Download Mgt 20600: IT Management

Mgt 20600:
IT Management & Applications
Software
Tuesday
February 14, 2006
Reminders
 Reading
 Fundamentals
section
text, Chapter Two, Software
 Homework
– Homework Two due Friday, 2/24 by 5pm
 Next
week’s class session:
Application Software
Thin Clients



Computers connected to a server in a network
and have no hard drives
Thin-client sales grew 46% from 2004 to 2005
Advantages
– Support telecommuting
– Better security
– Easier administration


Faster and easier backups
Efficient disaster recovery
– Less expensive


Can cut costs up to 70%
Thin client model has 35% to 40% lower TCO overall
– Centralized data
Thin Client Outlook
THIN OUTLOOK
Projected growth in worldwide unit shipments of thin-client devices between last year and
2009
2004: 1.6 million
2009: 5.3 million
COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE: 17.3%
Source: IDC, Framingham, Mass.
Thin Client Computing
What is the most compelling business value case for thin client computing?
(16%)
Better security
(5%)
Ease of use
(32%)
Reduced cost of ownership
(38%)
Ease of management
(9%)
None of the above
Personal Computers

Demise of the Desktop?
– Laptop to Desktop ratio in corporations




Why?
1 in 5 in 1999
1 in 3 in 2005
1 in 2 in next few years
– Mobility!

Outside and inside of workplace
– Changes in work habits


–
–
–
–
Used on the road, in the home, into meetings
Facilitate collaboration as well as email access
Wireless connectivity improvements
Battery life improvements
Price/Performance gap between laptops and desktops has narrowed considerably
Availability of workstation-class laptops for computing intensive tasks like
software development and computer-aided design
– Laptop reliability has improved

Laptop concerns
– Security!
PC Virtualization
 PC
hardware moved into data center
as part of PC blades
– Fit into a chassis that can be centrally
managed
– Several users can share a single blade
– Simplifies PC management
 Thin
client on desktop that functions
as an extended keyboard, monitor,
and mouse
Servers
Midrange computers in data center that
provide applications, web services, and
storage to client devices
 Defining features

– Use faster, multi-core processors than pc’s
 64
bit processors
– Often run Unix or Linux as their operating
systems
– Often deployed in server farms or blades for
easy management and flexibility
– Less costly than mainframes
– Ability to load balance
Mainframes
 Large,
very fast computers that
support the enterprise
– Many legacy systems run on
mainframes
– Known for reliability and scalability
– Can replace many midrange servers and
can cut IT staff costs as a result
What a Mainframe Looks Like
AARP Mainframe Example


Members
– 35 million members
– 76 million baby-boomers preparing for retirement
Central customer database
– Can be accessed by
 Members
 Trading partners
– Insurance providers
– Retirement communities

Technology
– Mainframe used for customer database
 Centralized
– Member information can be maintained and secured independently of
the numerous IT applications that use it


Reliable
Scalable
– Will support increasing numbers of transactions as membership grows

Continuously updated
– Makes it easier to market products and services to its members

Application-independent
– Common interface to the database for suppliers
– Standard method for integrating applications with the database
What a SuperComputer Looks Like
Terabyte: A thousand billion bytes or a thousand gigabytes
Gigaflop: One billion floating point operations per second
Corporate Supercomputing

Ping Inc., golf club maker
– Uses supercomputer to run simulations of golf club
designs
– Has drastically reduced development time

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
– Uses supercomputing for tire simulations
– Reduces amount of money spent on building physical
tire prototypes, from 40% to 15% of the research and
development budget

Supercomputing also supports
– Digital animation
– Bioinformatics
– RFID chips and the huge databases they create
Overview of Software
 Computer
programs: sequences
of instructions
 Two
Types
– Systems software: coordinates the
activities of hardware and programs
– Application software: helps users
solve particular problems
Supporting Individual, Group,
and Organizational Goals

Sphere of influence: the scope of problems and
opportunities addressed by a particular software
application
– Personal
– Workgroup
– Enterprise
Software: Operating System
 When
selecting an operating system,
you must consider the current and
future requirements for application
software to meet the needs of the
organization. In addition, your choice
of a particular operating system
must be consistent with your choice
of hardware.
Systems Software:
Operating Systems
 Operating
system (OS): set of
programs that control the hardware
and act as an interface with
applications
 Common hardware functions
– Get input (e.g., keyboard)
– Retrieve data from disks and store data
on disks
– Display information on a monitor or
printer
Operating Systems
Operating Systems
 User
interface
– Allows individuals to access and
command the computer system
– Command-based user interface:
uses text commands
– Graphical user interface (GUI): uses
icons and menus to send commands to
the computer system
– Bringing Vista to life
Operating Systems
 Hardware
independence
– Application program interface
(API): allows applications to make use
of the operating system
 Memory
management
– Control how memory is accessed and
maximize available memory and storage
Operating Systems


Processing tasks
– Multitasking: more than one program running
at the same time
– Time-sharing: more than one person using a
computer system at the same time
– Scalability: ability to handle an increasing
number of concurrent users smoothly
Networking capability: features that aid users in
connecting to a computer network
Operating Systems
 Access
to system resources
– Protection against unauthorized access
– Logons and passwords
 File
management
– Ensures that files in secondary storage
are
 Available
when needed
 Protected from access by unauthorized
users
Current Operating Systems
Linux: Personal Operating System

Novell’s Linux Desktop 10
– Designed to go head-to-head against Windows
– Includes

Desktop operating system
– Desktop search feature
– Desktop note-taking technology






OpenOffice.org office productivity suite
Mozilla Firefox
Instant-messaging client
Open-source collaboration client
F-Spot personal photo management application
Technical support
– Working with software vendors to develop more
applications for Linux

HP delivers Linux laptop
Linux: Workgroup and Enterprise
Operating System

Open source operating systems (Linux)
– Increasing comfort level with this alternative
– Dominates as server operating system
– Why?
 Lower
total cost of ownership
 Lower capital investment
 Greater reliability and uptime compared to
commercial alternatives
 Greater flexibility and control
 Faster, cheaper application development
Linux Example



Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
– China’s biggest bank
– $640 billion in total assets
– 100 million individuals as customers
– 8.1 million corporate accounts
Linux deployment
– Plans to deploy Linux on servers across its network of 20,000 national
branches
– Will use Turbolinux Inc.’s Turbolinux 7 DataServer operating system
– Will support front-end banking operations
– 390,000 employees will be using terminals to access applications
hosted on Linux servers on a daily basis
Why Linux?
– Chosen because existing applications (developed in-house) run on
Unix
– Easier to migrate applications to Linux than Windows
– Need better software performance
– Need better vendor support
– Lower operating costs