Configuration Management Research Articles

Automating the Assessment of Networking and Security in Higher Education

In the subject of computer networking students must understand the concepts and be confident in configuring and securing a range of network devices and systems. Challenges are faced in assessing practical networking and security exercises in a laboratory environment utilising multivariate devices and operating systems that involve real or simulated systems operating in real or virtualized environments. The working environment for a practical exercise must be pre-configured and once an exercise has been completed the results extracted to enable formative or summative assessment of the outcomes. Using manual methods this process can be time consuming and it would therefore be beneficial to implement some form of automation. To facilitate this a new application has been developed that automates the configuration management and assessment processes within a computer networking laboratory. The new application has been successfully used to assess the extent to which students have been able to configure secure networks using case-study based exercises. The development challenges of the application and rationale for the implementation of the prototype application are discussed. A test methodology is presented in which the application is used to assess the outcomes of a computer networking exercise, comparing the results obtained from the application with those of a proprietary simulator. This demonstrates that the prototype application is able to successfully and accurately automate the assessment of the practice of networking and security in the context of defined parameters. Further work is suggested to improve the assessment mechanism employed by the application, seek enhancements and to conduct additional tests.

Network Redundant DCS Configuration Management

An approach to the configuration management of a distributed control system with redundant components is proposed. The approach is based on a formalized vector-matrix representation of sets of system components, possible system configurations and functional relationships between them.

Mixed effects of ecological intensification on natural pest control providers: a short-term study for biotic homogenization in winter wheat fields.

Agricultural intensification is one of the major drivers of biotic homogenization and has multiple levels ranging from within-field management intensity to landscape-scale simplification. The enhancement of invertebrate assemblages by establishing new, semi-natural habitats, such as set-aside fields can improve biological pest control in adjacent crops, and mitigate the adverse effect of biotic homogenization. In this study we aimed to examine the effects of ecological intensification in winter wheat fields in Hungary. We tested how pests and their natural enemies were affected at different spatial scales by landscape composition (proportion of semi-natural habitats in the surrounding matrix), configuration (presence of adjacent set-aside fields), and local field management practices, such as fertilizer (NPK) applications without applying insecticides. We demonstrated that at the local scale, decreased fertilizer usage had no direct effect either on pests or their natural enemies. Higher landscape complexity and adjacent semi-natural habitats seem to be the major drivers of decreasing aphid abundance, suggesting that these enhanced the predatory insect assemblages. Additionally, the high yield in plots with no adjacent set-aside fields suggests that intensive management can compensate for the lower yields on the extensive plots. Our results demonstrated that although complexity at the landscape scale was crucial for maintaining invertebrate assemblages, divergence in their response to pests and pathogens could also be explained by different dispersal abilities. Although the landscape attributes acted as dispersal filters in the organization of pest and pathogen assemblages in croplands, the presence of set-aside fields negatively influenced aphid abundance due to their between-field isolation effect.

Extending the scope of configuration management for the development and life cycle support of systems of systems—An ontology‐driven framework applied to the Enceladus Submarine Exploration Lander

AbstractIncreasingly complex systems of systems (SoS) have to be developed in ever shorter times‐to‐market at reduced costs and with high reliability. In addition, as the life cycle of such SoS frequently spans across several decades, customer expectations and market conditions will evolve. Systems engineering (SE)/model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) and configuration management (CM) need to be ever more closely integrated to appropriately address this situation. CM as a discipline is essential for establishing traceability and controlling baseline evolutions between all the relevant pieces of information resulting from the related system life cycle processes of all constituent systems of such SoS; but for this to work, the scope of CM must be extended both throughout the entire life cycle and across all participating monolithic systems. New frameworks are needed to effectively and efficiently apply CM across SoS arrangements. This paper proposes an ontology‐based, federative approach to managing the inherent complexity of CM in the context of SoS, with particular focus on a change management framework for SoS. Examples from a conceptual system that is concerned with the submarine exploration of Enceladus as part of the “Saturn exploration system” are used to demonstrate typical SE/MBSE artifacts and how CM needs to address them across the involved operational and enabling systems.

