been researched and developed but have we reached a limit on microprocessors. It has been difficult to fit more transistors on a die as there is a physical limit, this is following Moore’s law as we noticed there will be a limit on transistors we can fit in a single integrated circuit. This is due to the material that these processors are made in which is silicon.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have been on the CPU market against Intel and in recent events AMD has released the Zen microcomputer architecture, in which the Ryzen processors have been established. AMD has reached the same number of physical cores they can fit in a package as Intel. They were tested each in benchmark programs to put the chips to the most output. Both chips utilize the same x86 instruction set and are manufactured with 14nm transistors. Ryzen has been equipped with more cache than its Intel counterpart. Ryzen processors are loaded with less output ports on the scheduler which is the creating a functioning system of setting processes in order of execution and priority. While the Intel chip has more outputs built in, its scheduler is unidentified and no information about it has been available. The Intel chip has a function called turbo-boost which increases the clock speed at a certain threshold unlike the Ryzen chip which is locked.

            Software that was used was SPEC a benchmark testing program with multiple test scenarios that can exhibit real life stimulations of utilizing CPU power. The series of tests consists of how fast the CPU can process the instructions as if it were in a real-life simulation. Both test benches utilized the same Linux OS (Ubuntu) and had the same amount of DDR4 RAM which was 16GB. The test results show that both excel performance however the intel chip was consuming more energy than Ryzen. Multithreaded stimulations were difficult to properly exam due to synchronization. After tests it shows that Ryzen performs better in multi-threaded tasks than the Intel’s Core CPU and consumes more energy. In conclusion, Intel’s 8^th gen i7 processor outperformed in tests but consumed more energy than Ryzen. Both chips performed the same but there are differences in the way they are manufactured

Reference: H. Oi, “Evaluation of Ryzen 5 and Core i7 Processors with SPEC CPU 2017,” 2019 IEEE International Systems Conference (SysCon), Orlando, FL, USA, 2019, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/SYSCON.2019.8836790

The following is a 500 words summary of a comparison of cloud computing performance services in Amazon and Microsoft platforms. Cloud computing is a technology that enables the flexibility to access a wide range of system computer resources by operating independently. The main advantage of using cloud computing is that there is an initial investment in the information system. The main obstacle of cloud computing is that it is a distributed technology in the global market. We live in territorially limited jurisdictions, making it hard to protect the data and confidentiality.

First, Extensive research has been carried out to assert methodology and evaluation of service performance. Therefore, this paper compared the two cloud computing platforms by looking at the cloud computing service’s architecture and categories and related work. The cloud computers architecture mode is based on entities; front end, representing users controllable infrastructure characteristics; back end, representing cloud providers infrastructure; central server, responsible for service management, traffic, and clients request; hardware layer, responsible for managing cloud physical cloud resources; virtualization layer, which includes computing and storage resources; layer platform, consists of applied operating system and application framework; application layer, this layer is the top of clouding architecture hierarchy layers, it consists of up to date cloud applications.

Second, All these layers provide three categories of services; infrastructure as-service (IaaS), which is a service provision model that outsource organizational equipment to support users operations such as storage; platform-as-a-service(PaaS), this platform allows the user to rent virtualized servers and associate services for the user of the existing application; software-as-a-service, which represents software distribution model that relies on the applications hosted by the service provider and their availability and global accessibility to the user via a specific internet.

Third, Microsoft Azure has a very flexible cloud platform that allows the users to develop applications and manage their data by using Microsoft data center network. Any technological tool can be used to integrate public cloud computing with the available IT environment. To subscribe to Azure, it is necessary to use some Microsoft Live accounts such as Outlook and credit cards. The service’s main features include low price, high speed, scalability, openness, adaptability, and guaranteed security. Mazon provides online services to other websites or client applications; thus, most of these services are not available to end-users but instead allow the developers the use and advantage of Amazon platform functionalities while developing their applications.

In conclusion, After reviewing virtual machines on Microsoft and Azure cloud computing performance, it was concluded that, when it comes to performances, test results give a slight advantage to the MS Azure platform when CPU and disk-intensive operations are concerned. However, memory tests give one step up for the AWS test system. It is understandable, considering that this MS Azure instance of virtual hardware is stronger, confirmed by the obtained test results. And when it comes to managing virtual resources, the results favored Amazon since it offers more fine system tuning features and gives more options oriented to working Linux virtual machines.

