Installing and Managing a Server the Global Solutions Pty Ltd - Case Study Example

Installing and Managing a Server Course title University Name Date Introduction A server can arguably be defined as software that has the capability of accepting requests from the clients, them processing such requests and finally in a very short time it offers the clients the expected results. A server could also be defined as a modern computer that actually executes the commands of such software. Such a computer is normally a specialized computer that is normally powerful than the normal desktops or laptops we use for our personal uses. Servers have established to operate within a client to server architecture; the servers are the computer programs which run to execute the requests of other programs which are the clients. Computer servers normally take the dimensions of database servers, the file servers, the mail servers, print and web servers amongst other types. The programs or rather the clients can run on the same computer but connect to the server through a network. In the hardware perception, a computer that has been designated to serve as a server has actually been established to be specialized in some way for a certain task. These computers are normally very powerful and reliable than the ordinary computers. So in the case of Global Solutions Pty Ltd, the likely server they ought to install and manage in their company is the communication server. A communication server is defined as the high grad carrier computing platform for the communication networks. The Global Solutions Pty Ltd need to have such a server so that communication between its state and regional offices to the head office is easy and timely undertaken by the workers in the four departments. By doing so, the customers or the client’s demands will be met with high levels of accuracies since communication between the four departments and the head office will involve only few minutes if not seconds. Back up recovery strategy The security of the company`s data is very critical. The data should be well protected and offer a chance to retrieve it in the cases of a media failure. The Global Solutions Pty Ltd which is a marketing company, the security of its data should be enhanced such that it cannot be easily hacked into and if so, then a chance to retrieve the data should be available. A sound backup strategy should be developed so that it is possible to perform the recovery task in the case of a media failure where the data files, online redo, the control files and the log files are damaged. Some of the best backup and recovery strategies that can be incorporated into the Global Solutions Pty Ltd are discussed are follows; (a) Buy scalable data storage. Buying scalable data storage mechanism enables addition of more data later and ensures that no costs are incurred in the upgrade of the existing data storage mechanisms on the servers. Scalable data storage mechanisms ensures that when more data is required to be added to the server, then it can be added without introduction of extra data storage devices. (b) Buying of the high performance SCSI hard drives that have high performance which is above that of IDE and SATA hard drives. A communication server requires high performance drives that can offer reliable availability of data. (c) The third strategy is to utilize a single back up manager that is consolidated. In the Global Solutions Pty Ltd we need multiple backup solutions at the organization since we are using one solution for a certain feature and another solution for another feature. We have four departments at the company so we need at least four backup solutions for the company. It would also be very wise to ensure that all the computers at the company run on the operating system. (d) Have backup solutions that have the capability of replication. Backup solutions that have the capability of running at the full strength even when the server or rather the entire locations are offline temporarily. Replication has been established to lower or limit the damaging effects of downtime and helps to keep and consistence and smooth customer experience even at the times when the servers are down and the technicians are dealing with the internal disasters within the path of the communication network. Server testing plan Testing of the server before it is actually employed for the actual intended purpose is very important. Testing helps us to look for the defects and gauge the accuracy of the obtained results. We all note that there is a high degree of utilization of the WAN network within the company. There is a 60% utilization of the network between the head office in Canberra and the Sydney offices. A utilization of 45-60% is evident from the state offices to head office where they use the VPN (virtual private networks) fibre of speed of 100/25 mbps. Utilization of 50-60% is evident from the regional offices to state offices using the VPN ADSL2. The growth in the utilization of these networks is predicted to grow by 5% due to the expansion of the company. The increased in demand for communication brings about the idea of having high performance and effective VPN servers. Communication and web servers ought to be taken into consideration by the company. Installation of such servers will enable the decentralization of the administration in the global Solution Pty Ltd. This is because workers very far away will be able to undertake their duties by simply logging into the centralized systems and carry out the duties they desired. To achieve the decentralized administration, the workers within the four departments of the company need have user authentication accounts within the company’s servers. The accounts should have the usernames and passwords. This will