Unit -2

Hardware Software Selection

Hardware/ Software Selection: A major element in building system is selecting compatible
hardware and software. Hardware and software selection begins with requirements analysis,
followed by a request for proposal and vendor selection.

Steps of Selection Process are

Major phases in selection

The selection process should be viewed as a project, and a project team should be organized
with management support. In larger projects, the team includes one or more user
representatives, an analyst and EDP auditor, and a consultant. Several steps make up the
selection process.

1. Requirements analysis
2. System specifications
3. Request for proposal(RFP)
4. Evaluation and validation
5. Vendor selection
6. Post-installation review

Requirements analysis

The first step in selection is understanding the user’s requirements within the framework of the
organization’s objectives and the environment in which the system is being installed.
Consideration is given to the user’s resources as well as to finances.

In selecting software, the user must decide whether to develop it in house, hire a software
company or contract programmer to create it, or simply acquire it from a software house. The
choice is logically made after the user has clearly defined the requirements expected of the
software. Therefore, requirements analysis sets the tone for software selection.

System Specifications
Failure to specify system requirements before the final selection almost always results in a faulty
acquisition. The specifications should delineate the user’s requirements and allow room for bids
from various vendors. They must reflect the actual applications to be handled by the system and
include system objectives, flowcharts, input-output requirements, file structure and cost. The
specifications must also describe each aspect of the system clearly, consistently and
completely.
Request for Proposal
After the requirements analysis and system specifications have been determined, a request for
proposal is drafted and sent to selected vendors for bidding. Bids submitted are based on
discussions with vendors. At a minimum, the RFP should include the following

1. Complete statement of the system specifications, programming language, price range, terms
and time frame.
2. Request for vendor’s responsibilities for conversion, training and maintenance
3. Warranties and terms of license or contractual limitations.
4. Request for financial statement of vendor
5. Size of staff available for system support

Evaluation and validation

The evaluation phase ranks vendor proposals and determines the best suited to the user’s
needs. It looks into items such as price, availability and technical support. System validation
ensures that the vendor can match his/her claims, system performance. True validation is
obtained verified by having each system demonstrated. An outside consultant can be employed
for consulting purpose.

Vendor selection

This step determines the winner – the vendor with the best combination of reputation, reliability,
service record, training, delivery time, lease finance terms and conversion schedule. Initially a
decision is made which vendor to contact. The sources available to check on vendors include
the following

1. Users
2. Software houses
3. Trade associations
4. Universities
5. Publications/Journals
6. Vendor software lists
7. Vendor referral directories
8. Published directories
9. Consultants
10. Industry contacts

Post- installation Review

Sometime after the package is installed, a system evaluation is made to determine how closely
the new system conforms to plan. System specifications and user requirements are audited to
pinpoint and correct any differences
Software selection:

Software selection is a critical aspect for system development. There are 2 ways of acquiring
the software.
Custom -made
Packages

Criteria for Software selection:

Reliability – It is the probability that the software will executed in a specific period of time without
any failures. It is important to the professional user. It brings up the concept of modularity, or the
ease which a package can be modified.

Functionality – It is the definition of the facilities, performance and other factors that the user
requires in the finished product.

Capacity – Capacity refers to the capability of the software package to handle the users
requirements for size of files, number of data elements, and reports. All limitations should be
checked.

Flexibility – It is a measure of effort required to modify an operational program. One feature of

flexibility is adaptability.

Usability – This criteria refers to the effort required to operate, prepare the input, and interpret
the output of a program. Additional points considered here are portability and understandability.
Portability refers to the ability of the software to be used. Understandability is the purpose of the
product.

Security – It is a measure of the likelihood that a system’s user can accidentally or intentionally
access or destroy unauthorized data.

Performance – It is a measure of the capacity of the software package to do what it is expected

to do. This criteria focuses on throughput or how effectively a package performs under peak
load.

Serviceability –This criteria focuses on documentation and vendor support.

Ownership – Who owns the software ,and to consider whether he has the right to access the
software, or he can sell or modify the software.

Minimal costs – Cost is a major consideration in deciding between in-house and vendor
software.
Evaluation process:

There are three process for evaluating hardware and software.

