Abstract-Sensor networks provide a method of collecting environmental data for use in a variety of distributed applications. However, to date, limited support has been provided for the development of integrated environmental monitoring and modeling applications. Specifically, environmental dynamism makes it difficult to provide computational resources that are sufficient to deal with changing environmental conditions. This paper argues that the Cloud Computing model is a good fit with the dynamic computational requirements of environmental monitoring and modeling. We demonstrate that Amazon EC2 can meet the dynamic computational needs of environmental applications. We also demonstrate that EC2 can be integrated with existing sensor network technologies to offer an end-to-end environmental monitoring and modeling solution.

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract-Timely and accurate studies on the composition and nature of the Internet are crucial for continued research and innovation. The aim of this research is to aid and service emulated and simulated research methods where realism is dependent on the accuracy of Internet statistics. This study has captured anonymised, and analysed Internet traffic entering and exiting a university network. Passive measurement techniques are used to discover the mean and distribution of packet sizes. A range of Network and Transport layer statistics, such as DCSP, SACK, ECN, MSS usage, Window Scaling and Timestamps are also investigated. Active measurement techniques are used to determine Round Trip Times (RTTs) and the number of lost and misordered packets. Prior work is leveraged to explore changes in the composition and nature of the Internet over the last 10 years.

Performance monitoring is a significant method of establishing accountability in Australian local government. In New South Wales (NSW) councils are assessed by the State Government to either be ‘at risk’ or ‘not at risk’, with this outcome dependent on the analysis of a range of key performance indicators derived from comparative performance tables. This paper seeks to evaluate the process of performance monitoring in NSW and the method of identifying ‘at risk’ councils using a standard econometric model for the fiscal years 2000–2001 and 200120/02 respectively. The results suggest that the selection of ‘at risk’ councils does not accurately identify municipalities that are in fact ‘at risk’.