ECommerce Hardware

1
Chapter 8, 9

• E-Commerce Hardware Software

2
Web Server Hardware and Performance Evaluation

• The main job of a Web server computer is to
  respond to requests from Web client computers.
• The three main elements of a Web server are the
  hardware, O.S. and Web server software.
• Decision about server hardware and software
  should be driven by the volume and type of web
  activities expected.
• Companies need to estimate the number of visitors
  they expect to have, the number of pages those
  visitors will view during an average visit, the
  size of the pages, and the likely maximum number
  of simultaneous visitors.

3
Types of Web Sites

• An important first step in planning a Web server
  is to determine what the company wants to
  accomplish with the server.
• The company must estimate how many visitors will
  be connecting to the Web site and what types of
  files will be delivered through the site.
• Companies create Web sites in a wide variety of
  forms including simple development sites,
  intranets, information-only sites for customers,
  business-to-business portals, storefronts, or
  content-delivery.

4
Development Sites

• The simplest Web site and the least costly to
  implement is a development site, used to
  experiment with and evaluate different Web
  designs.
• A development site can reside on an existing PC
  and can be developed with low-cost Web site
  building tools, such as Microsoft FrontPage or
  Macromedia Dreamweaver.

5
Intranets

• Corporate intranets house internal memos,
  corporate policy handbooks, expense account
  worksheets, budgets, newsletters, and a variety
  of other corporate documents.
• Intranets are shielded from the Internet, they do
  not require additional security software to
  protect them against threats from outside the
  company.
• Intranets might need to create safeguards to
  protect intranet servers from ill-intentioned
  employees working with the company.
• An example is MS Site Server 3.0, a powerful
  intranet tool, makes it easy for an organization
  to publish and find information.

6
Transaction-Processing Sites

• Transaction-processing sites, such as
  business-to-business and business-to-consumer
  electronic commerce sites must be available 24
  hours a day, seven days a week that is, they
  must be high-reliability servers that are robust.
• Transaction-processing sites must also have spare
  server computers to handle high traffic volumes.
• Transaction-processing sites must also run
  security software, web and commerce software that
  is efficient and easily upgraded when site
  traffic increases.

7
Transaction-Processing Sites

• In the IT industry, server operating system
  reliability is expressed in terms of "nines." For
  example, 99.99 percent uptime is referred to as
  "four nines" which this equals less than one hour
  of downtime per year and 99.999 percent uptime
  is referred to as "five nines." Regarded as the
  highest number realistically achievable, five
  nines equates to less than five minutes downtime
  per year.
• Application Center 2000 is Microsoft's deployment
  and management tool for high-availability Web
  applications built on the Microsoft Windows 2000
  operating system. Application Center 2000 makes
  managing groups of servers as simple as managing
  a single computer. Applications can handle
  increases and decreases in their capacity
  requirements by easily adding or removing
  servers.

8
Content Delivery Sites

• Content delivery sites, such as The Wall Street
  Journal, The New York Times, and C-Net, sell and
  deliver content, such as news, histories,
  summaries, and other digital information.
• Content must be presented rapidly on the
  visitors screen.
• Visitors must be able to locate articles quickly
  with a fast and precise search engine.
• Hardware requirements are similar to those of B2B
  B2C sites.

9
Web Hosting Choices

• The company must decide whether to run servers
  in-house (self-hosting) or through third-party
  Web and e-commerce providers, which offer web
  server management and the renting of application
  software such as databases, shopping carts.
• Using a service providers shared or dedicated
  hosting services instead of building an in-house
  server or using a co-location service means that
  the staffing burden shifts from the company to
  the Web host.

10
Web Hosting Choices (cont.)

• A full-service external host provides spaces,
  plus the software tools and e-commerce expertise
  to build an online store.
• Advantages
• reliable server
• reasonable costs
• great functionality
• full-time technical support, etc.

