E-Commerce

Prof. Hema Date

 WHAT IS E-COMMERCE?
• E-Commerce is the platform on which new ways are being found to sell &

distribute innovative products & services electronically.

• Electronic commerce is a modem business methodology that addresses the need

of organization, merchants & consumers to cut costs while improving the

quality of goods & services & increasing the speed of service delivery. E-

commerce is well suited to facilitate the reengineering of business processes

occurring at many firms. The broad goals of reengineering & E-commerce are

remarkably similar reduced cost, power product cycle times, faster customer

response & improved service quality.

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 WHAT IS E-COMMERCE?
• E-commerce is concerned with transactions carried out between two
organizations, business or individuals on-line using their respective computers
which are connected by a telecommunication system. The transactions include
orders sent to vendors to supply items, invoices sent by vendors, payment
usually made be debiting on organization’s account with a bank and crediting to
the vendor’s account, cash payments made using what is known as electronic
cash (e-cash). The important point is that all transactions are carried out
electronically using the network connection. Transactions may be between two
commercial organizations, between government department and a commercial
organization, between a customer and a commercial organization or between
two individuals.

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 WHAT IS E-COMMERCE?
There a variety of e-commerce applications. Some of these are:
• Retail stores such as book stores, music stores, toy stores, etc.

• Auction sites using which an individual buyer and seller can buy and sell goods.
• Co-operating businesses connected using their own private telecommunication
network carrying out transactions in semi-automated way.
• Banks connected to their customers providing services such as deposits,
payments, and giving information on status of an account.
• Railways/airlines/cinema theatres permitting booking tickets on-line and paying
for them on on-line using credit cards.
• Filling tax returns with government agencies on-line and obtaining an
immediate acknowledgement.
• Electronic publishing to promote marketing, advertising, sales and customer
support

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In the electronic 'highway system' multimedia content is stored in the
form of a electronic document. These documents are often digitized,
compressed & stored in computerized libraries or multimedia storage
warehouses called server that are linked by transport network to each
other & to software/hardware clients that allow customer to access them.
On the I-way messaging software fulfills this role in any number of forms
E-mail, EDI or point to point file transfer.
Encryption & authentication methods are developed to insure security of
the contents while traveling the I-way & at their destination.

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Platform independence, tool independence, performance, and scalability merit
further elicitation.
Platform and Tool Independence : Data that flows through a firm's information
systems and e-business systems often exists in a multitude of platform specific
formats. The collaborative platform must be capable of manipulating highly
distributed data regardless of its platform-Windows, Linus, MacOS, PalmOS, WAP-
specific or Unix. The Web provides the ideal channel through its hypertext markup
language (HTML), extended markup language (XML), and hypertext transfer protocols
(HTTP).
Performance and Scalability : Scalability defines how well the system can handle
increasing numbers of users and transaction loads. A system that works well with 50
users but grinds to a half when 400 users adopt it is poor on scalability. Scalability
problems might not show up right from the start, but when they do, they are usually
the hardest and most expensive of problems to fix. In addition to selecting software
and hardware components that have proven scalability. Three other factors must be
kept in mind (1) plan for additional system response delays as usage grows, (2) plan
for delays in automated real-time updates to back-end repositories and databases as
usage grows, and (3) plan for response delays when a system is accessed through
multiple channels (e.g. a Web based order tracking system accessed through a
wireless application cellular phone).

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 Features of the Ideal Collaborative Platform

Requirement Description

Portability It must allow different computing platforms such as Macs, Windows PCs,
Unix workstations, WAP devices, and PalmOS systems to seamlessly
interoperate. The HTTP protocol and Java used with the Web browser as
the primary client are usually strong candidates.
Consistent and Using Web browsers as the front end facilities building a simple, easy-to-
easy-to-use client use interface with a consistent look and feel.
interface
Scalability The number of users may increase exponentially without any significant
degradation in the platform's performance. This is a function of both
hardware and software platform choices.
Integration The platform must be able to integrate with existing applications and
legacy systems and data. Legacy systems are integrated especially well
using Web protocol based software translators called wrappers.
Customizability The platform must be capable of being customized by the end user and
must be sufficient flexible for accommodating yet-unknown integration
needs. Proprietary solutions usually provide higher degrees of
customizability but at the cost of portability, scalability and cost.
Security Sufficiently high levels of security must be implemented. Using the Web
as a base platform does not usually allow for out-of-the box security
solutions, but very high levels of security are possible in most Web
browsers.
Structural Both structured data (such as database records) and highly unstructured
flexibility data must be supported. Continued -
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Protocol Data transmission protocols used within the platform must be capable of
efficiency across adjusting themselves to the richness/bandwidth of the channels that they
all channels might be using at any give time. Furthermore, multiple customer contact
and access channels must be usable.
Technological The platform must be relatively mature. The Web does not fit the bill well, but
maturity the tradeoffs between cost and maturity still make it a good choice.

