Module 13 Types of Software

Shell

A GUI shell will translate mouse motions into kernel routines such as opening a file.

Shanteal manages the supply chain for a a book publisher. She ensures that book orders are in the company system and are updated if a client changes their order. Additionally, Shanteal analyzes patterns in ordering and recommends when it is time to restock based on customer sales and inventory.

A database server would best help Shanteal input, update, manage, and analyze the records of orders for her publishing company.

Select the item from the list below that was NOT a historical factor in the development of operating systems.

As computers became more widely available, users wanted more detailed control over how the computer ran programs. On the contrary, as more people began using computer systems, users wanted more convenience and easier access to computer systems which resulted in the development of operating systems.

Which operating system layer is the interface between the OS and hardware?

Device Drivers Device drivers are interfaces between the OS and hardware.

Provide specific interfaces between the OS running a computer and hardware.

Device drivers provide specific interfaces between the OS and hardware.

Dragging, pointing, clicking, and double clicking with the mouse are examples of

Dragging, pointing, and clicking the mouse are examples of GUI.

All operating systems have graphical representations that can be clicked for an easier user experience.

False Some operating systems are entirely text-based.

What is the difference between the administrator account and the user account?

The administrator account is given a password that only the administrator or few should know. The administrator account is given an administrator password that only a few should know.

Mobile Device Operating System

iOS was designed for mobile computing devices. Android is an operating system found on many smart phone models.

If a company decides for security reasons they want to limit access to certain documents the best implementation of this would be

local applications. A local application will limit those who could access the application to the owner of the local computer.

An operating system

An operating system issues commands through the GUI and command line prompt.

Server

Server software facilitates network services. These kinds of software enhance features of the network.

Database Server

A database is a structured data repository. A database management system is software that responds to user queries to create, manipulate, and retrieve records from the database. There are numerous database management system packages available. A database server permits database access across a network. The database server will perform such tasks as data analysis, data manipulation, security, and archiving. The database server may or may not store the database itself. By separating the server from the database, one can use different mechanisms to store the database, for instance a storage area network to support load balancing. MySQL is a very popular, open source database server. MySQL is actually an umbrella name for a number of different database products. MySQL Community is the database server. There is also a proxy server for a MySQL database, a cluster server for high-speed transactional database interaction, and a tool to support GUI construction.

File Server

A file server is in essence a computer with a large hard disk storing files that any or many users of the network may wish to access. The more complex file servers are used to not only store data files but also to store software to be run over the network. File servers used to be very prominent in computer networks because hard disk storage was prohibitively expensive. Today, with 1 TB of hard disk space costing $100, many organizations have forgone the use of file servers. The file server is still advantageous for most organizations because it supports file sharing, permits easy backup of user files, allows for encryption of data storage, and allows remote access to files. There are many different file servers available with NFS (the Network File System) being the most popular in the Unix/Linux world.

Proxy Server

A proxy server is used in an organization to act as a giant cache of web pages that anyone in the organization has recently retrieved. The idea is that if many people within the organization tend to view the same pages, caching these pages locally permits future accesses to obtain the page locally rather than remotely. Another function of the proxy server is to provide a degree of anonymity, since the IP address recorded by the web server in response to the request is that of the proxy server, and not the individual client. Proxy servers can also be used to block certain content from being returned; for example, rejecting requests going to specific servers (e.g., Facebook) and rejecting responses that contain certain content (e.g., the word "porn"). Squid is the most commonly used proxy server although Apache can also serve as a proxy server. Squid, like Apache, is open source. Among the types of things a system administrator or web administrator might configure with Squid are the number and size of the caches, and the Squid firewall to permit or prohibit access of various types.

Justin oversees the network for his organization. The Chief Information Officer wants him to update their server to improve Internet access while also blocking certain social media websites.

A proxy server would allow employees to access some websites quicker by accessing a local rather than a remote copy. Additionally, using a proxy server, Justin could block specific websites.

Which account typically has greater authority to write to or execute programs?

Administrator The administrator is the only user that can write to or execute programs.