1. Benchmark programs: It is a sample program for evaluating different computers and their
software. It is necessary because computers often uses the same instructions, words of memory
or machine cycle to solve a problem. Benchmarking includes the following
Determination of the minimum hardware.
An acceptance test
Testing in an ideal environment to determine the timings and in the normal environment to
determine its influence on other programs.

2. Experience of other users: Benchmarking only validates vendors’ claims. Experience of other
users with the same system software is essential.

3. Product reference manuals: These evaluate a system’s capability. These reports elaborate on
computer products, services and prices.

Evaluation of proposals:

After all proposals are evaluated, the final vendor is selected using any of the 3 methods

1. adhoc refers to the user’s inclination to favor one vendor over others.

2. Scoring. In this method the characteristics of each system are listed and score is given in
relation to the maximum point rating. Then each proposal is rated according to its
characteristics.

3. Cost value approach. In this method a dollar credit method is applied to the proposal that
meets the user’s desirable characteristics. This credit is subtracted from the vendor’s quoted
price. The proposal with the lowest price is selected.

Performance evaluation:

Hardware selection requires an analysis on the following criteria

1. System availability
2. Compatibility
3. Cost
4. Performance
5. Uptime
6. Support
7. Usability
For the software evaluation, the following are considered

1. The programming language and its suitability to the applications

2. Ease of installation and training
3. Extent of enhancements to be made prior to installation.

Computer Network Types

A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the computer to
communicate with another computer and share their resources, data, and applications.

A computer network can be categorized by their size. A computer network is mainly of four
types:
LAN(Local Area Network)
WAN(Wide Area Network)

LAN(Local Area Network)

● Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in a small area
such as building, office.
● LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a communication
medium such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.
● It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs, network adapters,
and ethernet cables.
● The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area Network.
● Local Area Network provides higher security.

WAN(Wide Area Network)

● A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area such as
states or countries.
● A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
 ● A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans over a large
geographical area through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.
● The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
● A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and education.

Examples Of Wide Area Network:

Mobile Broadband , Private network:

Advantages Of Wide Area Network:

Geographical area: A Wide Area Network provides a large geographical area. Suppose if the
branch of our office is in a different city then we can connect with them through WAN. The
internet provides a leased line through which we can connect with another branch.

Centralized data: In case of WAN network, data is centralized. Therefore, we do not need to buy
the emails, files or back up servers.

Get updated files: Software companies work on the live server. Therefore, the programmers get
the updated files within seconds.

Exchange messages: In a WAN network, messages are transmitted fast. The web application
like Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype allows you to communicate with friends.

Sharing of software and resources: In WAN network, we can share the software and other
resources like a hard drive, RAM.
Global business: We can do the business over the internet globally.

High bandwidth: If we use the leased lines for our company then this gives the high bandwidth.
The high bandwidth increases the data transfer rate which in turn increases the productivity of
our company.

Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:

The following are the disadvantages of the Wide Area Network:

Security issue: A WAN network has more security issues as compared to LAN and MAN
network as all the technologies are combined together that creates the security problem.
Needs Firewall & antivirus software: The data is transferred on the internet which can be
changed or hacked by the hackers, so the firewall needs to be used. Some people can inject the
virus in our system so antivirus is needed to protect from such a virus.
High Setup cost: An installation cost of the WAN network is high as it involves the purchasing of
routers, switches.

Software and its Types

In a computer system, the software is basically a set of instructions or commands
that tells a computer what to do. Or in other words, the software is a computer
program that provides a set of instructions to execute a user’s commands and tell
the computer what to do. For example like MS-Word, MS-Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
The chart below describes the types of software:

Above is the diagram of types of software. Now we will briefly describe each type
and its subtypes :
System Software
System software is software that directly operates the computer hardware and
provides the basic functionality to the users as well as to the other software to
operate smoothly. Or in other words, system software basically controls a
computer’s internal functioning and also controls hardware devices such as
monitors, printers, and storage devices, etc. It is like an interface between
hardware and user applications, it helps them to communicate with each other
because hardware understands machine language(i.e. 1 or 0) whereas user
applications are work in human-readable languages like English, Hindi, German,
etc. so system software converts the human-readable language into machine
language and vice versa.