Training costs The costs incurred in training users and customers should be reasonable.
The Web browser is a tool that many corporate users are familiar with,
so training costs can be expected to be lower with web based systems
front-ends.
Project decompo- The platform must not require an all-or-nothing approach to system building.
sability The project itself must be implement in small results driven increments

Implementation The Web-services market is characterized by a significantly high level of

cost competition, therefore Web based tools, services, software and server,
hardware/software/space can be acquired price-competitively. However,
the actual cost of development might be higher if a system is built from
ground up.
Deployment time Deployment time is influenced by technology complexity and familiarity. This
is usually lower with Web based projects because of the availability of
numerous development tools that facilitate rapid prototyping.

Open architecture The platform must have an open architecture and not a proprietary one.

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 New and Old Ways of Purchasing an Item
Sales Cycle Step Traditional Commerce (Multiple Electronic Commerce (Single
Media Employed) Medium Employed)
Acquire product information Magazines, flyers online Web pages
catalogs
Request item Printed forms, letters e-mail
Get order approved
Check catalogs prices Catalogs Online catalogs
Check product availability and confirm price
Generate order Printed form e-mail, Web pages
Send order (buyer); Fax, mail E-mail, EDI
Receive order (supplier)
Prioritize order Online database
Check inventory at warehouse Printed form, phone, fax Online database
Web pages
Schedule delivery Printed form e-mail online database
Generate invoice Printed form Online database
Receive product Shipper
Confirm receipt Printed form e-mail
Send invoice (supplier); Mail E-mail
Receive invoice (buyer) EDI
Schedule payment Printed form EDI
Online database
Send payment (buyer); Mail EDI
Receive payment (supplier) EDI 9
 The Internet Hierarchy

High speed backbone networks (as

Backbone
maintained by MCI, for example)

Network access
points (NAPs) Sprint MFS Pacbell

Regional
networks CERnet UUnet PSInet SURAnet

Local ISP’s

User
organisations

Campus Organisational Corporate

networks networks networks

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 Some of the Security Standards for the Internet

Standard Function Application

Secure HTTP (S- Secures Web Browsers, Web servers, Internet

HTTP) transactions applications
Secure Sockets Layer Secures data packets at Browsers, Web servers, Internet
(SSL) the network layer applications
Secure MIME Secures e-mail E-mail packages with RSA
(S/MIME) attachments across encryption and digital signature
multiple platforms
Secure Wide-Area Nets Point-to-point Virtual private networking
(S/WAN) encryption between
firewalls and routers
Secure Electronic Secures credit card Smart cards, transaction servers,
Transaction (SET transactions electronic commerce

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 Credit card
Multimedia
Edit cash authoring
Electronic
Security Commerce Information
E-mail, Web Applications production
FAQs Manufacturing
Services Production

Distribution

Email Web Network Internet value

added networks
Shared databases
Cable TV
Online catalogs
Telephone
Networked networks
communities
Shipping
infrastructure

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 Intranets, the Internet and extranets
Corporate Intranet
Firewall


Network


Shared database

Business partner
intranet

Extranet
The Internet


 Firewall
Network

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 Commercial transaction with and without an intermediary
Without an intermediary
Firm A   Buyer A

Firm B   Buyer B

Firm C   Buyer C

Firm D   Buyer D

With an intermediary

Firm A   Buyer A

Intermediary
Firm B    Buyer B

Firm C   Buyer C

Firm D   Buyer D 14
 Database Server
Data TIER-1
Integrity Data Processing
logic Access
TIER-2
LAN or WAN

Transaction Application server

Application TP rules
Processing TP rules

TIER-3

Clients Clients Clients Clients

Forms Presen- Forms Presen- Forms Presen- Forms Presen-

tation tation tation tation

Logic Logic Logic Logic

Client’s Role (Tier 3) – Data Entry, Forms Creation, Windowing, Querying, Reporting.
Application Server Role (Tier-2)- Rule based processing on command from client and fetching data from
database
Database Server (Tier-1)-All database management functions and serving the needs of clients and application
servers.
Product on Consumer Information automatically Information automatically
store shelf purchases Recorded by point-of sale Recorded by point-of sale
product (POS) device (POS) device

If there is shortage, send order for

restocking to distributor or vendor

Store recieves material Orders the closest Vendor’s computer

and restocks the shelf warehouse to ship the receives or of
requested material

Vendor’s, manufacturing department is

ordered to produce more of the
product

The quick response chain

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 Gathering Information from your customer
Web site

Monitoring Web site usage


Web pages
(pages visited etc.)