11
Web Hosting Choices (cont.)

• Companies should consider
• scalability of e-commerce whether the hardware,
  or platform and software combination, can be
  upgraded when the traffic on its site increases
• bandwidth of the Web site

12
Operating Systems for Web Servers

• Hardware decisions go hand in hand with operating
  system and application server software choices.
• Companies should consider
• Speed -- A fast server is better than a slower
  one
• Internal and external traffic to occur on the
  server
• Scalability of the server hardwarewhether it can
  be upgraded or even connected to additional
  servers seamlessly

13
Popular Types of OS

• Most Web servers run on computers that use one of
  the following operating systems
• Microsoft Windows NT Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Edition
• Linux
• one of several UNIX-based operating systems such
  as Solaris

14
Desirable Features of Web Servers

• The most fundamental duty of a Web server is to
  process and respond to Web client requests that
  are sent using the HTTP protocol.
• Other functions include
• data analysis capabilities
• dynamic content
• site management tools, with application
  construction
• electronic commerce functions
• security functions to protect sensitive data
• searching capabilities

15
Data Analysis

• Web servers can capture visitor information,
  including data about who is visiting a Web site,
  how long the visitors Web browser viewed the
  site, the date and time of each visit, and which
  pages were displayed.
• Data analysis capabilities allow to track how the
  site is being used
• Two of the most popular Web log file analysis
  programs are the Analog Web server log file
  analyzer (http//www.analog.cx/) and the
  WebTrends Web server log file analyzer
  (http//www.netiq.com/webtrends/default.asp).

16
Dynamic Content

• Dynamic content is non-static information
  constructed in response to a Web clients
  request.
• Most Web sites today provide dynamic Web pages
  using an approach called server-side scripting.
• In server-side scripting, programs running on the
  Web server create Web pages before sending them
  back to the requesting Web clients as parts of
  response messages.
• Using Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC), the Web
  server can assemble information from disparate
  database systems.

17
Dynamic Content (cont.)

• Microsoft uses Active server pages (ASP).
• Sun uses Java server pages (JSP).
• Apache developed Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP).

18
Link Checking

• A link checker examines each page on the site and
  reports on any URLs that are broken, that seem to
  be broken, or that are in some way incorrect.
• An orphan file is a file on a Web site that is
  not linked to any page.
• Other important site management features include
  script checking and HTML validation.
• A dead link, when clicked, displays an error
  message rather than a Web page.
• Free link-checking and Web site validation
  programs are available.

19
Remote Server Administration

• With remote server administration, a Web site
  administrator can control a Web site from any
  Internet-connected computer.
• Although all Web sites provide administrative
  controls, it is convenient for an administrator
  to be able to fix the server from wherever he or
  she happens to be.
• Examples include Web Site Garage, NetMechanic
  

20
Web Server Software

• Three of the most popular Web server programs
  are
• Apache HTTP Server (http//www.apache.org/)
• Microsoft Internet Information Server
• iPlanet Enterprise Server (from SUN)
• For market share among top servers, visit
  www.netcraft.com/survey
• http//www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers
  provides a comparison

21
Apache HTTP Server

• The Apache HTTP Server dominates the Web, in
  part, because it is free and performs
  efficiently.
• The Apache HTTP Server Project is an effort to
  develop and maintain an open-source HTTP server
  software product for various modern desktop and
  server operating systems.
• The goal of this project is to provide a secure,
  efficient and extensible server that provides
  HTTP services in sync with the current HTTP
  standards
• Apache runs on many operating systems (Linux,
  Microsoft Windows, Solaris, etc.) and the
  hardware that supports them.

22
Apache HTTP Server (cont.)

• Apache has a built-in search engine and HTML
  authoring tools and supports FTP.
• Apache provides for multiple logs, the entries of
  which conform to the established, standard NCSA
  common log format.
• Apache can be managed from either a server
  console or a Web server.
• Apache supports technologies for generating
  dynamic web pages, such as Server Side Includes
  (SSI), Active server pages and Java Servlets.
• Apache supports the ODBC standard and can access
  Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL server, and IBMs
  DB2 databases.