FTP Server

An FTP server is like a webserver in that it hosts files and allows clients to access those files. However, with FTP, access is in the form of uploading files and downloading files. Any files downloaded are saved to disk unlike the web service where most files are loaded directly into the client's web browser. FTP access either requires that the user has an account (unlike HTTP), or requires that the user log in as an anonymous user. The anonymous user has access to public files (often in a special directory called /pub). FTP is an older protocol than HTTP and has largely been replaced by HTTP with the exception of file uploading. An FTP server is available in Linux, ftpd. This service is text-based. An extension to FTP is FTPS, a secure form of FTP. Although SFTP is another secure way to handle file transfer, it is not based on the FTP protocol. One can also run SSH and then use ftp from inside of SSH. Popular FTP client tools for performing FTP include WS-FTP and FileZilla, both of which are GUI programs that send commands to an FTP server. FileZilla can also operate as an FTP server, as can Apache.

E-mail Server

An e-mail server provides e-mail service. Its job is to accept e-mail requests from clients, send messages out to other e-mail servers, receive e-mails from other servers, and alert the user that e-mail has arrived. The Linux and Unix operating systems have a built-in e-mail service, sendmail. Clients are free to use any number of different programs to access their e-mail. In Windows, there are a large variety of e-mail servers available including Eudora, CleanMail, and Microsoft Windows Server. Unlike FTP and Web servers, which have a limited number of protocols to handle (primarily FTP, FTPS, HTTP, and HTTPS), there are more e-mail protocols that servers have to handle: IMAP, POP3, SMTP, HTTP, MAPI, and MIME.

Device Drivers

Another piece of the operating system is the collection of device drivers. Device drivers provide specific interfaces between the OS running a computer and hardware. There are literally hundreds of thousands of drivers available (according to driverguide.com, more than 1.5 million), and there is no need to fill a user's hard disk drive with all of them when most will never be used. Many popular device drivers are preloaded into the operating system, whereas others must be loaded off of the Internet or CD-ROM when a new hardware device has been purchased.

Which software is run by the end user?

Application Application software is run by the end user.

Application software

Application software consists of programs that end users run to accomplish tasks. The types of application software are as varied as there are careers, because each career has its own support software.

Application

Application software is used to accomplish a task or tasks. All of these help accomplish various tasks.

Sanjay works for an online retailer. He needs to report to his board of directors how many potential customers have visited their website and if those customers purchased products. Additionally, Sanjay must make sure that the company's website remains free from malicious code that could affect potential customer computers.

Because Sanjay manages requests and access to the company's e-commerce site and needs to track the activity of website users while maintain security for the websites, a web server would be the best option.

Chris has received a technical support call from a university client. The client has recently bought a specialized software suite to be used for data analysis from the company he works for. He has scheduled an appointment with the university to connect remotely to one of their workstations that is having difficulty and check the installation. When Chris connects and begins his work, he realizes that he is unable to uninstall the suite and attempt a new installation. What is most likely cause for Chris's issue?

Chris is logged in under a user account that does not have permission to modify the software suite program files. If Chris is logged in under a user account instead of an administrator account, he may not have permission to modify the program files. For installation work, Chris likely needs to log in under the administrator account for the system.

Ajax company has just developed a new app for iOS, they don't know how many users will download it and don't want to get caught without adequate computer capacity. How should they roll out their new app?

Cloud computing This would allow for scalability.

Dante manages the inventory and ordering systems for a large auto parts manufacturing plant. He must make sure that part orders are in the company system and are updated if a client changes their order. Additionally, in order to plan production to meet the needs of upcoming or potential future orders, Dante must analyze patterns in ordering and recommend production rates to the plant manager.

Database Server The database server is needed if Dante is responding to user queries to manipulate the database and performing tasks such as data analysis.

Many of today's operating systems require the user to have specialized training concerning specific commands needed to instruct the operating system to perform different functions.

False The operating systems commonly used today are designed to be easy for the average user to use.

su command (switch user) or the sudo command

In Windows, the account is called Administrator. To switch to Administrator, you must log in as Administrator or use "Run As", entering the proper password. In Linux, the account is called root. To change to the root, you use the su command (switch user) or the sudo command to run under the context of another user, such as superuser. Typically, su is used to change from one user account to another by saying su username. The OS then requires the password for username. If you do su without the username, then you are requesting to change to root. Because you can run su from the command line prompt, you do not have to log out. In fact, you can open numerous windows, some of which are controlled as you, the user, and some as root.

Which of the following is NOT a factor in the need for development of operating systems?

Increased use of vacuum tubes in computers Computers did not use operating systems when vacuum tubes were still in use.

Your organization needs to maintain its own internal e-mail system. Which approach would typically be used?