Features of system software:

Let us discuss some of the features of System Software:

System Software is closer to the computer system.

System Software is written in a low-level language in general.
System software is difficult to design and understand.
System software is fast in speed(working speed).
System software is less interactive for the users in comparison to application
software.

Types of system software:

It has two subtypes which are:

Operating System: It is the main program of a computer system. When the

computer system ON it is the first software that loads into the computer’s
memory. Basically, it manages all the resources such as memory, CPU, printer,
hard disk, etc., and provides an interface to the user, which helps the user to
interact with the computer system. It also provides various services to other
computer software. Examples of operating systems are Linux, Apple macOS,
Microsoft Windows, etc.
Language Processor: As we know that system software converts the
human-readable language into a machine language and vice versa. So, the
conversion is done by the language processor. It converts programs written in
high-level programming languages like Java, C, C++, Python, etc(known as
source code), into sets of instructions that are easily readable by
machines(known as object code or machine code).

Device Driver: A device driver is a program or software that controls a device and
helps that device to perform its functions. Every device like a printer, mouse,
modem, etc. needs a driver to connect with the computer system eternally. So,
when you connect a new device with your computer system, first you need to
install the driver of that device so that your operating system knows how to
control or manage that device.

Application Software
Software that performs special functions or provides functions that are much
more than the basic operation of the computer is known as application software.
Or in other words, application software is designed to perform a specific task for
end-users. It is a product or a program that is designed only to fulfill end-users’
requirements. It includes word processors, spreadsheets, database
management, inventory, payroll programs, etc.

Features of application software:

Let us discuss some of the features of Application Software:

An important feature of application software is it performs more specialized tasks

like word processing, spreadsheets, email, etc.
Mostly, the size of the software is big, so it requires more storage space.
Application software is more interactive for the users, so it is easy to use and
design.
The application software is easy to design and understand.
Application software is written in a high-level language in general.

Types of application software:

Networking and Web Applications Software –

Networking Software provides the required support necessary for computers to interact with
each other and with data storage facilities. Networking software is also used when software is
running on a network of computers (such as the World Wide Web). It includes all network
management software, server software, security and encryption software, and software to
develop web-based applications like HTML, PHP, XML, etc.

Embedded Software –
This type of software is embedded into the hardware normally in the Read-Only Memory (ROM)
as a part of a large system and is used to support certain functionality under the control
conditions. Examples are software used in instrumentation and control applications like washing
machines, satellites, microwaves, etc.

Reservation Software –
A Reservation system is primarily used to store and retrieve information and perform
transactions related to air travel, car rental, hotels, or other activities. They also provide access
to bus and railway reservations, although these are not always integrated with the main system.
These are also used to relay computerized information for users in the hotel industry, making a
reservation and ensuring that the hotel is not overbooked.

Business Software –
This category of software is used to support business applications and is the most widely used
category of software. Examples are software for inventory management, accounts, banking,
hospitals, schools, stock markets, etc.

Entertainment Software –
Education and entertainment software provides a powerful tool for educational agencies,
especially those that deal with educating young children. There is a wide range of entertainment
software such as computer games, educational games, translation software, mapping software,
etc.

Artificial Intelligence Software –

Software like expert systems, decision support systems, pattern recognition software, artificial
neural networks, etc. come under this category. They involve complex problems which are not
affected by complex computations using non-numerical algorithms.

Scientific Software –
Scientific and engineering software satisfies the needs of a scientific or engineering user to
perform enterprise-specific tasks. Such software is written for specific applications using
principles, techniques, and formulae particular to that field. Examples are software like MATLAB,
AUTOCAD, PSPICE, ORCAD, etc.

Utilities Software –
The programs coming under this category perform specific tasks and are different from other
software in terms of size, cost, and complexity. Examples are anti-virus software, voice
recognition software, compression programs, etc.

Document Management Software –

Document Management Software is used to track, manage and store documents in order to
reduce the paperwork. Such systems are capable of keeping a record of the various versions
created and modified by different users (history tracking). They commonly provide storage,
versioning, metadata, security, as well as indexing and retrieval capabilities.