23
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS)

• IIS comes bundled with Microsofts Windows NT
  Server and 2000 Server operating systems.
• IIS includes an integrated search engine.
• IIS supports FTP, permits administration from a
  remote browser.
• IIS combines HTML pages, ActiveX components, and
  scripts to produce dynamic pages.

24
IIS (cont.)

• Popular for both pubic sites and corporate
  intranet sites.
• A robust and capable Web server, suitable for any
  size site.
• Includes Microsofts FrontPage HTML development
  tool and other reporting tools.
• Create log files in standard formats.
• Data support include ODBC and Microsoft SQL.

25
iPlanet Enterprise Server

• The iPlanet enterprise server runs on such
  operating systems as AIX, Digital UNIX, HP-UX,
  Irix, Solaris, and Windows NT.
• iPlanet Web server provides a powerful
  development environment that supports development
  of Web-based applications that can run on the
  Internet, an intranet, or an extranet.
• iPlanet Web servers management tools allow
  administrators to manage users and monitor server
  activity interactively.

26
iPlanet Enterprise Server (cont.)

• Supports dynamic application development,
  including CGI and the Java Servlet API for
  server-side applications.
• Some of the best known and busiest sites on the
  Internet BMW, ETrade, Excite, Lycos, rub (or
  have run) some versions of iPlanet Web server.

27
Determining Web Server Hardware and Software
Information

• You can determine the type of hardware and
  software most Web sites are running by visiting
  Netcraft (Whats that site running?) ---
  http//uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/.
• Try www.ipm.edu.mo
• csp.ipm.edu.mo
• www.ctm.com.mo
• Netcraft software examines the designated Web
  site and returns both the Web server hardware and
  software information.

28
E-Commerce Software Components

• A system to support online shopping would include
  4 primary functions
• A catalog display
• Shopping cart capabilities
• Transaction processing
• Electronic commerce tools
• Tools to populate the store catalog and to
  maintain the catalog
• Tools to create and edit other site content

29
E-Commerce Software Components (cont.)

• Larger and more complex sites will also use
  software that adds other features and
  capabilities
• SCM software
• CRM software
• Automated content management software
• Middleware that integrates the e-commerce system
  with existing company information systems that
  handle inventory control, order processing and
  accounting

30
Catalog Display

• A small commerce site can have a simple catalog,
  which is a static listing of goods and services,
  written in HTML.
• Larger catalogs have dynamic catalogs with photos
  of items, descriptions, and a search feature.
• Online catalog not a true e-commerce solution,
  but a good tool when used with a modest
  e-commerce site. The software should be able to
  interface with your accounting software to track
  total sales and inventory.

31
Shopping Cart

• Online forms were used for online shopping, but
  are inconvenient to use.
• A new way of online shopping is by using shopping
  carts.
• You can create your own Shopping cart application
  or buy an off-the-shelf software solution.
• The Web is a stateless system unable to remember
  anything from one transmission or session to
  another.
• It must distinguish one shopper from another.
• One way to uniquely identify users and to store
  information about their choices is to create and
  store cookies.

32
Shopping Cart (cont.)

• There are 2 common uses of cookies to identify
  the list of products chosen
• have each shopping cart transaction stored in a
  cookie on the consumers computer
• assign a customer ID and store this ID on a
  cookie. The customers selection is stored on the
  merchants server and accessed by the customer
  from the ID stored in his cookie.
• When the customer selects to purchase the items
  in the shopping cart, the transaction moves to
  the secure server for transaction processing.

33
Forms-Based Method

34
Electronic Shopping Cart
35
Transaction Processing

• Transaction processing occurs when the shopper
  proceeds to the virtual checkout counter. The
  browser normally switches to a secure state of
  communications.
• Transaction processing is the trickiest part of
  the electronic sale.
• Software needs to calculate price, volume
  discounts, sales tax, and shipping costs.
• Some electronic commerce software provides
  connections to accounting software so that Web
  sales can be entered simultaneously.

