Lecture06 Technologies

E-Business Technologies /
Infrastructure
Lecture #6
⚫Virtually all
EC sites rest
on the same
network
structures,
communicati
on protocols,
and Web
standards
that
originated
over 30
years ago
Overview of Computing
Platforms
⚫Host-based platform
◦ Centralized computer architecture
⚫Client-server platform
◦ Involves ‘clients’ and ‘a server’
◦ Initially implemented in LAN
⚫World Wide Web Platform
◦ Basically a client-server system,
described as “n-tier distributed C/S
system”
◦ Implemented in WAN, distributed over
many Web servers; based on TCP/IP
E-Commerce Components
⚫Clients 🡪 with associated HW &
SW**
⚫The Internet**
⚫Routing devices
⚫Extra devices (e.g. firewall)
⚫Web Server**
⚫Application server
⚫Back-end transactional software
The Internet
⚫🡪 a network of thousands of
interconnected networks
⚫Include:
◦ The interconnected high speed backbones
●Maintained by Network Service Providers (NSPs)
◦ Multitude of access/delivery subnetworks
●Maintained by local & regional Internet Service
Providers (ISPs)
●ISPs exchange data with NSPs at network
access points (NAPs)
◦ Thousands of private & institutional
networks
Internet Protocols
⚫ICANN –Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers
◦ NGO formed in 1998
◦ Manages various technical & policy
issues relating to the Internet that
require central coordination
◦ No regulatory or statutory power
◦ 4 key areas: (1) DNS; (2) allocation of IP
addresses; (3) coordination of protocol
number assignment; (4) management
of root server system
◦ Jan 2007: 318 million host computers in
239 countries
Internet Protocols (cont…)
⚫Internet protocols🡪 a set of rules
that determine how two computers
communicate with one another over
a network
⚫TCP/IP: two protocols that solve the
problem of global internetworking;
ensuring that two computers can
communicate with each other
reliably
⚫Current version: IPv4 (32-bit Internet
addresses); max over 4 billion
⚫Future: IPv6 (128-bit addresses; 1
quadrillion
Internet 2
⚫Is a trademark of the University
Corporation for Advanced
Internet Development (UCAID)
⚫Is a consortium of over 170
universities, that in conjunction
with business & government
partners, are working on a
development of a higher speed
network
⚫ non-profit organization
Client-Server Technologies for e-
Business
⚫ Client software🡪 resides on EU’s desktop & provides

navigation & displays
⚫ Server software🡪 resides on workstation/server
machine & provides back-end data access services
Server Technologies
⚫Different types of servers: Web server,
Database server, application server, print
server, file server, communication server,
etc.
⚫For a small business, all three servers are
found on one machine; for larger
businesses, each on a separate machine 🡪
n-tier CS
⚫Web Server🡪 a computer and associated
software that is attached full-time to the
internet; to host Web pages
⚫The main software component is the HTTP
Functions of Web Servers
🡪primary function of a Web server
is to service HTTP requests
⚫Provide access control
⚫Run scripts and external
programs
⚫Enable management and
administration of both the server
functions and the contents of the
Website
⚫Log user transactions provide
Functionality Checklist
⚫High-performance ⚫Interface to
HTTP engine – Backend
speed of processing is ⚫Publishing
very important!
capability
⚫Security
⚫Management &
administration
Comparing Web Servers
Server / version Operating systems
supported
Apache NetBSD, Digital UNIX, BSDI,
AIX, OS/2, SCO, HPUX,
Windows NT, Linux, FreeBSD,
IRIX, Solaris, Windows 95/98
Microsoft IIS Windows server 2000,
Windows 2000 Professional
Lotus Domino Go WebServer Digital UNIX, AIX, OS/2, HPUX,
Windows NT, IRIX, Solaris,
Windows 95/98
iPLanet Enterprise Server Digital UNIX, AIX, HPUX,
Windows NT, IRIX
Oracle web Application Server HPUX, Windows NT, Solaris,

Windows 95/98
Monitoring Web Server Performance
⚫With corporate websites getting million

hits per day, the performance of web
server is a critical issue (e.g. 2000
Christmas buying season saw amazon.com
& ebay.com crippled)
⚫Most web performance analysis focused
on:
◦ Overall network traffic
◦ Performance of web server software & platforms
⚫Benchmarks have been developed,
include:
◦ Load generator (clients)
Application Server & Database Server
⚫Application server 🡪 diverse
applications;expensive
⚫Questions to ask before buying:
◦ What platforms are supported by the
software?
◦ Who makes the application server?
◦ What programming language does it support?
◦ What interface to the existing DBMS are
feasible?
⚫Examples 🡪 Oracle application server,
IBM WebSphere application server,
Sybase Enterprise application server
Client Technologies
⚫Include workstations, ATMs, POS,
kiosks, digital cameras, bar code
readers, mobile devices, etc.
⚫Web Browsers
◦ Netscape Communicator
◦ Microsoft Internet Explorer
◦ Mozilla Firefox (open source)
P2P Applications
⚫Peer-to-peer (P2P)🡪 applications that
use direct communications between
computers (peers) to share resources,
rather than relying on a centralized
server as the conduit between client
devices
⚫Just like the Web, computers on P2P
come and go; no fixed IP addresses
⚫Unlike the Web, computers in P2P
networks, operate outside the DNS🡪 act
as a collection of “equals” with the
power to host applications & data
⚫P2P applications: E.g. ICQ, Gnutella,
eDonkey
Two-Tier E-commerce Architecture
Slide 4-22
Multi-tier E-commerce Architecture
Slide 4-23
Integrating Backend
⚫Legacy systems – information
systems that are based on older
technologies
⚫Middleware – special software
that allow different types of
system to interact i.e.
interoperability & connectivity
⚫Data warehouses
⚫Customer-relationship
Management (CRM)
Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform:
The Demand Side
⚫Demand that customers put on site the
most important factor affecting the
speed of site
⚫Factors involved in demand include:
◦ Number of simultaneous users in peak periods
◦ Nature of customer requests (user profile)
◦ Type of content (dynamic versus static Web pages)
◦ Required security
◦ Number of items in inventory
◦ Number of page requests
◦ Speed of legacy applications
Slide 4-25
Degradation in Performance as
Number of Users Increases
Figure 4.12 (b), Page 226
Copyright © 2007 Pearson