References

B. S. Đorđević, S. P. Jovanović and V. V. Timčenko, “Cloud Computing in Amazon and Microsoft Azure platforms: Performance and service comparison,” 2014 22nd Telecommunications Forum Telfor (TELFOR), Belgrade, Serbia, 2014, pp. 931-934, doi: 10.1109/TELFOR.2014.7034558. https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/document/7034558/citations#citations

TO: Prof. Ellis

From: Pranta Dutta

DATE: Feb 25 2021

Subject: 500-word Summary

  The following is a 500-word summary of a peer-reviewed article about Five Pillars of Artificial Intelligence Research by Yew-Soon Ong and Abhishek Gupta. In the article, the authors discuss the basics elements of artificial life for sustainable AI. According to the authors, “Due to the accelerated development of AI technologies witnessed over the past decade, there is increasing consensus that the field is primed to have a significant impact on society as a whole” (Ong & Abhishek, 2019, p. 411).

    The goal of Artificial intelligence (AI) was for machines to have equal intelligence to humans. However, it has surpassed that goal. With the help of machine learning, AI has managed to conquer human intelligence, such as IBM Watson winning the game of Jeopardy or the Alpha Zero algorithm defeating a world champion in a game of chess. Because of this, people believe that AI will have a significant impact on society. It has the potential to improve human decision-making in healthcare, economics, and governance. However, there are some challenges it must overcome.

    The first, rationalizability of AI systems, A part of machine learning is deep natural learning. To an Artificial Intelligence, this is like a human brain. Its main criticism was that it was vague. Even though it accomplished remarkable predictions, it could not explain why certain inputs led to the projected output. It would need to have the ability to rationalize its interpretations and explanations. Otherwise, it could compromise the safety of lives where critical decisions are very crucial.

    The second, the resilience of AI systems; Artificial Intelligence has passed human intelligence in some instances; however, it still lacks common sense. This means that it can be easily misleading. For example, if someone adds black and white stickers to a stop sign, AI may interpret it as a speed limit. This error can cause a traffic jam or an accident.

Third, reproducibility of AI Systems. To maintain the integrity of AI applications it is necessary to ensure reproducibility by designing & complying with standardize software requirements. One obstacle is the vast number of hyperparameters. Without experts in the hyperparameter selection, it may lead to poor results of the trained model. The community for open-source software development in Ai is growing. But there still is a need for software standards to be specified.

    Fourth, the realism of AI systems. AI has shown great strength when it comes to human interaction, but one of the challenges AI faces is the development of a system. For example, every human has a different way of expressing themselves, such as speech, body language, and facial expressions. For AI to integrate well, it must develop its traits and personality.

    Fifth, Responsibility of AI systems; As powerful as AI is at the moment, it still needs to have some level of responsibility. Without it, artificial intelligence can take over the world. AI will have to be programmed to comply with ethics and laws.

    To conclude, AI has made a lot of progress in the time it has had. Given what we have seen, it will be incorporated into our society without a doubt. However, it is essential to make sure that AI covers all of the concepts mentioned above, from rationalizability to responsibility to function reliably and ethically in everyday life

References

Ong, Y.-S., & Gupta, A. (2019). AIR5: Five Pillars of Artificial Intelligence Research. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, 3(5), 411–415. https://doi.org/10.1109/tetci.2019.2928344

Refer to this week’s lecture for more details on how to post your 500-Word Summary project to our OpenLab Course Site.

Below, I am including some screenshots to guide you through the process of creating a post for your 500-Word Summary.

To begin your own Post, login to OpenLab, navigate to our Course Site, mouseover the “+” icon, and click “Post.”

Before typing anything, look under Categories on the right and add a check next to “500-Word Summary.”

Click in the “Add Title” section to enter your title (e.g., Summary of Lin’s “3D Layering of Integrated Circuits”). Then, click in the “Start Writing” area and copy-and-paste your 500-Word Summary memo from your word processor into this area.

After copyediting your work to ensure everything is as you want it to be, click on “Publish” and then click “Publish” on the next screen. Verify that your post is live on the site by clicking on “ENG2575 Technical Writing” at the top center to return to our Course Site and then click on the down arrow next to Student Projects in the left menu and 500-Word Summary beneath it to see your project posted.

As we begin to wrap up the 500-Word Summary Project, we will use peer review to request and receive feedback from your peers in the class. This serves two purposes: 1) you get experience working with the writing of others, which improves your writing ability through this critical engagement, and 2) you receive invaluable feedback and suggestions on how to improve your own writing from others.

