Introduction
Utility programs have had a significance role to play in operating systems. Most operating systems, especially windows operating systems have utility programs that are used in the management and enhancement of the operating system. It is in the quest to optimize the performance of the operating system. Most utility programs are there to enhance the speed and protect the operating system from damage. For operating systems to operate in an optimal manner, they have to be protected and enhanced with utility programs. After some time, the speed of operating system and the overall performance does not match the current user requirements. With the use of utility programs will improve the performance and working of the operating system. This paper will focus on the role of utility programs and their roles in enhancing operating systems (Gelenbe, & Mitrani, 2010).
Strengths and weaknesses of utility programs
Utility programs enhance the working of the operating system. Instead of having another device, the use of utility programs can help in enhancing the functionality of the operating system. In the end, the operating system will continue working without having to waste time to have another system and another device.
Utilities also protect the operating systems so that they can work optimally. An example of such utility programs is antivirus software. They protect the operating system so that the system will be able to operate without any form of attack. The operating system will operate optimally without any attack or interruptions.
One weakness of utility programs is that they can affect the performance of the system. They will share resources with the operating system and thus affecting the optimality of the operating system. In most cases, the operating system will share the resources with the utility programs. The resources like memory, storage and speed. There are some utility programs which will operate at higher speeds and will consume more resources than the programs that the users utilize. They will compete for computer resources within the system. The performance of the other programs will be affected.
Benefits of firewalls
There are many benefits of using a firewall. One of the benefits is that it will make it possible to ensure that there is control of the packets that enter into a network. Firewalls filter the packets that enter into the network. They are used to ensure that the security of the network is not tampered by packets that are considered to be suspicious and which emanate from the outside. The firewalls will ensure that there is better management of the network and have ways in which the network is managed and enhanced in a better procedure and manner.
One of the ways in which programmers will strengthen the working of the firewall is to ensure that there is no flow of ICMP traffic to the network. The programmers can ensure that this is achieved through having a stealth mode for the routers. It will enable the routers to work and have no interruptions from the outside packets. Also, programmers can set the router firewall so that there is a possibility to have remote administration of the network. A programmer can set the inspection of the packets so that there is stateful inspection of the packets. It will enable the packets to be inspected in a stateful manner. It is one of the ways in which programmers will be able to have better management and enhancement of the inspection (Tanenbaum, Austin, & Chandavarkar, 2013).
References
Gelenbe, E., & Mitrani, I. (2010). Analysis and synthesis of computer systems(Vol. 4). World Scientific.
Tanenbaum, A. S., Austin, T., & Chandavarkar, B. R. (2013). Structured computer organization. Pearson.
