Enterprise manage information systems 6th by laudon ch06

Chapter 6

Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Hardware and Software in the
Enterprise

6.1

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Objectives

1. What computer processing and storage
capability does our organization need to handle
its information and business transactions?
2. What arrangement of computers and computer
processing would best benefit our organization?
3. What kinds of software and software tools do we
need to run our business? What criteria should
we use to select our software technology?

6.2

© 2005 by Prentice Hall

Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Objectives

•

What new software technologies are available?
How would they benefit our organization?

•

How should we acquire and manage the firm’s
hardware and software assets?

6.3

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Management Challenges

1. The centralization versus decentralization
debate.
2. The application backlog.

6.4

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Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Hardware components of a computer system

Figure 6-1
6.5

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
The Computer System

Bit

• Binary digit
• Represents 0 or 1
Byte
• String of eight bits
• Stores one number, symbol, character, part of

picture
6.6

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Bits and bytes

Figure 6-2
6.7

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
The Computer System

The Central Processing Unit (CPU)

• Controls other parts of computer
• Arithmetic-logic unit performs principle
logical/mathematical operations
• Control unit coordinates other parts, such as

reading a stored program

6.8

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
The Computer System

Primary Storage

•
•
•
•

6.9

Located near CPU
Stores all or part of active software program
Stores operating system software
Stores data the program is using

© 2005 by Prentice Hall

Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
The Computer System

Primary Storage

• Composed of semi-conductors
• RAM (random access memory): Used for shortterm, temporary storage
• ROM (read-only memory): Semiconductor
memory chips with program instructions

6.10

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
The CPU and primary storage

Figure 6-3
6.11

© 2005 by Prentice Hall

Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Computer Processing

Microprocessors
• Semiconductor chips integrate memory, logic, and control
circuits for entire CPU
• Speed depends on number of bits processed at one time;
amount of data that can be moved between devices; and
cycle speed (MHz)
• RISC (reduced instruction set computing) increases speed;
used for scientific, workstation computing

6.12

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Computer Processing

Parallel processing
• Multiple CPUs work simultaneously on same
problem
• More than one instruction processed at a time

• Massively parallel computers: use hundreds,
thousands of processing chips

6.13

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Sequential and parallel processing

Figure 6-4
6.14

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Storage, Input, and Output Technology

Secondary Storage Technology
• Used for relatively long-term storage of data outside CPU
• Magnetic disk: floppies, hard disks, RAID
• Optical disk: CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD

• Magnetic tape
• Storage networking: direct-attached storage; networkattached storage; storage area networks

6.15

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
A storage area network (SAN)

Figure 6-5
6.16

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Storage, Input, and Output Technology

Input Devices
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

6.17

Keyboard and mouse
Touch screen
Optical character recognition
Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)
Pen-based input
Digital scanner
Audio input
Sensors
Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Storage, Input, and Output Technology

Output Devices

• Cathode-ray tube (CRT)
• Printers
• Audio output

6.18

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Storage, Input, and Output Technology

Batch Processing
• Accumulates and stores transactions in group or batch until
time to process them
• Found primarily in older systems for occasional reporting
• Use tape storage

Online Processing
• Transactions processed immediately
• Use disk storage

6.19

© 2005 by Prentice Hall

Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Computer Hardware and Information Technology Infrastructure
Storage, Input, and Output Technology

Interactive Multimedia
• Integrates sound, video or animation, graphics,
text into computer-based application
• Streaming technology
• New compression standards: MP3 (MPEG3)

6.20

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Categories of Computers and Computer Systems
Classifying Computers

• Mainframe: Largest computer; handles massive amounts
of data; used for large business, scientific, military
applications
• Midrange computer: Smaller, less expensive
minicomputers or servers; used for smaller organizations
or managing networks
• Minicomputers: Used in systems for universities, factories,

research labs
• Servers: Manage internal company networks or Web sites

6.21

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Categories of Computers and Computer Systems
Classifying Computers

• Personal computer: Portable or desktop
microcomputer
• Workstation: More powerful desktop computer
used for computation-intense tasks
• Supercomputer: Sophisticated, powerful computer
used for tasks requiring rapid, complex
calculations; weapons research, weather
forecasting
6.22

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Categories of Computers and Computer Systems
Computer Networks and Client/Server Computing

• Distributed processing: Distribution of processing
work among multiple computers
• Centralized processing: Accomplished by one
large central computer
• Client/server computing: Splits processing
between “clients” and “servers” on network

6.23

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Categories of Computers and Computer Systems
Client/server computing

Figure 6-6
6.24

© 2005 by Prentice Hall


Essentials of Management Information Systems, 6e
Chapter 6 Hardware and Software in the Enterprise

Categories of Computers and Computer Systems
Types of client/server computing

Figure 6-7
6.25

© 2005 by Prentice Hall