Customer

Web survey forms 
 Customer database

 
Survey
E-mail Surveys database

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 E-COMMERCE – BUSINESS TRANSACTION

Key element of E-Commerce is information processing which is in terms of

business transaction. Following are broad categories of Business Transaction:

• Transaction between a company & the consumer over public networks. e.g. home
shopping, home banking using encryption for security & electronic cash , credit or
debit token for payment.
• Transaction with trading partner-EDI

• Transactions for information gathering such as market research using bar bode
scanners information processing for managerial decision making or organization
problem solving information manipulation for operation & supply chain
management etc.
– Interorganisation Electronic Commerce.

• Transaction for information distribution with prospective customers including

interactive advertising, sales & marketing
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 E-COMMERCE – BUSINESS TRANSACTION

Technologies used are:

EDI
• Interorganisation

E-mail
• Inside & across organisation boundaries

Informational Superhighway (I-way)

• Fundamentally changes the way business is done. It is a mesh of interconnected
datahighway of many form like telephone wires, cable T.V. Wire, Radio based
wireless, cellular & satellite.

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 THE CYCLE OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Follow-on sales
Access
Searches
Queries
Surfing

Customers Online ads Online orders

Standard orders

Distribution
Online:
soft goods
Delivery: hard
goodsElectronic
Customer Support

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COMPONENTS OF E-COMMERCE

Electronic Commerce

Institutions Processes
Government Marketing
Merchants Sales
Manufacturers Payment
Suppliers Fulfillment
Consumers Support

Networks
Corporate
Internet
Commercial

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 Some of the portals on web accessible for transactions in India

Product Web address Service provided

Automobiles indiacar.com New and used car sales
automartindia.com Used cars
Finance indiainfoline.com Investment advise
walletwatch.com Personal finance
moneycontrol.com Personal finance
equitytrade.com Investment advise
General Shopping rediff.com Over 15 categories of goods
indiashop.com Toys, miscellaneous items
beautyarcade.com Cosmetics
jaldi.com General goods
indiabazar.com General goods
Music/books fabmart.com Music and books
dhadkan.com Music
phindia.com Books by Prentice-Hall of India
Art artstall.com Virtual arts gallery for paintings
Matrimonial snehaquest.com Find your partner
Construction industry buzzsaw.com Items for building construction
Business to Business indiamarkets.com Listing of businesses, suppliers, auctions or second-
trade2gain.com hand machinery business to business auctions.
seekandsource.com Industrial goods/sell

IT products Itchain.com Hardware/software sale

fandu.com
Free services chequemail.com Free e-mail site. Profit sharing if you visit site often.
cheecoo.com Free access to internet
formsindia.com All types of forms for tax returns, etc.

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 On-line Payment Process Using a third-party Processor

Customer Merchant

Client Request Merchant

browser server

Verification Authorization
Payment
server

On-line third-party
processors with links to
multiple payment
systems
Credit cards VISACharge cards American Bank accounts debit Private labels cards DigiCash
Express cards J.C. Penny

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 Some opportunities of electronic commerce

Customer

Your Business

Move market awareness create new

sales channels customize marketing
Research markets

Business Partners

Speed up production
Increase efficiency of
processes
Share information
Generate new information Manage supply chain
based products Reduce transaction expenses
Create dynamic virtual organizations

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 Electronic commerce and business processes
Seller
Customer

Send info Request info Identify need

Provide Phone, fax
Data sheets, catalogs, Web surfing
Info demos, etc. e-mail
Web searches,
Web site Web ads Find source Information
Find sharing
Corporate databases

customer Newsgroups
Net communities
Provide Demos Web site Evaluate
info reviews Ordering
Credit cards,
P.O.s
digital cash Payment
EDI Purchase
\Fulfill Fulfillment
order Deliver soft goods electronically
Web site, phone
fax, Use, Service and
Support e-mail maintain support
Emailing lists