Social Network Analysis in Software Development Projects: A Systematic Literature Review

Software development in project teams has become more and more complex, with increasing demands for information and decision making. Software development in projects also hugely depends on effective interaction between people, and human factors have been identified as key to successful software projects. Especially in this context, managing and analyzing social networks is highly important. The instrument of social network analysis (SNA) provides fine-grained methods for analyzing social networks in project teams, going beyond the traditional tools and techniques of project management. This paper examines the importance of the application of SNA in software development projects. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of research on software development projects and social network data published between 1980 and 2019. We identified and analyzed 86 relevant studies, finding that research on software development projects spans the topics of project organization, communication management, knowledge management, version and configuration management, requirement management, and risk management. Further, we show that most studies focus on project organization and that the most common method used to gather social data relies on automated extraction from various software development repositories in the SNA context. Our paper contributes to the software development literature by providing a broad overview of published studies on the use of social networks in helping software development projects. Finally, we identify research opportunities and make suggestions for addressing existing research gaps.

Improvement of IT Infrastructure Management by Using Configuration Management and Maturity Models: A Systematic Literature Review and a Critical Analysis

Abstract Background and purpose: This research aims to investigate which benefits one may expect using Maturity Models in Configuration Management (CM) domain. CM is a support process that helps organizations have better management of their infrastructure. Its importance, in the Information Technology (IT) domain, has increased in recent years, despite this process not being technologically new, and the fact that many organizations implement this process in a haphazard way, which results in it not producing the benefits that it should produce. With the intention of assessing and improving the organizations’ IT processes practices and capabilities, MMs have been developed and implemented. However, the application of MM in the CM domain is yet to be explored. Design/Methodology/Approach: Two Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) and a Critical Analysis were performed. In sum, 80 scientific articles of the most rated conferences and scientific journals were analyzed and conclusions were drawn. Results: This research concludes that despite the CM process being badly implemented, using a MM this process could decrease operational costs and increase the quality management of the infrastructure. Conclusion: However, no MM has been developed so far for the CM process practices. This MM would be a viable support tool for the IT organizations providers since this would help organizations have a mature CM process and better control of their IT infrastructure. Therefore, the existence of a MM for the CM domain would be a welcome advancement that should be developed in the future.

Never Miss on the Extras: Middle Mesial Canal an Extra Entity

The primary objective of endodontic therapy is to achieve a three-dimensional obturation of the root canal space to remove the tissue debris, microorganisms and their by products after a proper biomechanical preparation of the pulp chambers. The missing canal of complex root canal morphology is major reason for endodontic failure. The use of magnification, illumination, recent advancements, diagnostic aids and techniques help in minimizing the incidence of missing a canal. This case report describes the rare management of a left mandibular first permanent molar requiring root canal treatment with an additional Middle Mesial Canal (MMC) in the mesial root. Clinicians experience and approach is a key factor in negotiation and management of these aberrant canal configurations.

ОПТИМИЗАЦИЯ ЗАТРАТ НА ОКАЗАНИЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ УСЛУГИ В СИСТЕМЕ ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЙ И БЮДЖЕТНОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ

The relevance and novelty of the work. In modern conditions, the increase in the level of threats to the enterprise is accompanied by an increasing role of economic security of the economic entity and management accounting in the system of economic security. Organization of managerial accounting system to provide public services to virtually any public institutions providing public services. The program allows you to calculate the costs and value of the State normative services (works) in view of the calculation of direct and expense costs, allowing reporting at the level of State and municipal institutions provides consolidating information in the desired volume at the level of ministries with the ability to provide various management reports.
 The purpose of the work. Providing primary information collection and processing municipal and regional institutions with a view to optimal planning of payroll staff, calculating the cost of State services (works), get detailed information about the costs in terms of expenditures throughout the State (municipal) institution, and any group of institutions. 
 The materials and methods of research. Program management decision public service allows you to create accountability at the level of State and municipal institutions. Program configuration management decision "State service" has a two-tiered system, built on the client-server technology.
 The results of the work. "Public service" program was implemented and works in the city of Saratov, in the Ministry of social development of the region.

