DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A CLOUD BASED LECTURE NOTES (MATERIAL) DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

1.1 Introduction

Lecture note file sharing is the distribution of digital media using peer-to peer (P2P) networking technology which is most suitable for the distribution of lecture materials. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program that searches for other connected computers on a P2P network to locate the desired content. The nodes (peers) of such networks are end-user computer systems that are interconnected via the Internet.

The cloud lecture note file distribution technique makes users share files among each other with ease, easy to setup, and open-source. Cloud lecture note file distribution is publicized as the next major step for all forms of typical information technology use. From businesses, to non-profit organizations, to single users, there seems to be various applications which can use cloud lecture note file distribution or storage in daily computer usage, to offer a better, faster, and smarter way to share important document.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Lecture note file sharing has been a means of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, these information could be computer programs, multimedia files like (audio, images and video), documents, or digital books. Cloud in computing domain describes the use of a collection of services, applications, information, and infrastructures which comprises pools of virtualization technology, disk storage, inexpensive servers, and network. These components can be rapidly orchestrated, provisioned, implemented, commissioned and scaled up or down providing for an on-demand utility-like model of allocations and consumption. As the users increasingly demand to satisfy their immediate information needs, the cloud has become a preferred platform to deliver such information. However, in cloud computing, cloud does not just only include data pipes, routers, and servers, it also involves providing services and capabilities to build applications.

The importance of cloud computing has emerge as the bedrock of modern information system which can neither be overemphasized nor overlooked. An enterprise cloud computing is a controlled, internal place that offers rapid and flexible provisioning of compute power, storage, software, and security services.

In these age of complex business intelligence and big-data enterprise, enterprise cloud computing has corroborate with enterprise web applications which now serves as core business model that manages full-fledged collaborative workflow-based applications, spanning multiple individuals, small scale business, IT inclined and non-inclined large scale businesses as well asorganizations. Cloud enables enterprises to unleash their potential for innovation through greater intelligence, creativity, flexibility and efficiency, all at reduced cost.

The cloud computing is developing quickly for it offers on-demand computing power and capacity. The power of cloud computing empowers dynamic adaptability of utilizations confronting different methods of file transfer in our advanced technology age. However, challenges emerge while considering the enormous amount of files to be shared. In this research, we propose moving of flies, from the traditional FTP service to the cloud. This research focuses on designing and implementing a cloud lecture note file distribution system, the potential benefits and technical issues associated with sharing of files easily for easy retrieval.

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1.3 Statement of Problem

Investigation revealed that the following are the problems of the existing Cloud Based Lecture Notes (Material) Distribution System which are stated as follows:

1. There is misplacement of lecture notes because, the end-users sometimes do not remember the names of these lecture note files, the files contents, and their storage locations.
2. There may be irregularities during lecture note file sharing; this could be lack of connectivity strength, device compatibility and other human factors.

The Cloud Based Lecture Notes (Material) Distribution System will be an effective way to share lecture note files over the internet and give other usage access to view or manage the uploaded files easily at any part of the globe via the internet.

Nevertheless, cloud computing have been bedeviled by certain obstacles, the goal of this research study is to discern the factors affecting performance and provide some solutions or guidelines to cloud users that might run into performance problems:

1. Integrity and protection of information deployed or stored in the cloud domain as oppose the traditional approach of information storage.
2. Ability to transform data from diverse sources into intelligence and deliver intelligence information to right users and systems.
3. The need for load balancing and traffic control when multiple users access the cloud service.
4. Need to address the scalability issue: Large scale data, high performance computing, automaton, response time, rapid prototyping, and rapid time to production.
5. Security, privacy and trust issues from the end users of cloud services.
6. Adopting cloud as a platform to enhance a vibrant business intelligence environment.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to design and implement a Cloud Based Lecture Notes (Material) Distribution System. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to develop an application software that will:

1. Facilitate easy dissemination of lecture notes by lecturers, store and backup files, with high-performance computing easy to retrieve.
2. Ensure lecture notes accessibility without any limiting factor using an online based system.
3. Utilize a controlled approach for the problem of security, privacy and trust issues from the end users of cloud services.
4. Offer provision of on-demand utility to users of the cloud service at a quick response time.
5. Make lecture notes available to the end-user at any point in time; and
6. Provide a benchmark for the amount of resources users can store in the cloud service which solves the problem of scalability and load balancing.

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1.5 Significance of Study

The application of Information technology cuts across every facet of human endeavor (Izevbizua, 2013). The significance of this research study is:

1. It offers guarantee on the quality of cloud computing services.
2. It offers an easy information sharing platform for the users.
3. It offers a measured security of information stored in the cloud domain.
4. It highlights and solves the problem of multi-tenancy (where a single application instance may serve hundreds of users or subscribers).

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.6 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on designing and implementing a Cloud Based Lecture Notes (Material) Distribution System, which will represent as a platform for file sharing, information storage and dissemination.

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1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, there were some problems encountered which stood as limitations to the research work. Some of the limitations include:

1. The problem of data size limit assign to subscribers of the system may not allow users to deploy as much resources as they desire to store and share among other users.
2. The expense of acquiring a space on the cloud service provider was tasking initially. This lead to the concentration of the study to some restricted scope.
3. The measure of resource security within the cloud domain may not suit users; which gives room for improvement of resource security in further research.

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1.8 Definition of Terms

Cloud Computing:

The practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer

Internet:

It is an electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world.

File Sharing:

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia, documents or electronic books.

Web Application:

It is any software application that depends on the Web for its correct execution.

FTP:

The File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

Cloud Server:

A cloud server is a virtual server (rather than a physical server) running in a cloud computing environment. It is built, hosted and delivered via a cloud computing platform via the internet, and can be accessed remotely.