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Applications Elements of electronic commerce applications

Computer
Video Game
Servers Servers

Personal digital
assistant Network
Corporate
Internet Servers
• Information
Delivery Libraries
Infrastructure • Chatlines
Telephone
Network • Software
Service
Provider Electronic
Government
Television publishing
Servers
Information Servers with Variety of
Content

Printer
Consumer Devises 26
 Web Store Front-end
Systems Web Store

Call centre

ERP
Electronic mall
E-TPS

WAP/Wireless

Rule based
Direct Mall Inference CRM Rules
Engine

Phone/TVR
Channel Rules

Real time Chat Data Warehouse

Channels
Transform
Markets and Competitors
Analyze and Distribute
Customers and Partners
Interpret and Pattern Mine
Orders and Contracts
Real Time Decision Support
Products and Services
Problem and Solutions

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Multi-channel information and knowledge integration is a necessity in all businesses
 VENDOR CUSTOMER

Delivered Delivered
items items Inspection
Receiving
Vendor Delivery Delivery Office
note
Office
note
Purchase Discrepancy Accepted Accepted
order copy note items note items
Rejected
items note
Purchase Stores
Rejected order Office Office
Purchase order
Rejected items

Rejected items note

Payment advice
Accounts
Vendor invoice Office Items taken in stock
(payment authorization)

Request to credit
Vendor’s bank account

Vendor’s Customer’s
Credit bank account Credit bank account
Advice Vendor’s
account

Item flow and funds transfer in a vendor supply system

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E-Commerce Business Model – B2C
(6) Acknowledge order Distributor
(7) Order to Items
Distributor
(1) Request
service Website of
Customer
Vendor
(2) Display catalogue (5) OKs
of available items (4) Credit Credit
(3) Places order Card details
(8) Bill to
Customer
Credit Card
Vendor’s bank companies
account computer
(7) Items
(8) Debit advice
shipped to (8) Credit to giving Credit
Customer Vendor’s Account Card No.
Customer’s
Bank
(7) Shipping
advice
Vendor’s
Warehouse
Information flow (Normally electronically)
Physical items flow
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E-Commerce Business Model – B2B

Business to Business e-Commerce

Each of the blocks at the customer's site should be replaced by a Personal
Computer. In other words, the receiving office clerk, the purchase office
clerk, inspection office clerk, stores office clerk and accounts office clerk,
each will work with a PC using which they can view documents, enter data or
carry out specified transactions.
1. All these computers will be interconnected by a network. Such a network
is called a Local Area Network(LAN).
2. Information may be sent/received between offices of the customer using
the LAN.
3. The vendor will have his own LAN to which a computer is connected for
carrying out transactions with customers.
4. The vendor's LAN is connected to the customer's LAN either through a
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or by a private
communication line.

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From the above example we see the following hardware and software would be needed for
establishing e-Commerce between businesses :
Each of the businesses must have a LAN interconnecting its offices. The offices themselves should
have computers for data entry/receipt, comparison, etc. The system may be a distributed client
/server type system with each office being a client and the databases being stored in a
appropriate servers. The internal system architecture of the business is not a major issue.
However, the protocol used by the LAN is normally the same as that used by internet, namely
TCP/IP. The organizational computer network using this protocol is called an Intranet. Besides
using TCP/IP protocol intranets also have one or more World Wide Web servers.
The two intranets must be interconnected. There are two alternatives. One is to connect each of
the intranets to the internet. This is an inexpensive solution but maybe insecure unless special
precautions are taken. The other solution is to connect the intranets to constitute what is known
as an Extranet. Extranet is a private interconnection of the intranets of business associates. Each
intranet supports web pages which can be accessed by the members of the extranet.
A method of paying for goods or services received electronically. This implies that the business
partners must know one another's bank account details. Further, funds transfer must be secure.
No one should be able to illegally access a business partner's account and transfer money.
We have assumed that documents are interchanged by e-mail. This is acceptable between close
business associates. It is not secure and there is no authentication of documents sent and
received. For more secure transactions e-Commerce has introduced a method called Electronic
Data Interchange which has a provision for authentication.

