Computer Lecture

An Information System can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization. In addition to supporting decision making, coordination and control, information systems may also help managers and workers analyze problems, visualize complex subjects, and create new products.

Information systems contain information about significant people, places and things within the organization or in the environment surrounding it. By information we mean data that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings. Data, in contrast, are streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organizations or the physical environment before they have been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.

Three activities in an information system produce the information that organizations need to make decisions, control operations, analyze problems, and create new products or services. These activities are input, processing, and output.

Input captures or collects raw data from within the organization or from its external environment. Processing converts this raw input into a more meaningful form. Output transfers the processed information to the people who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used. Information systems also require feedback, which is output that is returned to appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate or correct the input stage.

SYSTEM CONCEPTS

System concepts underlie the field of information systems. That’s why we need to discuss how generic system concepts apply to business firms and the components and activities of information systems. Understanding system concepts will help you understand many other concepts in the technology, applications, development, and management of information systems.

What Is a System?

A system can be defined as a group of interrelated components working together toward a common goal by accepting inputs and producing outputs in an organized transformation process. Such a system (sometimes called a dynamic system) has three basic interacting components or functions;

· Input involves capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processed. For examples, raw materials, energy, data, and human effort must be secured and organized for processing.

· Processing involves transformation processes that convert input into output. Examples are the manufacturing process, the human breathing process, or mathematical calculations.

· Output involves transferring elements that have been produced by a transformation process to their ultimate destination. For example, finished products, human services, and management information must be transmitted to their human users.

Feedback and Control

The system concept becomes even more useful by including two additional components; feedback and control. A system with feedback and control components is sometimes called a cybernetic system, that is, a self-monitoring, self regulating system.

· Feedback is data about the performance of a system. For example, data about sales performance is feedback to a sales manager.

· Control involves monitoring and evaluating feedback to determine whether a system is moving toward the achievement of its goal. The controls function then makes necessary adjustments to a system’s input and processing components to ensure that it produces proper output. For example, a sales manager exercises control when reassigning salesperson to new sales territories after evaluating feedback about their sales performance.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND BUSINESS

In the early days of computing – during the 1950s and much of the 1960s – managers generally did not need to know much about how information was processed in their organization. Over time, IS have come to play a larger role in the life of a business or enterprise. IS now play a strategic role in most businesses. They effect:

How managers decide

How senior managers plan

What products and services are produced ( and how)

INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND SOCIETY

Information has become a valuable asset of any organisation and the knowledge worker’s ability to assimilate information and turn it into knowledge is what makes businesses perform more effectively. It is the key to an organisation’s future success.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Formulating a business strategy

We need to consider the following factors when looking at a strategy for a business:

Market performance

Business mission

Operational needs

Business environment

Social and human environments

Customers

Suppliers

Business Value Chain

Value activities can be divided into two broad types; primary activities and support activities. Primary activities are the activities involved in the physical creation of the product and its sale and transfer to the buyer as well as after-sales service. In any company, primary activities can be categorized into the five generic areas:

Inbound logistics

Operations

Outbound logistics

Marketing and sales

Service

Support activities support the primary activities.

Procurement

Technological development

Human resource management

Company's infrastructure

Within each category of primary and support activities, there are three activity types that play a different role in competitive advantage.

Direct

Indirect

Quality Assurance

The Role of Information Systems in Competitive strategies

The external business environment – the forces that are affecting the industry in which the business operates, the economics of the industry, its structure and competitive basis and within that the pressures facing the business;

The external IS/IT environment – what technologies are being developed, and how are they being used by others;

The internal business environment – the needs of the business, based on what the business does, how it does it and how it is organised and managed;

The internal IS/IT environment – existing systems and technology resources. Even information itself, should be regarded as a resource with strategic significance.

TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEM

We can classify IS in many different ways. The following diagram show some of the main types that are found in businesses. Not all types will be present in all business.

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

A Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) is a computerized system that performs and records the daily routine transactions necessary to be conducted of the business. Examples include: sales order entry, hotel reservation systems, client information systems, payroll, employee record keeping and shipping.

Knowledge work and Office Automation Systems

Knowledge Work Systems (KWS) support the information and knowledge workers in the organization, ensuring that new knowledge and expertise are properly integrated into the business and performing the coordinating activities of the typical office.

Today’s knowledge systems support clerical, professional, technical and managerial workers. Often the same desktop device (a PC) supporting an office function (for example, correspondence) also functions as a professional workstation, providing analytical models for the engineer or graphics for the designer.

Control Systems

The majority of the discussion so far has concentrated on systems that process information alone it should not be forgotten that many organizations use computer-based systems to perform physical control functions within the business as well.

Such a system will often be directly connected to real-world signals, will process those signals according to some predetermined algorithm, and then drive some electromechanical device to perform some physical function.

Examples of control systems include automated manufacturing systems, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) for generation and distribution of utilities such as gas, electricity and water; telecommunication systems (as found in modern telephone exchanges); avionics systems (for flight navigation and automatic pilot) and air traffic control systems.

Management Information Systems (MIS)

At the management level, Management Information System (MIS) provide managers with reports and online access to the organization’s current performance and historical records. MIS primarily serve the functions of planning, controlling, and decision making at the management level. Generally, they condense information obtained from operational level systems and present it to management in a form of routine summary and problem reports. An example is an accounts receivable sub-system that totals the outstanding balances overdue each month.

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are devoted to supporting management decisions that are semi-structured, unique or rapidly changing. They are not easily specified far in advance. They differ from MIS in several ways. DSS have more advanced analytical capabilities that permit the user to employ several different models to analyze information.These systems draw on internal information from TPS and MIS, and they often bring in information from external sources (for example, current prices of financial futures supplied by another company).

Executive Support Systems (ESS)

Executive Support Systems (ESS) are a relatively new category of systems that support decision making by senior management. They serve the strategic level of the organization.

ESS address unstructured decisions and involve a generalized computing and communications environment rather than any fixed application or specific capability. Although they have limited analytical capabilities, ESS employ the most advanced graphics and can deliver graphs and data from many sources immediately to a senior executive’s office or a boardroom.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a new type of application that includes powerful facilities to manage the enterprise as a whole. ERP helps an organization to manage the important parts of its business, including product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer service, and tracking orders.

ERP can also include modules for the finance and human resources aspects of a business. Typically, and ERP system uses, or is integrated with, a relational database system. The deployment of an ERP system can involve considerable business process analysis, employee retraining, and new work procedures.

THE TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR APPLICATION

This general heading of IS can be broken down into six generic types. These are listed below:

Data - Data technology is based on the collection, manipulation and presentation of information to enable management to make better decisions and accurately record the facts. E.g. EDI, EPOS

Text - Textual information is usually input into the computer by one of two methods. It can be typed directly into the computer using one of the many word processing packages or it can be scanned in. E.g. word processing, desktop publishing.

Image - The technology for scanning documents is most commonly seen in the fax machine. This is not complex – a scanner detects the presence of shaded dots on the page and then converts this information into easily transmitted data.

Voice - Person-to-person contact, when not in the same location, has been conducted for the longest period of time using the telephone. The use of voice contact, next to actually seeing the person, is the most popular form of communication. E.g. Voice mail.

Vision - Merging technologies will affect all workers to a degree but in particular office workers. All around us we can see the changes taking place in our offices. In most organisations PCs are being bought at an ever increasing rate, firstly to satisfy a particular individual’s need for say word processing, spreadsheets and databases. Then they become linked into corporate computers to become intelligent workstations. Voice connections are being added, as are image processing and the ability to reproduce handwritten notes. People have car phones, portable phones and now laptop and notebook computers to carry around.

Communications - Many of the technologies described above become much more usable, with a wider range of possible applications when combined with the additional technology of computer communications or networks. One definition of telecommunications is simply the electronic linking of geographically separated devices. A telecommunications system is defined as a set of compatible telecommunications devices that link geographically separated devices. The purpose of a telecommunications system is to develop a network of interconnected components. Such systems can transmit text, graphic images, voice or video information. E.g. Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN),

COMPUTER USAGE IN COMPANY

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Reception

Before the installation of a computerized telephone system, a full-time operator was required to answer the telephone and direct the calls. Now, the computerized telephone system routes the calls to the appropriate person or department. If a caller does not want to leave a voice message or requests to talk to an operator, the call is routed to the receptionist. The receptionist can use the computer to determine the location of an employee. When employees leave their work areas for a meeting, lunch, or to travel away from the office, they record their destinations or reasons for being away using their computers. The employees can also record any special instructions to the receptionist, such as when they will return or to please hold their calls. If a caller wishes to leave a voice message, the computerized telephone system can play it back for the employee when he or she returns or calls in for messages.

Sales

For example of a company where sales department consists of two groups: (1) in-house sales representatives, who handle phone-in and mail-in sales orders and the field sales force, who make sales calls at customer locations. The in-house sales staff uses headset telephones so their hands are free to use their computer keyboards. Using the computer while they are on the telephone with a customer allows them to check product availability and the customer's credit status. A computer program also recommends products that complement the products ordered by the customer and displays information on special product promotions.

(2) Outside sales representatives use notebook computers and special communications equipment and software to communicate with the Dalton main office. As with the in-house sales staff, they also can check product availability and customer credit status. If they receive a customer order, they can enter it into the Dalton computer system while they are still at the customer site. In addition, the field sales representatives can use the e-mail capability to check for or send messages.

Marketing

The marketing department uses the computer system for a number of purposes. Desktop publishing, drawing, and graphics software are used to develop all marketing literature. Product brochures on bicycle parts, advertising materials, and product packaging are all produced in-house, saving considerable time and money.

The customer service representatives all have computers that allow them to record a variety of customer inquiries. Recording the nature of each customer service inquiry provides for better follow-up (less chance of forgetting an unresolved inquiry) and enables the company to summarize and review why customers are calling. This helps the company identify and resolve potential problems at an early stage. The marketing department also uses a calendar program to schedule product promotions and attendance at trade.

Shipping and Receiving

The shipping and receiving department uses the computer system to enter transactions that keep a company’s inventory records accurate. Inventory receipts are first checked against computer records to make sure that the company receives only what was ordered. If the received goods match what was ordered, only a single entry has to be made to update the on-hand inventory and purchasing records.

Shipping transactions are also efficient. If all requested items are in stock, only a single entry is required to decrease the inventory and create the information that will be used to prepare the billing invoice. Shipping information, such as the method and time of shipment, can be added to the transaction record so the computer system can be used to provide an up-to-the-minute status of the customer's order.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing department uses the computer to schedule production and to record the costs of the items produced. Special manufacturing software matches the availability of production resources such as people, machines, and material against the desired product output. This information allows certain companies schedule production efficiently and tells them when and how much to buy of the raw materials they need to produce their products.

Actual labour, material, and machine usage is recorded on the manufacturing floor using special workstations designed to be used in industrial environments. This information is entered into the computer system automatically to update inventory, production, payroll, and cost accounting records.

Product Design

The product design department uses computer-aided design (CAD) software to design new products. CAD software allows the designers to create and review three-dimensional models of new products on the computer before expensive models are required. If a design is approved, the CAD software can automatically produce a list of the required parts.

Accounting

The accounting department is one of the largest computer system users. Many of the accounting records are the result of transactions entered in the user departments, such as shipping and receiving and manufacturing. These records are used to pay vendor invoices, bill customers for product sales, and process the employee’s payroll.

The accounting transactions are summarized automatically to produce financial statements, which are used internally to monitor financial performance and given to outside organizations such as banks.

Human Resources

The human resources department uses the computer system to keep track of information on existing, past, and potential employees. Besides the standard information required for payroll and employee benefits, the system keeps track of employees job skills and training. This information enables the human resources department to review the records of existing employees first when a new job.

Information Systems

A primary responsibility of the information systems department is to keep the existing system running and determine when and if new equipment or software is required. To help answer these questions, the information systems personnel use diagnostic and performance measurement software that tells them how much the system is being used and if system problems are being encountered.

A systems analyst works with users to design custom software for user applications for which application software packages do not exist. A computer programmer then uses this design to write the program instructions necessary to produce the desired processing results and output.

Executive

The senior management staff of a company, for example (the president and three vice presidents) use the computer as an executive information system (EIS). The EIS summarizes information such as actual sales, order backlog, number of employees, cash on hand, and other performance measures into both a numeric and graphic display.

The EIS is designed specifically for executives who may not work regularly with computers and want only to see summarized information.

Summary of uses of computer of a company

The computer applications just discussed are only some of the many potential uses of the computers within a company like vehicle parts manufacturer. In addition, employees in each of the departments can use the computer for preparing correspondence, project and task management, budgeting, and sending messages via electronic mail. As shown in the Dalton Corporation example, computers are used throughout an organization. Employees use computers to perform a variety of tasks related to their job areas. Because of the widespread use of computers, most organizations prefer to hire employees with computer experience and knowledge.

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

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THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AND HOW IT PROCESS DATA

A computer system is a group of machines, or hardware that accepts data, process it, and display information. The main reason for using computer system is to process data quickly and efficiently so that the information obtained is timely, meaningful, and accurate.

A computer system performs its information processing operations under the control of sets of instructions called programs. Computers read incoming data called input, process the data, and display outgoing information called output.

Data itself consists of raw facts, data that is processed or operated to produces structured, meaningful information. Information processing is a set of procedures used to operate on data and produce meaningful results.

Computer system consists of the following components; input devices, main memory and the central processing unit, output devices, and secondary storage devices.

INPUT DEVICES READ INCOMING DATA

There are many different types of input devices; keyboards, disk drives, page scanner, optical reader, and voice recognition units, to name a few. Each input device reads a specific form of data; for example, keyboard transmits typed characters whereas scanners “read” typed or handwritten characters from documents or images from graphs, photos, or drawings. Any input device converts data into electronic pulses that are transmitted to the CPU for processing.

MAIN MEMORY AND CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

The CPU is the “brains” of the computer system. The unit that houses main memory and the CPU must be linked by cables (or by communication channels such as telephone lines) to all input and output devices in the computer system.

The program, or set of instructions for processing data, is read into main memory by the CPU before data can be entered and processed and information generated.

OUTPUT DEVICES PRODUCE OUTGOING INFORMATION

Each output device in a computer system accepts information from main memory under the control of the CPU, and converts it to an appropriate output form.

A printer, for example, is an output device that prints reports or graphics based on information that the CPU has processed and produced. Similarly, a video monitor is an output device that displays both text and graphics on a screen.

STORING PROGRAMS AND DATA FOR FUTURE PROCESSING

Once you turn off a computer, the data and instructions operated on by the CPU are lost. For this reason, separate storage devices are needed to keep the data and instructions in electronic form for then to be conveniently used again and again. Disks are common storage media for PCs and for larger computer systems.

A computer has two types of storage, namely main memory or PRIMARY STORAGE and external storage or called SECONDARY STORAGE. Main Memory contains computer program and the data currently being processed. It is volatile (i.e. it loses its contents when power supply is switched off). Secondary Storage stores data and programs that are not currently required by the CPU. It is transferred to the Main Memory when required. It is non-volatile (i.e. it retains data even though power supply is switched off)

SOFTWARE MAKES IT WORK

Before computer hardware can actually read data, process it, and produce information, it needs a set of instructions – a program – that actually controls the CPU operations. Programs, like data, are read into main memory under the control of the CPU.

We say that computers are stored-program-devices because they require a set of instructions to be stored in the computers main memory before data can be processed.

Computer professionals called programmers write programs for each user need or application area. The total set of programs that enables the computer system to process data is referred to as software.

TYPES OF SOFTWARE

Computers require two types of software; System Software to monitor and supervise the overall operations of the computer system and Application Software to manipulate input data and provide users with meaningful output information.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

Computers use a series of control programs, called the operating systems, that moves data in and out of main memory and monitors the running of application programs.

The operating system is the primary component of system software. Some computers have built-in operating system, but these cannot be easily changed or updated.

Most computer manufacturers either provide their own operating system, usually on disk, or allow users to purchase disks containing the more popular operating systems.

Operating systems interact with users by means of a user interface. Some operating systems, especially those for larger computer systems, are text based and require the user to learn a set of commands (command line interface)

Some operating systems for PCs like the Macintosh operating systems, permit users to select commands from graphic symbols, or icons, displayed on the screen. Text-based operating systems, like DOS (Disk Operating System) for IBM and IBM compatibles computers, can work in conjunction with graphical user interfaces like windows, which make them easier to use or more user friendly.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Application programs are designed to satisfy user needs by operating on input data to perform a given job, for example, to prepare a report, update a master payroll file, or print customer bills.

