ecommerce hardware and software welcome to depaul university 3293

8/3/2019 Ecommerce Hardware and Software Welcome to Depaul University 3293

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ECT 250: Survey of e-commerce technology

E-commerce hardware and software


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The components of a web server are:

Hardware

Software

When determining what sort of server hardwareand software to use you have to consider:

Size of the site

Purpose of the site

Traffic on the site A small, noncommercial Web site will require

less resources than a large, commercial site.

Web servers


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Facilitates business

Business to business transactions

Business to customer transactions

Hosts company applications Part of the communications infrastructure

Poor decisions about web server platforms can

have a negative impact on a company. This isparticularly true for purely online (click and

mortar) companies.

The role of a web server


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Will the site be hosted in-house or by a provider?

Factors to consider:

The bandwidth and availability needed for the

expected size, traffic, and sales of the site Scalability: If the Web site needs to grow or has

a sudden increase in traffic, can the provider

still handle it?

Personnel requirements or restraints Budget and cost effectiveness of the solution

Target audience: Business-to-customer (B2C) or

business-to-business (B2B)

Hosting considerations


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Development sites: A test site; low-cost

Intranets: Available internally only

B2B and B2C commerce sites Content delivery site

Each type of site has a different purpose,

requires different hardware and software,and incurs varying costs.

Types of Web sites


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Commerce sites must be available 24 hours a day,

7 days a week. Requirements include:

Reliable servers

Backup servers for high availablity Efficient and easily upgraded software

Security software

Database connectivity

B2B sites also require certificate servers to issue

and analyze electronic authentication information.

Commerce sites


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Examples:

USA Today

New York Times

ZDNet Sell and deliver content: news, summaries,

histories, other digital information.

Hardware requirements are similar to the

commerce sites. Database access must be efficient.

Content delivery site


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Web hosts are Internet service providers who also

allow access to:

E-commerce software

Storage space E-commerce expertise

You can choose:

Managed hosting: the service provider managesthe operation and oversight of all servers

Unmanaged hosting: the customer must maintain

and oversee all servers

What is Web hosting?


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Cost effective for small companies or those without

in-house technical staff.

May require less investment in hardware/software.

Can eliminate the need to hire and oversee technicalpersonnel.

Make sure that the site is scalable.

If you need help in choosing a Web host, contact

the Web Host Guild. Formed in 1998, it is a sortof Better Business Bureau of the Internet.

Benefits
http://www.whg.org/index.htmhttp://www.whg.org/index.htm


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Access to hardware, software, personnel

Domain name, IP address

Disk storage

Template pages to use for designing the site E-mail service

Use of FTP to upload and download information

Shopping cart software

Multimedia extensions (sound, animation, movies) Secure credit card processing

Services provided


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Summary

ISPs have Web hosting expertise that small or

medium-sized companies may not.

Creating and maintaining a Web site using an

existing network can be difficult. With the exception of large companies with large

Web sites and in-house computer experts, it is

almost always cheaper to use outside Web

hosting services.


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EZ Webhost

Interland

HostPro

HostIndexManaged hosting

Other hosting options

TopHosts.com

Examples
http://www.ezwebhost.com/http://www.interland.net/http://www.hostpro.com/http://www.hostindex.com/http://www.tophosts.com/http://www.tophosts.com/http://www.hostindex.com/http://www.hostpro.com/http://www.interland.net/http://www.interland.net/http://www.ezwebhost.com/


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Requirements:

A catalog display

Shopping cart capabilities

Transaction processing Tools to populate the store catalog and to

facilitate storefront display choices

Any e-commerce software must be integrated

with existing systems:Database

Transaction processing software

B2C e-commerce


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Small storefront (fewer than 35 items)

Simple listing of products

No particular organization

Example: Quebec maple syrup Larger catalog

Store product information in database

More sophisticated navigation aids

Better product organizationSearch engine

Example: LL Bean

Catalog display
http://www.jam.ca/syrup/http://www.llbean.com/http://www.llbean.com/http://www.jam.ca/syrup/


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Early e-commerce shopping used forms-based

check out methods. Required writing down

product codes, unit prices, etc.

A shopping cart:Keeps track of items selected

Allows you to view the items in a cart

Allows you to change quantities of items

Because the Web is stateless, information mustbe stored for retrieval. One way to do this is

to use cookies, bits of information stored on

the clients computer.

Shopping carts
http://www.backtob.com/http://www.backtob.com/http://www.backtob.com/http://www.backtob.com/http://www.backtob.com/http://www.backtob.com/http://www.backtob.com/


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Usually performed with a secure connection.

May require the calculation of:

Sales tax

Shipping costsVolume discounts

Tax-free sales

Special promotions

Time sensitive offers Details about transactions must be tracked for

accounting, sales reports.

Transaction processing


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Business-to-business e-commerce requires tools and

capabilities different from those required for business-

to-customer systems.

Encryption Authentication

Digital signatures

Signed receipt notices

The ability to connect to existing legacy systems,including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

software. ERP integrates all facets of a business

including planning, sales, and marketing.

