Stanford GSB High Tech Club Tech 101

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Stanford GSB High Tech ClubTech 101 Session 1

• Introduction to Software, Distributed
  Architectures, and ASPs
• Presented by Shawn Carolan
• Former Manager of Software Architecture, Open
  Port Technology
• February 22, 2001

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Mission

• To equip the MBA audience with a fundamental
  understanding of the software industry and its
  terminology in hopes that theyll sound better in
  interviews, and have a better idea where to look
  for more information (highly recommended).

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Topics

• What is software?
• How it is developed?
• And distributed systems?
• Application Service Providers (ASPs)
• Industry trends

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What is Software?

• Set of instructions tells the hardware what to do

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How is Software Developed?

• Assembly Code
• Programming Languages (C, C, Java)
• Scripting Languages (Perl, Tcl, Shell)
• Other programming environments (Application
  Servers, Visual Basic, etc.)

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How is Software Developed?

• Product management Helps gather customer and
  market requirements, prioritize features,
  negotiate schedules, position product, etc.
• Programmers Research available
  tools/libraries/components, plan software
  architecture, write source code, fix bugs/improve
  efficiency
• Quality Assurance (QA) Tries to break the
  software before it is release to customers. Find
  bugs.
• Client Support Interfaces with customers to
  help them solve problems and answer questions.
  Often file bugs.

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And Distributed Systems?

• Required for when applications scale past the
  capabilities of a single machine.
• File Servers
• Database Servers
• Napster
• The Internet!

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And Distributed Systems?

• The Layered Network Model

HTTP, SMTP, SNMP, etc.
TCP
IP
Optical, Copper Wire, Wireless
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And Distributed Systems?

• Ubiquitous Client/Server Application

Domain Name Server (DNS)
Client (Internet Browser)
Server (Apache Web Server)
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And Distributed Systems?

• Napster, a peer-to-peer (P2P) application

Napster Server (Holds Song to IP mapping)
Napster User 2 (Client Server)
Napster User 1 (Client Server)
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ASPs

• Classic client/server, but with much more complex
  server functionality (it runs the whole
  application!)

Client 1
Server (session for 1, 2, 3)
Client 2
Client 3
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ASPs

• Drivers Include
• Company gets to focus on their core competency
• Easy upgrades, access to latest technology
• Eliminates heavy infrastructure costs
• Scalability, availability, backups
• Fewer IT personnel, developers

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Trends, Hot Fields

• Outsourcing apps, infrastructure (ASPs,
  LoudCloud)
• Outsourcing development (BaliCamp)
• Proliferation of devices (IP v6)
• Ad-hoc, often wireless networks (Jini)
• Standard data exchange (XML)
• Peer-to-peer applications