Typically, application programs are acquired in one of two ways; Package programs purchased off-the-shelf from a software retailer or; Custom programs designed especially for the unique needs of an individual or an organization

Packaged programs allow limited customization, but they really are intended to be used as is by a broad range of users. Although they may not meet all aspects of every users need, application packages are inexpensive compared to custom programs and are supplied with comprehensive user reference manuals called documentation.

Custom software, on the other hand, is written by programmers within an organization, by outside consultants, or by self-employed programmers. Custom programs are designed to meet the precise needs of users, but they are very time consuming and costly to develop.

THE COMPUTER GENERATIONS

Since the 1940’s, four generations of computers have evolved. From the first to the fourth, the trend has been to produce more powerful, less expensive, smaller and more reliable computer systems.

First generation

The first commercial electronic computer was UNIVAC 1 (Universal Automatic Computer). This machine was developed specifically for scientific and military purposes, but was dedicated to business data processing applications.

The characteristic that distinguished first generation computers from subsequent machines was the use of vacuum tubes to control internal operations. Vacuum tube un-reliable, generate a lot of heat, required air-conditioning system.

Binary notation was used instead of decimal notation. All instructions and information were stored in the computer as 1s and 0s, which corresponds to the electronic conditions ‘on’ and ‘off’.

Drawbacks:

They took several minutes to ‘warm up”. When they were completely warmed up, they became quite hot. Early computers used thousands of vacuum tubes. They occupied the whole rooms and required an enormous amount of electric current to keep them going.

Second generation

In the late 1950s, tiny, solid-state transistors replaced vacuum tubes in computers. The elimination of vacuum tubes greatly reduces generated heat and made possible the reduction in the size of the developed computers.

This generation of computer also uses magnetic cores for representing data in computer. Because cores were far smaller than vacuum tubes, internal storage capacity becomes greater even though the actual size of second generation computers was sharply reduced.

As about the same time, in the early 1960’s, magnetic tape and disks began to be widely used by auxiliary storage. As a result of these developments, a significant increase in the speed and processing capability of computers was achieved.

Third generation

This development is known as large-scale integration, or LSI, and is refer to the ability to compress large numbers of Integrated circuits, or transistors, on a single silicon chip. For example, 5,000 transistors can be placed on a chip to produce a digital watch.

Fourth generation

Fourth generation computers continue to be characterized by chips that can contain increasing numbers of items. Now, over 1 million items can be stored on a single chip. This further miniaturization of components, commonly referred to as Ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI), result in increased speed, greater reliability, and enormous storage capacities for current computers.

Microprocessor

The Intel Corporation was the first company that developed the microprocessor, or computer on the chip. One chip could contain all the circuits necessary to perform the basic functions of an entire computer. Microprocessors are not only used in fourth generation computers, but for wide variety of products including automobiles, sewing machines, microwave ovens, electronics games and so on.

The microprocessor was a general purpose computer that could be programmed to do any number of tasks, from running a watch to guiding a missile. No longer was it necessary to design circuit specially for each intended purpose. Manufacturers could now make a single type of microprocessor and sell it to other manufacturers, who would use them for thousands of different applications.

The Fifth generation computers

Unlike all other generation computers, this generation of computers is close at hand and is characterized by the use of the technique used to reduce complex programming. This technique used is known as Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Japanese, who are currently at the forefront in the development of fifth-generation computers, refer to them as truly “intelligent machine”.

Classification of Computers

Computers can be loosely categorized according to their capacity for processing data. Large computers called mainframes are used by such customers as banks, air¬lines, and large manufacturers to process very large amounts of data quickly.

The most powerful and expensive computers are called supercomputers. Mini¬computers, which are widely used by colleges and retail businesses, have become increasingly similar to main--frames in terms of capacity. The largest and most ex¬pensive minicomputers are called super minis.

The smallest computers-such as desktop office computers or-home computer are called personal computers, or sometimes microcomputers. Super micros, or work-stations, combine the compactness of a desktop com¬puter with power that almost equals that of a main¬frame. As computer technology-changes, distinctions between types of computers will also change.

A centralized computer system does all processing in one location. In a decentralized system, -the computer itself and some storage devices are in one place, but the devices to access the computer are somewhere else. Such a system requires data communications - the ex¬change of data over communications facilities.

In a dis¬tributed data -processing system, a local office usually uses its own small computer for processing local data but is connected to a central headquarters computer for other purposes.

Often organizations use a network of personal com¬puters, which allows users to operate independently or in cooperation with other computers-exchanging data and sharing resources. Such a setup, often called a local area network (LAN), can even connect personal com¬puters to a mainframe computer to form a micro-to mainframe link, in which users can obtain data from the mainframe and analyze it on their own personal computers.

People and Computers

People are vital to any computer system. An organiza¬tion's computer resources department-often called Management Information Services (MIS) or Com¬puter Information Systems (CIS), Computing 5cr-vices, or Information Service-includes data entry operators (who prepare data for processing), computer operators (who monitor and run the equipment-li¬brarians who catalog disks and tapes), computer programmers (who design, write, test, and implement pro grams), systems analysts (who plan and design entire systems of programs), and a chief information officer (who coordinates the MIS department).

In general, a distinction is made between computer pro¬fessionals, who provide computer systems, and users, who use the systems. However, in a development called the end-user revolution, users have become increas¬ingly knowledgeable about computers and less reliant on computer professionals

INFORMATION TYPE & FLOWS

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Learning Objectives

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Describe some of the characteristics data types and information flows in various types of business.

2. Show how these different information requirements result in different computer solutions.

3. Show why data volume and performance requirements are important in defining system architecture.

Learning Outcomes

To be able to differentiate the data types and its usage in business environment.
To be able to justify the relation of data and computer system architecture.

INTRODUCTION

Data and Information

Most people use the terms data & information interchangeably. But data & information are not the same.

Information flow - Normally, items of data have to be related to one another to provide information for the next level up in the organisation structure. Thus, the major information flows in the organisation follow the line structure; instructions pass down from management and information flows up to management.

Data are raw facts and figures in isolation. These isolated facts and figures convey meanings but generally are not useful by them. For example, A, H, ,34, 26, 56.68,VISHAL, SCHOOL etc.

Data are processed to form information. Data are processed in various meaningful ways to form information. For example, ‘Prasad, whose enrolment no. is 270173002, has been certified in Sr. Secondary examination of National Open School’ is an information as it conveys some meaning.

Data and Information Types

There are many different ways of classifying information and data.

* Data types by function

* Management information types, based on management usage

* Levels of information, based on where the user resides in the hierarchy of the organization

* Formal and informal information

Data types by function

In order to understand the information and hence data requirements of an organization, it is first necessary to understand the functions – or major areas of activity that are required to run the organization such as Finance, Production, Marketing, Personnel etc.

Management Information Types

Typically, four types of information are required:

· Internal company performance (sales, production, personnel, stock turnover, cash flow, etc)

· Internal plans (sales forecasts, budgets, etc)

· Environmental (political scene, social climate, economic trends, technological developments)

· Competitive (demand for the product or service, competitor’s performance and plans)

Levels of Information

· At top management level, information tends to be ill-structured, ad-hoc, informal, external, uncertain and concerned with the future.

· At middle management level, information is more structured, formal, internal, regular, certain and concerned with the near future

· At supervisory management level, information is repetitive, programmable, largely internal and has a very short time horizon

Formal and Informal Information

Formal information tends to flow along the lines of the organization chart vertically. It is usually standardized in a rational way and structured to meet job needs; it is often inflexible to short-term changes, it makes use of mechanical aids, and is usually specified by designers.

Informal information is personal and directed to the recipient as an individual rather than a post. It is not standardized or rational but reflects subjective judgments and perspectives. It is communicated on an ad-hoc basis and so is more flexible. It is not capable of mechanization, and it grows idiosyncratically as part of the users dealings with other individuals.

Business Use of Information

· Real-time systems will usually have to meet fluctuating demands with peaks of traffic at certain times of the day.

· A fast response to random transactions may require larger RAM and hard disk and faster hardware. If a slower response can be tolerated, transactions needing the same program can be queued and processed as a block. This will depend on the variation in transaction types.

· A study of the data flows needed within an organisation for its computer system must place different response-time values on different functions and different locations. These will be determined by economics and by the mechanisms needed for control.

Data and Information Flows

Vertical information flows between people up and down the hierarchy of the organization. Studies suggest that instructions (decisions) are slow in getting down the hierarchy but do usually arrive fairly accurately. Conversely, most people at the bottom of the hierarchy feel that information flow up from the bottom (because of filtering etc) is poor and that top management does not receive a correct picture of the events or needs at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Horizontal information flows between people at similar levels in the hierarchy, for example, the sales order office will check credit with the sales ledger department and stock levels with the stock records office. Often horizontal information flows are informal and include interaction such as rumors and gossip.

Data Integrity Requirements

Data, and hence information will be of little value unless it is:

· Accurate

· Complete

· Timely

· Consistent

· Secure

If the information provided by the data cannot be trusted, then the faith in the system providing it (using whatever mechanism) will be undermined.

Data Throughput and Performance

The main performance measure of the modern IS based around response time to the user. Response time is affected by:

· the system’s capacity to search for or process a certain volume of data in specific time window, which in turn is influenced by the type of file-handling device used

· and by the data communications technology used to transmit the data in one or both directions between the user and the location of the data being accessed

It is possible to examine the various available system configurations to work out the cost of having different response times. However, the true value of the different response times should also be considered. This is more difficult because so many intangibles are involved. It is not easy to put a monetary value on customer satisfaction, up-to-date management information, or the ability to respond promptly to market demands.

INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES

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Keyboard

The most common input device is the keyboard, which is basically the same the mechanical typewriter keyboard in that it has keys for printing upper and lower case letters, numbers and a variety of symbols.

However, since it is used to print out more than just letters and numbers, it needs to have extra keys to perform these additional actions.

The central section of the keyboard is the same as that of a mechanical typewriter; the numbers on the top row of keys and the letters and space bar below, all correspond exactly. Some of the punctuation marks above and around these keys are also the same although. as there is no standard layout for computer keyboards, each model has different combinations of symbols on each key.

Mouse

A mouse is a pointing device and is a excellent complement to the keyboard as an input device. The current trend in DOS and OS/2 operating systems towards ‘graphical user interfaces’ (GUI) has increased the popularity of the mouse. A graphical user interface is an operating environment that allows you to point onto screen pictures and buttons rather than keying in commands. A mouse is designed to be gripped in your hand and rotating one or more buttons on the top, which are used to select items and choose commands. A mouse is connected to the computer by a cable.

Trackball

A trackball is a pointing device that uses a sphere located on top that is rotated by hand to control cursor movement. Trackball are use for more precise movement than the mouse because of the user fingertip control over the sphere. The growing us of laptop and notebook computers has spurred the development of mini trackballs that are either attach easily to the side of these computers or are built into the keyboard.

Light Pen

A light pen is a pointing device that looks like a magic wand attached to the computer by a cable. It is use to select an item or commands from the screen by touching the screen surface. A light pen does not emit light but rather it contains sensors that send a signal back to the computer whenever they detect light. When light is detected, the computer determines the position of the electron beam at that time and ascertains the light pen’s location on the screen.

Joystick

A joystick is a pointing device that uses a lever to control the position of the cursor. It internally translates the position and speed of the lever into digital signal that are sent to the computer to control the cursor or others object on screen. Joysticks usually have one or more buttons located on the base or stem that are to control various software features.

Touch Screen

A touch screen recognizes the location of a contact on the screen through a build in grid of sensing lines or a grid of infrared beams and sensors. Many applications such as information dispensing booth uses touch screens because they offer an easy way for users to interact with the computer.

Speech Recognition

Probably the easiest way to input commands and data into the computer would be to speak to them. The ability to accept input by understanding the speech of a user is called speech recognition or voice recognition. Speech input is also valuable for individuals who have lost some or all of their eyesight or functional use of their hands.

OUTPUT DEVICES

Output is the process of translating data that are in machine-readable form into the form understandable to humans. Output device is the hardware that enables a computer to communicate information to humans. Hard copy is output that can be read immediately such as printer printouts. It is relatively stable and permanent form of output. Soft copy is a temporary form of output (E.g. text displayed on a computer screen, it is lost when the computer is turned off.)

Visual Display Unit (VDU)

Visual Display Unit (VDU) is a device which receives data via the computer keyboard. The screen or Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) displays the characters held in the VDU’s character store using an adapter card. The term VDU terminal is used to describe a screen and keyboard linked to a processor.

Screen size varies considerably, but may be typically 8 inches by 10 inches wide providing 40 or 80 characters per line and 20 to 25 lines. For a 2000 character display, there is also considerable variety in the format and size of displayed characters, for example, a typical character may be 0.1 inches wide and 0.2 inches high. Brightness and contrast controls are usually provided to enable the operator to adjust the image intensity.

A blinking (flashing) field facility is available on same terminals which can be used to draw the user’s attention to a field. Other terminals offer different image intensity, a reverse negative effect, or a different character font to identify selected fields.

When simple text based applications were the norm, most VDU screens used the Monochrome Display Adapter (MDA). These were high resolution monochrome screens initially in green, but now also in amber and black and white.

Color screens using the Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) gave poorer resolution and were initially only used for games. There were limited to four colors. The Enhanced Graphics Array (EGA) gave better resolution and made 16 colors available.

The most popular VDU uses the Video Graphic Array (VGA) standards. These give high resolution and make 256 colors available. These are particularly essential when running graphic software. Many manufacturers offer enhanced versions of VGA, either XVGA (extended) or SVGA (super). VGA screens use an analogue signal which converts the digital information into different voltage levels. This varies the brightness of the pixel.

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

The Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) of the VDU operates much like that in a television set. Electron guns (One in a monochrome screen, three in a color screen) send beams of electrons to trace a regular pattern of horizontal lines on the prosphar that coats the screen surface. Screen images are produced by varying the intensity of the beam. The beam scans the entire screen dozens of times each second. A color CRT system uses three electron guns to scans dots or strips of red, green, and blue phosphor that coat the screen’s surface.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

Modern laptop computers use Liquid Crystal Display (LCDs) similar to those used in calculators and watches. The screen contains a layer of liquid crystal cells. Varying electrical charges are applied to some of the cells to produce the image.

PRINTERS

Printer is an output device that produces output on paper in the form of text or graphics and uses either impact or non-impact printing mechanisms. A character printers print one character at a time and can print up to several hundred characters per second (CPS). It may print in unidirectional or bi-direction and this significantly increases print speed. Line Printer prints a line at a time and it can print up to few hundreds or a few thousand lines per minute. These are used with large computer system. Page printer produces an entire page at a time. The fastest page printer can print up to few thousand pages per minute. Paper can move through a printer either as continuous connected sheets or as single sheet some printers allow both methods. Most printers have a carriage width that accepts 8.5 inches wide paper on which 80 characters can be printed. Some uses paper that is 14 inches wide and 132 characters of normal size are printed on a line.

Impact printer

An impact printer produces characters when a ‘hammer’ or pin strikes an ink ribbon, which in turn presses against a sheet of paper and leaves an impression of the character on the paper. Commonly used impact printers used with microcomputers are dot matrix and daisy wheel printer. All impact printers can produce carbon copies.

Non-Impact printer

A non-impact printer does not strike to produce characters but they use technologies such as ink spraying which by nature are much quieter (e.g. ink-jet printer and laser printer)

TYPES OF PRINTERS

Dot Matrix Printer

Users print heads containing 9 or 24 pins. The 24-pin printer produces more dots than 9 pins resulting in much clearer characters. 9 pin printers usually produce compress print, standard quality and near letter quality print. Most 24-pin printers have letter quality, NLQ, standard and draft modes. These printers have speed between 100 to 600 cps. They are usually noisy while printing and are relatively inexpensive costing RM350 and above.

Dot matrix printers are likely to survive the market changes in technology, due to their application as impact printers. This means that they are able to print on multipart paper, which is used extensively in the accounting and auditing sector, and other businesses that need to keep accurate records and legal copies of documents.

Ink Jet Printer

Inkjet printers have recently taken over the cheaper end of the printer market. They have the benefit over dot matrix printers in providing a higher resolution of print, with a much quieter action. It is a non-impact printer that forms character by spraying ink from tiny nozzles in the print head. The ink is absorbed into the paper and when dried is permanently bonded to the paper. Ink jet produces high quality output quite comparable to that of a laser printer.

Laser Printer

Is non-impact printer that produces images on paper by directing a laser beam at a mirror that bounces the beam onto a drum. The laser leaves a negative charge on the drum to which positively charged black toner powder sticks. As paper rolls by the drum, the toner is transferred to the paper. A hot roller then bonds the toner to the paper. A laser printer internal memory stores a page at a time. When the entire page is loaded, it is printed. Desktop laser printers typically print a few pages (4 to 12 per minute). Laser printers are quiet and provide high quality text and images.