B2B e-commerce


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Three levels of e-commerce packages:

Basic: Requires a few hundred dollars in fees

and less than an hour to set up. Typically

hosted by an ISP.Middle-tier: Ranges in price from $1K to $5K+,

and can take from one day to several days to

set up. Can connect with a database server.

Requires hardware purchase and some skills.Enterprise-class: For large companies with high

traffic and transaction volumes. Hardware and

in-house specialists needed.

Levels of packages


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Basic packages are free or low-cost e-commerce

software supplied by a Web host for building sites

to be placed on the Web hosts system.

Fundamental services

Banner advertising exchanges

Full-service mall-style hosting

Basic packages


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Available for businesses selling less than 50 items with

a low rate of transactions.

These services offer:

Space for the storeForms-based shopping

The Web host makes money from advertising banners

placed on the site. Each business has some control

over which banners are placed on its site. Examples: Bizland.com, HyperMart

Drawbacks: E-mail transaction processing, banners.

Fundamental services
http://www.bizland.com/5617ea57e98c4641/index.htmlhttp://www.hypermart.net/members/tutorials/101/http://www.hypermart.net/members/tutorials/101/http://www.bizland.com/5617ea57e98c4641/index.html


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Banner exchange sites aid online store promotion.

Banner exchange agreements are made between

sites that sign up for the service.

The BES organizes the exchanges, enforces bannerexchange rules, collects statistics about customers,

and rotates ads on the sites.

A click through count is the number of visitors that

a banner produces at a site. Examples: Banner Exchange, Exchange-it,

SmartClicks

Banner exchange sites
http://bannerexchange.mycomputer.com/http://www.exchange-it.com/http://www.smartage.com/promote/smartclicks/index2.html?http://www.smartage.com/promote/smartclicks/index2.html?http://www.exchange-it.com/http://www.exchange-it.com/http://www.exchange-it.com/http://bannerexchange.mycomputer.com/


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Full-service hosting sites provide:

High-quality tools

Storefront templates

An easy-to-use interface Quick Web page creation and maintenance

No required banner advertising

In exchange these sites may charge:

One-time set up fees Monthly fees

A percentage of each transaction

A fixed amount per each transaction

Full-service mall-style hosting


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Shopping cart software

Comprehensive customer transaction processing

Choice of purchase options (credit card,

electronic cash or other forms)Acceptance and authorization of credit cards

No required (and distracting) Web banner ads

Higher quality Web store building/maintenance

tools (saving time and energy) Examples: Yahoo!Store, BigStep.com

Differences from basic services
http://store.yahoo.com/http://www.bigstep.com/http://www.bigstep.com/http://store.yahoo.com/


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Midrange packages

Distinction from basic e-commerce packages:

The merchant has explicit control over

Merchandising choices

Site layoutInternal architecture

Remote and local management options

Other differences include price, capability,

database connectivity, software portability,software customization tools, computer

expertise required of the merchant.


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Features

Prices range from $2000 to $9000.

Hosted on the merchants server.

Typically has connectivity with complex database

systems and stores catalog information.Several provide connections (hooks) into existing

inventory and ERP systems.

Highly customizable

Requires part-time or full-time programming talent. Examples: INTERSHOP efinity, WebSphere Commerce

Suite
http://www.intershop.com/products/http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/http://www.intershop.com/products/


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Enterprise solutions

Distinguishing features:

Price ($25,000 - $1 million)

Extensive support for B2B e-commerce

Interacts with a variety of back office systems,such as database, accounting, and ERP.

Requires one or more dedicated computers, a

Web front-end, firewall(s), a DNS server, an

SMTP system, an HTTP server, an FTP server,and a database server.


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Features

Good tools for linking supply and purchasing.

Can interact with the inventory system to make

the proper adjustments to stock, issue purchase

orders, and generate accounting entries. Example: Wal-Mart

Allows several suppliers to make decisions

about resupplying

Results in cost savings in inventory Examples: WebSphere Commerce Suite, Netscape

CommerceXpert
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/http://home.netscape.com/commapps/products/index.htmlhttp://home.netscape.com/commapps/products/index.htmlhttp://home.netscape.com/commapps/products/index.htmlhttp://home.netscape.com/commapps/products/index.htmlhttp://home.netscape.com/commapps/products/index.htmlhttp://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/


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Hardware, operating system, and application server

software must be considered together since each

affects the other.

Whatever your choice you must ensure that theserver hardware is scalable, meaning that it can be

upgraded or a new server added as necessary.

Other needs, such as a database server, should be

handled by separate hardware. Database productshave large processing needs.

Web platform choices


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Hardware and operating system choice

Speed of connection to the Internet

User capacity

Throughput: The number of HTTP requeststhat can be processed in a given time period.

Response time: The amount of time a server

requires to process one request.

The mix and type of Web pagesStatic pages

Dynamic pages: Shaped in response to users.

Factors in performance


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Benchmarking is testing used to compare theperformance of hardware and software.

Results measure the performance of aspects such

as the OS, software, network speed, CPU speed. There are several Web benchmarking programs.