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 Typical E-Commerce System
Payment Authorization/
Customers Settlement
Customer Orders
care Payment Tech
Authorize
Customer
Administrative Tools
Administratio
n Interface
WEB Tools to Maintain
Online store
Customer
Customer/Order Tagging Tools
contact
Management Order Status
Inventory Product
Order Financial Credit
Charge

Warehouse Management
System
Order Order Financial System
Fulfillment Server
Ship Confirm ABC ABC
Ship Confirm Order Company
Inventory/PO Receiving Company Financial
Status
Distributed PO
Computing
Environment

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 Business Partners
Suppliers, Distributors, Resellers

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Production

Distribution
Logistics

Finance /Accounting/Auditing
Enterprise Resource Planning
HRMS/ORMS/Purchasing

Management Control
Administrative Control

STAKEHOLDERS
Enterprise
EMPLOYEES

Knowledge-Tone
Applications
Applications
Integration

Customer Relationship Management

Production

Distribution
Logistics

Selling Chain Management

Customers, Resellers

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E-Business Application Architecture
 EDI Systems

EDI conversion Communication

Internal
Conversion Plausibility

Commercial
Partner
System

Achieving Error landling

Syntax & Protocols,

Error Handling Semantics, Rules Directory
Keys Expectations, of the EDI Addressing
Tables Predictions, Product Procedures
Code Checking etc
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 Layered architecture of EDI

EDI semantic Application level services

layer
EDI standard EDIFACT business form standards
layer ANSI X12 business form standards
EDI transport Electronic mail X-435, MIME
layer Point to point FTP, TELNET
World Wide Web HTTP
Physical layer Dial-up lines, Internet, I-way
 EDI Versus e-mail

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Electronic Mail

There is typically no human The data are not necessarily

involvement in the processing of the structured to be software
information, as the interface has understandable. A human-to-software
software-to-software orientation. The interface is involved at a minimum of
data are structured in a software- one end of the interchange
understandable way.

The interchange is composed by one The message is composed by a

software for interpretation by another human and/or interpreted by a human
software. If a reply is involved, it is and/or a reply is composed by a
composed by a software to be human and/or interpreted by a human.
interpreted by another software.

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 Buyer Seller

Purchase request
Finance Finance
initiated in the
department department
organisation
Payment Bill

Purchase Paper-based Paper based Sales

department mailroom mailroom department
Order Order
delivery confirmation
Product delivery

Inventory and Receiving Shipping Manufacturing

warehousing department department department

Information flow without EDI

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EDI can substantially automate the information flow and facilitate management of the
business process. The EDI transactions for a purchase, shipment, and corresponding
payment are as follows :

Step 1 Buyer's computer sends Purchase Order to seller's computer.

Step 2 Seller's computer sends Purchase Order Confirmation to buyer's computer

Step 3 Seller's computer sends Booking Request to transport company's computer
Step 4 Transport company's computer sends Booking Confirmation to seller's
computer
Step 5 Seller's computer sends Advance Ship Notice to buyer's computer
Step 6 Transport company's computer sends Status to seller's computer
Step 7 Buyer's computer sends Receipt Advice to seller's computer.
Step 8 Seller's computer sends Invoice to buyer's computer
Step 9 Buyer's computer sends Payment to seller's computer

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 Buyer Seller

Purchase request
Finance Finance
initiated in the
department department
organisation Billing
Payment details
Purchase order
details delivery

Purchase EDI capable EDI capable Sales

department computer computer department

Automated order
confirmation

Inventory and Receiving Shipping Manufacturing

warehousing department department department

Product delivery

Information flow with EDI

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 Export Import
A,B
Seller Buyer

Public officials Public officials

B,C,E Insurer Insurer

Bank Bank
C,F
Freight C,D Freight
forwarder forwarder

Transport Transport
Customs Customs
Storage and Storage and
container container
warehouse warehouse
A :Establishment of commercial agreement (commercial) D :Arrangement of insurance (insurance)
B :Arrangement of payment (financial) B :Clearance of export (customs)
C :Arrangement of transport (transport intermediary) C :Clearance of import (customs)

Internals of international trade

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Customs and International Trade
Customs play a key role in international trade. Every international trade transaction
involves at least two customs clearances, export and import. The environment in
which customs operates is changing rapidly and many new challenges have emerged,
including the following :
• A tremendous volume of goods is being traded in an increasingly global economy.
• More rapid means of transport have emerged that address the speed of delivery
required by many industries.
• The scope of customs activities has been broadened into areas as diverse as
intellectual property rights, toxic wastes, and endangered species.
• The demands by economic planners for faster and more accurate statistics and
projections have put may customs authorities into the data processing business.