PLOTTERS

The growth of computer aided design and drafting (CADD) technology created demand for devices that produce high quality graphics in multiple colors on hard copy. A plotter is an output device the reproduces graphics image on paper using a pen that is attached to a moveable arm. The pen is directed across the surface of a stationary piece of paper. Many plotters combined moveable pen arm with a mechanism that rolls the paper back and forth to make the drawing. The two way movement allows the plotter to draw any configuration. Plotter applications are not limited to CADD. High quality bar graphs and pie charts created with a plotter can enhance business presentation too.

Voice Output

Voice output is another type of soft copy output where a computer uses a voice, e.g. in automobile warning systems, systems for the blind and in toys. Speech coding is a type of voice output where it has large storage of human sounds. You may have heard in lift in modern days building. On the other hand, voice synthesis is the process of electronically reproducing the human voice in recognizable patterns.

SPECIAL PURPOSE INPUT DEVICES

Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR)

MICR is the method by which a computer recognizes characters which printed using special magnetic ink. The MICR reader first determines the shape of the character by sensing the magnetic charge in the ink. The shapes which can also be read by humans are than matched to a stored set of characters shape and converted into computer text, (E.g. Bank cheque)

Magnetic strips

Magnetic strips are thin bands of magnetically encoded data found on backs of many credit cards and automated teller cards (ATM). The data stored often include account number or special access codes. Magnetic strips cards are use to limit access to high security areas. To enter or secured area, a person inserts the card into a computerized read device. If the card contains the right code, the door automatically opens. Because no one can see or interpret the data by looking at the card, the data can be highly sensitive or personal.

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)

OMR uses mark sensing to scan or translate the location of series of pen or pencil marks into computer readable form. Common use of OMR is to score test results.

Optical Bar Recognition (OBR)

OBR involves scanning of bar code into digital signals to be used by the computer. A bar code is composed of a set of vertical lines of varying widths and may also include number and letters. An input devices called optical bar reader is used to read the bar codes.

Optical Scanner

An optical scanner is an input device that uses light to sense the patterns of black and white on color on paper and convert them into digital signal that can be manipulated by graphical software. The scanning process begins by shinning a light on the material to be scanned. White areas reflected the light and black areas absorb it. The amount of lights the page absorbs or reflects help determine what is on the page. The quality determines by the number of dots per inch (dpi) and this is referred to as resolution. The higher the resolution, the better the quality of the image. Scanners are divided into Flatbed scanners and handheld scanners.

INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES

Modem

We use a modem to connect PCs to the ordinary telephone networks: the Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN. The telephone network operates using analogue voice signals over the last part of the network that connects a building to the exchange – sometimes called the local loop

A modem is a bridge between digital and analogue signals, and therefore provides an interface between computer (digital) and telephone (analogue) systems.

The modem converts on and off digital data into an analogue signal by varying, or modulating, the phase and frequency of an electronic wave. On a receiving end of a phone connection, a modem does just the opposite; it demodulates the analogue signals back into digital code. These two terms MOdulate and DEModulate give the modem its name.

PC PORTS

Ports are plug-like connectors found at the back of a computer. This is to enable the computer to communicate with peripheral devices such as printers and mouse. The cable that links the device to the computer is called an interface cable.

Serial Port

Transmit signals over one wire one bit at a time and has two way communication capabilities. Peripheral devices linked to serial port are such as serial printer and scanner. Serial ports have male connector and are also known as COM ports or RS-232 ports. Two types of serial ports found on IBM and compatible are DB-25 and DB-9 that has 25 and 9 pin respectively.

Parallel port

Transmit signal over 8 wires 8 bits at a time. Parallel ports are also known as printer port because they are used to connect the computer to the printer. A parallel port can be identified by the 25-pin female connector. A parallel connection has one disadvantage. The voltage changes in all the lines creates cross talk, a condition in which the signals leak from one line to another. Cross talk becomes worse the longer a parallel cable is – limiting the length of most parallel connections to 3 meters.

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

This is a relatively new form of connector. It utilizes a rectangular plug providing a high-speed serial connection. This is only part of the advantage however; much more important to most PC owners is the fact that USB devices can be plugged together without worrying about setting them up in any way. New equipment can be plugged in any time, even when the computer is running. A further advantage of USB is that it can be used to supply power to peripherals, thus eliminating a lot of cable clutter.

DEVICE DRIVERS

A device driver is software that allows peripheral devices to communicate with your computer. Examples of devices that require device driver include printer, mouse and monitor. Many DOS programs require the user to install software files that make up the device driver. Some program installs them automatically.

A printer driver tells the computer what kind of printer it will be working with and what type of printing capabilities the printer has e.g. font and points size. When ready to print, the driver converts them into a series of codes the printer understands. Laser printers and other types of printers use a set of codes known as the PDL (Page Description Language). PDL dictates character size font style, line spacing and other features. Two most famous PDLs are Adobe PostScript and Hewlett-Packard’s PCL (Printer Control Language)

A mouse driver enable a program to use a mouse e.g. MS Windows. The driver comes with the mouse instead of with the application program. The mouse drive is installed on the hard disk and must be loaded into memory each time the computer is turned on.

INPUT, OUTPUT AND STORAGE

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MAGNETIC DISC

A magnetic hard disc unit consists of rotating metal disc platters on which data is recorded. Several of these platters, each of about 5 inches to 14 inches in diameter, are mounted on a vertical shaft forming a disc pack. Both surfaces of these platters in a pack are used for recording except for the top and bottom platters. The top and bottom platters have data recorded only on their inner surfaces.

An assembly of access arms moves in and out between the disc platter for purpose of data recording and retrieval. Read/write heads attached to the access arms are used for the reading and writing of data on disc. The read/write head do not actually touch the surface of the discs. There is a thin layer of air between the head and the disc surface that allows the read/write head to float less than a hair's breadth from the disc surface. This is called the flying head principle.

There are two types of disc unit. One is the fixed disc unit which the disc is permanently mounted on the disc unit and non-removable. The second type is the exchangeable disc unit, sometimes also called removable disc unit which are portable and replaceable.

Data Recording/Retrieval on Magnetic Disc

Data is recorded on concentric rings called tracks which are found on the surface on the disk platter. Each track is subdivided into pie shape sectors. A disc platter may also be divided into blocks, where each block may be equal to one or more sectors. To prepare a disc pack for the storage of data, the tracks and sectors will have to be labeled with the proper disc addresses.

The size of the sector may be decided by the manufacturer at hardware level by specifying the location of each sector with slots around the disc. This is called hard sectoring. On the other hand, the size of the sector that is determined by software formatting is called soft sectoring.

Cylinder

In a disc pack, all the tracks that are in vertical alignment is called a cylinder. Hence a cylinder is the column of equal radial tracks from all the different recording surfaces and is the total amount of storage accessible by all the read/write head on a disk pack without needing physical movement.

This is very important concept as the data records in a file should be stored in the same cylinder whenever possible in order to minimize the amount of head movement during access. If the file of records is too large to be accommodated in the same cylinder, provision must be made for the excess records to be stored in the adjacent cylinder. Sometimes a cylinder is also termed as seek area.

Access Times And Response Times Concepts

An important measure of the speed and efficiency of a disk drive is the access time and response time. The two times are measured as follows:-

Access Time = Seek Time + Rotational Delay

Seek time is the time taken for the read/write head to position itself on the track where the desired record is found. Rotational delay or latency is the time taken for the desired record to be positioned under the read/write head.

Response Time = Access Time + Data Transfer Time

In simple terms, it is the total time taken from the moment an input or output command is issued to the time when it is successfully completed.

In order to speed up response times on disc, some disc packs have one read/write head for every track. These types of disk units called fixed head discs. The conventional disk platter are called moving head disk. In fixed head discs, there is no physical movement during access, hence seek time is eliminated.

HARD DISC DRIVES

Hard disks provide larger and faster secondary storage capabilities than diskettes. Hard disks consist of one or more rigid platters coated with an oxide material that allows data to be magnetically recorded on the surface of the platters.

The platters are usually made of aluminum but some newer disks use glass or ceramic materials. Most hard disk permanently mounted inside the computer and are not removable like diskettes. On hard disks, the platters, the read/write heads, and the mechanism for moving the heads across the surface of the disk are enclosed in an airtight, sealed case. This help to ensure a clean environment for the disk.

Hard Disk Storage Capacity

Hard disks contain a spindle on which one or more disk platters re mounted. Each surface of a platter can be used to store data. Thus, if one platter is used in the drive, two surfaces are available for data. Naturally, the more platters the more data that can be stored on the drive. Like a diskette, hard disks must be formatted before they can be used to store data.

Access time for a hard disk is between ten to twenty milliseconds. This is significantly faster than for a diskette because of two reasons. First, a hard disk spins ten to twenty times faster than a diskette drive. Second, a hard disk is always spinning, whereas a diskette only starts spinning when a read or write command is received.

The storage capacity of hard drives is measured in megabytes or millions of bytes of storage. Common sizes for personal computers range from 100MB to 500MB of storage and even larger sizes are available.

Storing Data On Hard Disk

Storing data on hard disks is similar to storing data on diskettes. Hard disks rotate at a high speed, usually 3,600 to 7,200 revolutions per minute. Hard disk read/write heads are attached to access arms that swing out over the disk surface to the correct track.

The read/write heads float on a cushion of air and do not actually touch the surface of the disk. The distance between the head and the surface varies from approximately ten to twenty millionths of an inch. The close tolerance leaves no room for any type of contamination. If some form of contamination is introduced or if the alignment of the read/write heads is altered by something accidentally jarring the computer, the disk head can collide with and damage the disk surface, causing a loss of data. This event is known as a head crash.

FLOPPY DISC DRIVES

A diskette consists of a circular piece of thin mylar plastic (the actual disk), which is coated with an oxide material similar to that used on recording tape. Because they were flexible, they were often called floppy disks, or floppies, terms that are still used. Today, diskettes are used as a principal secondary storage medium for personal computers. This type of storage is convenient, reliable and inexpensive. Diskettes are available in two different sizes, 3 1/2 inch and 5 1/4 inch. The size indicates the diameter (width) of the diskette.

On 3 1/2 diskette, the circular piece of plastic is enclosed in a rigid plastic shell and a piece of metal called the shutter covers the reading and writing areas. When the 3 ½ inch diskette is inserted into a disk drive, the drive slides the shutter to the side to expose a portion of both sides of the recording surface.

On a 5 ¼ inch diskette, the circular piece of plastic is enclosed in a flexible, square protective jacket. The jacket has an opening on each side so that a portion of the diskette’s surfaces are exposed for reading and writing.

Formatting : Preparing A Diskette For Use

Before a diskette can be used for secondary storage, it must be formatted. The formatting process prepares the diskette so it can store data and includes defining the tracks, cylinders, and sectors on the surface of a diskette.

A track is a narrow recording band forming a full circle around the diskette. A cylinder is defined as all tracks of the same number. For example, track 0 on side 1 of the diskette and track 0 on side 2 of the diskette would be called cylinder 0. A sector is a pie-shaped section of the diskette.

The number of tracks and sectors created on a diskette when it is formatted varies based on the capacity of the diskette, the capabilities of the diskette drive being used, and the specifications in the operating system software that does the formatting. 5 ¼ inch diskettes are formatted with 40 or 80 tracks and 9 or 15 sectors on the surface of the diskette. 3 ½ inch diskettes are usually formatted with 80 tracks and either 9, 18, or 36 sectors on each side.

To protect data from being accidentally erased during formatting or other writing operations, diskettes have ‘write-protection’ features. A 5 ¼ inch diskette has a write-protect notch. This notch is located on the side of the diskette. To prevent writing to a diskette, you cover this notch with a small piece of removable tape. Before writing data onto the diskette, the diskette drive checks the notch. If the notch is open, the drive will proceed to write on the diskette. If the notch is covered, the diskette drive will not write on the diskette.

On the 3 ½ inch diskettes, the situation is reversed. Instead of a write-protect notch, there is a small window in the corner of the diskette. A piece of plastic in the window can be moved to open and close the window. If the write-protect window is closed, the drive can write on the diskette. If the window is open, the drive will not write on the diskette.

OPTICAL DISCS – CD and DVD

Enormous quantities of information are stored on optical disks by using a laser to burn microscopic holes on the surface of a hard plastic disk. A lower power laser reads the disk by reflecting light off the disk surface. The reflected light is converted into a series of bits that the computer can process.

A full-size, 14-inch optical disk can store 6.8 billion bytes of information. The smaller disks, just under five inches in diameter, can store more than 800 million bytes, or approximately 550 times the data that can be stored on a high-density 31/2 inch diskette. That is enough space to store approximately 400,000 pages of typed data.

The smaller optical disk is called a CD-ROM, an acronym or compact disk read-only memory. They use the same laser technology used for the CD-ROM disks that are become popular for recorded music.

Most optical disks are pre-recorded and cannot be modified by the user. Optical disk devices that provide for one-time recording are called WORM devices, an acronym for write once, read many. Erasable optical disk drives are just starting to be used.

MAGNETIC TAPE DEVICES

The fundamental principal of how data is stored is one that is similar to the cassette tapes we use in daily life for the storage and recording of music. Data is stored on a thin film of ferric oxide on the tape in the form of magnetized spots.

A typical magnetic tape is generally 2,400 to 3,600 feet long, but other sizes also exist. Most tapes are half an inch wide and made of mylar or polyester and are wound on reels. The amount of data that can be stored on magnetic tape is enormous compared to punched cards or paper tape. Data that is punched on an 80 column card can be stored on as little as 1/10 inch of tape.

Tape density or recording density refers to the number of characters that can be recorded per unit length of tape, usually in inches. Standard recording density is usually 1600 bytes per inch (BPI), but higher recording densities are not uncommon. A 6250 BPI tape is commonly used. One inch of tape with a recording density of 1600 BPI can hold the equivalent of 20 punched cards. After tape file is processed and is no longer needed, it can be reused for storing of other data by erasing and writing over the old file.

A single magnetic tape unit can perform both input and output functions. All magnetic tape drives require 2 tape reels. The one containing the tape to be read or written is called the file reel, while the other is called the take up reel. The use of vacuum columns is to ensure that there is enough slack between both reels so that the tape will not be torn apart during high speed reading and writing.

Data Recording/Retrieval on Magnetic Tape

The read/write heads assembly consists of erase, write and read heads in that order. During a write operation, the tape is first erased, then the data is written. Immediately after write operation, a read operation is performed to ensure that the data corresponds to what was written. This is called read after write check.

Tape File Security

In order to prevent accidental data erasure from tape, several measures can be taken. The first measure is to have the tape reel prominently labeled. This is called external labeling. The second measure is to use internal labels. These labels are special information recorded on the tape itself and are thus not visible to the human eyes. During processing, the internal labels are checked and verified by the appropriate control software. Internal labels contained information such as name of the files maintained on a tape, their expiry dates, length of file, length of records etc.. The internal label consists of the header label found at the beginning of each file and a trailer label record found at the end of the file.

The third measure is to use a write permit ring which can be removed from the tape to prevent accidental overwriting of data. The ring is also sometimes called the file protect ring. Operators remember the function of the write permit ring by using the rhythm ‘no ring no write’.

Data security on tape is maintained by having generations of backup files. When a magnetic tape file is updated the data is output onto a new tape reel. The new tape reel then becomes the son file and the old tape is called the father tape. Thus, the most recent version of the file is called the son file, and the previous version, the father with the grandfather being the oldest of the 3 generations. If for some reasons the data on the son-file was erased or corrupted, the file can be re-generated from the father, and if that were not possible, the grandfather file can be used.

Sequential organization

For the records on file to be stored in an organized fashion, the records are usually stored in some kind of order. For instance, the employee payroll file might have the data records stored in ascending order of employee number, beginning from the very first employee to the last. Such a file ordered on a particular field, in this case employee number is called a sequential file. The field which was used as the basis of the ordering of the records in the file is called the record key, key field, or key for short.

The key is used as a means of identifying a record in a computer file. A record key is by definition a field within a record designated as the bases for ordering the file or as a means of identifying a specific record.

In order to access the records, records are read and up-dated one after another according to their key sequence beginning from the first record in the file to the last. This type of access is known as sequential access.

How to Create a Successful E-Commerce Web Site

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Convergence of E-Commerce Technology

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Convergence

The growth of the Internet, computer telephony, electronic banking, interactive media services, mobile communications and related technologies, has paved the way for a new global network to emerge in the twenty-first century, subsuming the Internet and telephone networks.