Operating System
An Operating System (OS) is a software that acts as an interface between computer hardware
components and the user. Every computer system must have at least one operating system to
run other programs. Applications like Browsers, MS Office, Notepad Games, etc., need some
environment to run and perform its tasks.

The OS helps you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the
computer’s language. It is not possible for the user to use any computer or mobile device
without having an operating system.

Types of Operating System (OS)

Following are the popular types of OS (Operating System):

Batch Operating System

Multitasking/Time Sharing OS
Multiprocessing OS
Real Time OS
Distributed OS
Network OS
Mobile OS

Batch Operating System

Some computer processes are very lengthy and time-consuming. To speed the same process, a
job with a similar type of needs are batched together and run as a group.

The user of a batch operating system never directly interacts with the computer. In this type of
OS, every user prepares his or her job on an offline device like a punch card and submit it to the
computer operator.

Multi-Tasking/Time-sharing Operating systems

Time-sharing operating system enables people located at a different terminal(shell) to use a
single computer system at the same time. The processor time (CPU) which is shared among
multiple users is termed as time sharing.

Real time OS
A real time operating system time interval to process and respond to inputs is very small.
Examples: Military Software Systems, Space Software Systems are the Real time OS example.

Distributed Operating System

Distributed systems use many processors located in different machines to provide very fast
computation to its users.

Network Operating System

Network Operating System runs on a server. It provides the capability to serve to manage data,
user, groups, security, application, and other networking functions.

Mobile OS
Mobile operating systems are those OS which is especially that are designed to power
smartphones, tablets, and wearables devices.

Some most famous mobile operating systems are Android and iOS, but others include
BlackBerry, Web, and watchOS.

Functions of Operating System

Some typical operating system functions may include managing memory, files, processes, I/O
system & devices, security, etc.

Below are the main functions of Operating System:

of the function:

Process management: Process management helps OS to create and delete processes. It also
provides mechanisms for synchronization and communication among processes.

Memory management: Memory management module performs the task of allocation and
de-allocation of memory space to programs in need of this resources.

File management: It manages all the file-related activities such as organization storage,
retrieval, naming, sharing, and protection of files.

Device Management: Device management keeps tracks of all devices. This module also
responsible for this task is known as the I/O controller. It also performs the task of allocation and
de-allocation of the devices.

I/O System Management: One of the main objects of any OS is to hide the peculiarities of that
hardware devices from the user.

Secondary-Storage Management: Systems have several levels of storage which includes

primary storage, secondary storage, and cache storage. Instructions and data must be stored in
primary storage or cache so that a running program can reference it.

Security: Security module protects the data and information of a computer system against
malware threat and authorized access.
Command interpretation: This module is interpreting commands given by the and acting system
resources to process that commands.
Networking: A distributed system is a group of processors which do not share memory,
hardware devices, or a clock. The processors communicate with one another through the
network.

Job accounting: Keeping track of time & resource used by various job and users.
Communication management: Coordination and assignment of compilers, interpreters, and
another software resource of the various users of the computer systems.

Features of Operating System (OS)

Here is a list important features of OS:

Protected and supervisor mode

Allows disk access and file systems Device drivers Networking Security
Program Execution
Memory management Virtual Memory Multitasking
Handling I/O operations
Manipulation of the file system
Error Detection and handling
Resource allocation
Information and Resource Protection
Features of Operating System

Advantage of Operating System

Allows you to hide details of hardware by creating an abstraction
Easy to use with a GUI
Offers an environment in which a user may execute programs/applications
The operating system must make sure that the computer system convenient to use
Operating System acts as an intermediary among applications and the hardware components
It provides the computer system resources with easy to use format
Acts as an intermediator between all hardware’s and software’s of the system

Disadvantages of Operating System

If any issue occurs in OS, you may lose all the contents which have been stored in your system
Operating system’s software is quite expensive for small size organization which adds burden
on them. Example Windows
Execute Python

What is Database
The database is a collection of inter-related data which is used to retrieve, insert and delete the
data efficiently. It is also used to organize the data in the form of a table, schema, views, and
reports, etc.

For example: The college Database organizes the data about the admin, staff, students and
faculty etc.
Using the database, you can easily retrieve, insert, and delete the information.