Intranet Applications intended for Internet usage will work internally as easily as they work externally

Which operating system layer is the interface between hardware and software?

Kernel The kernel is the interface between hardware and software.

Which operating system uses the point-and-click GUI?

Linux Linux is an operating system that uses point-and-click GUI.

Sally's day starts when she logs on to her computer at work. She reviews her upcoming schedule, shared by everyone on her team across the globe. She then checks her company's email account to get status updates on the project she is working on. After reviewing this, she loads the IDE and begins editing the software for her current project. Which type of systems will Sally need to use for these activities?

Local applications Intranet Cloud computing All of the systems are needed for Sally to accomplish her activities.

Workstation Operating System

Mac OSX is an operating system found often in Apple workstation computer systems. Windows 7/8/10 were designed primarily as a workstation operating system for desktop systems.

Jackie has recently received a technical support call from a team of graphic artists that works with her at a website design firm. The graphic art team has a variety of design and modeling software to help develop websites and often install a variety of plugins on workstation computers to test their design prototypes. Although Jackie knows that company policy is for the technical support staff to approve and install plugins, she knows that many members of the graphic arts team have circumvented the policy and installed their own plugins. Today she is working to repair the installation of a web browser that is intermittently crashing the workstation system. She suspects that the workstation user has installed an unapproved plug-in. What would be the best way for Jackie to avoid this type of problem in the future?

Make sure that the graphics team are all using user accounts and that they do not have access to the administrator account or password. Administrator account passwords should be protected so that casual users are prevented from causing damage to the computer systems.

Android, Windows, and iOS are operating systems for:

Mobile devices Android, Windows, and iOS are operating systems for mobile devices.

Software shaded with a red color are types of applications.

No Windows is a Microsoft operating system.

Microsoft Word

No Microsoft Word is an example of application software.

Windows software was developed to work on any computer type.

No Windows is designed to work on traditional computers not servers or mobile devices.

Adobe Photoshop

No Adobe Photoshop is an example of application software.

All Microsoft operating systems used GUI interfaces.

No DOS the original Microsoft operating system used a command line interface.

A new feature added to Windows Vista allowed users to download files more quickly.

No Download speeds are dependent on other features such as network capacity and not the operating system.

Safari

No Safari is an example of application software.

iTunes

No iTunes is an example of application software.

Which server will cache web pages and block certain content?

Proxy The proxy server will cache pages and block certain content.

Antonio runs the computer lab for River County High School. Many of the teachers at the high school send students to the computer lab to work on research projects or homework assignments. Antonio is looking for a way to speed up access to websites that students commonly access, such as Wikipedia while also blocking certain websites that students shouldn't be on while they are working, like social networking sites.

Proxy Server A proxy server would allow students to access some websites quicker by accessing a local rather than a remote copy. Additionally, using a proxy server, Antonio could block specific websites from the lab.

server software

Server software works with hardware to provide a network service. This type of software includes web servers, e-mail servers, and database servers, to name a few.

Operating system programs that start when the operating system is loaded but run in the background and do not take up any CPU time until it is called.

Services run in the background.

Services

Services, or daemons, are operating system programs that are usually started when the operating system is loaded and initialized, but they run in the background. This means that the program, while it is active, does not take up any CPU time until it is called upon to do so. The operating system will, when a particular event arises, invoke the needed service or daemon to handle the event. There are numerous services in any operating system.

Which operating system layer is the interface for the user and provides access to the kernel?

Shell The shell is the interface for the user.

What do you use to change to the user account?

Switch user (su) with the username You use su username to change from one user account to another.

Which software consists of daemons?

System System software consists of daemons that will run in the background.

Which software consists of programs that make up the operating system and directly supports the computer system?

System System software directly supports the computer system.

System software

System software consists of programs that make up the operating system. System software is software that directly supports the computer system itself. Such software is often started automatically rather than by request of the end user. Some pieces of the operating system run in the background all of the time. These are often known as daemons or services. They wait for an event to arise before they take action. Other pieces of the operating system are executed based on a scheduler.

Operating System (or System)

System software does not necessarily have to be used directly by a user but performs a function for the computer system. System software often runs automatically.

Utility Programs

System utilities are programs that allow the user to monitor and improve system performance. Utilities greatly range in function. For example, utilities exist to defragment the hard disk and to scan files for viruses and other forms of malware. Usually, system utilities must be installed separately as they may not come with the operating system (often, these require purchasing and so many users may ignore their availability).

