KNOWLEDGE OF SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, INCLUDING VARIOUS GIS SOFTWARES, PLATFORMS, AND ENVIRONMENTS

System Design & Management (SDM) is an interdisciplinary field that addresses complex challenges by viewing elements as dynamic, interconnected systems.

KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

  • Architecture design:
    • Requirements Phase - user needs assessment and workflow loads analysis (baseline and peak traffic)
    • Design Phase - Infrastructure requirements, network communication capacity, hardware and software procurement, software development and data acquisition must be identified.
    • Construction Phase - system procurement, data acquisition and database design, authorization for application design and development, prototype testing
    • Implementation Phase - Initial deployment and operational testing, final system delivery, user training, system maintenance operations
    • Capacity Planning Tool (CPT) - developed as a framework to promote successful GIS system design and implementation.
  • Enterprise environments:
    • Enterprise GIS Environment - broad spectrum of integrated enterprise technologies connected by local area networks, wide area networks, internet communications, and file systems.
    • Enterprise technologies - database servers, storage area networks, windows terminal servers, web servers, map servers, desktop clients
    • Virtualization: typically refers to hardware virtualization which refers to the creation of a virtual machine that acts like a real computer with an operating system. Software executed on these virtual machines is separated from the underlying hardware resources. In hardware virtualization, the host machine is the machine that is used by the virtualization and the guest machine is the virtual machine. The words host and guest are used to distinguish the software that runs on the physical machine from the software that runs on the virtual machine. The software or firmware that creates a virtual machine on the host hardware is called a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor.
    • Distributed Files Systems (DFS): a powerful approach that spans multiple machines or nodes in a network, allowing seamless access to files and shared resources. DFS is a data storage and management scheme that enables users or applications to access various types of files (such as PDFs, Word documents, images, videos, and audio files) from shared storage across multiple networked servers, which can be separated geographically.
  • Platforms:
    • Desktop - individual user on a computer, make maps, data analysis, data creation.
    • Server - bring geospatial capabilities and data into hands of everyone in organization, allows access to web GIS, control of GIS data on your own infrastructure, control over how GIS platform is deployed, maintained, secured, and used.
    • Hosted (cloud) - ability to discover, use, make, and share maps with any device anywhere, anytime - access other users maps and data - connect more people outside of organization and share latest maps, data, and ideas.
    • Enterprise GIS - integrated through entire organization so that many users can manage, share, and use spatial data and related information in a common environment to address a variety of needs, including data creation, modification, visualization, analysis, dissemination.
    • Enterprise GIS can utilize both hosted (cloud) and on-premises servers in a hybrid or distributed deployment.
  • Software:
    • Centralized Servers – Operating systems like Microsoft Windows Server, Relational Database Management Systems (RDMS) like SQL Server or Oracle.
    • Desktop Machines - XXX
  • GIS Software:
    • GRASS
    • Esri
    • QGIS
    • MapInfo
    • Smallworld

SAMPLE QUESTION

What are key factors to consider when designing an efficient system architecture for GIS?

A) Whether users will work on-premises or be remote

B) Data integrity and consistency

C) Capacity for system scaling

D) All of the above

Answer: D) All of the above

KNOWLEDGE OF SYSTEMS AND APPLICATION SECURITY

Systems and Application Security encompasses measures to safeguard both software systems and individual applications.

KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

  • Application security - Making applications more secure by finding, fixing, and enhancing the security.
  • Application security is important because it will help keep the data safe.
  • Continuous deployment and integration cause security fixes to be deployed constantly (daily or hourly)
  • Security testing:
    • Static testing – analyzes code at fixed points.
    • Dynamic testing – analyzes running code and can simulate an attack.
    • Interactive testing – combines static and dynamic testing.
    • Mobile testing – designed to examine how an attacker can attack mobile apps.
  • Methods to prevent unauthorized access to data and metadata.
    • Define who has access.
    • Employ other software to enforce these policies.
    • Identify management systems to check the credentials of users.
    • Data authenticity verification

SAMPLE QUESTION

Which of the following best describes SQL injection?

A) A technique used to bypass firewalls and gain unauthorized access to a network.

B) A type of malware that spreads through email attachments.

C) A vulnerability that allows an attacker to manipulate database queries by injecting malicious SQL code.

D) A cryptographic algorithm used for secure data transmission.

Answer: C) A vulnerability that allows an attacker to manipulate database queries by injecting malicious SQL code.

Explanation: SQL injection occurs when an attacker inserts malicious SQL statements into an application’s input fields. This can lead to unauthorized access, data leakage, or even complete control over the database. Proper input validation and parameterized queries are essential to prevent SQL injection attacks.

AWARENESS OF TRENDS IN GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY

Staying abreast of trends in GIS and technology, skills and professional practice is critical as a GIS Professional as technology expands and evolves constantly. Below are some examples of organizational websites for tracking GIS trends.

KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

  • Strategies for maintaining awareness of trends:
    • Read blogs.
    • Attend conferences.
    • Attend webinars.
    • Join local and online GIS groups.
    • Monitor job postings to stay abreast of important and marketable skills desired by employers.
  • Examples of important current trends and technologies relevant for GIS Professionals:
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • ​​​​​​​Machine Learning (ML)
    • ​​​​​​​Internet of things (IoT)
    • ​​​​​​​Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
    • ​​​​​​​Mobile Technologies

SAMPLE QUESTION

What is a good approach for staying abreast of trends in geospatial technology?

A) Read blogs.

B) Attend conferences.

C) Join local and online GIS groups.

D) All the above

Answer: D) All the above