Where in the twentieth century we had separate devices and transmission technologies for each communications function, nearly all data is now transmitted digitally, and there is increasing convergence between the devices used to connect to digital networks.

Mobile Communications

The voice and data communications industry is working to forge new technologies and standards to support mobile E-Commerce. These efforts are focusing on two key areas:

accessing information and services via the Internet from a phone other handheld device;

providing the necessary bandwidth to handle content in the fastest and most reliable way.

Product Code Technology

Some supermarkets, such as UK retailer Safeway, have already introduced do-it-yourself scanning to take the pressure off tills. Shoppers can:

- pick up a hand-held scanner on entering the supermarket;

- use it to monitor how much they are spending as they go along;

- print out an invoice when they have finished.

Content Providers

The global network’s content may increasingly be provided by media giants, providing entertainment, news and sports and there is likely to be a great deal of crossover with the retail sector, as consumers shopping for entertainment are persuaded to shop for other things.

Interactive TV

One of the big developments of the last few years has been the introduction of digital television, which in addition to providing a digital image has facilitated a range of interactive services, including:

- the provision of online programme information;

- interactive games on the television;

- the provision of pay-per-view programmes, such as big sporting events or recent films;

- the provision of online shopping services;

- an email service via your television.

All these services can be accessed using your remote control, although a special wireless ‘qwerty’ keyboard has also been developed to make use of the services easier.

Electronic Cash and Banking

Online banks are already appearing on the Internet, and established banks are having to adapt for the future. It has been possible for a while to manage your banking from software on a PC, but these types of facility are becoming enhanced and integrated with the emergent mobile technologies.

Voice Recognition and Disabled Access

Voice control is likely to become a viable alternative for Internet access as well as the control of domestic appliances.

Computer Telephony

By merging computer and telephone technologies, Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) can change the way we do business. Call centres and automated call reception are just the tip of the iceberg – CTI technology can be merged with Internet and web systems to create a customer interface.

Voice over IP (VoIP)

Voice over IP (VoIP) is voice delivered using the Internet protocol. This means sending voice information in digital form in discrete packets rather than in the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). VoIP and Internet telephony avoid ordinary telephone charges

Payment

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In this section we will examine the fulfillment process in terms of:

- Integrating online orders with back office systems;

- Distribution channels;

- Dispatch;

- Delivery;

- Handling customer returns.

Outsourcing the Fulfillment

As online sales move past the experimental phase, several factors combine to put new pressures on order fulfillment systems. These include:

- An expanded selection of products sold online;

- The need to move a large volume of small parcels;

- Rising customer expectations.

Activity

Retailers find that it’s relatively easy to distribute products in bulk through a wholesale, retailer, or distribution channel as compared to eCommerce distribution. However, difficulties can emerge when a company has many individual products that require distribution to the customer’s home, inventory control, and customer support.

Meeting Customer Expectations

There are a number of things that can be done to ensure that the fulfilment process provides a satisfactory conclusion to the whole purchasing cycle, including:

- Processing all orders at a line item level, so that each individual item ordered is clearly identified. This is particularly important where a multi-item order is placed and one or two of these are out of stock;

- Personalising orders so that the customer feels that full account has been taken of their individual needs. Specifying the actual name of the customer to whom the order should be delivered is particularly important in situations where it is being delivered to a business, otherwise it can be left lying around for days in reception waiting for the right person to come and collect it;

- Tracking the status of the order means that any customer enquiry can be resolved promptly and efficiently. Equally important is the fact that formal tracking of progress ensures that any problems arising out of non-delivery of the order are quickly identified and remedied;

- Communicating the order status to the customer is an excellent way of ensuring that they are kept fully informed of progress.

Payment

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Irrespective of the payment mechanism used, there are four key factors to consider at the outset when reviewing the possible options. These are:

- Acceptability: the payment system selected must be widely accepted by, and acceptable to merchants, thereby ensuring that the sale is processed without delay;

- Ease of integration: the website interface that is used by the user to input the payment details must be effective and integrated into the total network environment;

- Customer base: there must be enough users of the chosen payment system, and enough subsequent traffic, to justify the investment;

- Ease of use and ease of access: the payment system should be as easy to use and understand as possible, so that it caters for all potential levels of users.

Payment Options

- Shopping Cart and Payment Software

- Writing Your Own Interface

- Merchant Services

- Third Party Merchant Services

- Digital Cash

- Ecash

- Micropayments

- Purchasing Cards

- eCheques

- PayPal

E-payment methods:

Electronic payment cards (credit, debit, charge)
Virtual credit card
E-wallets ( or e-purse)
Smart cards
Electronic cash
Wireless payments
Stored-value card payments
Loyalty cards
Person-to-person payment methods
Payments made electronically at kiosks

Other method used primarily for B2B payments:

Electronic checks
Purchasing cards
Electronic letter of credit
Electronic funds transfer (EFT)
Electronic benefits transfer (EBT)
E-lines of credit

Applications of smart card

Loyalty cards
Financial applications
Information technology cards
Health and social welfare information cards
Transportation
Identification

Customer Confidence

One of the major problems that eCommerce has encountered in terms of end-user acceptance is the perception that many sites are insecure and the credit card detail of their customers are likely to be intercepted by hackers.

E-Marketing …

2008-12-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

Analysing website Visitors

When used effectively, site analysis software can provide you with valuable information about who is visiting your website and what pages they are viewing when they are there. Examples of the type of information that can be provided include:
- The sections of your site they are visiting;
- How long they stay on each individual page or in each section;
- The way that they navigate around your site;
- How they actually found your site.

Personalization

One of the great strengths of the Internet is the way in which it allows for the personalization of marketing techniques, so that the marketing message actually addresses individual needs. This is frequently referred to as one-to-one marketing. The concept relies on gathering information about the customer so that the right message can be sent at the right time to match their identified requirements.

This can be done via any of the following three options:
- Log files
- Forms
- Cookies

Customer Relationship Management
CRM is an information industry term for the overall strategy, incorporating methodologies, software, and Internet capabilities, which help a company, manage customer relationships in an organized way.

Customer Satisfaction

Recent research indicates that the following things can result in serious customer dissatisfaction:

1. The product they were trying to buy was out of stock – serious thought should be given to the levels of stock to hold. However, if an item is unavailable then the website should certainly inform the customers that this is so.

2. The purchased item wasn’t delivered on time – the key here is not to make delivery promises that can’t be met. It also highlights the need for the E-Commerce provider to work closely with any distribution company that they may use.

3. Delivery cost was too high – some E-Commerce providers entice customers by offering very low product prices and then look to claw back some of the margin by charging high delivery costs. This point confirms that such a practice should be avoided.

4. Connection trouble – the E-Commerce business should ensure that there is enough capacity to serve large volumes of customers at peak times. Nevertheless there are times when such problems may be related to the customer end and to general network congestion on the Internet.

5. Didn’t get a confirmation or status report – the order confirmation should be generated automatically after the order is received in the order database. Customers of all businesses expect to receive order and credit card confirmation..

Business to Consumer E-Commerce…

2008-12-28T07:50:00.000-08:00

E-Marketing

Marketing is the effort of promoting goods and services and trying to sell them. It’s about trying to draw attention to your company’s products and services, to convince people to purchase them, and to turn first time purchasers into repeat purchasers.
The tools and techniques available to promote your website and products include:

- Online marketing tools;
- Search engine;
- Email promotion;
- Offline marketing activities.
All of these have a role to play and the optimum solution will probably employ a mix of them.
Domain names
Domain names are an enormous help in the branding of a company. Your domain name should be easy to remember, easy to spell, and should represent what your company is all about. If it is not found or remembered quickly, then potential customers will surf elsewhere and possibly find your competition. So it is essential to spend some time choosing the domain name that really reflects the business.

Getting the right domain name is also important in terms of branding the company. Research has shown that Internet users are busy and prefer to use a known brand as a short cut to obtain the goods and services they want as quickly as possible. Good brand names suggest something about the product and should help differentiate the product from competitors. The domain name should help to reinforce the brand and should, ideally, be short, memorable and easy to spell.

Online Marketing
There are a range of different tools and techniques available to enable you to undertake online marketing campaigns. Some of the most common that we will review in this section are:

- Banner adverts;
- Affiliate programs;
- Viral marketing;
- Exploiting newsgroups.

Search Engines

A search engine indexes pages automatically by using software known as spiders that explore the web and collect keyword information, which they store in huge databases. They potentially give a higher ranking to websites which have taken into consideration the needs of search engines in their structure and content;

Email Marketing

Email is the online equivalent of direct mail advertising. However email has at least three significant advantages over direct mail:
- There are no postal charges;
- It can easily provide more detailed information by directing recipients to the corporate website;
- It can be automatically individualized for specific users.

Marketing Overseas

The Internet offers companies large and small the opportunity to trade and compete in a global marketplace. However, before considering how to promote your offerings in other countries you need to have considered a variety of issues including logistics, trade laws, customs requirements, taxes, accepting payments etc.

Offline Marketing

Just as with online marketing, the goal of offline marketing is to attract visitors to your website. However, in this instance, there is not the scope for providing automatic hyperlinks that will direct visitors seamlessly to the site.
So, the focus of offline marketing has to be very firmly on promoting your web address. By highlighting the products and services you offer or the quality of the content, you are seeking to encourage the web user to log-on and type in your URL.
A major element of your offline marketing activity, therefore, is to incorporate your URL in all of your customer-facing literature. The URL should appear with just the same frequency as your company address and telephone number. Examples include:

- Letterheads;
- Business cards;
- Company brochures;
- Sales proposals;
- Details on the side of your company vehicles.

Business to Consumer E-Commerce…

2008-12-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

Building the Business Case
Just as with a business-to-business solution, a business case must be built before embarking on an implementation, which means:
- understanding your objectives;
- understanding the business model;
- balancing costs against profits.

In assessing the cost-effectiveness of a business-to-consumer application it is useful to make the distinction between:
- existing businesses taking advantage of the web;
- small-time entrepreneurs seeing an sales opportunity and setting up a small shop front;
- and new Internet start-up companies with innovative ideas.

Designing and Running an E-Commerce website
This section will cover some of the same ground as the ‘Developing a website’ unit, but will be much more oriented to E-Commerce issues.

Domain Names and Trade Marks
When you register a domain name, it is associated with the server on the Internet you designate during the period the registration is in effect. The domain name consists of the name (e.g. ‘mcdonalds’), followed by a suffix of one or more labels indicating the type and origin of the domain (e.g. .com or .co.uk).

Business to Consumer E-Commerce

2008-12-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

Introduction

The growth in the number of Internet users worldwide almost seems to have been matched by the number of innovative ways that have emerged for conducting electronic commerce over the Internet. Having a virtual presence not only minimizes (or indeed removes) the need for physical (and expensive) shop fronts, it also dramatically expands your potential customer base. A number of models for business-to-consumer
E-Commerce have emerged, and are outlined below. It should be remembered, however, that the potential is as broad as the human imagination. It should also be remembered that this is a very young market and that not all models are yet proven to make money – some are existing on market expectation.
Models for E-Commerce

Sales
The most obvious commercial use of the World Wide Web (WWW) was to use it as a shop window enabling people from all over the world to come and view your products and services. As confidence in the medium grew the potential for actually selling goods and taking money via websites became a reality. This sort of business originally flourished in the United States (which has a credit card culture) long before it did in the rest of the world and it is certainly the most common form of business-to- consumer
E-Commerce now in practice.

There are three routes into having an online sales presence:
- buying space on an internet ‘shopping mall’ and letting someone manage the service for you;
- buying an off-the-shelf shopfront/catalogue software package;
- building a system from scratch.

Interactive Options
There are a host of features available to today’s web designer now that browsing technology (and what it can support) has become more stable. These broaden the scope of how visitors can make use of a site, and therefore strengthen the E-Commerce solution. They empower the visitor to find out all the information they need before purchasing something – whether that be directly through information or from peer review.
Options include:
- password protected areas;
- chat rooms;
- bulletin boards/newsgroups;
- catalogues;
- credit card transactions.

Security
SSL vs SET
Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity, Non-repudiation.

Business to Business E-Commerce…….

2008-12-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

The business considerations behind the development of B2B e-commerce

Assessing your Businesses Requirements
- Analysing the Information Flow
- Assessing Relationships with Trading Partners
- Reaching your Customer/End Consumer
- Expanding Your Business
The Business Case
- How to Calculate the Business Case
- Working in Tandem with Trading Partners
- Anticipated Costs
- Anticipated Benefits
- Anticipated Disruption During Implementation
- Planning for Future Developments

Project Management
- Internal Staff or External Consultants?
- A Multidisciplinary Team
- Project management
- Senior management
- Administration
- Finance
- Information technology
- Communications
- Marketing and sales

The Technical Components of an E-Commerce System (continued)

2008-12-23T07:35:00.000-08:00

E-Commerce standards for both general and specific e-commerce applications.
Messaging Option
E-Commerce standards for both general and specific e-commerce applications.
• Fax Metaphor
• Email
• Value Added Networks - VANs
• X.400
• Electronic Faxes
• Voice Messaging
• Network Telephony (NCC: page. 49 - 50)

Internet Option

• A Brief History of the Internet
• The Internet began with ARPANET – a WAN started by the US Department of Defense for research into networking in 1969. One of the aims was to provide a way of connecting communications and intelligence centres in a robust way, so that if one was destroyed in war, or simply suffered machine failure, information could be automatically routed around the hole in the network.

• Many people contributed to the standards for communications protocols which made the network function. Researchers wrote their proposals in a paper called a ‘Request for Comments’ (RFC), and published it on the new medium itself. The first RFC (RFC0001) was written on 7 April 1969 and there are now well over 2000 RFCs.

• ARPANET was opened to non-military users later in the 1970s, primarily big universities – although at this stage it was still a research tool also used for file transfer and primitive email. The network started to expand internationally around 1972.

• It was not until the early to mid-1980s that the services we use most now started appearing on the Internet. Prior to 1984, all Internet addresses were strings of numbers (IP addresses). The mechanism by which servers are given names (e.g. ibm.com) was then introduced and email and other protocols followed. For example, RFC-822 describes the format for email headers.

• HTTP (Hyper-Text-Transfer-Protocol), the underlying mechanism of the World Wide Web was not invented until 1989, by Tim Berners-Lee. He was a physicist working at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory, and wanted a way for physicists to share information about their research. Initially the web was text only, and web browsers were also editors, so people could work on each other’s documents.
o Graphics came later with a browser called NCSA Mosaic. The start-up company Netscape improved on this and the number of users grew dramatically with their free trial versions of their browser. Over 80% of web users were using Netscape’s product.

o The graphical interface, combined with advances in modem technology and growth in the number of ISPs opened up the Internet to vast numbers of novice users. Prior to this, home computer users were largely limited to using ‘bulletin boards’ which has their own proprietary interface. Companies like AOL and Compuserve, impressed with the rapid growth of the web, and fearful of being left behind, connected their networks to the Internet and offered their existing users access.

o Microsoft all but abandoned its own content network MSN and rapidly embraced the Internet, incorporating its own browser (Internet Explorer) into its Windows operating system

Technical Components of an E-Commerce System

2008-12-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

As all modern telephone exchanges transmit data digitally anyway, why do we need modems at all? This is because the connection between the home or office and the local exchange is still typically by analogue signals along copper wires. This is called the 'subscriber loop'. ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) removes the need for a modem by replacing this last analogue link by a digital one.

Conventional telephone equipment will not work with an ISDN line without a special terminal adapter (TA).

ISDN telephones provide a much clearer voice signal and dialling is much faster. PCs equipped with a TA card can connect to the Internet, or another PC, in a fraction of a second and data transmission is faster than the best modems (64 or 128 Kbits/s). ISDN is available as basic rate (equivalent to the capacity of two phone lines or 128 Kbits/s) for domestic or small office use, or primary rate, which gives an aggregate bandwidth of over 2 Mbits/s in Europe. North American ISDN offers slightly different configurations and bandwidth.

ISDN has all sorts of applications in the world of eCommerce - its use really is dependent on the type of solution being looked at. A real-life example is its use to connect a remote (perhaps home) office to a main office computer network so that an executive can work remotely but have all the benefits of being in the main office. However, one of the drawbacks to using ISDN is that it is still essentially a dial-up service, and each channel is charged at normal telephone rates. So using both channels becomes quite expensive.

Broadband
The explosive growth in the numbers of business people working remotely from their head office (often in offices at home) coupled with the slower than expected take-up of ISDN has resulted in the demand for new services to provide faster Internet connections at more competitive rates.

