Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure & Emerging Technologies Information Systems for Management

Outline Information Systems for Management Electronic Data (bit, byte, larger sizes) Central Processing Unit (CPU) Main Memory or Storage (RAM, ROM) Secondary Storage Computer Speed Input Devices Output Devices Categories of Computers Client/Server Peer-to-Peer Computing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Moore's Law

Information Systems for Management Electronic Data Bit – electrical charge exists (meaning 1) or it does not (0) Byte: String of bits (usually 8), representing one character (letter, number) Kilo Byte (KB) = roughly 1000 Bytes 1 Mega Byte (MB) = 1,000,000 Bytes 1 Giga Byte (GB) = 1,000,000,000 Bytes 3

Information Systems for Management Central Processing Unit and Primary Memory: Heart of Computer 4

Information Systems for Management The CPU and Memory Central Processing Unit Arithmetic Logic Unit Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) Control unit Clock Main Memory (Storage), 2 parts: ROM (non-volatile) – programmed by manufacturer RAM (volatile) – memory used for your programs and operating system; PCs today – RAM size in Giga Bytes 5

Information Systems for Management Computer Speed A CPU placed on a single miniature chip; basis of PC (personal computer) Speed and performance factors number of bits the computer can process at one time (word length) Speed of the Clock Number of bits that can be moved at one time between the CPU, primary storage & other devices (Data Bus width ) 6

Information Systems for Management Computer Speed - Examples NameManufacturerWord Length (bits) Clock Speed (electrical cycles per second) Data Bus Width (bits) Pentium 2Intel MHz*64 CeleronIntel MHz64 Pentium IIIIntel MHz64 Pentium IVIntel323.2 GHz*64 Itanium IIIntel641.5 GHz128 OpteronAMD642.6 Ghz128 MHz = millions of Hertz (measure of speed) GHz = billions of Hertz Speed increase 7

Information Systems for Management Secondary Storage (Memory) Long-term, non-changeable Magnetic: Hard disk Flash drive other (floppy disk, tape) Optical: CD-ROM (readable or readable and writeable - CD-R/CD-RW) DVD (same as CD-ROM, takes more data) Secondary storage tech. keep developing and getting cheaper 8

Information Systems for Management Input Devices Keyboard Pointing Devices Mouse Touch screen Readers/Scanners (Bar code reader; Magnetic Ink Recognition) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Receiver Voice recognition 9

Information Systems for Management Output Devices Monitor Printer Non impact (laser, inkjet; photo printer) Impact (dot matrix) Plotter Voice output (voice synthesizer) Plotter 10

Information Systems for Management Categories of Computers Personal Computer (PC) Desktop (Hewlett-Packard, Dell) Laptop (IBM ThinkPad, MacBook) Workstation (Sun, IBM RISC; don’t mix it with “PC supporting individual work” also called work station) Midrange Computer (IBM AS 400) Mainframe Mainframe (Unisys, Siemens) Supercomputer (“Deep Blue” – world champion in chess) 11

Client-Server Model Information Systems for Management The model (system architecture) is which one computer sends requests for data and processing (CLIENT) and the other delivers these (SERVER) Multi-tear Client-Server Model 12

Information Systems for Management Peer-to-Peer Computing Using computer networks (Internet or private) to share data, storage, and processing tasks, where all computers are equals (peers). Music sharing sites; Grid computing Uses Client-Server model, where each machine can play either role 13

Information Systems for Management Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) TCO includes initial purchasing costs of software and hardware, costs of licensing, maintenance, ongoing costs for salaries & facilities (operating costs), training throughout the life of an IS, downtime (opportunity costs), energy consumption, disposing used equipment… Make TCO assessment, not only capital investment Maintenance costs can be large 14

Information Systems for Management Technology Trends Superchip Moore’s Law (computing capabilities double every 18 months) Information Appliances Microminiaturization Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) Smart Card Chips in every office/home device; connectivity of devices through various networks 15