Software platform virtualization in chemistry research and university teaching

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Modern chemistry laboratories operate with a wide range of software applications under different operating systems, such as Windows, LINUX or Mac OS X. Instead of installing software on different computers it is possible to install those applications on a single computer using Virtual Machine software. Software platform virtualization allows a single guest operating system to execute multiple other operating systems on the same computer. We apply and discuss the use of virtual machines in chemistry research and teaching laboratories.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Virtual machines are commonly used for cheminformatics software development and testing. Benchmarking multiple chemistry software packages we have confirmed that the computational speed penalty for using virtual machines is low and around 5% to 10%. Software virtualization in a teaching environment allows faster deployment and easy use of commercial and open source software in hands-on computer teaching labs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Software virtualization in chemistry, mass spectrometry and cheminformatics is needed for software testing and development of software for different operating systems. In order to obtain maximum performance the virtualization software should be multi-core enabled and allow the use of multiprocessor configurations in the virtual machine environment. Server consolidation, by running multiple tasks and operating systems on a single physical machine, can lead to lower maintenance and hardware costs especially in small research labs. The use of virtual machines can prevent software virus infections and security breaches when used as a sandbox system for internet access and software testing. Complex software setups can be created with virtual machines and are easily deployed later to multiple computers for hands-on teaching classes. We discuss the popularity of bioinformatics compared to cheminformatics as well as the missing cheminformatics education at universities worldwide.</p

The ALOHA SYSTEM

The report provides a status report and description of THE ALOHA SYSTEM research project at the University of Hawaii. THE ALOHA SYSTEM involves the analysis and construction of advanced methods of random access communications in large computer-communication systems. The existing ALOHA SYSTEM computer-communication network uses two 24,000 baud channels in the UHF band. The system employs message switching techniques similar to those of the ARPANET, in conjunction with a novel form of random access radio channel multiplexing. By means of these techniques the system has the capacity to accommodate several hundred active users of alphanumeric consoles on the two channels available. Each of these users can transmit and receive at a peak data rate of 24,000 baud although the average data rate of the users must of course be considerably less

A method for securing online community service: A study of selected Western Australian councils

Since the Internet was made publicly accessible, it has become increasingly popular and its deployment has been broad and global thereby facilitating a range of available online services such as Electronic Mail (email), news or bulletins, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and World Wide Web (WWW). Progressively, other online services such as telephony, video conference, video on demand, Interactive Television (ITV) and Geographic Information System (GIS) have been integrated with the Internet and become publicly available. Presently, Internet broadband communication services incorporating both wired and wireless network technologies has seen the emergence of the concept of a digital community which has been growing and expanding rapidly around the world. Internet and the ever expanding online services to the wider digital community has raised the issue of security of these services during usage. Most local councils throughout Western Australia have resorted to delivering online services such as library, online payments and email accessibility. The provision and usage of these services have inherent security risks. Consequently, this study investigated the concept of a secure digital community in the secure provision and usage of these online services in selected local councils in Western Australia (WA). After an extensive review of existing literature, information security frameworks were derived from the adaptation of various resources, such as the OSSTMM 2.2 Section C: Internet Technology Security benchmark which was used as the main template. In addition, this template was enhanced into a framework model by incorporating other benchmarks such as NIST, CIS, ISSAF as well as other sources of information. These included information security related books, related ICT network and security websites such as CERT, CheckPoint, Cisco, GFI, Juniper, MS, NESSUS and NMAP together with journals and personal interviews. The proposed information security frameworks were developed to enhance the level of security strength of the email and online web systems as well as to increase the level of confidence in the system security within the selected local councils in WA. All the investigative studies were based upon the available selected local councils’ data and the associated analyses of the results as obtained from the testing software. In addition, the interpretive multiple-case study principles were used during the investigation to achieve or fulfil the purpose of this study. The findings from this study were then abstracted for use in a framework and made available for use as a model for possible adaptation and implementation to other similarly structured councils or organisations. As a result, the study confirmed that the proposed information security frameworks have the capability and potential to improve the level of security strength. In addition, the level of satisfaction and confidence of council staff of the selected local councils in WA in the system security would also be increased due to the application of these frameworks. Although these information security frameworks may be recommended as practical and supporting tools for local councils, the findings from this study were specific only to the selected local councils used in this study. Further research using other councils, may be necessary in order for the information security frameworks to be adopted within a wider range of councils or organisations in WA or elsewhere

Efficient and predictable high-speed storage access for real-time embedded systems

As the speed, size, reliability and power efficiency of non-volatile storage media increases, and the data demands of many application domains grow, operating systems are being put under escalating pressure to provide high-speed access to storage. Traditional models of storage access assume devices to be slow, expecting plenty of slack time in which to process data between requests being serviced, and that all significant variations in timing will be down to the storage device itself. Modern high-speed storage devices break this assumption, causing storage applications to become processor-bound, rather than I/O-bound, in an increasing number of situations. This is especially an issue in real-time embedded systems, where limited processing resources and strict timing and predictability requirements amplify any issues caused by the complexity of the software storage stack. This thesis explores the issues related to accessing high-speed storage from real-time embedded systems, providing a thorough analysis of storage operations based on metrics relevant to the area. From this analysis, a number of alternative storage architectures are proposed and explored, showing that a simpler, more direct path from applications to storage can have a positive impact on efficiency and predictability in such systems

The College News, 1942-03-25, Vol. 28, No. 20

Bryn Mawr College student newspaper. Merged with The Haverford News in 1968 to form the Bi-college News (with various titles from 1968 on). Published weekly (except holidays) during the academic year