A Coordinated Framework of DG Allocation and Operating Strategy in Distribution System for Configuration Management under Varying Loading Patterns

The distributed generation (DG) planning with the varying pattern of the practical load is difficult as it calls for the frequent changes in DG size and system configuration, which is neither feasible nor permissible. Rather such a DG size and a configuration, which can be utilized over a wider load pattern, are more acceptable. This work presents a coordinated approach for DG planning and system reconfiguration. While to operate a particular DG size and the system configuration over a wide range of loading pattern, the configurations are ranked under different probabilistic loading patterns. Based upon the ranking of the new configuration, the energy performance of the coordinated planning is evaluated. Further, the observations from coordinated planning are imposed on coordinated operation using harmony search algorithm (HSA). The proposed approach is tested for single as well as multi-objectives on a 33-node system. A significant improvement in the computational efforts and energy performance of the resulting configuration have been observed where losses have reduced to 81.11 and 53.77 kW with single DG and multi-DG allocation respectively.

IoTSim‐Edge: A simulation framework for modeling the behavior of Internet of Things and edge computing environments

SummaryWith the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing paradigms, billions of IoT devices are being networked to support data‐driven and real‐time decision making across numerous application domains, including smart homes, smart transport, and smart buildings. These ubiquitously distributed IoT devices send the raw data to their respective edge device (eg, IoT gateways) or the cloud directly. The wide spectrum of possible application use cases make the design and networking of IoT and edge computing layers a very tedious process due to the: (i) complexity and heterogeneity of end‐point networks (eg, Wi‐Fi, 4G, and Bluetooth); (ii) heterogeneity of edge and IoT hardware resources and software stack; (iv) mobility of IoT devices; and (iii) the complex interplay between the IoT and edge layers. Unlike cloud computing, where researchers and developers seeking to test capacity planning, resource selection, network configuration, computation placement, and security management strategies had access to public cloud infrastructure (eg, Amazon and Azure), establishing an IoT and edge computing testbed that offers a high degree of verisimilitude is not only complex, costly, and resource‐intensive but also time‐intensive. Moreover, testing in real IoT and edge computing environments is not feasible due to the high cost and diverse domain knowledge required in order to reason about their diversity, scalability, and usability. To support performance testing and validation of IoT and edge computing configurations and algorithms at scale, simulation frameworks should be developed. Hence, this article proposes a novel simulator IoTSim‐Edge, which captures the behavior of heterogeneous IoT and edge computing infrastructure and allows users to test their infrastructure and framework in an easy and configurable manner. IoTSim‐Edge extends the capability of CloudSim to incorporate the different features of edge and IoT devices. The effectiveness of IoTSim‐Edge is described using three test cases. Results show the varying capability of IoTSim‐Edge in terms of application composition, battery‐oriented modeling, heterogeneous protocols modeling, and mobility modeling along with the resources provisioning for IoT applications.

DAQling: an open-source data acquisition framework

The Data AcQuisition (DAQ) software for most applications in high energy physics is composed of common building blocks, such as a networking layer, plug-in loading, configuration, and process management. These are often re-invented and developed from scratch for each project or experiment around specific needs. In some cases, time and available resources can be limited and make development requirements difficult or impossible to meet. Moved by these premises, our team developed an open-source lightweight C++ software framework called DAQling, to be used as the core for the DAQ systems of small and medium-sized experiments and collaborations. The framework offers a complete DAQ ecosystem, including a communication layer based on the widespread ZeroMQ messaging library, configuration management based on the JSON format, control of distributed applications, extendable operational monitoring with web-based visualisation, and a set of generic utilities. The framework comes with minimal dependencies, and provides automated host and build environment setup based on the Ansible automation tool. Finally, the end-user code is wrapped in so-called “Modules”, that can be loaded at configuration time, and implement specific roles. Several collaborations already chose DAQling as the core for their DAQ systems, such as FASER, RD51, and NA61/SHINE. We will present the framework and project-specific implementations and experiences.