36
Transaction Processing (cont.)

• Connections between electronic commerce software
  and the accounting software are handled by a
  separate type of software called middleware.
• Behind the scenes, a digital certificate verifies
  that the secure server is secure and that the
  merchant and consumer are who they claim to be.
• The customer provides her mailing, shipping and
  credit card information.
• The secure server verifies the credit card with a
  payment processing service.

37
Transaction Processing (cont.)

• The consumer receives a confirmation that the
  transaction was accepted while your bank receives
  the credit card funds from the customer account.
  
• The customers transaction is placed in a
  database, ready for you to download to your
  processing center.
• The information from the transaction should be
  used to generate confirmation email, thanking the
  consumer for the purchase and providing her with
  pertinent information she will need to track the
  order.

38
Electronic Commerce Tools

• A list of features to look for in a merchant
  package
• cross-platform support
• foreign language support support of translated
  versions of the display screens
• unlimited simultaneous shoppers
• unlimited product support support your entire
  catalog and has the flexibility to provide
  sub-grouping of items
• online help
• payment information encryption support
  encryption and standard payment services
• automatic tax calculation based on zip code
• credit card authorization

39
E-Commerce Tools (cont.)

• Site-search any built-in search engine?
• email notification of orders automatically have
  order reports sent to people in your company
  listing the total orders for that day, week, or
  month for the people on them
• statistics
• associates tracking associates programs let you
  provide partners with a specific URL to your
  online purchasing site. Any transaction that
  comes through this URL gets a discount, based on
  arrangement with partner. You can also arrange
  commissions for any sales generated from that URL
  to the partner.
• Discount calculation based on order level or
  customer information

40
E-Commerce Software Options

• The software options for setting up an online
  business fall into 3 categories
• Basic software
• Mid-range software used by large companies
• Robust software suites run on large, dedicated
  computers and interact with database systems,
  such as Oracle to display catalogs and process
  orders.
• These systems are expensive to create and
  operate, and require a dedicated staff to oversee
  and maintain them.
• Large
• B2B systems must be able to connect to existing
  legacy systems, including ERP software packages.

41
Basic E-Commerce Software

• Basic software (www.salescart.com,
  www.cartit.com, www.biznet.net, etc.)
• Basic packages are free or low-cost e-commerce
  software supplied by the Web host for building
  electronic commerce sites that will be kept on
  the hosts server.
• Services in this category usually cost less than
  a few hundred dollars per month, and the software
  is available on the host site, allowing companies
  to immediately begin building and storing a
  storefront on the hosts server.
• There are two main types of basic packages
• Basic Host Service
• Shared Mall-Style Hosting

42
Basic Host Services

• Hosting services in this class offer adequate
  space for a Web store and for forms-based
  shopping, but do not provide shopping carts.
• Often, they do not include transaction-processing.
  
• Examples of these types of hosts are BizLand.com
  and HyperMart.
• Customer purchase transactions are handled by
  e-mail in this host service.

43
Basic Host Services (cont.)

• Good for first-timers unsure about investing in
  E-commerce
• Disadvantages
• Hosting service determines the domain names
• Banner advertisements that appear on merchant
  sites

44
Shared Mall-Style Hosting

• Shared hosting sites provide online stores with
  good services, good Web creation tools, and
  little or not banner advertising clutter.
• Web hosts in this group charge a monthly fee, a
  setup fee, and may also charge a percentage for
  fixed amount for each customer transaction.
• Mall-style hosts provide shopping cart software
  or the ability to use another vendors shopping
  cart software.
• Mall-style hosting also offers transaction-process
  ing through one of a few merchant services.

45
Shared Mall-Style Hosting (cont.)

• These merchant services allow customers to choose
  to purchase their goods and services with a
  credit card, electronic cash, or other form of
  payment.Web host processes the acceptance and
  authorization of credit cards on behalf of the
  merchant.
• Quality Web hosts in this category include
  Bigstep, Yahoo! Store, FedEx eCommerce Builder,
  and freemerchant.com
• All these sites provide easy to use tools for
  developing a storefront without requiring
  programming or design skills.
• Web hosting customers have their own domain name
  and IP address.