Broadband services are based on a variety of transmission technologies:

• DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) services, that make use of existing telephony infrastructure;
• Cable Modem services, that make use of cable TV infrastructure;
• Metropolitan Area Ethernet services, that generally require the installation of new cable infrastructure, often based on fibre optic cabling, although some variants of this technology make use of DSL technology.

ADSL
The most common DSL service available is the ADSL service. The 'A' stands for 'Asymmetric', which means that the data transfer rates are not the same in both directions. The transmission rate from the subscriber to the Internet is lower than in the reverse direction; the idea here is that downloading large web pages will account for a high proportion of the use, whereas the volume of data that needs to be transmitted from the user to the network is generally smaller.

The data rates available with ADSL, and in fact the actual availability of ADSL, depend critically on the distance between the subscriber and the nearest digital telephone exchange, and also on the number of subscribers that are using the service. Typically the service offers up to 500 Kilobits/second for downloads, and up to 250 Kilobits/second for uploads. So, unlike leased lines, ADSL gives no guarantees as to the actual transmission rates that will be made available.

Cable Modems
The Cable Modem services offered by the cable TV companies are only available in those areas already served by a cable TV network. The data transmission rates available with these services are similar to ADSL, and as with ADSL, the number of subscribers sharing the infrastructure affects the transmission rates that are actually delivered. With both ADSL and Cable Modem services, it is a simple matter to connect the cable modem or the ADSL filter into an existing LAN, allowing the external Internet connection to be accessed by all of the PCs connected to the LAN. A router is used to achieve this. One side of the router connects to the LAN, and the other side to the cable modem or the ADSL filter.

Metropolitan Area Ethernet services
Where significantly higher data transmission rates are needed, Metropolitan Area Ethernet services are emerging that will allow data rates of up to 10 Gigabits/second to be achieved between the customer premises and the service provider, if suitable fibre optic cabling is available (or can be installed) in order to make this possible. This kind of approach might be used in order to allow a large company that was spread across a number of sites to interconnect their LANs, making them look like one single LAN from the point of view of the users.

Leased Lines
Telecoms operators offer a variety of options for permanent connections for data transmission. These include ISDN, but also higher capacity dedicated links and variable bandwidth links, where capacity is shared with other users. Connections are also available from 'network providers', companies which have private network capacity who lease some or all of their capacity from telecoms companies. Leased lines may be used to connect LANs into a WAN (e.g. head office to a branch) or for teleconferencing.

Wireless Networking
The majority of networking installations to date have been based on fixed cabling of one kind or another, from coaxial cables to twisted pair cabling and optical fibre. The problem with cable-based networking infrastructures is just that - they are cable-based, and so every device that needs to connect to the LAN has to have a cable trailing from it. Two relatively new networking technologies aim to change the way we think about constructing and using LAN installations:

• 802.11 Wireless LANs, sometimes known as 'Wi-Fi' (an adaption of the popular home entertainment term 'Hi-Fi');
• Bluetooth.

Wireless LAN
A wireless LAN, as the name implies, offers a wireless connection between a computer system and the LAN, via a wireless access point. The data transmission rates that can be achieved are relatively low when compared to the performance of the early 10 Megabits/second Ethernet LANs, but are more than adequate for connecting the average PC or laptop to a LAN, unless applications that demand high data rates are being used.
Wireless access points generally have an Ethernet port that allows them to be connected to a conventional wired LAN backbone, but for small business use, it is possible to network a number of PCs together using only a wireless access point.

Connecting a PC or laptop to the wireless LAN involves the use of a wireless LAN interface that will slot into the PCMCIA socket of a laptop, or plugs into a USB socket of a desktop PC. Increasingly, modern laptop computers are being manufactured with inbuilt wireless LAN capability, in anticipation that they will be used in this way. Assuming that the security features of the technology have been correctly set up, the wireless 'connection' between the computer and the wireless access point is established automatically when the two devices are within radio range. The range of transmission is variable, depending on the construction of the building that it is used in, but can cover distances of up to 100 metres under the right conditions. If it is necessary to use more than one wireless access point to achieve the necessary coverage within a building, a wireless-enabled PC will automatically connect to the access point that offers the best signal.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a technology that was originally conceived as a means of replacing the cables between a computer and its peripherals - for example, printers, scanners, and so on. The data transfer rates that it can achieve are adequate for this kind of use, but not for connecting a PC to a LAN. It is now starting to appear in conjunction with other kinds of devices as well - for example, to connect a palmtop computer to a host PC, or to connect a hands free kit to a mobile phone. The transmission range for Bluetooth is significantly shorter - tens rather than hundreds of metres, and as less power is needed to drive the radios in Bluetooth devices, this technology is more appropriate than Wi-Fi for use in smaller, low power devices.

Business to Business E-Commerce

2008-12-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

Internet Option Introduction
This session will provide an overview of business-to-business and supply chain E-Commerce, outlining the business issues to be considered when implementing an E-Commerce solution.
E-Commerce Tools

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
EDI was developed to eradicate the need for re-keying in data, using agreed standards to enable computers to exchange electronic versions standard forms (such as purchase orders and invoices). National, international and industry specific standards exist.

- Batch EDI
- Financial EDI
- Interactive EDI
- Hybrid EDI
- Form-based EDI

Software
EDI software fulfils the following functions:
- data extraction;
- data encoding;
- data transmission;
- data receipt;
- data decoding;
- data insertion.
There may be a separate piece of software for each function, but it is more likely that one or two integrated applications will manage them.

The Impact on the Supply Chain
Much of what has been presented so far has been presented in the context of straight business-to-business trading relationships, and this may have disguised the considerable effect that E-Commerce has had on the supply chain.
The supply chain is the mechanism by which goods are moved between:
- suppliers of raw materials;
- manufacturers;
- wholesalers;
- retailers;
- finally to the end consumer.
It can involve a vastly complicated set of trading relationships and have equally complicated logistics implications

Impact of E-Commerce on Supply Chain Management
E-commerce impacts supply chain management in a variety of key ways. These
include:

Cost efficiency: E-commerce allows transportation companies of all sizes to exchange cargo documents electronically over the Internet. E-commerce enables shippers, freight forwarders and trucking firms to streamline document handling without the monetary and time investment required by the traditional document delivery systems. By using e-commerce, companies can reduce costs, improve data accuracy, streamline business processes, accelerate business cycles, and enhance customer service. Ocean carriers and their trading partners can exchange bill of lading instructions, freight invoices, container status messages, motor carrier shipment instructions, and other documents with increased accuracy and efficiency by eliminating the need to re-key or reformat documents. The only tools needed to take advantage of this solution are a personal computer and an Internet browser.

Changes in the distribution system: E-commerce will give businesses more flexibility
in managing the increasingly complex movement of products and information
between businesses, their suppliers and customers. E-commerce will close the link
between customers and distribution centers. Customers can manage the increasingly
complex movement of products and information through the supply chain.

Customer orientation: E-commerce is a vital link in the support of logistics and transportation services for both internal and external customers. E-commerce will help companies deliver better services to their customers, accelerate the growth of the e-commerce initiatives that are critical to their business, and lower their operating costs. Using the Internet for e-commerce will allow customers to access rate information, place delivery orders, track shipments and pay freight bills.

E-commerce makes it easier for customers to do business with companies: Anything that simplifies the process of arranging transportation services will help build companies' business and enhance shareholder value. By making more information available about the commercial side of companies, businesses will make their web site a place where customers will not only get detailed information about the services the company offers, but also where they can actually conduct business with the company.

Ultimately, web sites can provide a universal, self-service system for customers. Shippers can order any service and access the information they need to conduct business with transportation companies exclusively online. E-commerce functions are taking companies a substantial step forward by providing customers with a faster and easier way to do business with them.

Shipment tracking: E-commerce will allow users to establish an account and obtain real-time information about cargo shipments. They may also create and submit bills of lading, place a cargo order, analyze charges, submit a freight claim, and carry out many other functions. In addition, e-commerce allows customers to track shipments down to the individual product and perform other supply chain management and decision support functions. The application uses encryption technology to secure business transactions.

Shipping notice: E-commerce can help automate the receiving process by electronically transmitting a packing list ahead of the shipment. It also allows companies to record the relevant details of each pallet, parcel, and item being shipped.

Freight auditing: This will ensure that each freight bill is efficiently reviewed for accuracy. The result is a greatly reduced risk of overpayment, and the elimination of countless hours of paperwork, or the need for a third-party auditing firm. By intercepting duplicate billings and incorrect charges, a significant percent of shipping costs will be recovered. In addition, carrier comparison and assignment allows for instant access to a database containing the latest rates, discounts, and allowances for most major carriers, thus eliminating the need for unwieldy charts and tables.

Shipping Documentation and Labeling: There will be less need for manual intervention because standard bills of lading, shipping labels, and carrier manifests will be automatically produced; this includes even the specialized export documentation required for overseas shipments. Paperwork is significantly reduced and the shipping department will therefore be more efficient.

Online Shipping Inquiry: This gives instant shipping information access to anyone in the company, from any location. Parcel shipments can be tracked and proof of delivery quickly confirmed. A customer's transportation costs and performance can be analyzed, thus helping the customer negotiate rates and improve service.

Technical Components of an E-commerce System

2008-12-21T07:06:00.003-08:00

The Internet has had such a huge impact on the world (in business, media and society) that it is easy to overlook the technology that preceded it, that enabled it and that has evolved subsequently. In eCommerce terms, though, this does not mean that this technology is any less valid. Remember, we are trying to find the right tools for the right job.

Networks
Networks are electronic/data highways which link computers together for the purpose of sharing resources. They are characterised by:

• the type of data transmission technology they use;
• whether they carry voice, data, or voice and data;
• whether they are public or private (i.e. who can use them);
• the nature of connection - dial-up, dedicated or virtual connections;
• the types of physical links (such as optical fiber, coaxial cable, and copper wire).

The type of data transmission refers to the protocol they use, i.e. the set of rules for communicating that the end points in a connection use when they exchange signals. Both endpoints must understand and observe the protocol. The Internet uses TCP/IP protocols, which includes TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol), HTTP, FTP and other protocols, each with a defined set of capabilities.

Local Area Networks (LANS)
LANs link a number of computers by relatively short lengths of cable, usually within the same room or building . Typically, a more powerful computer, called a server, will serve data and applications to a number of desktop PCs. Due to the short length of the cables, data transmission is very fast (MegaBits or even GigaBits per second). Company LANs are usually controlled by a member of the IT department called the network administrator.
It is important to recognise LANs as part of the communications infrastructure because they are often the basis of a company's IT systems. As such, any implementation of eCommerce will require integration of the LAN with external communications media. A LAN that uses Internet.Protocols is, essentially, an intranet, and can support applications run on the Internet if appropriate server software is installed.
The purpose of an intranet is to allow everyone to share information and facilitate group work processes. Like any other network, it holds file directories and allows resource sharing. Intranets are still very much in their infancy as regards the level of sophistication around the types of applications and information held on them. According to recent research completed by InformationWeek the most common applications on intranets are policy and procedure manuals, document sharing and corporate phone directories.
The intranet must have a firewall to prevent unauthorised access from outside the company. Firewalls are hardware/software combinations that allow people from outside an intranet to access data on the Internet, but keep intruders from getting onto the intranet. Depending on how secure a site needs to be and how much time, money and resources can be spent on a firewall, there are many kinds that can be built. Most of them, however, incorporate the following elements:
• proxy servers;
• routers;
• bastion hosts.

Wide Area Networks (WANs)
WANs connect a number of computers, or LANs using long-distance connections. The connections may be along private cables, microwave or satellite links or may be leased from a network provider, such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or a telecoms operator. A WAN may contain a number of switching and relaying computers called 'nodes' or 'gateways'. A connection between two major nodes is called a 'backbone'. The Internet itself is a very large WAN. The extension of a simple LAN to the WAN is also the basis for the similar extension of the concept of the intranet to an extranet, which is a key component of business-to-business eCommerce. Essentially an extranet is a private network that uses the Internet protocols and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company. Therefore, the same benefits that Internet technologies have brought to the Internet and to corporate intranets are now being made available to accelerate business between businesses.

An extranet requires security and privacy. These require firewall server management (in much the same way as intranets) and, increasingly, the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN's - see below) that are able to tunnel securely through the public network.

The reasons why extranets are, potentially, so important to the area of business-to-business eCommerce, are that they allow organisations to:

• exchange large volumes of data using EDI;
• share product catalogues exclusively with wholesalers or distributors;
• collaborate with other companies on joint development efforts;
• jointly develop and use training programs with other companies;
• provide or access services provided by one company to a group of other companies, such as an online banking application managed by one company on behalf of affiliated banks;
• share news of common interest exclusively with trading partner companies.

Virtual Private Networks
Historically, organisations that needed to construct networks that would serve multiple sites, or maybe allow communication with their clients or suppliers, would achieve this by constructing a virtual private network,or VPN.

With the advent of the Internet, along with relatively cheap broadband access technologies, interest in constructing VPNs across the Internet has grown considerably because it has the potential to offer a VPN service at significantly lower cost than would be the case with networks constructed from dedicated leased lines. However, the very public nature of the Internet means that, although it is possible still to construct trusted VPNs in this environment, many users require a higher degree of assurance that their communications over the VPN will be secure. Hence, this has given rise to the use of technologies that allow secure VPNs to be constructed. The basic concept behind a secure VPN is that all communications taking place across the VPN are encrypted, thus preventing the data from being read in any meaningful form, even if a potential eavesdropper is able to examine the data packets being transmitted on the network. The devices communicating over the network, or the network users, or both, may well also need to be authenticated, to ensure that only trusted individuals or equipment can be attached to the network. Most current implementations of secure VPNs are based on a family of encryption technologies known as IPSec, which is used to construct a secure 'tunnel' across the Internet that can carry the client's data.

VPN technology is accessible to business users in a variety of forms. The telecommunications service providers have offered trusted VPN services for a number of years and, increasingly, are also offering secure VPN services. In both cases, the offering is a managed service, having the advantage of off-loading the maintenance and management of the network from the user. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of secure VPNs is that it is possible for these services to be provided and managed by the businesses that use them. As they rely on encryption technology that can be installed either as software in a PC or as add-ons to existing LANs, VPN services can potentially be used by all sizes of business user, from the SME up to the multi-national.
VPNs can significantly improve the security of communication within a distributed organisation. This can be important for:

• Internal communications within the organisation;
• Communications with client or trading partners, where confidentiality of commercially sensitive information may be a requirement;
• Providing secure networking for home workers.

The same secure VPN technology can also be applied as a means of overcoming the present shortcomings in wireless LAN security; if all information transmitted over the wireless LAN is properly encrypted using the IPSec mechanisms, it is no longer a concern that an eavesdropper might be able to 'see' the data packets being communicated, since it will be impossible to decrypt the data. Secure VPNs can, in many ways, be viewed as a means of making the other networking technologies safer to use in a commercial environment; hence, coupled with the other technologies mentioned in earlier sections, VPNs become an essential factor in delivering the benefits that can accrue from these technologies.
A major benefit with managed VPN services is that they significantly reduce the costs associated with constructing and managing a wide area data network. This can be significant for all sizes of business. Even the larger multinationals often cannot afford the expense of running a truly private WAN, whereas the established telecommunications suppliers can offer a managed service at a much more affordable cost.
Virtual private network technology is not only available today from companies specialising in VPNs, but also from operating system vendors (e.g. Microsoft) and traditional firewall vendors. There is limited interoperability between products from different vendors today, since standards are only now being finalised. Therefore, the user is likely to need software from the same vendor for both end points of the tunnels. The key standard that is emerging is IPsec (secure IP), whilst others include SOCKS and Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP). The L2TP standard combines attributes of Microsoft's Point to Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) and Cisco's L2F (layer 2 forwarding.)

The development of E-Commerce in the context of business developments.
Communication

1. Options:
• Telephone: dial-up or leased line
• ISDN: basic rate or primary rate
• Value Added Networks
• X.400: ISO standard secure messaging
• Networks: local area networks, wide area networks or intranets
• Internet: messaging, file transfer, Telnet, World Wide Web, XML

2. Standards:

• Standards are the means by which data is sent in an agreed format by eCommerce trading partners.
• In Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), standards pertain specifically to the syntax used to prepare messages for exchange. They enable, for example, one accounts system to understand an electronic version of an invoice sent out by another accounts system because the relevant pieces of data (e.g. invoice number) are always located in the same part of the message.
• In the case of EDI, these standards are generally nationally and
• The means which data is sent in an agreed format by E-commerce trading partners.
E.g.:
• EDI: syntax used to prepare message for exchange
• Gif and JPG: graphic standards
• World Wide Web:HTML, PERL, Javascript, Java, Software

3. The e-commerce software function includes:
• Data extraction from relevant application or data entry
• Data encoding to agreed standard format
• Data transmission to recipients.
• Data receipt by recipients.
• Data decoding for internal applications.
• Data insertion into relevant applications

Business-to-Business E-commerce

Key areas in B2B e-commerce:
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
• Enhanced messaging: e-mail, voice-mail, fax
• Teleconferencing
• Integrated Systems: intranets/extranets, database publishing, workflow

Supply Chain E-commerce
• Key areas in B2B e-commerce:
1. Stock control
2. Just-in-time delivery
3. Transportation
4. Warehouse management
5. Automatic Identification: Barcodes, Transponders

Business-to-Consumer E-commerce

• B2C e-commerce application includes:
1. Database application
2. Kiosks
3. Internet store fronts
4. Downloadable software and software support
5. Internet auctions
6. Advertising on the Internet
7. Interactive TV

Impact of E-commerce on the Business

• The impact of E-commerce to business includes:
1. Instantaneous means of data exchange
2. Exchange information efficiently and accurately
3. Convenience in time and geographic.
4. Reducing manual and paper-based operations
5. Re-thinking and simplifying the information flow
6. Using the information flow in new and dynamic ways.

Business Process Re-design
1. BPR focuses on radically changing the way internal processes are conducted in order to increase profitability and competitiveness.
2. E-commerce provides an opportunity to radically re-engineer business processes, even those that may have already been subject to such an activity.
3. Workflow is used to within the BPR project to help rationalise internal business procedures.
4. Flexible Working is an approach to organising the way people work together, from employees to top management and the way they interact with trading partners. It consist of:
o Teleworking : Working a day or more from home and the rest at the office
o Mobile working : Profession that requires the person to move from place to place and yet maintain contact with an office.
o Virtual Teams : Teleworking extended to a group of people working on one task or project.

Application Software

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What Are the Categories of Application Software?

Application software consists of programs designed to make users more productive and/or assist them with personal tasks. The major categories of application software are business software; graphics and multimedia software; home, personal, and educational software; and communications software. Successful use of application software often requires the use of a utility program.

How Is Software Distributed?

Application software is available in a variety of forms. Packaged software is mass-produced, copyrighted retail software that meets the needs of a variety of users. Custom software performs functions specific to a business or industry. Web-based software refers to programs hosted by a Web site. Open source software is provided for use, modification, and redistribution. Shareware is copyrighted software that is distributed free for a trial period. Freeware is copyrighted software provided at no cost by an individual or a company that retains all rights to the software. Public-domain software is free software donated for public use and has no copyright restrictions.

How Do You Work with Application Software?

Personal computer operating systems often use the concept of a desktop, which is an on-screen work area that has a graphical user interface. To start a program in Windows Vista, move the pointer to the Start button on the taskbar and click the Start button by pressing and releasing a button on the mouse. Then, click the program name on the menu or in a list. Once loaded into memory, the program is displayed in a window on the desktop.

What Are the Key Features of Widely Used Business Programs?

Business software assists people in becoming more effective and efficient while performing daily business activities. Business software includes the following programs. Word processing software, sometimes called a word processor, allows users to create a document by entering text and inserting images, edit the document by making changes, and format the document by changing its appearance. Spreadsheet software allows users to organize data in rows and columns, perform calculations, recalculate when data changes, and chart the data. Database software allows users to create, access, and manage a database, which is a collection of data organized to allow access, retrieval, and use of that data. Presentation graphics software allows users to create a slide show that is displayed on a monitor or projection screen. Note taking software enables users to enter typed text, handwritten comments, drawings, or sketches on a page and then save the page as part of a notebook. A personal information manager (PIM) is software that includes features to help users organize personal information. A huge variety of business software is available for mobile devices, such as smart phones and PDAs. A software suite is a collection of individual programs sold as a single package. At a minimum, software suites include word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, and presentation graphics programs. Project management software allows users to plan, schedule, track, and analyze the events, resources, and costs of a project. Accounting software helps companies record and report their financial transactions. Document management software provides a means for sharing, distributing, and searching through documents by converting them into a format that can be viewed by any user.

What Are the Key Features of Widely Used Graphics and Multimedia Programs?

Graphics and multimedia software includes the following programs. Computer-aided design (CAD) software assists in creating engineering, architectural, and scientific designs. Desktop publishing (DTP) software enables professional designers to create sophisticated documents that contain text, graphics, and colors. Paint software, also called illustration software, lets users draw graphical images with various on-screen tools. Image editing software provides the capabilities of paint software and includes the capability to enhance and modify existing images. Professional photo editing software is a type of image editing software that allows high-volume digital photo users to edit and customize digital photos. Video editing software allows professionals to modify segments of a video. Audio editing software lets users modify audio clips, produce studio-quality soundtracks, and add audio to video clips. Multimedia authoring software allows users to combine text, graphics, audio, video, and animation in an interactive application. Web page authoring software helps users of all skill levels create Web pages that include graphical images, video, audio, animation, and other special effects with interactive content.

What Are the Key Features of Widely Used Home, Personal, and Educational Programs?

Software for home, personal, and educational use includes the following programs. A software suite (for personal use) combines application software such as word processing, spreadsheet, and database into a single package. Personal finance software is an accounting program that helps users balance their checkbooks, pay bills, track income and expenses, track investments, and evaluate financial plans. Legal software assists in the preparation of legal documents. Tax preparation software guides users through filing federal taxes. Personal DTP software helps users create newsletters, brochures, flyers, advertisements, greeting and business cards, logos, and Web pages. Personal paint/image editing software provides an easy-to-use interface with functions tailored to meet the needs of home and small business users. Personal photo editing software is a type of image editing software used to edit digital photos. Photo management software helps users view, organize, sort, catalog, and share digital photos. Application software often includes a clip art/image gallery, which is a collection of clip art and photos. Video and audio editing software is used to edit home movies, add music or other sounds, and share movies on the Web. Home design/landscaping software assists with the design, remodeling, or improvement of a home or landscape. Travel and mapping software enables users to view maps, determine route directions, and locate points of interest. Reference software provides valuable and thorough information for all individuals. Educational software teaches a particular skill. Entertainment software includes interactive games, videos, and other programs to support hobbies or provide amusement.

What Are the Types of Application Software Used in Communications?

Application software for communications includes Web browsers to access and view Web pages; e-mail programs to transmit messages via a network; instant messaging software for real-time exchange of messages or files; chat room software to have real-time, online typed conversations; text messaging software; RSS aggregator program to keep track of changes made to Web sites; bog software, or blower, to create and maintain a bog; newsgroup/message board programs that allow online written discussions; FTP programs to upload and download files on the Internet; Void (Internet telephony), which allows users to speak to other users over the Internet; and video conferencing software for meetings on a network.

What Are the Functions of Utility Programs?

Utility programs support the successful use of application software. An antivirus program protects a computer against a computer virus, which is a potentially damaging computer program. A personal firewall detects and protects a personal computer from unauthorized intrusions. A spyware remover detects and deletes spy ware, aware, and other similar programs. An anti-spam program removes spam (Internet junk mail). A Web filter restricts access to specified Web sites. A pop-up blocker disables pop-up windows. A file manager provides functions related to file and disk management. A file compression utility shrinks the size of a file. A backup utility allows users to copy selected files or an entire hard disk to another storage medium. A media player allows you to view images and animation, listen to audio, and watch video. A CD/DVD burner writes files on a CD or DVD. A personal computer maintenance utility identifies and fixes operating system and disk problems

What Are the Advantages of Using Web-Based Software

Web-based software, also called a Web application, requires less disk space on a computer than installed software and is less costly to upgrade. An application service provider (ASP) is a third-party organization that manages and distributes software and services on the Web.

What Learning Aids Are Available for Application Software?

To assist in the learning process, many programs offer Help features. Online Help is the electronic equivalent of a user manual. Most online Help links to Web-based help, which provides updates and more comprehensive resources. A template is a document that contains the formatting necessary for a specific document type.

Advantages and disadvantages of each generation of language

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Readability of the language

If parts of the program are going to be read or altered separately form the entire program is might be worth considering how legible they are going to be. Clumsy abbreviations should be avoided. Statements such as WHILE LOOP have increased the readability of programs and lead to neater programs.

Ease of writing the language

A programming language that is easy to write in can make the process easier and faster. It may help to reduce mistakes, save time and money, and make the program smaller.

Reliability of the language

A program that is not robust can cause errors, and code can “decay”. Any language that helps the programmer to avoid mistakes will make it easier to use.

Cost of development

Is the language expensive to use and to maintain? Program may need to be updated or re-developed and an expensive language may make this prohibitive.

Syntax complexity

Syntax is an important consideration. Clarity and ease of understanding are important, as is a syntax that seems logical and sensible. Errors are very likely to occur where one area of syntax too closely resembles another, and the program may prove difficult to debug.

Language standards

Languages that have standards for writing programs have greater readability.

Language Models

Imperative Languages – are formed from collections of basic commands, most often assignments and I/O, where the execution is sequenced by control structures.

Functional Languages – are based on lambda-calculus from the 1930’s. Programs consist of collections of function definitions and function applications.

Logic Programming – consists of collections of statements within a particular logic. Most typically that logic is predicate logic. ProLog.

Object-oriented languages – Programs consist of objects that interact with each other. Some also associate inheritance and polymorphism with OO language. Smalltalk, Java.

Declarative languages – are collections of declarations. Many functional and logic languages are also declarative. Declarative languages describe relationships between variables in terms of functions or inference rules and the language executor applies some fixed algorithm to these relations to produce a result.

Scripting language – work in conjunction with a larger application, support control of a variety of applications, are interpreted, or some combination thereof.

Parallel language – are collections of processes that communicate with each other.

Generation of Programming Language

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The first generation of language was the machine language. The machine language instruction uses a series of binary digits or a combination of numbers and letters that represents binary digits. Instructions and addresses were numerical.

The second generation of language was the symbolic instructions or mnemonics and addresses. To convert the assembly language source program into machine language, you use an assembler. Example, IBM, BAL and VAX macro.

The third generation language was the programmer concentration of structured programming and database management. It is a procedural language that requires the program instruction to tell the computer what to accomplish and how to do it. Example, FORTRAN, ADA, COBOL, Pascal, C and BASIC.

The fourth generation (4GL) was the non-procedural type language. The programmer only specifies what the program should accomplish without explaining how. Example. SQL, Postscript, and relational database orientation.

The fifth generation (5GL) was concerned on Artificial Intelligence and Fuzzy Logic.

Hardware Videos

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The Technical Components of an E-Commerce System (continued)

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E-Commerce standards for both general and specific e-commerce applications.
Messaging Option

E-Commerce standards for both general and specific e-commerce applications.

Fax Metaphor

Email

Value Added Networks - VANs

X.400

Electronic Faxes

Voice Messaging

Network Telephony (NCC: page. 49 - 50)

Internet Option

• A Brief History of the Internet
• The Internet began with ARPANET – a WAN started by the US Department of Defense for research into networking in 1969. One of the aims was to provide a way of connecting communications and intelligence centres in a robust way, so that if one was destroyed in war, or simply suffered machine failure, information could be automatically routed around the hole in the network.

• Many people contributed to the standards for communications protocols which made the network function. Researchers wrote their proposals in a paper called a ‘Request for Comments’ (RFC), and published it on the new medium itself. The first RFC (RFC0001) was written on 7 April 1969 and there are now well over 2000 RFCs.

• ARPANET was opened to non-military users later in the 1970s, primarily big universities – although at this stage it was still a research tool also used for file transfer and primitive email. The network started to expand internationally around 1972.

• It was not until the early to mid-1980s that the services we use most now started appearing on the Internet. Prior to 1984, all Internet addresses were strings of numbers (IP addresses). The mechanism by which servers are given names (e.g. ibm.com) was then introduced and email and other protocols followed. For example, RFC-822 describes the format for email headers.

• HTTP (Hyper-Text-Transfer-Protocol), the underlying mechanism of the World Wide Web was not invented until 1989, by Tim Berners-Lee. He was a physicist working at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory, and wanted a way for physicists to share information about their research. Initially the web was text only, and web browsers were also editors, so people could work on each other’s documents.
o Graphics came later with a browser called NCSA Mosaic. The start-up company Netscape improved on this and the number of users grew dramatically with their free trial versions of their browser. Over 80% of web users were using Netscape’s product.

o The graphical interface, combined with advances in modem technology and growth in the number of ISPs opened up the Internet to vast numbers of novice users. Prior to this, home computer users were largely limited to using ‘bulletin boards’ which has their own proprietary interface. Companies like AOL and Compuserve, impressed with the rapid growth of the web, and fearful of being left behind, connected their networks to the Internet and offered their existing users access.

o Microsoft all but abandoned its own content network MSN and rapidly embraced the Internet, incorporating its own browser (Internet Explorer) into its Windows operating system

Technical Components of an E-Commerce System

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The Technical Components of an E-Commerce System

Why a Communication Options Chapter?

This chapter will look at the development of communications from three different perspectives, namely non-Internet options, messaging options and the Internet itself which, in a broad sense, relies on a combination of options from the other two categories.

Non-Internet Options

Networks are electronic/data highways, which link computers together for the purpose of sharing resources. They are characterised by:

the type of data transmission technology they use;
whether they carry voice, data, or voice and data;
whether they are public or private (i.e. who can use them);
the nature of connection – dial-up, dedicated or virtual connections;
the types of physical links (such as optical fibre, coaxial cable, and copper wire).

The type of data transmission refers to the protocol they use, i.e. the set of rules for communicating that the end points in a connection use when they exchange signals. Both endpoints must understand and observe the protocol. The Internet uses TCP/IP protocols, which includes TCP Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol), HTTP, FTP and other protocols, each with a defined set of capabilities.

E.g.: LAN, MAN, WAN.

Wired & Wireless connections: Telephone, ISDN, DSL, and Satellite

Virtual Private Network

A VPN is a private data network that makes use of the public telecommunications infrastructure. The term virtual is used here because the network is not truly privately owned and operated; it relies for its wide area connections on the service provider’s lines and equipment.

E-Commerce

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Introduction to E-Commerce

Defining E-Commerce

E-commerce covers any form of business transaction or information exchange that is executed using any form of information and communications technology. This embraces business-to-business; business-to-consumer; and government-to-nation; as well as exchange of tools like the Internet and the World Wide Web, intranets, extranets, electronic mail and Electronic Data Interchange. (UK’s e-centre)

Brief history of E-Commerce;
look at what drives E-Commerce;
look at the components of an E-Commerce system;
list the range of E-Commerce techniques; identifying them within different
business contexts;
start to look at the impact of E-Commerce on the organisation.

The application of advanced information technology to increase the effectiveness of the business relationships between trading partners. (Automotive Industry Action Group in North America)

The enablement of a business vision supported by advanced information technology improves efficiency and effectiveness within the trading process. (E-Commerce Innovation Centre at Cardiff University)

The development of E-Commerce in the context of technological developments of the IT world today.

As the current environment provides affordable, more powerful and user-friendly systems, this has promoted the need of a system as a tool provider for business.

The development of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) brought about data to transfer from one system to another. EDI was widely used in the 1980s and early 1990s. The latter developments were of the X.400 and the Internet.

Electronic commerce (E-commerce)

The process of buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products, services and/or information via computer networks, including the Internet

The origins of e-commerce first started with innovations such as electronic fund transfer (EFT) in which funds could be routed electronically form one organisation to another

Then came Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a technology used to electronically transfer routine documents, which expanded electronic transfers from financial transactions to other types of transaction processing such as ordering

EDI required having expensive dedicated and private lines between the trading parties

Internet and WWW overcome the shortcomings of EDI

Electronic Business

A broader definition of EC, includes not just the buying and selling of goods and services, but also servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and conduction electronic transactions within an organisation.

Types of EC organisations

Brick and mortar (old-economy) – perform most of their business off-line, selling physical products by means of physical agents

Virtual organization/pure-play/click and order – conduct their business, activities solely online

Click-and-mortar – conduct some e-commerce activities, but do their primary business in the physical world

World Wide Web

Created in the early 1990s Tim Berners-Lee

Software that allows users to exchange information as it was designed to help scientists share online information using a single, unified interface.

Mid-1993, Marc Andressen, an undergraduate of University of Illinois, wrote a program called Mosaic, which made using the web as easy as pointing and clicking at pictures and underlined words

Mosaic was the first graphical browser that was launched with 150 websites holding a few thousand web-pages.

1995 there were about 10,000 sites, a number that had grown to 4 - 5 m by mid-1999.

Commercial use of the Internet has skyrocketed, with companies using the Internet to communicate with each other, with their customers, with their partners and with their suppliers.

Electronic markets

Classification of EC by the nature of the transactions / interactions:

1Business-to-business (B2B) – all of the participants are businesses or other organizations e.g suppliers
2.Business-to-Consumer (B2C) / e-tailing – includes retail transactions of products and services from businesses to individual shoppers
3.Business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) – a business provides some product or service to a client business that maintain its own customers
4.Consumer-to-business (C2B) – individuals who use the Internet to sell products or services to organisations, or individuals seek sellers to bid on products or services they need
5.Consumer-to-consumer (C2B) - consumers ell directly to other consumers
6.Peer-to-peer applications – technology that enables networked peer computers to share data and processing with each other directly, can be used in C2C, B2B, and B2C ecommerce
7.Mobile-commerce (m-commerce) – e-commerce transactions and activities conducted in a wireless environment
8.Intra-business EC – includes all internal organisational activities that involve the exchange of goods, services, or information among various units and individuals in an organisation
9.Location-based commerce (l-commerce) – m-commerce transactions targeted to individuals in specific locations, at specific times
10.Business-to-employees (B2E) – organisations deliver services, information or products to its individual employees
11.Collaborative commerce (c-commerce) – individuals or groups communicate or collaborate online
12.E-learning – online delivery of information for the purposes of training or education
13.Exchange-to-exchange (E2E) – electronic exchanges formally connect to one another for the purpose of exchanging information
14.E-government – a government entity buys or provides goods services, or information to businesses (G2B)or individual citizens (G2C)

Benefits

benefits for organizations

Global reach – expands the marketplace to national and international markets. With minimal capital outlay, a company can easily and quickly locate the best supplier, more customers, and the most suitable business partners worldwide

Cost reduction – decrease the cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing, and retrieving paper-based information.

Supply chain Improvements – supply chain inefficiencies, such as excessive inventories and delivery delays can be minimized with EC.

Extended hours – 24/7/365 the business always open on the Web, with no overtime or other extra costs.

Third generation

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Further technological advancement in electronics brought further reductions in size, greater reliability and speed and lower costs computer. Integrated circuits (ICs) replace the transistors and this marked the development of third generation computers.

This development is known as large-scale integration, or LSI, and is refer to the ability to compress large numbers of Integrated circuits, or transistors, on a single silicon chip. For example, 5,000 transistors can be placed on a chip to produce a digital watch.

Fourth generation

Fourth generation computers continue to be characterized by chips that can contain increasing numbers of items. Now, over 1 million items can be stored on a single chip. This further miniaturization of components, commonly referred to as Ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI), result in increased speed, greater reliability, and enormous storage capacities for current computers.
Microprocessor

The Intel Corporation was the first company that developed the microprocessor, or computer on the chip. One chip could contain all the circuits necessary to perform the basic functions of an entire computer. Microprocessors are not only used in fourth generation computers, but for wide variety of products including automobiles, sewing machines, microwave ovens, electronics games and so on.

The microprocessor was a general purpose computer that could be programmed to do any number of tasks, from running a watch to guiding a missile. No longer was it necessary to design circuit specially for each intended purpose. Manufacturers could now make a single type of microprocessor and sell it to other manufacturers, who would use them for thousands of different applications.

The Fifth generation computers

Unlike all other generation computers, this generation of computers is close at hand and is characterized by the use of the technique used to reduce complex programming. This technique used is known as Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Japanese, who are currently at the forefront in the development of fifth-generation computers, refer to them as truly “intelligent machine”.

Classification of Computers

Computers can be loosely categorized according to their capacity for processing data. Large computers called mainframes are used by such customers as banks, airlines, and large manufacturers to process very large amounts of data quickly.

The most powerful and expensive computers are called supercomputers. Minicomputers, which are widely used by colleges and retail businesses, have become increasingly similar to main--frames in terms of capacity. The largest and most expensive minicomputers are called super minis.

The smallest computers-such as desktop office computers or-home computer are called personal computers, or sometimes microcomputers. Super micros, or work-stations, combine the compactness of a desktop computer with power that almost equals that of a mainframe. As computer technology-changes, distinctions between types of computers will also change.

A centralized computer system does all processing in one location. In a decentralized system, -the computer itself and some storage devices are in one place, but the devices to access the computer are somewhere else. Such a system requires data communications - the exchange of data over communications facilities.

In a distributed data -processing system, a local office usually uses its own small computer for processing local data but is connected to a central headquarters computer for other purposes.

Often organizations use a network of personal computers, which allows users to operate independently or in cooperation with other computers-exchanging data and sharing resources. Such a setup, often called a local area network (LAN), can even connect personal computers to a mainframe computer to form a micro-to mainframe link, in which users can obtain data from the mainframe and analyze it on their own personal computers.

People and Computers

People are vital to any computer system. An organization's computer resources department-often called Management Information Services (MIS) or Computer Information Systems (CIS), Computing 5cr-vices, or Information Service-includes data entry operators (who prepare data for processing), computer operators (who monitor and run the equipment-librarians who catalog disks and tapes), computer programmers (who design, write, test, and implement pro grams), systems analysts (who plan and design entire systems of programs), and a chief information officer (who coordinates the MIS department).

In general, a distinction is made between computer professionals, who provide computer systems, and users, who use the systems. However, in a development called the end-user revolution, users have become increasingly knowledgeable about computers and less reliant on computer professionals.
COMPUTER USAGE IN COMPANY

Reception

Before the installation of a computerized telephone system, a full-time operator was required to answer the telephone and direct the calls. Now, the computerized telephone system routes the calls to the appropriate person or department. If a caller does not want to leave a voice message or requests to talk to an operator, the call is routed to the receptionist. The receptionist can use the computer to determine the location of an employee. When employees leave their work areas for a meeting, lunch, or to travel away from the office, they record their destinations or reasons for being away using their computers. The employees can also record any special instructions to the receptionist, such as when they will return or to please hold their calls. If a caller wishes to leave a voice message, the computerized telephone system can play it back for the employee when he or she returns or calls in for messages.

Sales

For example of a company where sales department consists of two groups: (1) in-house sales representatives, who handle phone-in and mail-in sales orders and the field sales force, who make sales calls at customer locations. The in-house sales staff uses headset telephones so their hands are free to use their computer keyboards. Using the computer while they are on the telephone with a customer allows them to check product availability and the customer's credit status. A computer program also recommends products that complement the products ordered by the customer and displays information on special product promotions.

(2) Outside sales representatives use notebook computers and special communications equipment and software to communicate with the Dalton main office. As with the in-house sales staff, they also can check product availability and customer credit status. If they receive a customer order, they can enter it into the Dalton computer system while they are still at the customer site. In addition, the field sales representatives can use the e-mail capability to check for or send messages.

Marketing

The marketing department uses the computer system for a number of purposes. Desktop publishing, drawing, and graphics software are used to develop all marketing literature. Product brochures on bicycle parts, advertising materials, and product packaging are all produced in-house, saving considerable time and money.

The customer service representatives all have computers that allow them to record a variety of customer inquiries. Recording the nature of each customer service inquiry provides for better follow-up (less chance of forgetting an unresolved inquiry) and enables the company to summarize and review why customers are calling. This helps the company identify and resolve potential problems at an early stage. The marketing department also uses a calendar program to schedule product promotions and attendance at trade.

Shipping and Receiving

The shipping and receiving department uses the computer system to enter transactions that keep a company’s inventory records accurate. Inventory receipts are first checked against computer records to make sure that the company receives only what was ordered. If the received goods match what was ordered, only a single entry has to be made to update the on-hand inventory and purchasing records.

Shipping transactions are also efficient. If all requested items are in stock, only a single entry is required to decrease the inventory and create the information that will be used to prepare the billing invoice. Shipping information, such as the method and time of shipment, can be added to the transaction record so the computer system can be used to provide an up-to-the-minute status of the customer's order.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing department uses the computer to schedule production and to record the costs of the items produced. Special manufacturing software matches the availability of production resources such as people, machines, and material against the desired product output. This information allows certain companies schedule production efficiently and tells them when and how much to buy of the raw materials they need to produce their products.

Actual labour, material, and machine usage is recorded on the manufacturing floor using special workstations designed to be used in industrial environments. This information is entered into the computer system automatically to update inventory, production, payroll, and cost accounting records.

Product Design

The product design department uses computer-aided design (CAD) software to design new products. CAD software allows the designers to create and review three-dimensional models of new products on the computer before expensive models are required. If a design is approved, the CAD software can automatically produce a list of the required parts.

Accounting

The accounting department is one of the largest computer system users. Many of the accounting records are the result of transactions entered in the user departments, such as shipping and receiving and manufacturing. These records are used to pay vendor invoices, bill customers for product sales, and process the employee’s payroll.

The accounting transactions are summarized automatically to produce financial statements, which are used internally to monitor financial performance and given to outside organizations such as banks.

Human Resources

The human resources department uses the computer system to keep track of information on existing, past, and potential employees. Besides the standard information required for payroll and employee benefits, the system keeps track of employees job skills and training. This information enables the human resources department to review the records of existing employees first when a new job.

Information Systems

A primary responsibility of the information systems department is to keep the existing system running and determine when and if new equipment or software is required. To help answer these questions, the information systems personnel use diagnostic and performance measurement software that tells them how much the system is being used and if system problems are being encountered.

A systems analyst works with users to design custom software for user applications for which application software packages do not exist. A computer programmer then uses this design to write the program instructions necessary to produce the desired processing results and output.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

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Computers use a series of control programs, called the operating systems, that moves data in and out of main memory and monitors the running of application programs.
The operating system is the primary component of system software. Some computers have built-in operating system, but these cannot be easily changed or updated.

Most computer manufacturers either provide their own operating system, usually on disk, or allow users to purchase disks containing the more popular operating systems.

Operating systems interact with users by means of a user interface. Some operating systems, especially those for larger computer systems, are text based and require the user to learn a set of commands (command line interface)

Some operating systems for PCs like the Macintosh operating systems, permit users to select commands from graphic symbols, or icons, displayed on the screen. Text-based operating systems, like DOS (Disk Operating System) for IBM and IBM compatibles computers, can work in conjunction with graphical user interfaces like windows, which make them easier to use or more user friendly.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Application programs are designed to satisfy user needs by operating on input data to perform a given job, for example, to prepare a report, update a master payroll file, or print customer bills.

Typically, application programs are acquired in one of two ways; Package programs purchased off-the-shelf from a software retailer or; Custom programs designed especially for the unique needs of an individual or an organization

Packaged programs allow limited customization, but they really are intended to be used as is by a broad range of users. Although they may not meet all aspects of every users need, application packages are inexpensive compared to custom programs and are supplied with comprehensive user reference manuals called documentation.

Custom software, on the other hand, is written by programmers within an organization, by outside consultants, or by self-employed programmers. Custom programs are designed to meet the precise needs of users, but they are very time consuming and costly to develop.
THE COMPUTER GENERATIONS

Since the 1940’s, four generations of computers have evolved. From the first to the fourth, the trend has been to produce more powerful, less expensive, smaller and more reliable computer systems.

First generation

The first commercial electronic computer was UNIVAC 1 (Universal Automatic Computer). This machine was developed specifically for scientific and military purposes, but was dedicated to business data processing applications.

The characteristic that distinguished first generation computers from subsequent machines was the use of vacuum tubes to control internal operations. Vacuum tube un-reliable, generate a lot of heat, required air-conditioning system.

Binary notation was used instead of decimal notation. All instructions and information were stored in the computer as 1s and 0s, which corresponds to the electronic conditions ‘on’ and ‘off’.

Drawbacks:

They took several minutes to ‘warm up”. When they were completely warmed up, they became quite hot. Early computers used thousands of vacuum tubes. They occupied the whole rooms and required an enormous amount of electric current to keep them going.

Second generation

In the late 1950s, tiny, solid-state transistors replaced vacuum tubes in computers. The elimination of vacuum tubes greatly reduces generated heat and made possible the reduction in the size of the developed computers.

This generation of computer also uses magnetic cores for representing data in computer. Because cores were far smaller than vacuum tubes, internal storage capacity becomes greater even though the actual size of second generation computers was sharply reduced.

As about the same time, in the early 1960’s, magnetic tape and disks began to be widely used by auxiliary storage. As a result of these developments, a significant increase in the speed and processing capability of computers was achieved.

OUTPUT DEVICES PRODUCE OUTGOING INFORMATION

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Each output device in a computer system accepts information from main memory under the control of the CPU, and converts it to an appropriate output form.

A printer, for example, is an output device that prints reports or graphics based on information that the CPU has processed and produced. Similarly, a video monitor is an output device that displays both text and graphics on a screen.

STORING PROGRAMS AND DATA FOR FUTURE PROCESSING

Once you turn off a computer, the data and instructions operated on by the CPU are lost. For this reason, separate storage devices are needed to keep the data and instructions in electronic form for then to be conveniently used again and again. Disks are common storage media for PCs and for larger computer systems.

A computer has two types of storage, namely main memory or PRIMARY STORAGE and external storage or called SECONDARY STORAGE. Main Memory contains computer program and the data currently being processed. It is volatile (i.e. it loses its contents when power supply is switched off). Secondary Storage stores data and programs that are not currently required by the CPU. It is transferred to the Main Memory when required. It is non-volatile (i.e. it retains data even though power supply is switched off)

SOFTWARE MAKES IT WORK

Before computer hardware can actually read data, process it, and produce information, it needs a set of instructions – a program – that actually controls the CPU operations. Programs, like data, are read into main memory under the control of the CPU.

We say that computers are stored-program-devices because they require a set of instructions to be stored in the computers main memory before data can be processed.

Computer professionals called programmers write programs for each user need or application area. The total set of programs that enables the computer system to process data is referred to as software.

TYPES OF SOFTWARE

Computers require two types of software; System Software to monitor and supervise the overall operations of the computer system and Application Software to manipulate input data and provide users with meaningful output information.

MAIN MEMORY AND CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

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Main memory stores programs and data for processing and the Central Processing Unit, or CPU, controls all computer operations. The CPU reads data into main memory from an input device, processes the data according to program instructions, and produces information by activating an output device.

The CPU is the “brains” of the computer system. The unit that houses main memory and the CPU must be linked by cables (or by communication channels such as telephone lines) to all input and output devices in the computer system.

The program, or set of instructions for processing data, is read into main memory by the CPU before data can be entered and processed and information generated.

INPUT DEVICES READ INCOMING DATA

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Computer Technology Systems

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THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AND HOW IT PROCESS DATA

A computer system is a group of machines, or hardware that accepts data, process it, and display information. The main reason for using computer system is to process data quickly and efficiently so that the information obtained is timely, meaningful, and accurate.

A computer system performs its information processing operations under the control of sets of instructions called programs. Computers read incoming data called input, process the data, and display outgoing information called output.

Data itself consists of raw facts, data that is processed or operated to produces structured, meaningful information. Information processing is a set of procedures used to operate on data and produce meaningful results.

Computer system consists of the following components; input devices, main memory and the central processing unit, output devices, and secondary storage devices.

Programming Methodology

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What is a Programming Language?

Programming language is a set of words, symbols, and codes that enables a programmer to communicate a solution algorithm to a computer.

It is needed to allow human begins and computers to talk to each other.

A programmer can use a variety of programming languages to code a program.

A program development tool consists of user-friendly software products designed to assist both programmers and non-technical users with the creation of information system solutions.

What Are the Components of a Computer?

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The electric, electronic, and mechanical components of a computer, or hardware, include input devices, output devices, a system unit, storage devices, and communications devices. An input device allows you to enter data or instructions into a computer. An output device conveys information to one or more people. The system unit is a case that contains the electronic components of a computer that are used to process data. A storage device records and/or retrieves items to and from storage media. A communications device enables a computer to send and receive data, instructions, and information to and from one or more computers.

What Is a Computer?

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A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its own memory, that can accept data, process the data according to specified rules, produce results, and store the results for future use.

Generation of Programming Language

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The first generation of language was the machine language. Machine language instruction uses a series of binary digits or a combination of numbers and letters that represents binary digits. Instructions and addressed were numerical.

The second generation of language was the symbolic instructions or mnemonics and addresses. To convert the assembly language source program into machine language, you use an assembler. Example, IBM, BAL and VAX macro.

The third generation language was the programmer concentration of structured programming and database management. Is a procedural language requires the program instruction tell the computer what to accomplish and how to do it. Example, FORTRAN, ADA, COBOL, Pascal, C and BASIC.