For examples see Figure 3-4 on page 87.

Anyone considering buying a server for a heavy

traffic situation or wanting to make changes toan existing system should consider benchmarks.

Benchmarking


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Web server features

Web server features range from basic to extensivedepending on the software package being used.

Web server features fall into groups based on their

purpose:Core capabilities

Site management

Application construction

Dynamic contentElectronic commerce


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Core capabilities

Process and respond to Web client requestsStatic pages, dynamic pages, domain name

translation.

Security

Name/passwords, processing certificates and

public/private key pairs.

FTP, Gopher

Searching, indexing Data analysis

Who, what, when, how long? May involve the

use of Web log analysis software.


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Site management

Features found in site management tools: Link checking

Script checking

HTML validation

Web server log file analysis

Remote server administration


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Application construction

Uses Web editors and extensions to produce Webpages, both static and dynamic.

Like HTML editors, application editors allow the

creation dynamic features without knowledge of

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) or API

(Application Program Interface) programming.

Also detects HTML code that differs from the

standard or is browser specific.


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Dynamic content

Non-static information constructed in response toto a Web clients request.

Assembled from backend databases and internal

data on the Web site, a successful dynamic page

is tailored to the query that generated it.

Active Server Pages (ASP) is a server-side scripting

mechanism to build dynamic sites and Web

applications. It uses a variety of languages suchas VBScript, Jscript, and Perl.

More information? Take ECT 353!


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Electronic commerce

An Web server handles Web pages whereas ane-commerce server deals with the buying and

selling of goods and services.

A Web server should handle e-commerce software

since this simplifies adding e-commerce features

to existing sites.

Features: Creation of graphics, product information,

addition of new products, shopping carts, creditcard processing, sales report generation, Web ad

rotation and weighting.


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Web server software

There is no best package for all cases. The market is divided into intranet servers and

public Web servers.

Three of the most popular Web server programs:

Apache HTTP Server

Microsoft Internet Information Server

Netscape Enterprise Server

See Figure 3-8 for the market share graph.A more recent market share analysis.
http://www.netcraft.com/survey/http://www.netcraft.com/survey/


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Apache HTTP Server

Developed by Rob McCool while at UI in theNCSA in 1994.

The software is available free of charge and is

quite efficient.

Can be used for intranets and public Web sites.

Originally written for Unix, it is now available

for many operating systems.

For a discussion of its features see the ApacheSoftware Foundation page.
http://www.apache.org/http://www.apache.org/http://www.apache.org/http://www.apache.org/http://www.apache.org/


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Microsoft IIS

Microsofts Internet Information Server comesbundled with Microsofts Windows NT/2000.

Can be used for intranets and public Web sites.

It is suitable for everything from small sites to

large enterprise-class sites with high volumes.

Currently only runs on Windows NT/2000.

See Microsofts Web Services page.
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/web/default.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/web/default.asp


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Netscape Enterprise Server

Costs several thousand dollars and has a 60-daytrial period.

Can be run on the Internet, intranets and extranets.

Some of the busiest sites on the Internet use NES

including E*Trade, Excite, and Lycos.

Runs on many different operating systems.

See Netscape Server Products.
http://home.netscape.com/servers/index.htmlhttp://home.netscape.com/servers/index.html


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Further information

What Web software is running on a site?Web server side-by-side comparisons
http://www.netcraft.com/whats/http://webcompare.internet.com/http://webcompare.internet.com/http://webcompare.internet.com/http://webcompare.internet.com/http://webcompare.internet.com/http://webcompare.internet.com/http://www.netcraft.com/whats/


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Other Web server tools include: Web portals

Search engines

Push technologies

Intelligent agents

Web server tools


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Provides a cyber door on the Web Serves as a customizable home base

Successful portals include:

Excite

Yahoo!

My Netscape

Microsoft Passport

Web portals
http://www.excite.com/http://www.yahoo.com/http://my.netscape.com/http://www.msn.com/help/faq.asphttp://www.msn.com/help/faq.asphttp://my.netscape.com/http://www.yahoo.com/http://www.excite.com/


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An automated delivery of specific and currentinformation from a Web server to the users

hard drive

May be used to provide information on:

Health benefit updates

Employee awards

Changes in corporate policies

Push technologies


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A program that performs functions such asinformation gathering, information filtering,

or mediation on behalf of a person or entity

Examples:

AuctionBot

BargainFinder

MySimon

Kasbah

Intelligent agents
http://tac.eecs.umich.edu/auction/http://www.cdrom-guide.com/bargainfinder.htmhttp://www.mysimon.com/http://www.mysimon.com/http://www.cdrom-guide.com/bargainfinder.htmhttp://tac.eecs.umich.edu/auction/


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Example uses for intelligent agents: Search for the best price and characteristics

of various products

Procurement: Deciding what, when, and how

much to purchase

Stock alert: Monitors stock and notifies when

certain conditions are met, e.g. purchase 100

shares if the price is below $60 a share.

Example uses

ecommerce hardware and software welcome to depaul university 3293

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