To perform peer review on this assignment, do the following after watching this week’s lecture above:

• Watch for an email on Wednesday from Prof. Ellis to you and your teammates.
  • Choose to “Reply All” to this email. This will send a single reply message to all recipients of the original email, which includes your teammates and Prof. Ellis.
  • Open with a salutation to everyone.
  • Introduce yourself to your team (major, career goals, hobbies).
  • Write a message to your team–ask for feedback and offer to provide feedback.
  • Copy-and-paste your 500-summary below your message.
  • Give a closing and signature (Best, Your Name or Cheers, Your Name).
• As you receive emails from your team:
  • Read their 500-Word Summary
  • Click “Reply All” to their message
  • Write a brief email (Salutation, Body, Closing)
  • In the body: 
    • What works best
    • What needs improvement
    • Quote one random sentence and rewrite
      it as a suggestion
• Remember to be polite, understanding, work through problems, be considerate, be the bigger person if there are any misunderstandings.
• Feel free to use your emails for discussion about the project and your team, but keep all discussion professional and appropriate.
• Reach out to Prof. Ellis if there are any unsolvable problems within your team at any point during the semester.

As discussed in the lecture this week, this week’s homework on the 500-Word Summary project is to transform the reverse outline that you wrote last week into a first draft that you will share with your team and Prof. Ellis as a part of next week’s homework (I will cover this in the Week 3 Lecture).

In the Week 2 lecture above, I show how to format your 500-Word Summery as a memo, add an introductory topic sentence, add a road map sentence, incorporate a quote and citation, and add a reference in APA format at the end of the document. The example that I created in the lecture is included below for your reference.

After you have completed your first draft, save a copy and be ready to circulate it next week after I assign teams. When you share your work, your teammates will provide feedback and Prof. Ellis will see your work. I will explain this more next week.

TO:      Prof. Ellis
FROM:    Your Name
DATE:    3/3/2021
SUBJECT: 500-Word Summary of Article About Virtual Reality

The following is a 500-word summary of a peer-reviewed article about tracking human bodies in virtual reality. The authors discuss the body tracking software that they developed called Pfinder by showing how the software was developed, tested, and improved. According to the authors, “To  address  this  need  we  have  developed  a  real-time  system called   Pfinder   (“person   finder”)   that   substantially   solves   the problem  for  arbitrarily  complex  but  single-person,  fixed-camera situations” (Wren et al., 1997, p. 780). Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum at porttitor neque. Nullam dapibus pulvinar hendrerit. Etiam elementum ipsum quis elit aliquet tincidunt. Aliquam dui augue, tempor quis pretium et, fermentum et dolor. Praesent sit amet velit et ligula iaculis vulputate. Nulla facilisi. Aliquam lobortis pulvinar rhoncus. Aliquam neque sem, tincidunt sollicitudin ante gravida, congue pretium odio. Nullam in vestibulum tellus, accumsan dignissim dolor. Sed convallis nisl vel venenatis sagittis. In eu turpis risus. Phasellus ac rhoncus est. [The body should be 500 words long +/- 20 words.]

Reference

Wren, C. R., Azarbayejani, A., Darrell, T., & Pentland, A. P. (1997). Pfinder: Real-time tracking of the human body. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 19(7), 780-785. https://doi.org/10.1109/34.598236

According to the syllabus, the 500-Word Summary project involves the following:

Individual: 500-Word Summary, 10%

Individually, you will write a 500-word summary of a technical or scientific article that demonstrates: 1. ability to identify key processes and concepts in a professional science or technology article. 2. ability to describe complex processes and concepts clearly and concisely. 3. an awareness of audience. The summary should cite the article and any quotes following APA format.

Perform the following steps to begin your project:

First, use the library’s journal databases (navigate to Start Your Research > Find Articles > A/Academic Search Complete or I/IEEE Explore) to find an article of sufficient length (< 4 pages) that focuses on a topic from your major and career. Save the PDF of the article some place safe so that you can easily return to it later.

Second, read the article from start to finish.

Third, write a reverse outline of the article by reading each paragraph again, putting the article away, typing one sentence in your own words summarizing that single paragraph, reading the next paragraph, writing one sentence summarizing it, etc. until the end of the article. Save this reverse outline someplace safe (we will be using it next week), and copy-and-paste it into a comment made to this post (click the title above, “Beginnings 500-Word Summary Project, Week 1” and scroll down to the comment box where you paste your reverse outline and then click “post comment.”).