Information From One Computer example essay topic

Data Protection Act (DPA) The Data Protection Act was passed in 1984 to stop the misuse of personal data held on computers. When something is placed on computers there are ways for other people to gain that information and use it in the wrong way. The DPA set some guidelines that they use to protect the individual from having their files read by other people. The first way that the DPA would protect an individual is, the organization holding personal information on their employees would have to notify the DPA and they would ask the company two questions. The first question that would be asked is what type of information they are going to store, that is the first question. The second question would be, exactly what they are going to use the data for.

That is the second question and then the DPA would decide if that was ok or not. The second guideline that the DPA sets is as follows, the data held must have been obtained legally and may be held and used only for the stated purpose. This is very important because some companies might try and get illegal information on a certain person so then they can sue them for damage to their company. The third guideline that would be followed is, the data must be accurate and be kept up to date. No data other than the items stated may be stored, and must be discarded when finished with. This is because if there is any information used that the person doesn t want stored then the company or organization can t.

When the organization is done using the information they have to get rid of it so know one else can get it and use it. The forth guideline that has to be followed is, the data must be protected from any unauthorized access, and it must not be passed on to any other organization or person. This is good because if an organization passes private information about you than they are violating your rights. You are taking a chance by giving valuable information to a company but you trust that they will keep it under protection and won t pass it on to other companies or people. The fifth guideline that needs to be followed is, in most cases, everyone has the right to see the information that is being kept on them.

If the data is found to be inaccurate then a person has the right to ask for it to be corrected, and if the incorrect data has caused personal damage, he or she has the right to compensation. This is a good point because it's not right if there is information about a person that is not true. If the information is wrong about the person that might mean that the person might not be able to get the job because of that information. The person has 100% authority to change data that is incorrect about them. Networking is a smart and very easy way to get information from one computer to another with out having to go to that computer.

There are many companies in the world that use networking. A computer that is not linked into a networking system is working on a Stand-Alone-System (SAS). These computers would most likely be linked to output devices, such as a printer. A computer that uses SAS usually has the software bought for only it's self.

Software that you need to buy for using on a network system comes very expensive. Also when purchasing this type of software you need to have a license allowing set numbers of users, e.g. a five-ten or twenty user license. Licenses can be expensive for small organizations and it's often economical to buy single-user versions. If there is information that needs to be transferred from a SAS computer to a computer that is on a network then the information has to be saved to a disk which then you have to take and load it on to the computer that you want the information to be on it. If there is a lot of information that is going to be transferred the disk will only be able to hold a certain amount of information, so transferring will be time consuming and unreliable. All computers can be linked together to make networks but some networks differ depending on where the locations of the computer are being put.

Where there is a computer linked directly into a network there is additional hardware called a network card. Networks also need a program to run successfully without any complications. That kind of software is called Network software. Most networks have a file server. The purpose of this device is so it organizes the running of the network.

For example, sharing files between the different computers and allowing access to software. A file server is sometimes used as a printer server. The printer serve could be connected to one main computer that organizes access to the printer in a network system. There could be a number of printers in a network and any computer could access all of them. In a network there are usually a lot of computer and sometimes there are a lot in use.

If there are a lot of jobs being sent to the printer to be printed, the printer server does a process called printer queue. This puts the documents in order of how they were sent to the printer. There are two types of networking systems that are out for companies and organizations to buy and use. The first one is called Local Area Network (LAN). This type of network is used in small organization and mostly in school.

They way that they are connected is by via cables. The layout of a network is generally termed its topography. Machines connected to it are called nodes. The ring plan network is where a cable runs from every computer to another, connecting the computers as they go along.

Most of the computers that are out in this layout are right next to each other or are in a circle. This is often known as a token passing ring as all of the information passes in one direction. When you want to take information from the computer that is next to you on your left sometimes the information has to travel completely around the circle before you can receive it. When a computer is passing information it has to send it to each computer until it gets to the desired computer that asked for the information.

If the link breaks down then the whole network will not be able to function making life at that point in time a problem. The second type of networking that a company can purchase is called a Star plan network. In a star network all the computers are connected to a central hub. That hub takes the information and distributes it to where it needs to be. The good thing about this system is that it's fast and if one computer breaks down the whole system doesn t crash. Broadcast (Ethernet) network is the most common type of LAN networks and is becoming the standard.

This type of network is good because it's not expensive, easy to install, fast and efficient. The nodes of the system are connected to a coaxial cable via taps, which are spaced regularly along the network. Along the cables are repeaters, which amplify and preserve the signals between cables. When setting up this system you need to consider the physical obstacles. No cable can be longer than 500 m. The cables are marked out in 2.5 m lengths, and it is at these points that the taps can be placed.

Companies that need larger networks can be created with special types of repeaters, which enable the size up to 2500 m. The normal maximum is 1500 m. The nodes on the cable system broadcast communication, and it includes the destination address to ensure it goes to the correct receiver. Once the information is on the cable it goes to where ever it is supposed to go, where the intended receiver receives it.

Wide Are Network or WAN does not have all it's terminals permanently linked. WAN is the networking system if you wanted to connect computer over a geographical area or even worldwide. The internet is a global WAN network. WAN networks require the need of a modem. A modem is what you use to connect to the Internet, through a telephone line. Modem stands for Modulator / demodulator.

All computers have thing called operating systems (OS). Some of the most important ones are going to be covered. The first this is called the Controlling Hardware. As users, we don t see all the electronic signals being transferred when there is something getting done by the computer. The second thing is called Monitoring programs.

Where there is a program running the OS monitors us them to check that there are no problems. The program will try to overcome the problem but if that can t be done than usually the system crashes. Data Transfer is important because when there is data being transferred the OS makes sure that the best format is being used. Where there are files being transferred from one computer to another like, PC to Mac or Mac to Acorn, the software and OS allow for file transfer in set formats.

File management system, is when the OS provides utilities to ensure files are stores, deleted, re-named or copied correctly. If you are saving work and u save the file with a name that already exists the file management system will show a warning message asking if you would like to overwrite the existing file. Prioritizing the use of resources is when you are loading more than one program on your computer (multitasking) the OS has the great job of putting them in the order of which should run first. Security Check is where systems have been protected by access codes or something to protect the information that is being kept on the computer.

The OS stories the access codes, so when there is a person trying to access the file they have to put a certain code and if it is right then the OS gives access to that file. But if they access codes are wrong then the OS doesn t allow access to the file.