1. Systems Analysis and Design for the Small Enterprise Chapter 13 Networking

2. Chapter Objectives When you complete this chapter you will be able to: Describe the key hardware issues relating to the system under development Describe the key software issues relating to the system under development Install an information system that complies with the computer’s hardware and system software environment Describe how networking technology influences small-enterprise information systems Describe how Internet and intranet technologies influence small-enterprise information systems

3. The PC Solution Inherent in the small-enterprise project is the assumption that a desktop computer could function as the hardware platform for the information system. This assumption includes the possibility, perhaps inevitability, that the system will include several desktop computers networked together. Regardless of the number of computers employed in the system, there are several fundamental desktop- related issues the analyst must consider.

4. Figure 13-1: Evolution of the PC Microprocessor

5. Figure 13-2: PC Hardware Diagram

6. Figure 13-3: Critical Hardware Performance Issues and Acronyms

7. Figure 13-4: PC Operating System Diagram

8. Figure 13-5: Critical System Software Issues

9. Figure 13-6: System Environment Users Information Systems 4GL Products System Software System Hardware

10. Networking Solutions Networking is fast becoming the accepted baseline standard for information systems of all sizes. The small enterprise can begin with a simple modem connection to the Internet and a peer-to-peer network, and then progress to a local or even wide area network. The analyst working on a small-enterprise’s first-time information system should be alert to the future networking requirements of the enterprise, even if the present design does not include a network.

11. Figure 13-10: Network Diagram

12. Figure 13-11: Wireless LAN Diagram

13. Figure 13-12: File Server Diagram

14. Figure 13-13: Database Server Diagram

15. Figure 13-14: Network Productivity Products

16. Internet, Intranet, and Extranet Solutions Peer-to-peer and local area networks are confined to relatively small geographic areas. Internet, intranet, and extranet provide the potential for limitless extension of the enterprise network. Until fairly recently, these networking extensions merely provided a transporting medium for information products. Now there are powerful tools and languages that permit the analyst to distribute both data and computer processing to multiple network resources (e.g., clients, database servers), thus relieving the server’s processor of workload and reducing the volume of data transmission traffic on the network.

17. Figure 13-18: Extranet Diagram

18. Figure 13-19: Data-Driven Web Page Scenario

19. Figure 13-20: Client/Server Database Model

20. N-tier Service Architecture

21. Figure 13-21: Web-Accessible Database Options

22. Chapter Summary The analyst must address diverse hardware and software issues: Hardware: speed memory storage Software:user interfacing resource management resource sharing Networking hardware and software decisions complicate this process.