Categories
Grid Computing Uni notes

FIT5164: Summary

FIT5164 Grid Computing was the most complex subject I have taken thus far. It was also the most interesting due to the broad range of applications that were discussed for this technology. The subject was particularly good because of the instant grid on VMware which enabled us to practically apply the complex theoretical concepts discussed in the lectures.

Dr Asad Khan presented the lectures with the assumption that students were reading up on concepts and understanding all of the tutorial work. This was necessary due to the complexity and number of topics covered. I found the challenging lecture structure as good motivation to learn as much as possible thus was very happy with it.

The first 7 weeks of the course comprised of the examinable material. This material included introductions to grid and their applications then drilling into the key concepts and components of grids. The final 3 weeks introduced some very interesting topics which were not examinable, including Wireless Sensor Networks and distributed pattern recognition. In particular, distributed pattern recognition appears to be a very interesting application for grid computing which I felt topped the course of perfectly. I would recommend this subject to anyone in the MIT/MAIT streams, however the prerequisites should include data communications and a UNIX based subject.

Categories
Internet Application Development Uni notes

FIT5032: Summary

FIT5032, Internet Application Development was on of my favorite subjects this semester. It was structured very well for a programming subject, enabling students to get introductions to topics in lectures, learn more details in their own time and then come into tutorials if they need further clarification. Janet Fraser was a great lecturer, keeping students engaged with entertaining lectures.

The assignments for the subjects were very good. Forcing students to apply the topics covered in lectures.

The only thing I would change about the course is the introductory lectures to XML. Establishing the uses for XML and why it is better than other technologies for those specific applications would have been ideal. The exam with 40% of the grade being based on XML is also a bit odd as it definitely did not account for 40% of the topics covered in the subject.

I would recommend this subject to anyone who has or is planning to do any type of web development. I came into the subject thinking that ASP.NET was an inferior Microsoft option to the LAMP stack. I came out of the subject with an understanding of why 55% of fortune 1000 companies use IIS webservers.

webservermarketshare
2007 stats, source: http://www.port80software.com/surveys/top1000webservers/
Categories
Case Study Uni notes

FIT4037: Summary

FIT4037 Case Study was on of the most difficult subjects I have done. Not because of the complexity of the material but because of the high volume of work which required all 4 group members to contribute to a project which needed skills that were not prerequisites for the subject. This provided great practical experience as most work places are comprised of a few experienced team members and a number of inexperienced members. The delegation of tasks and provision of time for team member training are items that derail many projects. In Case Study we experienced these issues and learnt ways to overcome them.

I think that the lectures could include more technical training for students to help them complete the required tasks. The existing content was informing and though provoking but there was definitely room for more technical teaching in the lectures.

This subject is compulsory for MAIT students and I recommend for any students taking this subject to be conservative in the skills listing exercise done in the first tutorial. It will determine the group that you are placed into. On that topic I believe that the subject can be improved by allowing student to choose their own group members. Understandably, this does not occur in the workplace but neither does the hiring of employees for a job that they have no experience or knowledge of. Students know each others abilities with more accuracy than the self assessment activity can yield and would enable for better groups to be formed.

Thanks to Sue Foster and Enjoo Lim for running the subject.

Categories
Data Communications Uni notes

FIT9020: Summary

FIT9020 Data Communications was a compulsory subject for students without comparable undergraduate credit. It did however turn out to be well worth the time. Some of the best parts about this subject were:

  • Tutorials
    • Learning how to use applications such as Wireshark, Kistmet, inSSIDer
    • Learning about the array of network tools included in both windows and *unix systems (netstat, tracert etc)
  • Lectures
    • Much more detailed understanding of how computer networks send and receive data
    • How network routing works

Of course the subject was not perfect, some of the points that I did not enjoy so much were:

  • Excessive time spent on physical communication
  • Heavy lectures which focused on technical details rather than discussion of concepts

I would definitely recommend this subject to anyone who wants a greater understanding of how networks and the internet work. You will get a very detailed practical knowledge base and learn how to use a number of invaluable tools for getting more information about the underlying network communications that make the internet work. Thanks to Andrew Paplinski for running a great subject with very interactive tutorials.

Links to tools:

Wireshark

inSSIDer

kismet

nmap