Question

a) What types of files might you want to copy to the cloud? Why would you copy files to
the cloud instead of copying them to an external storage device?

b) How does the access time of storage compare with the access time of memory?

c) End user programs are designed for specific functions such as word processing or a
game. You have installed a new piece of applications software onto a stand-alone PC.
You then find that the printer attached to the PC fails to produce what can be seen on
screen in that package. Explain clearly why this might happen.

Answer 1

Question a)
Answer:
From a user's perspective, one would want to copy personal photos, especially holiday photos and videos, software, songs, whitepapers, articles, PDFs, e-books, audiobooks, images, clients' data, backups, websites, content, movies, videos, audio files, many documents, etc., to the cloud to save and store them. Files could word processing files such as resumes, Curriculum Vitaes (CVs), emails, attachments, social media posts, messages, photos, videos, etc. Anything that can be seen and accessed on the Internet and computers could be copied and stored in the cloud storage. All types of files with all types of file formats can be stored in cloud storage.

Technically, object storage, block storage, and file storage are three types of storage meant for data to be stored that are in three different types, such as, objects, blocks, and files.

I would copy files to the cloud instead of copying them to an external storage device as the cloud offers high durability, high scalability, high flexibility, seamlessness, strongest security, privacy, High Availability (HA), and reliability. The data, information, or files store in the cloud can be accessible by the user from anywhere in the world, at any point in time, and on any device, thus giving comfortability and convenience to the users. It would only require an Internet connection for the user to connect to the cloud. Also, the user need not manage the underlying Information Technology (IT) of the cloud, as this is done by the cloud service provider offering cloud storage to the user. Cloud is the cheapest solution. Cloud provides users the facility to access their files and data on-demand. The subscriptions or services on Pay-As-You-Go services. Users would pay only for what they use. There are many other reasons.

Question b)
Answer:
Comparison of the access time of storage with the access time of memory:
Access time is the speed of the storage medium and memory. Memory's access time is faster than the storage medium. Access time is the amount of time a storage device takes to locate an item on the storage device. It is the time taken to deliver an item or a piece of data from memory to the processor or CPU. Access time consists of latency and transfer time. The access time for memory or Random Access Memory (RAM) is called cycle time. Access time to RAM is measured in nanoseconds. Whereas access time to a secondary storage device such as a hard disk (magnetic or SSD) is measured in milliseconds.

Access time in memory is the time it takes for one character in RAM to be fetched or transferred from or to the processor (CPU). The access time in disks is the time it takes for obtaining the first data character after a request is initiated. It is the time to move the write/read head to the track also called seek time, and the time it takes for rotating the platter to the sector, and this is called latency. Access time for disks is given as an average as both, latency and seek time vary based on the head's current platter and position.

Question c)
Answer:
The reason why the printer attached to the stand-alone Personal Computer (PC) fails to produce what can be seen on screen in that end-user application software program or simply package could be, because of any of the below reasons as there could be many reasons due to many factors:
Assuming the printer attached to the PC was working perfectly and was printing documents, files, and information seen on screens of installed application software, software native to the Operating System (OS) of the PC, files, folders, documents, etc., that were already installed or put or placed in the PC, below could the reasons from silly, basic, simple, to complex ones:
Again, it all depends on the error message or error number that the computer, specifically, the end-user application program or the printer are throwing while the user is trying to print.
* The main suspect could be that the newly installed end-user application software program or package does not provide a print option on any of its screens, or a particular screen of that application does not provide the option to print it.
* The printer could be turned off or powered off.
* There may not be paper in the printer tray.
* The printer cable may not be properly connected to either the computer, or the printer, or both.
* The print driver and software may not be installed on the PC.
* There could be an issue with the printer driver software on the PC.
* The printer may set to offline mode.
* The printer drivers could be outdated and might require to update it with the latest version applying all the security patches and features in it.
* The "Print" command may not be invoked properly with proper settings to print what is seen on the screen of the end-user application program or package.
* Printer is probably throwing errors and hence would require to check the printer's error lights.
* The printer queue could be jammed with old documents that failed to print for some reason, making your document to be printed right now to wait.
* If the printer works based off of Wi-Fi, the computer may not be plugged in through USB.
* The Wi-Fi connection may not be turned on the printer.
* The printer may not be connected to the PC through the PC's Wi-Fi network to print through Wi-Fi connection.
* The printer may not be connected to the PC through a local network or USB cable.
* Also, either the Bluetooth option on the PC or on the printer is not turned on to print a screen through Bluetooth connection.
* The printer may not be connected to the PC through the PC's Bluetooth network to print through Bluetooth connection.
* Maybe, the user is not printing the screen from the software program using the right printer added in the PC. Probably the user has more than printers and by default, or by mistake the user chose the other printer or an old printer or printer configuration in the printer setup program on the PC.
* Probably, the printer connected and powered on is not added in the PC's "Printers & scanners" settings, in the first, or the added printer was removed by the user for some reason.
* The paper in the printer tray could be jammed.
* The printer might have a printer a blank page.
* Probably the ink is over in the ink cartridges.
* Probably the user could run a printer's self-test to see if it prints a test page.
* The end-user application may have a policy wherein it may not be allowing users to print any screen from the application for security reasons to protect data.
* Probably the user is trying to print a blank screen, file, or document.
* The PC may not be able to find the printer for some reason.
* The user may not have restarted the PC after he/she installed the new application program, which is not required, however, to better see the changes in the PC's installed software functioning, this would be a better idea to restart the PC once.
* The firewall the user is using might be blocking the printer.
* There could be a computer virus that might be in the PC or in the end-user application software program that might be blocking the user from printing the screen or a document.
* The anti-virus software installed on the user's PC might be blocking the user to print the document or the screen from the end-user application program, where the anti-virus software could be seeing this newly installed end-user software application as a threat and has blocked it from giving any print instruction from it.
* The PC might be refusing to connect to the printer.
* It could be a software issue, firmware issue, hardware issue, or even a network issue.
* The user might not have set or chosen a proper print option when he/she invoked the print command to print the screen from the application program.
* The printer firmware (if available) might not be updated.
* There could be many other reasons too as it depends on reproducing the issue and capturing and reviewing the error message and error number to determine what exactly is the issue why the printer attached to the PC failed to produce what can be seen on screen in that package.