Paper 2 - 1 hour 20 minutes

1. Two new scientific magazines have been made available online.

(a) By referring to both content and links, describe how a search engine using the HITS
algorithm might produce different page rankings for the two magazines. [4]
Both magazines allow content to be downloaded. This content could be text or images,
for example.

(b) Outline why different compression techniques might be used for transferring
this information. [4]

(c) Explain, with an example, how the same search terms on the same search engine
might produce different results for different users. [3]

(d) Identify two different types of distributed systems, giving an example of how each
one might be used. [4]

2. A large online retail company is relocating to a new purpose-built site and is considering
incorporating cloud computing into its IT strategy.

(a) Describe two architectural features that are essential components of a sustainable
public cloud computing model. [4]

In making decisions regarding their computing facilities, the company has to consider the
following factors:
• the storage of sensitive financial data
• the extensive use of email for promotional purposes
• the increased demand over the Christmas period
• any upcoming development projects.

Many companies now use a hybrid approach to cloud computing in which they make use
of both private and public clouds.

(b) Explain how this particular company might use a hybrid approach. [6]

3. In companies with a large number of personnel, ambient intelligence is being used to

identify where employees are in the building during working hours.

With reference to the specific technology required to allow this to happen, discuss the ethics
of using ambient intelligence in this situation. [6]

4.
(a) State three features that distinguish the semantic web from the web. [3]

(b) Outline, with the use of an example, the difference between a web graph and a sub-
graph [2]
 (c) Define the term multimedia-web. [2]

(d) Explain how a music search engine, which accepts audio input, functions. [4]

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are often used to download movies.

(e) Discuss how power laws can be used to explain the phenomenon that movie files of
the same size may take different lengths of time to download in aP2P network. [5]

(f) Explain how collective intelligence affect the online buying habits of the general
public. [4]

5. A web application (app) runs on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It allows users to
locate their position in real time on a map, as they walk around a city, as well as the surrounding
attractions. The app uses icons to represent tourist attractions such as art galleries and museums.
When the user clicks on the icon, further details are shown, such as opening times. The app includes
some use of client-side scripting.

(a) (i) Outline the functioning of this app. Include specific references to the technology
and software involved. [3]

(ii) With reference to the use on mobile devices, outline a feature of this application
that may rely on client-side scripting. [2]

Many art galleries have websites that can be found by search engines. White hat techniques and
practices allow website developers to optimize the search process. It is good practice to maintain the
source code of websites up-to-date with actual information.

(b) (i) State two metrics used by search engines. [2]

(ii) Explain why maintaining a clean HTML source code of a website by removing old
information optimizes the search process. [5]
The evolution of the web, architectures, protocols and their uses has led to increasingly sophisticated
services that run on peer-2-peer (P2P) architectures.

(c) Explain how a P2P network can provide more reliability than a client-server model. [4]