Has a standard set of menus always listed along the top of the desktop. Each application software adds to the menu selections.

The Mac OS employs a standard set of menus listed along the top of the desktop.

Kernel

The core components of the operating system are referred to as the kernel. The kernel is loaded when the computer is first booted. Included in the kernel are the components that handle process management, resource management, and memory management. Without these, you would not be able to start a new program or have that program run efficiently. The kernel sits on top of the hardware and is the interface between hardware and software.

How was the first operating system different from the latest operating system?

The first operating system was time consuming to switch between programs. The first operating system required more time to execute programs.

The core components of the operating system that handle process management, resource management, and memory management.

The kernel handles process management, resource management, and memory management.

Which of the following is not a primary task of the operating system?

The operating system works with hardware to provide a network service. Server software, not the operating system works with hardware to provide a network service.

Web Server

The role of a web server is to respond to HTTP requests. HTTP requests most typically come from web browsers, but other software and users can also submit requests. HTTP is the hypertext transfer protocol. Most HTTP requests are for HTML documents (or variants of html), but could include just about any web-accessible resource. HTTP is similar to FTP in that a file is transferred using the service, but unlike FTP, the typical request is made by clicking on a link in a web browser—and thus, the user does not have to know the name of the server or the name or path of the resource. These are all combined into an entity known as a URL. The open source Apache server is the most popular web server used today. Aside from servicing requests, Apache can execute scripts to generate dynamic pages, use security mechanisms to ensure that requests are not forms of attacks, log requests so that analysts can find trends in the public's browser behavior of the website, and many other tasks.

An interface for the user that gives access to the kernel.

The shell is an interface for the user and provides access to the kernel.

Shell

The shell is an interface for the user, often personalized for that given user. The shell provides access to the kernel. For instance, a GUI shell will translate mouse motions into calls to kernel routines (e.g., open a file, start a program, move a file). Desktop elements include shortcut icons, the theme of the windows, menus and background, the appearance of toolbars and programs on the start menu, and desktop gadgets.

Which of the following best describes the main role of the administrator account in an operating system?

To limit access to the system software so that they cannot be changed by anyone who has access to the network. The administrator account should be the single point of access to important operating system functions.

Operating systems are programs.

True An OS is a program that allows users to run other programs.

All operating systems give users a means to interact with the computer system hardware and software.

True Different operating systems may have different features, but they all help users interact with the hardware and software.

Server Operating System

Unix is used primarily as a server operating system. Windows Server was designed especially for meeting the needs of server systems.

Programs that allow the user to monitor and improve system performance.

Utility programs allow the user to monitor and improve system performance

Utility Programs

Utility programs improve a computer system's performance.

Natalie works for an advertising firm that specializes in web distributed advertising. Natalie needs to report to clients how many potential customers have viewed or traveled to the advertising website and if those potential customers continued to the company website to directly purchase products. Additionally, Natalie must make sure that the company's web advertising remains free from malicious code that could affect potential customer computers.

Web Server The web server is needed if Natalie is using web advertising and wants to ensure that HTTP requests are not attacks.

No desktop level menu selection. Each software title has its own set of menus.

Windows 7 allows each software title to have its own set of menus.

Which operating system is for workstations?

Windows 8 Windows 8 is an operating system for workstations.

Which operating system uses the touch screen GUI?

Windows 8 Windows 8 uses touch screen GUI rather than point-and-click GUI.

What is the difference between the FTP server and HTTP?

With FTP, users have access to files in the form of uploading files. FTP users have access to files in the form of uploading files.

Windows 7/8/10, Linux, and Mac OS X are operating systems for:

Workstations Windows 7/8/10, Linux, and Mac OS X are operating systems for workstations.

Mac OS

Yes Mac OS is a commonly used OS.

Windows

Yes Windows is a commonly used OS.

A new feature in Windows 1.0 required the use of a new peripheral, the mouse.

Yes To interact with a GUI interface you need a pointing device.

Unix

Yes Unix is a commonly used OS.

Can be accessed by anyone at anytime in anyplace.

cloud computing Cloud computing allows anytime, anywhere access.

software refers

the term software refers to the programs that we run on a computer. We use the term software because programs do not exist in any physical, tangible form. When stored in memory, they exist as electrical current, and when stored on disk, they exist as magnetic charges. Thus, we differentiate software from hardware, whose components we can point to or pick up and touch. We generally categorize software as either system software or application software.