SCI 110 Assignment 1 Applications of the Scientific Method
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The
scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena,
acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. The
scientific inquiry is a way to investigate things and purpose explanation for
their observations. Data is gathered, hypothesis suggested, and observations
recorded.
Several
different troubleshooting methods already exist but according to CompTIA; there
are six steps to solve a problem. Drawing a parallel these steps are all
included into the scientific method, but how?
Scientific
method CompTIA troubleshooting Method, Ask a Question - Identify the problem, Do
Background research - Establish a theory of probable cause, Construct
Hypothesis Test - the theory to determine the cause, Test your hypothesis by
Doing experiment - Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and
implement a solution, Analyze your Data and draw a Conclusion - Verify full
system functionality and if applicable implement preventive solution, Communicate
your result Document -findings, actions, and outcomes.
How these affect our
daily job, life or activities?
In
the Information Technologies (IT) field, we are constantly using the scientific
method to solve various problems. Let take a real example: One of ours customer
called and state that her computer stop to working this morning. But yesterday
before she left her office the computer was working well, this morning she
cannot access to the internet or even the website of the company.
1. In this case we need
first to identify the problem, to do that we ask some basic questions, what was
the last thing that she remember having done, when? Is the computer connect in
a network environment, did she turned the computer off? Did someone else have
access to the computer? Any question, response or information provided this
time will be helpful to identify the problem. In our situation the computer is
in the office with network infrastructure, the computer is in the open place
easily accessible by another employee, and the problem is connectivity.
2. The second step will
be the why? Because the customer said: the computer was working well yesterday;
they are in the network environment, and someone else might use the computer it
could be a software problem. In this step, we can build a variety of hypothesis
on what happening or can happen in this or that situation. Therefore why a
computer does not connect? The problem
might be the network card, the switch or router, maybe the internal protocol
(IP) address is misconfigured, maybe the driver is corrupted. The scientist view will assimilate that to
emitting hypothesis.
3. Theories of probable
cause (hypothesis): For the purpose of this assignment, let assume that
probably the Network Interface Card is faulty, then we need experiment to
support our thoughts. The network interface controller (NIC) also called
Network Card is a piece of hardware that connects a computer to a network.
There are two common culprits for network interface card failure; one will
affects the NIC hardware, and another which damages software associated with
the NIC card. These are known as power surges and malware.
Power
surges are short, fast spikes in the electricity being supplied to a power
outlet. They are most likely caused by lightning strikes, the power outages,
short circuits, electromagnetic pulses, turning on or off large machines which
share the same power line. All the
computers plugged in the same outlet, or into the same switch or router are
affected by the power surges.
The other common culprit of internal network card failure is malware. Given the crucial role that NIC cards play in connecting computers to networks, network cards are a major target for malware. If malware can get access to the network interface controller, then the hacker can gain access to all of the networking data that passes through the computer. Technically speaking, malware does not directly damage the physical hardware of network cards, so there is no reason to replace the NIC hardware. What a malware does is hurt the software (the device driver) that controls the network card, and that can effectively render the network card faulty. If we suppose that the card is hypothetical culprit then, we will take some action to confirm the hypothesis.
The other common culprit of internal network card failure is malware. Given the crucial role that NIC cards play in connecting computers to networks, network cards are a major target for malware. If malware can get access to the network interface controller, then the hacker can gain access to all of the networking data that passes through the computer. Technically speaking, malware does not directly damage the physical hardware of network cards, so there is no reason to replace the NIC hardware. What a malware does is hurt the software (the device driver) that controls the network card, and that can effectively render the network card faulty. If we suppose that the card is hypothetical culprit then, we will take some action to confirm the hypothesis.
•Physical test: we
check the Ethernet cable (cable plugged into the card and the outlet on the
wall), switch and router. Result of the test: Cable, switch and router are all
working well. Then we move on the next step.
•Logical Test: on the
computer, we need to check if the card is responding to a request (internal
this time) the network internal address the card called loopback address is
127.0.0.1 for all computer and to do that go on. Click on Start-Accessories
then commands prompt. Black screen will pop up. Then type ping 127.0.0.0.1 and
hit ENTER. For the
purpose of this assignment, let assume again that the result loss is 75 percent,
which mean that the card does not work properly, in that case we move on the
physical observation. At the end of this step, we have a strong conviction that
the Network Card is the guilty
4. Then we plan a
solution to solve that: replace the card. Before we change the card we need the
reference of the card, this information can be found in the old card, in
computer documentation or online. After acquiring a new card, some safety
measure are recommended. Protect yourself and the component before you open the
computer, avoid the static electricity discharge (ESD) by using specific
equipment or touching the metal. Use to correct tools to remove the faulty and
install a new one.
5. Then after replacing
the network card, you test that the computer can connect and is fully
functional. At this moment, we need to setup or check for a preventive solution
by installing or updating an ANTI MALWARE in the system. We also need to check
if the power source is secure or recommend a surge protector.
6. The last step will
be to document this case, when the problem happened, what was the problem, why
it happened, what was the solution, keep this information safely for future
reference or needs. As a computer scientist we received a call from a customer
about the computer problem, then determine the working environment and the
architecture. We invoke hypothesis based on the connectivity problem; we
checked the system to track the faulty component and find the network card.
After many tests, we confirm our hypothesis the network card was faulty.
Finally, we replace the physical card, install new software, implement
anti-malware and document our findings.
At
first glance, changing the network card does not seem to be any scientific
method, most of the people every day are doing this kind of activities
sometimes without knowing that they are resolving scientifically a common
problem. In this case, it might not be a
physical problem (the network card is good) but the software could be corrupted
by malware. An extra step would be to check the company network security
policies, to find the weakest in the security system. Find the vulnerability,
solve and propose the efficient preventive solution.
References:
Mueller S., Prowse D.
L., Soper M. E., (2012) Authorized Cert Guide, CompTIA A+ 220-801 and 220-802,
Third Edition.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/troubleshoot-network-adapter-problems.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/SCI/110/114
6/Week1/Science%20Corner/story.html
http://www.ebay.com/gds/9-Things-to-Do-When-Your-Internal-Network-Card-Stops-
Working-/10000000177629205/g.html
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