Scalable IoT Platform for Heterogeneous Devices in Smart Environments

The Internet of Things (IoT) is envisioned as a ubiquitous computing infrastructure in which everything becomes connected, enabling gigantic information exchange among Things and people. These connected smart Things generate an enormous amount of data which need to be efficiently managed to form a unified global IoT. Unfortunately, due to the lack of acceptable open standards, communication protocols, and support for device/service discovery, the recent IoT deployments in smart environments (e.g., smart home, smart building, smart city) are posing imperative challenges related to interoperability, discovery, and the configuration of deployed objects, since the number of objects is expected to grow over time. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to provide open and scalable solutions for the discovery of devices (i.e., Things), their configuration, and data management. This paper introduces an open and scalable IoT platform by adopting the modular characteristics of edge computing for smart environments. This paper: (i) performs a systematic literature review of IoT-based infrastructures and analyzes the scalability requirements; (ii) proposes a layered IoT platform for smart environments that fosters heterogeneity, interoperability, discovery, and scalability; and (iii) demonstrates the applicability of the proposed solution by relying on a comprehensive study of a Vare smart building use case at Aalto University.

Процесс управления проблемами и конфигурацией

Процесс управления проблемами и конфигурацией

Research on the development mode of general exclusive parts for spacecraft integration

As an important part of spacecraft, the research on general exclusive parts for spacecraft integration is still in its infancy. In this paper, based on the characteristic of spacecraft and exclusive parts, the development mode of general exclusive parts and the principles of configuration management for general exclusive parts are established. This paper explores the working mode of general exclusive parts adding, modification, abolition and deviation. Furthermore, this paper also suggests the thoughts on the construction of relevant databases.

Модель и методика маскирования адресации корреспондентов в киберпространстве

Regulators charge to counter information security threats against the structural and functional characteristics of the information system to ensure the information security requirements. These requirements include information system structure and composition, information technologies and functioning characteristics, physical and logical, functional and technological interconnections between information system segments. They order false components of information system emulation as a basic step of protection, as well as information technologies hiding, information system configuration management and its switching to predetermined configuration that provides a protection. However that steps are not included into basic set and they protection aims are reached with compensative assets, formalizing and implementing inhibitory orders and set of organizational and technical measures on threat source. The purpose of research – to disclose and to state main ways of search of new technical solutions for structure masking of distributed information systems in cyberspace implementing masking traffic taking into account the requirements for the timeliness of information exchange. The method of research – operations research in the face of uncertainty, the application of the theory of Markov processes and Kolmogorov equation for solving the problem of increasing the efficiency of masking exchange. The result of research – finding the probabilistic and temporal characteristics of the functioning process of the data transmission network when applying technical solutions for information systems masking in cyberspace. The results obtained make it possible to explicitly implement protection measures aimed at forming persistent false stereotypes among violators about information systems and control processes implemented with their help.

