1. Chapter 4 Hardware, Software, and Connectivity

2. Objectives We will concentrate on Servers and their configurations, the software terminology, and the Internet connectivity in E-commerce. By study of the chapter, you will be able to: Identify the needs of the servers for your E-business Analyze the specifications of the servers and server- side software Describe what is RMI Describe the JDBC-ODBC Describe XML and why XML is so popular and important in E-commerce and Web-services Describe the types of Internet connectivity in your e- business Questions and Discussion Homework

3. Needs of Servers in Your E-Business Servers are the backbone of any good website Server is the combination of hardware, software, operation systems, database, and server-side software All E-businesses need server or servers to host their websites For a large or sophisticated E-business, you may need multi-tire client-server architecture or infrastructure, so many dedicated servers are needed, such as proxy server, Web server, e- mail server, business logic server, database server, and so on

4. The Small Website’s Server Specifications Since the hardware necessary for hosting your own website is no longer expensive or difficult to setup and configure, so you may consider to have your own server, instead of renting a host server Hardware specifications: –CPU speed: at least 2 GHz; Select the fastest one your budget will allow –Memory: at least 256 MB; otherwise Install the largest memory card your budget will allow –Hard drive: at least 20 GB with RAID; otherwise Install the largest memory card your budget will allow

5. The Small Website’s Server Specifications (continue) –Backup protection Read/write CD Zip drive Tape backup system –Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) Software Specification –Operation systems Windows Server 2003 Windows XP VPN ServerWindows XP VPN Server (Virtual Private Network) Virtual Private Network Windows XP VPN ServerVirtual Private NetworkUnix/Linux OS/2 Mac OS X and servers Mac OS X and servers

6. The Small Website’s Server Specifications (continue) –Web server software Web server softwareWeb server software –E-mail server software E-mail server softwareE-mail server software –Commerce server software Commerce server softwareCommerce server software

7. Server Specifications for a Robust Website For a large and sophisticated e-commerce website, clusters of multi-servers with fault tolerance, integrated database accessibility, cashed data, ability of Web-services, and network routes may be needed You must have a coordination team that works with the designers, programmers, developers, and IT staff to accomplish your goals and objectives

8. Server Specifications for a Robust Website (continue) “You can never have too much capacity in the server world.”---- CEO of BEA Suggested server configuration: –CPU selection: at least a DUAL Pentium IV Xeon 2.4 GHz HT –Memory: 2048MB RAM –Hard drive: 72GB SCSI (small computer system interface) small computer system interfacesmall computer system interface –Backup: 70 GB RAID-5 array (Redundant Array of Independent or Inexpensive Disks) Redundant Array of Independent or Inexpensive DisksRedundant Array of Independent or Inexpensive Disks

9. Server Specifications for a Robust Website (continue) –Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) –Examples Examples Software Specification –All software specifications discussed before should be applicable here

10. Some Related Terminology CPU architecture –AMD’s Athlon (K9?) AMD’s Athlon (K9?)AMD’s Athlon (K9?) –Intel’s Pentium VI? Intel’s Pentium VI?Intel’s Pentium VI? –MIPS (Microprocessor without interlocked pipeline stages) R16000 MIPS (Microprocessor without interlocked pipeline stages) R16000MIPS (Microprocessor without interlocked pipeline stages) R16000 –Sun’s Ultra SPARC (Scalable Processor ARChitecture) Workstations and servers Sun’s Ultra SPARC Workstations and serversSun’s Ultra SPARC Workstations and servers –Hewlett Packard Servers Hewlett Packard ServersHewlett Packard Servers

11. Some Related Terminology (continue) Clusters –Clusters are essentially multiple servers that are used as single unified resource through the use of software, switches, and routers –Features: data sharing; co-existing systems at different software release level; ability to dynamically vary systems off-line; and robust recovery models Loading Balance Switches and Routers Loading Balance Switches and RoutersSwitches and RoutersSwitches and Routers –Use of switches and routers to balance the Web/Internet traffic

12. Some Related Terminology (continue) Rack Units Rack Units –A rack unit is a vertical shelving device to mount servers Dual-CPU Servers –Is a good choice for websites that demand high-end computing environment –http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,16458 14,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,16458 14,00.asphttp://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,16458 14,00.asp Server Cabinet Server Cabinet

13. Some Related Terminology (continue) RMI –Remote Method Invocation –For distributed computing in the network –An object in a client can call methods of a remote object in server –More information: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/kenb/com3337/ rmi_tut.html#intro http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/kenb/com3337/ rmi_tut.html#intro –We will discuss RMI in detail in Web Services

14. Some Related Terminology (continue) What is JDBC? –Stands for Java DataBase Connectivity –JDBC technology is an API (included in both J2SE and J2EE releases) that provides cross- DBMS connectivity to a wide range of SQL databases and access to other tabular data sources, such as spreadsheets or flat files. –It’s widely used in development of the Internet applications, e-commerce, and Web-services –More information about JDBC More information about JDBCMore information about JDBC

15. Some Related Terminology (continue) –ODBC stands for Open DataBase Connectivity, a technology developed by Microsoft to Connect to a variety of popular databases and data files –It comes with all Windows operating systems –JDBC-ODBC is Java database connection through ODBC technology –There are many tools (drivers) developed by third-party vendors to connect a database via JDBC –J2EE makes JDBC much easier to use –More information about ODBC More information about ODBCMore information about ODBC

16. Some Related Terminology (continue) What is XML? –Stands for eXtended Markup Language –XML was designed to describe data –XML tags are not predefined. You must define your own tags –XML uses a Document Type Definition (DTD) or an XML Schema to describe the data –XML with a DTD or XML Schema is designed to be self-descriptive –All data, method calls, request/response in a Web-service are transmitted by XML; it’s up to the application to parse or interpret the message –More information about XML More information about XMLMore information about XML

17. The Internet Connectivity Types of the Internet connectivity – DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technologies (see Table) –ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network); it available in US and Europe ISDN –T-1 (E-1 in Europe) T-1 More information about T-1 More information about T-1 –T-3 T-3 More information about T-3 More information about T-3 –Cable Internet Comcast is icon in US for cable Internet More information about cable Internet More information about cable Internet

18. The Internet Connectivity (continue) –Wireless Internet Connectivity Use of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technology Satellite Internet Satellite Internet Cell phone and PDA wireless Internet connection Cell phone and PDA wireless Internet connection

19. Questions and Discussion

20. Homework for Extra Points Describe what are the most important issues and considerations in an e-business for the selection of hardware, software, and the Internet connection? Describe what types of Web hosting services and the Internet connections available in China for an e-business. What are your suggestions in the selection? Due: Wednesday, April 6, 2005 in the class