The fourth generation (4GL) was the non-procedural type language, the programmer only specifies what the program should accomplish without explaining how. Example. SQL, Postscript, and relational database orientation.

The fifth generation (5GL) was concerned on Artificial Intelligence and Fuzzy Logic.

What is a Programming Language?

2008-10-13T02:20:00.000-07:00

Programming language is a set of words, symbols, and codes that enables a programmer to communicate a solution algorithm to the computer. Needed to allow human begins and computer to talk to each other.

A programmer can use a variety of programming language to code a program.

A program development tool consists of user-friendly software products designed to assist both programmers and non-technical users with the creation of information system solution.

Programming and Databases

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A computer is a machine which works from a set of pre-written instruction (Program). A computer will (under the control of its program) perform different things depending on the values of the data provided with from moment to moment. A computer program which is not built-in, but is brought into action as and when it is required.

Application Generator - It is a program, which writes program such as Pascal, Oracle, VB and so on.

Source program – It is human written program that is easy for a human being to read, write and understand. Example: writeln (Number), cin>Name. Object program (Binary) - It is machine understandable program, which is easy for a computer to read and act upon. Example: (Binary) 0111 0011 1001 0110

High Level Language – It is English like Statement Language, which is relatively easy for humans to follow. Example :- COBOL, FORTRAN, SQL, PASCAL. Low Level Language - It is Machine like Statement Language, Which is relatively easy for computers to translate and execute. But it is not natural for human beings. Example:- Machine code (binary), Mnemonic, Assembler

Serial Processing - One Process after another until all of the processes were completed. (Example: Program Instruction Processing). Parallel Processing - Processing where some operations run concurrently with others (Two Processes taking place in the computer at the same time. Example:-The peripheral controllers in the computer). Parallelism may exist between phases of an instruction’s execution between data transfer and processing, or between the operations of multiple independent processors.

Word Processing

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What is word processing

Word processing software lets you to create, edit, format, store, retrieve,
and print a text document

Function of word processing

Creation is the original composing and keying in of the document.

Editing is making changes to the document to fix errors the content.

Formatting refers to adjusting the appearance of the document
to make it look appropriate and attractive.

Retrieving is the document means bringing the stored document means
bringing the stored document from disk back into computer memory so
that it can be used again.

Printing is producing the document on paper, using a printer
connected to the computer.

How word processing works

Scrolling: to see any part of the document.

Easy correction: move the cursor to the position
of the cursor of just right of the cursor.

Menus: a set of choice normally lay out across the top of the screen.
Pull down menus reveals lower-level choices that pull down like
window shade from the initial selection at the top of the screen.
A toolbar is a collection of buttons.

Formatting

Vertical centering: adjusts the top and bottom margins, tabs and indents,
justification, line spacing, emphasis, and the other factors that affect appearance.

Line centering: the line which centered between the left and right margins
of the page.

Margins: Is use automatically by the word processing programs.

Tabs and indentation: it is common to tab just once to begin a paragraph.
Justification: the evenness of text at the side margins.

Line spacing: most of the time you will want your documents-letters,
memos, reports-to be single-spaced.

Boldface, Italic, and Underlining: certain words or phrases,
or even entire paragraphs, can be given emphasis by using a
darker text known as boldface text, or by using the slanted
type called italic, or by underling important words.
Fonts: most word processing packages offer dozens of fonts.

Squeezing or stretching a document: adjusting the length
by adjusting the margins, try different line and experiment with fonts.

Printing envelopes: find the command envelope on one of your
program’s pull-down menus.

Other important tools

Search
Find and replace
Pagination
Print preview
Footnotes
Headers and footers
Text blocks: moving, copying and deleting

Spelling checker and thesaurus program

A spelling checker program finds spelling errors
you may have made when typing document.

A thesaurus program offers synonyms
(words with the same meaning) and antonyms
words with the opposite meaning for common words.

Video Card

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The AGP expansion slot connects AGP video cards to a motherboard. Video expansion cards are also known as graphic expansion cards. AGP stands for Accelerated Graphics Port. AGP video cards are capable of a higher data transfer rate than PCI video cards. Video cards, like the one shown above, simply plug into an AGP slot and connect a monitor or other video display device to a computer. The "DVI Out" connector shown in picture above connects to a digital video display. DVI stands for Digital Video Interface. Video cards with a TV output connection are capable of displaying a computer's video on a television. Video cards with a TV input connection are able of displaying a television's video on a computer. The AGP card and the monitor are what determine the quality of a computer's video display. The photo below shows what an AGP slot looks like.
AGP slots and cards come in 4 different modes. AGP 1x mode is the oldest. AGP 2x mode came next. After that was AGP 4x mode. The latest AGP mode is AGP 8x. Below is a picture of three PCI Express slots.

PCI Express is a more recent technology that is slowly replacing AGP. PCI Express x16 slots can transfer data at 4GBs per second, which is about double that of an AGP 8x slot. PCI Express slots come in PCIe x1, PCIe x2, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, and PCIe x16. PCIe x16 slots are used for video cards.
he photo above shows what a GPU looks like. GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit. The video card is in charge of controlling the video display. Much like the CPU's relationship with the motherboard, the brain of the video card is the GPU. It is responsible for making the decisions for processing the video card's graphical input and output data. It is hidden under a fan and heatsink in the first picture to keep it cool so that it doesn't overhea

Sound Card

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aThe photo above shows what a PCI slot looks like. PCI slots can handle 64 bits of data at a time. ISA slots can only handle 32 bits of data at a time. PCI stands for "Peripheral Component Interconnect." A 64-bit PCI slot has 64 connections to the motherboard. Each connection is capable of handling 1 bit of data at a time. A 32-bit ISA slot has 32 connections to the motherboard and can handle only 32 bits of data at a time. Below is a picture of how a PCI card is installed. Note: Older technology ISA slots were 8-bit and 16-bit. The later EISA, (or Extended ISA), slots are capable of 32-bit data transfer. Older PCI technology was 32-bit. The newer PCI technology is 64-bit.

Below is a picture of Creative's Sound Blaster Live Value PCI sound card. The sound card is what processes a computer's sound data. When you hear music coming from your computer's speakers, the sound card's digital signal processor, (or DSP), is at work along with the digital-to-analog converter, (or DAC), processing and converting digital sound data to analog sound data. When you talk into your computer's microphone, the sound card's DSP works along with the analog-to-digital converter, (or ADC), to process and convert analog sound data to digital sound data. Analog audio is continuous, like the sound waves from a person's voice. Digital audio is broken into pieces that the computer can understand and work with. Better sound cards have better sound. The Sound Blaster Live Value card allows you to connect a sound input device (like a stereo), a microphone, front speakers, rear speakers, and a joystick or MIDI instrument (like a MIDI keyboard). The front and rear speakers can be combined together to produce stereo surround sound. Just like the video card, the sound card uses its own processor to process sound data.

Power Supply

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The power supply supplies the electrical power for a computer. It supplies power to the motherboard, drives, and certain expansion cards. It normally has at least one fan that helps cool the power supply and will assist in the task of cooling the computer. Some power supplies have an additional outlet on the back that can be used to provide power to the monitor. Power supplies come in a variety of wattages. They range anywhere from around 160 watts to about 700 watts. 350 to 400 watt power supplies are probably the most common. A higher wattage power supply doesn't hurt anything, but a lower wattage power supply can cause problems for people with lots of devices connected to their computer

Power Cables

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The power cables supply electrical power from the power supply to the drives and other devices. The power cables are red, yellow, and black. The yellow wire furnishes 12 volts of power. The red wire furnishes 5 volts of power. The two black wires are the ground wires for the yellow and red wires. Some drives, like the 1.44MB floppy drive, use a smaller cable and connector, but the wires still have the same voltage.

Microprocessor

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The microprocessor, (or CPU), is the brain of the computer. The picture above shows a slot 1 processor with heatsinks and a fan, which prevent it from overheating. Below is the processor without the heatsinks and fan, being inserted into a slot 1 motherboard connection. Slot 1 processors have the microprocessor and level 2 cache memory mounted on a circuit board, (or card), which is enclosed inside of a protective shell.

The enclosed slot 1 processor card contains the central processing unit, (or CPU), with its level 1 cache memory. The central processing unit also contains the control unit and the arithmetic/logic unit, both working together as a team to process the computer's commands. The control unit controls the flow of events inside the processor. It fetches instructions from memory and decodes them into commands that the computer can understand. The arithmetic/logic unit handles all of the math calculations and logical comparisons. It takes the commands from the control unit and executes them, storing the results back into memory. These 4 steps, (fetch, decode, execute, and store), are what's called the "machine cycle" of a computer. These 4 basic steps are how the computer runs each and every program. The microprocessor's level 1 cache memory, is memory that is contained within the CPU itself. It stores the most frequently used instructions and data. The CPU can access the cache memory much faster than having to access the RAM, (or Random Access Memory). Below is a picture of what's inside of a Pentium 3 processor. The control unit, arithmetic/logic unit, and level 1 cache are contained within the center CPU chip. Level 2 cache memory is visible on the right-hand side of the processor card.

Level 1 cache memory is memory that is included inside of the CPU itself. It is usually smaller and faster than level 2 cache memory. Level 2 cache memory is memory between the RAM and CPU. It is used when the level 1 cache memory is full or is too small to hold the intended data. Originally it was not directly on the CPU chip itself. *Read the update at the bottom of this page.* The photo above shows level 2 cache memory on the processor card, beside the CPU. Below are two photos of a CPU. The photo on the bottom is a view of the CPU chip from the outside. The photo on the top is a large map of the inside of the CPU, showing the different areas and what their function is.

At the top you can also see the clock driver. The clock driver is what times, or sets the pace, for the computer. The clock's speed, is how CPUs are rated. Each machine cycle consists of two beats. Each beat the control unit fetches and decodes data, which is called the "instruction cycle." At the same time the arithmetic/logic unit executes and stores data, which is called the "execution cycle." Common CPUs available today perform at 3Ghz and faster. This means that a 3Ghz CPU can execute 3,000,000,000 instructions in a single second!

Memory Sockets

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The picture above is of 4 DIMM sockets. DIMM sockets are where the computer's RAM, (or Random Access Memory), is installed. DIMM stands for Dual Inline Memory Module. The reason it is called "Dual" is because both sides of the memory module have completely separate connections from the other side of the module. On the older SIMMs, (or Single Inline Memory Modules), both sides were connected together at each contact point on both sides of the module. Below is a partial picture of a memory module's little gold contact points.

Memory

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RAM is an abbreviation for Random Access Memory. RAM is the computer's main memory. The computer uses RAM constantly to temporarily store information while it is working with it. The photo above shows what a SDRAM DIMM memory module looks like. SDRAM stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory. SDRAM runs synchronously, (or at the same pace), with the processor's front side bus. A bus is simply a connection between items on the motherboard. The speed of the memory, or its data transfer rate, is how fast the data can travel between the RAM and the processor. The speed is measured in MHz, (or megahertz). The memory module shown above is a DIMM module. DIMM stands for Dual In-line Memory Module. The term DIMM has nothing to do with the speed or capacity of a memory module. It simply refers to the way the module is designed. DIMM modules consist of several DRAM chips. DIMM modules have separate contact points on both sides of the module. Below is a picture of a single DRAM memory chip.
Some memory is capable of checking for errors. This memory is called ECC, (or Error Correction Code), memory. If a computer has a lot of memory, it can store a lot of temporary data and operate faster. People with good memories also retain more information and do things faster, because they don't waste a lot of time trying to remember things. Computers commonly have 512MB to 1GB of memory. The DDR SDRAM memory module replaced the SDRAM memory module. DDR stands for Double Data Rate. SDRAM runs at the same pace the system clock runs. DDR SDRAM runs at double the pace the system clock runs. After DDR SDRAM came DDR2 SDRAM. DDR2 SDRAM runs at four times the pace the system clock runs. Below is a picture of a DDR2 SDRAM DIMM memory module.

IDE Cables

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IDE stands for Integrated Device, (or Drive), Electronics. EIDE is a later standard of IDE. It stands for Enhanced Integrated Device, (or Drive), Electronics. The picture above shows how to connect an IDE cable to two drives. Using jumpers that are normally located on the back of a drive, the top drive should be made the "master" and the bottom drive should be made the "slave." The master drive is normally located at the end of a two connection IDE cable. Since data can not go to and from each drive at the same time, it is necessary to make one drive the master and the other drive the slave.

Front Panel Connector Cables

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The front panel connector cables connect the front panel components to the motherboard. The front panel is where the hard drive activity lights, case speaker, reset button, on/off button, computer power on light, and key lock (if applicable), are normally located. These items must be connected to the motherboard, like everything else, in order to function. Below is a view of the front panel connector cables inside of a different computer.

Expansion Slots

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Expansion slot openings are located on the back of the computer. They look like the ones shown in the picture above. They provide access to the AGP, PCIe, PCI, and ISA expansion slots on the motherboard. Expansion cards, like the one shown below, plug into these slots to add more devices to a computer.

Chipset

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PCI/AGP/ISA/IDE Controlers

Why is it called a chipset? Because in the past there were always two or more of these on a motherboard. Some motherboards now have only one chip that performs all of the duties of the chipset, but others still use two or more chips. Chipsets are like the motherboard's traffic cops. They direct the flow of data from one point to another. Each chip in the chipset has its own particular job. This is the 440BX chipset. One chip links directly to the microprocessor. Above is a picture of the 440BX chipset. Below is the "Intel 82443BX PCI/AGP Controller." It is hidden under a heat sink that protects it from overheating.

The 82443BX Northbridge chip controls the data traffic between the microprocessor and the rest of the motherboard. It also controls the traffic to and from the AGP card. Both chips share in the task of controlling the PCI and main memory data flow. In the diagram below you can see the data flow paths mapped out for the chipset. The paths managed by chip 1, (or the Northbridge chip), are shown in red. The paths managed by chip 2, (or the Southbridge chip), are shown in blue. The duties of the chips may vary slightly depending on the chipset. For some chipsets, the Northbridge may control the CPU, video, and main memory traffic, while the "Southbridge" chip may control the other traffic

The paths between each component are referred to as "buses." Buses are simply the paths, or wires, that connect one component to another. The chips in the chipset are referred to as bridges, because they bridge the components together and ensure that the data flow is directed to the proper place. The better chipsets are those that can handle data the fastest and most efficiently. Below is a picture of both of the chipsets on the motherboard

Hardware

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Case Fan

Case fans are relatively inexpensive and are extremely important. Computer components generate quite a bit of heat and must be kept as cool as possible. The case fan is the primary source of cooling for most computers. Although the importance of the fan is often overlooked, it is the key to a long life for a computer. Most computer cases are designed to allow a person to add one or more additional case fans.

BIOS

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Basic Input/Output System

BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. The photo above shows an example of what a built in BIOS program looks like. BIOS programs vary from computer to computer, but every computer has one. Without any disks or even a hard drive, the BIOS program is always available, written permanently on the BIOS chip. It is used to set up the computer's hardware. Every time you boot your computer, you have the option of entering "Setup." Setup is how you access the BIOS program. Only experienced users should alter the BIOS settings. Improper BIOS settings can cause major problems on a computer. The BIOS chip contains enough information to operate the computer all by itself. When the computer is first turned on (or booted), the BIOS program is in charge. After booting and performing a few system checks, the BIOS program turns the computer over to your operating system. Windows XP is an example of a common operating system. Below is a picture of a BIOS chip. This chip is where the BIOS program is stored.

Motherboard Battery

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The motherboard battery is used to preserve the computer's time and BIOS settings while the computer is turned off. Some motherboards only need the battery in case of a power outage. They draw the needed electricity from the electrical outlet to power the clock. These motherboards save their BIOS information to EEPROM. EEPROM stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory.

5.25-inch Drive Bay

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5.25-inch external drive bays can hold several different types of hardware. A CD burner, like the one shown above, is just one example. CD-R disks can store around 700MBs, (or 700,000,000 bytes), of information. A CD-R drive can read and write information, but it cannot erase it. A CD-RW drive can also read and write data, but it can also erase the data and rewrite new data, which is useful if you save something and later wish to remove it. CD-RW drives can use both CD-R disks and CD-RW disks. The recording speed rating associated with CD-R drives varies up to 54x. It varies up to 32x for CD-RW drives

3.5-inch Drive Bay

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There are two types of 3.5-inch drive bays: internal and external. Internal 3.5-inch drive bays hold drives, like hard drives, that do not need to be touched from outside of the computer. External 3.5-inch drive bays hold drives, like floppy drives, that need their disks to be manually inserted from outside of the computer. The picture above shows a Zip drive on the left and a floppy drive on the right. Below is a picture of a hard drive.