46
Shared Mall-Style Hosting

• Advantages of a shared Web host over dedicated
  hosting or self-hosting
• Low setup fee
• No staff and capital costs
• Free technical support
• All-in-one solution allow small-business to take
  advantage of industry-leading e-commerce power
  without the necessity of purchasing or
  maintaining sophisticated e-commerce software.
• Disadvantages
• Design options are limited Similar look and feel
  among the stores in the shared mall

47
Yahoo! Store

• Inexpensive, hosted storefronts which provides
  the tools to create a storefront in less than an
  hour. The package includes Web store space as
  well as catalog creation, shopping carts, and
  transaction processing.
• Merchants can create, change, and maintain their
  Yahoo! storefronts through a Web browser.
• On its own site, Yahoo! holds all the stores
  pages in a proprietary format.
• Yahoos management page contains many management,
  reporting (statistics about traffic and sales),
  and global site setting tools.

48
Bigstep.com

• Bigstep.com provides a well-designed storefront
  package.
• Bigstep.com enables merchants to create, change,
  and maintain a storefront through a Web browser.
• Bigstep.coms reports provide data mining
  capabilities (looking for hidden patterns in
  data).
• Data mining can help business find customers with
  common interests.

49
Bigstep.com

• Bigstep.coms reports can answer the following
  questions
• How many visitors are coming to the site?
• What is the average length of stay for each
  visitor on each page?
• Which pages lead to purchases?
• What advertisements or links have brought
  qualified visitors to the page or site?
• What is average number of pages that each visitor
  views?
• Are repeat customers attracted to this site?

50
Midrange Software Packages

• Midrange packages, which are for running larger
  businesses, are more robust and more expensive
  than the web hosting, template-driven packages
  described previously.
• Midrange packages allow the merchant to have
  explicit control over merchandising choices, site
  layout, internal architecture, and remote and
  local management options.
• The estimated cost of this software ranges from
  US2000 to US50,000
• Midrange software has connectivity with database
  systems and the stores catalog information,
  which simplifies product maintenance.
• INTERSHOP Enfinity, WebSphere, and Commerce
  Server 2000 are examples of this type of software.

51
Solutions for Large Firms

• Enterprise-level commerce software is called
  e-business software.
• Many businesses starting into electronic commerce
  already have a traditional business operation in
  place. These businesses have existing systems for
  managing inventories and billing customers.
• E-business software should be able to interact
  with a wide variety of existing back office
  systems, including database, accounting, and ERP
  systems, rather than duplicate them.
• E-business software typically provides good tools
  for linking to and supporting supply and
  purchasing activities.
• Prices range from US200,000 to 10 million.

52
Enterprise Solutions for Large Firms

• An enterprise-scale solution requires
• a Domain Name Server (DNS)
• an SMTP system to handle e-mail
• an HTTP server
• an FTP server for upload and download
  capabilities
• a database server
• Examples of e-business systems
• IBMs WebSphere Commerce Suite, Pro Edition
• Netscapes Netscape CommerceXpert
• Oracles iStore
• Pandesic Web Business solution (Intel and SAP)

53
Basic tasks when setting up an online purchasing
site

• design the online purchasing site
• acquire domain name, a merchant account, and a
  digital certificate
• provide shopping cart to store any number of
  products chosen
• allow the customer to leave a site, return at a
  later time, and still find past items in shopping
  cart
• provide a secure server with SSL encryption for
  transactions

54
Basic tasks when setting up an online purchasing
site (cont.)

• register and purchase software from a payment
  processing service to accept credit cards and
  offer automatic, real-time processing offline
  processing via encrypted email is also a viable
  option
• allow cross-selling, i.e., offer a similar
  product to the unavailable chosen product
• put in place a process in which orders are
  picked, packed and shipped quickly and accurately
  
• provide processing status through a numbered
  tracking system
• respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours