Essentials of Design and the

Design Activities
Chapter 6

Systems Analysis and Design

in a Changing World 6th Ed

Satzinger, Jackson & Burd

Chapter 6 Outline
 The Elements of Design
 Inputs and Outputs for Systems Design
 Design Activities
 Design Activity: Design the Environment

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Learning Objectives
 Describe the difference between systems
analysis and systems design
 Explain each major design activity
 Describe the major hardware and network
environment options
 Describe the various hosting services
available

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Overview
 Analysis says “what” is required and design tells us
“how” the system will be configured and constructed
 This chapter introduces system design and the
design activities involved in systems development
 Design bridges the gap between requirements to
actual implementation
 Objective of design is to define, organize, and
structure the components of the final solution to
serve as a blue print for construction

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Major Components of Design
 Information systems are deployed on a range of
devices
 The design requirements vary dramatically
depending on the targeted environment
 Some applications never connect to the Internet, some
connect periodically, and some need continuous Internet
 One common configuration is known as network
diagram
 Network diagram is a model that shows how the application
is deployed across networks and computers

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Major Components of Design
 For the entire system, the analyst first identify the
overall application deployment environment
 Requires defining the hardware and software environments
 In most situations, the infrastructure for the
application information system already exists and
the new system must conform to the existing
configuration
 To perform design, analysts first partition the entire
system into its major components

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Major Components of Design

Fig 6-1 System components requiring systems design

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Levels of Design
 Architectural Design
 Broad design of the overall system structure
 Also called General Design and Conceptual Design
 Detailed Design
 Low level design that includes the design of the specific
program details
 Design of each use case
 Design of the database
 Design of user and system interfaces
 Design of controls and security

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Inputs and Outputs for Systems Design
 Design:
 Is a model-building activity
 Convert requirement models into models that represent the
solution system
 Is much more oriented towards technical issues and
thus requires less user involvement and more
involvement by other systems professionals
 Involves describing, organizing, and structuring the
system solution
 Output of the design activities is a set of diagrams and
documents that achieves this objective

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Analysis Objectives versus
Design Objectives

Fig 6-2 Analysis objectives and design objectives

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Analysis
vs.
Design
Models

Fig 6-3 Analysis and design models

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Design Activities

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Design Activities
 System design involves specifying in detail
how a system will work when using a
particular technology
 Some details have been developed during system
analysis, but need more details
 Each component of the final solution is influenced
by the design of all other components
 Thus, system design activities are done in parallel

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Design Activities

Fig 6-5 Design activities and key questions

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1. Design Activities:
Design the environment
 The environment is all of the technology
required to support the software application
 Servers, Desktop computers
 Mobile devices, Operating systems
 Communication capabilities, input and output
capabilities
 In Chapter 2 this was called the Technology
Architecture
 This activity is discussed in more detail later in
the chapter

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2. Design Activities: Design the
application architecture and software

 Include decisions about the structure and

configuration of the new system, and design of
the software
 Steps:
 Partition system into subsystems
 Define database infrastructure and multilayer design
 Design the application software at detailed level
 Activity diagram, design class diagrams, DFDs

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3. Design Activities: Design the user
interfaces
 New technology has led to many new requirements for
the user interface
 Disparity between desktop screens and smartphone
displays requires multiple user interfaces for the same
application
 Types of models and tools used:
 Mock-ups
 Storyboards
 Graphical layouts
 Prototyping with screen modelling tools

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4. Design Activities: Design the
system interfaces
 Information system interacts with many other systems,
internal and external
 Much more integration now
 System interfaces connect with other systems in many
different ways
 Save data another system uses
 Read data another system saved
 Real time request for information
 Software services from another system

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5. Design Activities: Design the
database
 Includes:
 ERD
 Database structure
 Design architecture
 Database schema
 Referential integrity constraints
 Integration with existing databases

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6. Design Activities: Design the
security and system controls

 Purpose: protect the organization’s

assets – system controls
 Design should be included in all other
design activities
 User-interface controls
 Limits access to the system to authorized users
 System-interface controls
 Ensure that other systems cause no harm to the
system
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6. Design Activities: Design the
security and system controls – cont.
 Design should be included in all other
design activities (continuation)
 Application controls
 Ensure transactions are recorded precisely and
other work done by the system is done correctly
 Database controls
 Ensure that data is protected from unauthorized
access and from accidental loss
 Network controls
 Ensure that communication through networks is
protected
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Design the Environment
 First activity as it permeates all the other design
decisions
 A lot of variation in the software systems being
deployed, and also variations in the types of
devices and configurations that have software
applications
 Types of software deployment
 Software systems deployed entirely within an organization
 Software systems built for purely external use
 Software systems deployed remotely in a distributed fashion
(for internal and external use)

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1. Design for Internal Deployment
a. Stand alone software systems
 Run on one device without networking
 Usually read and write data into files without
database access
 Need to be deployed on various pieces of
equipment i.e. different versions

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1. Design for Internal Deployment
b. Internal network-based systems
 Built for the exclusive use of the organization
that builds it or buys it
 Common hardware configuration - local area
network, client-server architecture

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Internal Network Terminology
 Local area network
 a computer network in which the cabling and hardware
are confined to a single location
 Client-server architecture
 a computer network configuration with user’s computers
and central computers that provide common services
 Client computers
 the computers at which the users work to perform their
computational tasks
 Server computer
 the central computer that provides services (such as
database access) to the client computers over a network

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Client-server Architecture

Fig 6-9 Network diagram for an internal network system

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1. Design for Internal Deployment
 Internal network-based systems
 Two kinds of systems that can be deployed in
client-server architecture:
 Desktop applications; and
 Browser-based applications

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1. Design for Internal Deployment
 Internal network-based systems
 Desktop applications
 Computer program that executes on a client
computer
 Desktop system access a server computer to
retrieve and update data from a database
 Computer programs that communicate together
between the client and server computers
 Advantage: user interface and functionality can be
customized to exact requirements of users

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1. Design for Internal Deployment
 Internal network-based systems
 Browser-based applications
 The presentation of screens and reports to the client’s
computers is handled by an Internet browser
 Disadvantage:
 Puts a heavier load on the server computer
 Processing and calculations done by server and passed to
client computers as HTML pages
 Presentation of the user-interface screens and reports must
conform to the capabilities provided by the browsers
 Advantage:
 System can easily be extended outside the local LAN and
deployed via the Internet
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1. Design for Internal Deployment
 Three-layer client server architecture
 A client/server architecture that divides an
application into view layer, business logic layer,
and data layer
 Used for all types of systems including desktop
and browser based applications
 Effective approach
 Attention can be focused on solving one issue at a
time, and
 Easier to upgrade and enhance different portions of
the system
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Three Layer Architecture
 View layer
 The part of the three-layer architecture that contains the user
interface
 Accepts inputs and formats and displays processing results
 Business logic layer or domain layer
 The part of a three-layer architecture that contains the
programs that implement the business rules and processes
 Data layer
 The part of a three-layer architecture that interacts with the
data
 Manages stored data usually in one or more databases

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Three Layer Architecture

Fig 6-10 Abstract three-layer architecture

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Three Layer Architecture

Fig 6-11 Internal deployment with three-layer architecture

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2. Design for External Deployment
 Many companies are doing online business thus
the software application that support these
business activities are built for external use

 Important issues
 Configuration for Internet deployment
 Hosting alternatives for Internet deployment
 Diversity of client devices with Internet deployment

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2. Design for External Deployment
a. Configuration for Internet deployment
 Configuration is of three-layer architecture

Fig 6-12 Internet deployment of software applications

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2. Design for External Deployment
a. Configuration for Internet deployment
 Advantages
 Accessibility—Web-based applications are accessible to a
large number of potential users (including customers,
suppliers, and off-site employees).
 Low-cost communication—Connections to the Internet can
be purchased from a variety of private Internet service
providers at relatively low costs.
 Widely implemented standards—Web standards are well
known, and many computing professionals are already
trained in their use

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2. Design for External Deployment
a. Configuration for Internet deployment
 Potential problems
 Security—Web servers are a well-defined target for security
breaches because Web standards are open and widely known.
 Throughput—When high loads occur, throughput and response
time can suffer significantly.
 Changing standards—Web standards change rapidly. Client
software is updated every few months.

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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Running and maintaining a computer system on
someone’s behalf where the application software and
the database reside
 The process of providing physical servers at a secure
location and selling those services to other
businesses that wish to deploy Web sites

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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Issues when considering hosting alternatives
 Reliability – requires mirroring computers, hard drives, and
database records. Backup and recovery must be well
established
 Security – system’s hardware and software must be secured

 Physical facilities – special rooms or special buildings are

used to ensure reliability and security. Internet connectivity
requires multiple access routes to the Internet backbone.
Electrical power must be secure with generators on-site. Air-
conditioning units must be adequate to ensure a constant
physical environment
 Staff – well-qualified technical staff needs to be on site 24/7

 Growth – need to have multiple data centers and cater for

increase in number of servers
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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Popular alternatives for hosting
 Colocation
 Managed services
 Virtual servers
 Cloud computing

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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Colocation
 A hosting service with a secure location but in which the
computers are usually owned by the client businesses
 Includes a securely locked and protected site that meets all
regulatory requirements
 Has multiple high-capacity connections to the Internet
 Integrated into multiple power grids and has its own
emergency power generators
 Can rent rack space or lease computers from the host
 Server is managed remotely
 Advantage: Does not incur the costs of a physical, secure,
complex data center
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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Managed services
 A client owns software but may want to purchase
additional services, such as installing and
managing the operating system, the Internet
servers, database servers, and load balancing
software
 Advantage: Client does not have to hire special
technical staff to manage the server system
software

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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Virtual servers
 The client company leases a virtual server that is configured
as a real server, with a certain amount of CPU capacity,
internal memory, hard drive memory, and bandwidth to the
Internet
 Can purchase virtual servers with or without managed
services
 Host uses special system software to configure a virtual world
for the client

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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Virtual servers (cont.)
 Advantages:
 This service is use for applications with very low volume that do
not require the computing power of a whole computer
 Price are relatively cheap depending on size and power of virtual
server
 Client can add more capacity as needed

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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Cloud computing
 An extension of virtual servers in which the resources
available include computing, storage, and Internet access and
they appear to have unlimited availability
 Philosophies:
 A client should be able to buy computing capacity much like one
purchases such a utility as water or electricity
 The client shouldn’t have to be concerned with such
environmental issues as how or where this computing capacity is
provided, just as an individual doesn’t have to worry about how
electricity is generated

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2. Design for External Deployment
b. Hosting Alternatives for Internet deployment
 Selling point with all hosting companies is the
reliability of their equipment and Internet access
 Contracts for these services – Service level
agreement (SLA)
 For all alternatives, part of the contract between a
business and a hosting company that guarantees a
specific level of system availability

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Hosting Alternatives for Internet
Deployment

Fig 6-15 Attributes of hosting options

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2. Design for External Deployment
c. Diversity of Client Devices with Internet
deployment
 Critical issue with various devices from client: have
different screen sizes, screen display characteristics,
Internet browsers, and operating environments
 Browsers on different devices differ in their capabilities
 A challenge to design and implement the user interface for
these browsers
 Client devices’ size: full size, tablets and notebooks,
smart phones
 Solution: build two or three separate view layers so a software
application can be viewed on all three types of devices

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3. Design for Remote, Distributed
Environment
 Has characteristics of the internal environment and the
external, Web-based environment
 System in this environment is built using virtual private
networks (VPNs)
 Closed network with security and closed access built on top of a
public network (Internet)
 Special software is used to establish a secure connection and to
encrypt all data transmissions
 Only computers with the exact software and keys can access
the VPN network

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Design for Remote, Distributed
Environment

Fig 6-16 Virtual private network using TCP/IP

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Summary
 This chapter discussed system design, the six design
activities, and designing the environment.
 System design is he bridge between requirements and
implementation—a blue print for what needs to be built.
 Design occurs at two levels: architectural design and
detail design.
 Models of the functional requirements (domain model
class diagrams, use case diagrams, system sequence
diagrams, use case descriptions, state machine diagrams,
and activities diagrams) are used as the basis for creating
design models.

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Summary (continued)
 There are six design activities: design the environment,
design the application architecture and software, design
user interfaces, design system interfaces, design the
database, and design system controls and security.
 The first activity, Design the environment, is covered in
detail. This includes designing for internal deployment
and design for external deployment.
 Important issues are three layer architecture, deploying
using the Internet, and hosting alternatives.
 Hosting alternatives include colocation, managed
services, virtual servers, and cloud computing.

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