Education, Inc. Slide 4-26
Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform:
The Supply Side
⚫Scalability: Ability of site to
increase in size as demand
warrants
⚫Ways to scale hardware:
◦ Vertically: increase processing power of
individual components
◦ Horizontally: employ multiple computers to
share workload
◦ Improve processing architecture
Vertical and Horizontal Scaling Techniques
Table 4.8, Page 229

Vertically Scaling a System
Figure 4.15, Page 230

Horizontally Scaling a System
Figure 4.16, Page 231

Improving the Processing Architecture of Your Site
Slide 4-31
E-Business Software & Languages
⚫Different types of tools available for
developing Ebiz—complexity and difficulty
to learn
⚫Markup languages
◦ Adds information to the text to format &
structure it, and describe how it is to be used
⚫Programming language
◦ To write programs or applets that perform
functions over & above text formatting
⚫Scripting language
◦ Add functionality & interactivity to web pages
without the need for separate compilers
Markup Language
⚫Examples: HTML, VRML, Dynamic HTML, SGML, XML
⚫Adds information to text to format it or to describe
how it is to be used
⚫Allow text & codes to be stored in a single
document so that the interpreter can read & format
accordingly
⚫HTML is the main language🡪 used to format
hypertext documents; nonprocedural
⚫3 ways to code HTML: (i) ASCII file (ii) HTML
assistants/converter, (iii) HTML editor (FrontPage)
⚫DHTML🡪 allows creation of dynamic web pages; use
of Style Sheets (CSS) –display properties of
Webpage separate from its structure defined by
HTML
⚫XML🡪 another great Web language—provides
structure, plus meanings to the elements in the
text
Scripting Language
⚫ASP 🡪 created by Microsoft for server-side
scripting; free; built into MS Windows 2000
& XP
• Javascript 🡪 created by Netscape; no
licence; useful for designing interactive
websites; written within HTML file
⚫VBScript🡪Invented by Microsoft to
compete with JavaScript
Programming Languages
⚫JAVA 🡪 object-oriented programming
language, originally developed by Sun
Microsystems
⚫Adv : (i) can run on any platform; (ii) Reusable
⚫Applets 🡪 Java programs for small applications
⚫Servlets 🡪 Java programs running on server-side
⚫PERL 🡪 programming language for
processing text; server-side for UNIX
⚫PHP 🡪 programming language; fastest
growing server-side ; open source
Some Differences between Java
& Javascript
Javascript Java
Name of program Javascript on Applets on server:
server: server-side Servlets
Language Scripting language Programming
Language
Storage Format Source Text Byte code
Integration Scripts embedded Applets are stored
within HTML separately from
HTML files
Shared Control Can control Java Cannot control Java
applets scripts
Interaction between Can interact with Works by itself;
programs HTML and can be ‘called’ by
Document Object others
Model
Interpretations Interpreted by Compiled on server
clients but not and interpreted
Other Tools for Interactivity and Active Content
⚫ Widgets: Small pre-built chunk of code that executes

automatically in a HTML Web page
⚫ Mashups: Pull functionality/data from one program and
include it in another
⚫ CGI (Common Gateway Interface): Standards for
communication between browser and program running
on a server that allows for interaction between the user
and the server
⚫ JSP (Java Server Pages): Similar to CGI and ASP; allows
developers to use a combination of HTML, JSP scripts,
and Java to dynamically generate Web pages in
response to user requests
⚫ ActiveX: Invented by Microsoft to compete with Java
⚫ ColdFusion: Integrated server-side environment for
developing interactive Web applications
Slide 4-37
Providing Content for E-Business
⚫Content is critical to e-business!
⚫Goals for proper content
management:
◦ Security
◦ Accuracy
◦ Utilization –available to those who need it
◦ Updating
◦ Retirement
⚫Content technologies
⚫Image technologies
⚫Audio/video technologies
Telecommunication
Technologies for E-Business
⚫EDI – non-web-based E-Business

⚫Wide area Networks
◦ Dedicated Circuits (VPN, DSL, etc) vs.
Switched Networks (ISDN, ATM, Frame
Relay, etc.)
⚫Value added Networks
⚫Wireless Networks (M-Commerce)
Network or Provider Selection
(Criterion)
⚫Applications
◦ “How many users & location will be
connected?” “What applications need to be
supported?”
⚫Speed
◦ “How much traffic will there be?”
⚫Cost
◦ “How much is the company willing to spend?”
⚫Reliability
◦ “How critical is the network to our business?”
⚫Flexibility and Expandability
◦ “How easy is it to increase the bandwidth

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E-Business Technologies /

⚫ Client software🡪 resides on EU’s desktop & provides

Oracle web Application Server HPUX, Windows NT, Solaris,

⚫With corporate websites getting million

Copyright © 2007 Pearson

Copyright © 2007 Pearson

Copyright © 2007 Pearson

Copyright © 2007 Pearson

⚫ Widgets: Small pre-built chunk of code that executes

⚫EDI – non-web-based E-Business

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