Impact Analysis of Demand Management on Runway Configuration in Metroplex Airports

Congestion in airports and metroplexes is increasingly becoming a key bottleneck in the global air transport system. It is largely due to inefficient utilization of runway resources and its consequences of imbalance between demand and capacity. Existing studies mainly focus on runway configuration in a single airport system, and little consideration is given to the impact of demand management on runway configuration in metroplexes. Therefore, this paper proposes a methodology and assessment framework for runway configuration with a focus on the exploitation of multiple active runways in metroplex airports. The primary innovation is an integrated runway configuration management formulation with air traffic demand management options. The first is static and dynamic runway configuration management models featuring three optimization objectives, four cases of demand-capacity imbalance, three air traffic demand management options and three assessment scenarios, for eleven priority settings. The second is an efficient multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with a mechanism of objective-guided individual selection, which can obtain close-to optimal solutions with a very low computational cost within 6 seconds. Computational experiments for the real-world case of the Shanghai metroplex airports show that, the inducing strategy of minimizing the total number of adjusted flights is the best mechanism for making satisfactory tradeoffs among multiple objectives in dynamic runway configuration. The proposed model reduces the total number of adjusted flights by an average of 36% compared with the baseline static runway configuration management. Furthermore, unlike the conventional approach of giving priority to arriving aircraft, a higher priority for departures is more effective in enhancing the performance of runway systems and reducing the number of adjusted flights. The proposed framework can be applied at pre-tactical (e.g., one-day planning) as well as tactical (e.g., several-hours rolling horizon) levels.

Container Image Access Control Architecture to Protect Applications

A container platform allows various applications to be deployed or run after installation. A user can download or execute a container image with the required application. To apply the configuration management system, a container image uses a union filesystem composed of multiple layers. To provide stability, important application files must be protected from unauthorized access. However, the container image used for distributing an application does not have its own protection function, and it is not protected by the container platform. The access control function provided by the operating system cannot protect the applications because the container environment is not considered. In this study, a container image access control architecture is proposed that can ensure a safe application operating environment by denying unauthorized direct access to container images. The proposed architecture enforces the access control function after the container image is downloaded, denying unauthorized access to the container image layer directory. Because the access control function is provided at the kernel level, there is a security advantage that users cannot bypass. To verify this approach, the functions and performance were determined empirically according to the proposed architecture. Functional verification confirmed that the proposed architecture denies unauthorized access to the container base image and allows access only to authorized users. It was also confirmed that the proposed architecture ensures the performance of the container platform in the same way as before, and that the proposed container image access control architecture is sufficiently effective.

Configuration Management Challenges of Model Based Systems Engineering on Multiple Variant Aircraft Fleets

Configuration Management Challenges of Model Based Systems Engineering on Multiple Variant Aircraft Fleets

Применение генетического алгоритма в задачах динамического управления ресурсами кибербезопасности

The article considers the possibility of modifying the genetic algorithm (GA) to address the issues of selection, optimization and dynamic configuration management of information security tools (IMS) for the security circuit of information and communication systems (ICS). The scientific novelty of the work is that it is recommended to use the total cost of information loss risks, as well as cost indicators for each class of information security systems as a criterion for optimizing the composition of the information security system in GA. The genetic algorithm is considered as a variation of the problem associated with multi-choice in optimizing the choice of information security information and the dynamic management of cybersecurity resources. In this concept, the optimization of the placement of the information security system along the protective circuit of the ACS is considered as a modification of the problem of the combination backpack. The proposed approach allows not only to quickly calculate the different versions of hardware and software information systems and their combinations for CMS, but also to dynamically manage the proposed algorithm with existing models and algorithms for optimizing the composition of CSR cybersecurity chains and cybersecurity resources of various information objects. It is possible that such a combination of models and algorithms will allow to quickly restore the CSR protection by adjusting the profiles according to the new threats and classes of cyber attacks.

Enhanced model-based engineering for centrally managed configuration management in product lifecycle management

In times products gain in complexity and variety whereby release and development cycles become even shorter, consistent and systematic variant management is essential not only for technical communication but also for the very most processes in PLM. Therefore, system engineering and system configuration themselves must be leading for a centrally managed, reliable variant management for all PLM processes. We depict how enhanced model-based system engineering approach based on product and product component models can be the enabler for variant management in all PLM processes by specific, explicitly deduced views in different stages of the entire Product Lifecycle.