ensure only the workers are able to log in into system and carry out their duties. The workers will connect to the VPN server through the http proxy. Workers in the regional offices will just log on to the system and perform the require duties and even communicate with their counter parts in the state and head office. Decentralized administration at the regional offices with be advantageous since there will no longer be the need to visit the state or head office. All the four departmental functionalities of the company will be served at the regional offices. Therefore after the servers have been set up, all the required data fed to databases, all the required hardware and software requirements met, the testing process will be undertaken. The testing process will involve performing the four functionalities of the company at the regional level. The sales functionality will be performed through the network and any glitch that would be encountered will be recorded and rectified to meet the customers’ demands. The purchasing, the administration and distribution functionalities of the company will follow the same process of testing as the sales functionality passed through. All the workers at all levels of the company will create user authentication accounts, later they will try to log in and perform the duties they usually do but now it will be undertaken online. The workers will have their own usernames and passwords so that their data privacy is protected over the VPN network connection. User’s migration plan Before the company can migrate to the online platform, the previous data regarding the company and its customers ought to be fed to databases within the server. Data from all the four departments of the company which are the sales, the purchase, the administration and the distribution should first be fed to databases within the server. This will ensure that the users will fish out what they search for from the server. The history about the company, its customers will all be available on the databases and can be searched by worker at any level within the company after just after connecting to the server through the http (hyper text transfer protocol) proxy. After all the required perspectives about the data information about all the four functionalities of the company have been availed online, then the company can migrate to the new digital platform. The company can now abandon the previous tedious system and adapt the new communication effective system. All the aspects about the company will now be decentralized and can be accomplished at the regional or state branches rather than the head office. A customer can approach any of offices within the structure of the company and get served to satisfaction. The System requirements for the VPN server are either a windows operating system of either 32-bit or 64-bit or a Linux operating system. A windows operating system id preferred. The processor speed of the computer should be at least 2.0 GHZ with enough hard drive memory of 30 GB. The SCSI hard drives are preferred because of their high performance when compared with the SATA or the IDE hard drives. A random access memory (RAM) of at least 4GB is required. Server testing results Administrations- the personnel within the administration were all able to log on to the server after authentication process on the VPN network and were able to carry out their duties of administration at the regional, state and the head offices without any technological glitch Purchase-it was noted that the company’s workers at the purchase department were too able to test their skills. They log to their user accounts on VPN network system, they were able to purchase various entities regarding the company at the state, regional and head offices. Sales- the sales persons were able to sell various services to their clients through the new platform. In some cases, the customers were several hundreds of miles away from the offices. Distribution- like the other functionalities within the company, the distribution department was able to undertake their duties like they did before but it was now fast and easier to do so. They all thanked the new platform and preferred to work from it. Summary We can conclude that the objective of having a digital communication path within the company was achieved. We looked at the very best ways of securing sensitive data within a company and the backup ways in the case of media failure to prevent the data loss. We also noted how it is important to reduce the down time within the servers of a business company and the best hard drives to store data to maximize the efficiency of the server. We also established various types of servers and the type of servers that should be installed in the Global Solutions Pty Ltd. Various system requirements for such servers were also discussed and found to be cost effective. Finally we found out its is important to migrate to online mode of business practice since through the internet, a business organization such as the Global Solutions Pty Ltd can carry out its business activities beyond the national boundaries. Bibliography Energy Efficient Computer Servers: Report (to Accompany H.r. 5646) (including Cost Estimate of the Congressional Budget Office). Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 2006. Print. Leander, Rick. Building Application Servers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Internet resource. Bosworth, Seymour, and Michel E. Kabay. Computer Security Handbook. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. Internet resource. Nedelcu, Clément. Nginx Http Server: Adopt Nginx for Your Web Applications to Make the Most of Your Infrastructure and Serve Pages Faster Than Ever. Birmingham, U.K: Packt Pub, 2010. Internet resource. Read More