Database Management System

Database management system is a software which is used to manage the database. For
example: MySQL, Oracle, etc are a very popular commercial database which is used in different
applications.
DBMS provides an interface to perform various operations like database creation, storing data
in it, updating data, creating a table in the database and a lot more.
It provides protection and security to the database. In the case of multiple users, it also
maintains data consistency.
DBMS allows users the following tasks:

Field-It is defined as a unit of meaningful information about an entity like date of flight, name of
passenger, address etc.

Record– It is a collection of units of information about a particular entity. Passenger of an

airplane, an employee of an organization, or an article sold from a store.

Why do we need a Database

A database is a collection of data, usually stored in electronic form. A database is typically

designed so that it is easy to store and access information.

A good database is crucial to any company or organisation. This is because the database stores
all the pertinent details about the company such as employee records, transactional records,
salary details etc.

The various reasons a database is important are −

Manages large amounts of data

A database stores and manages a large amount of data on a daily basis. This would not be
possible using any other tool such as a spreadsheet as they would simply not work.

Accurate
A database is pretty accurate as it has all sorts of build in constraints, checks etc. This means
that the information available in a database is guaranteed to be correct in most cases.

Easy to update data

In a database, it is easy to update data using various Data Manipulation languages (DML)
available. One of these languages is SQL.
Security of data
Databases have various methods to ensure security of data. There are user logins required
before accessing a database and various access specifiers. These allow only authorised users
to access the database.

Data integrity
This is ensured in databases by using various constraints for data. Data integrity in databases
makes sure that the data is accurate and consistent in a database.

Easy to research data

It is very easy to access and research data in a database. This is done using Data Query
Languages (DQL) which allow searching of any data in the database and performing
computations on it.

Decision Support System (DSS): It’s a computer-based system that aids the process of
decision-making. It is an interactive, flexible and adaptable computer system. It is specially
developed for supporting the solution of a non-structured management problem for improved
decision-making. DSS is a specific class of computerized information systems that supports
business and organizational decision-making activities.

Components of DSS:
Model Management
Data Management
User Interface Management

Advantages:
It saves time.
Enhances efficiency
Reduces the cost
It improves personal efficiency
It increases the decision-maker satisfaction.
Disadvantages:
Information Overload
Status reduction
Over-emphasize decision-making.
Types of Decision Support systems are Document-driven, Data-driven, Knowledge-driven,
Model-driven, and Communication-driven.

Applications include medical diagnosis, business management, agriculture, rail projects, and
many more.

Examples: GPS route planning, Crop-planning, ERP dashboards, and others.

Expert System: It is a computer program that is designed to mimic the decision-making ability
of a decision-maker. It organizes a set of knowledge about a particular subject. It contains facts
and judgmental knowledge which gives it the ability to guess like a human. There are set of
rules on which it makes decisions using an if-else structure. The inference engine does
reasoning by manipulating the knowledge base. The user interface represents questions and
information to the operator and also receives answers from the operator.

Components of Expert System:

Knowledge Base
Knowledge acquisition and learning module
Inference Engine
User Interface
Explanation module

Advantages:
Cost is reduced
Danger is reduced
Increases the availability
Performance
Disadvantages:

It can make absurd errors if data is entered incorrectly.

Doesn’t provide a creative response in certain situations.
It relies on rules and knowledge being correct.
Types of Expert Systems are rule-based expert systems, frame-based expert systems, fuzzy
expert systems, neural expert systems, and neuro-fuzzy expert systems.

Applications include Help desks and Information management. Hospitals. Employee

performance evaluation. Loan analysis. and many more.

Examples: MYCIN, DENDRAL, and others.

Executive Information System (EIS) :

EIS is defined as a system that helps the high-level executives to take policy decisions. This
system uses high level data, analytical models and user friendly software for taking decisions. It
is a structured, automated tracking system that operates continuously to keep everything
managed. It provides exception and status reporting capabilities.

Advantages :

Easy to use.
Ability to analyze the trends.
Time management.
Efficiency.
Enhances business problem solving.
Disadvantages :

Functions are limited.

Difficult to keep current data.
System can run slow.
Less reliable.