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 Goods or
services bought

Company X Company Y
Bank X Bank Y
(Payer) (Payee)

Remittance Remittance
information information
Transfer of
funds

Clearinghouse

Payment and remittance information flowing together

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 Remittance Remittance
Value added
information information
network(VAN)

Company X Company Y
Bank X Bank Y
(Payer) (Payee)
Payment Payment
authorization settlement notice

Transfer of
funds

Clearinghouse

Payment and remittance information flowing separately

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 Compliances for E-Commerce

 BAI- Developed by the Bank Administration Institute (BAI), these proprietary standards
have been used by U.S. banks for sending and receiving invoice and remittance
information (no funds transfers) for several decades.
 820 and 823 – In the 1980's the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), whose
standards apply to most regular EDI transactions in the United States, created the
ANSI X12 820 formats for payment orders and remittance advice.
 CCD. NACHA's first U.S. standards effort, the cash concentration and disbursement
format offers electronic funds transfer capabilities, but can be used only for corporate
payments requiring minimal remittance information.
 CTP – The corporate trade payments format overcame the 94- character restriction of
standard ACH transfers by accommodation remittance information in additional
predefined 94 character blocks.
 CCD+- In 1987, NACHA introduced CCD+, which allows companies to transmit funds
and single ANSI X12 820 remittance advice in the same transaction.
 CTX. NACHA'S Corporate Trade Exchange is essentially ANSI X12 820 information
tucked into an ACH funds- transfer envelope. CTX is the only format that enables U.S.
companies to move dollars and data together. To biggest problem with CTX is that few
banks have the systems required to process these transactions.
 EDIFACT -EDIFACT is being used for the international financial EDI pilot project
currently being conducted by SWIFT.
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Original Value-added Equipment
information producer (VAP) producer (EP)
producer (OIP)

Electronic Electronic Electronic

directories directories directories

Electronic commerce of component information

Customized
product design
brokerage

Business information in product design

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 E-COMMERCE APPLICATION
Multimedia Storage Servers
These multimedia storage servers are large information warehouses capable of handling various
content, ranging from book, newspapers, advertisement catalogs movies, games & X ray
images.
Client – Server Architecture
Server manages application tasks, handling storage & security & provides scalability – ability to
add more clients as needed for serving more customers & client devices handle user interface.
Multimedia server handles the critical elements (distribution, connectivity, security, accounting)
& make scaling more cost-effective.
Internal Processes of Multimedia Servers
A multimedia server is a hardware & software combination that converts raw data into usable
information & then dishes out this information where & when users need it. It captures,
processes, manages & delivers text, images, audio, & video. Most multimedia servers provides
a core set of functions to display, create & manipulate multimedia documents over net & to store
& retrieve multimedia documents over net & to store & retrieve multimedia documents.

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 E-COMMERCE APPLICATION

Multimedia Storage Servers

These multimedia storage servers are large information warehouses capable of
handling various content, ranging from book, newspapers, advertisement catalogs
movies, games & X ray images.
Client –Server Architecture
Server manages application tasks, handling storage & security & provides scalability-
ability to add more clients as needed for serving move customers & client handle user
interface multimedia server hands the critical elements (distribution, connectivity,
security, accounting) & make scaling more cost-effective.
Internal processes of Multimedia servers
A multimedia serve is a hardware & software combination that converts raw data into
usable information & then dishes out this information where & when users need it. It
captures, processes, manages & delivers text, images, audio, & video. Most
multimedia servers provides a core set of functions to display, create & manipulate
multimedia documents over net & to store & retrieve multimedia documents.
Multimedia convergence :
Applies to the conversion of text, voice, data, image, graphics and full motion video
into digital content.
Cross media convergence :
Retere to the integration of various industries – entertainment, publication,
communication media based on multimedia content.
Convergence of contents :
Translates all type of information content : Books, business documents, videos
movies – into digital information which is then processed, searched, sorted,
enhanced, converted compressed, encrypted, replicated, transmitted & so on.
Convergence of transition :
Compresses & stores digitized information so it can travel through existing phone &
cable wiring.

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Web site's backup needs requires :
• A secure place to keep your backed-up files that is accessible at all
times.
• A combination of software and hardware to handle the backups.
• A tape backup on your server, allowing you to perform your own
data backups remotely.
• An online backup service (if you don't use a tape backup) where
you transfer your data electronically to a secure location. Or you
can use the service to schedule automatic backups of selected files
to be backed up at each session

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There are two kinds of modified backups, each with significant differences :
1. Differential Method (I full backup +several differential backups) : With
this method, you back up the data that has been modified since the last full
backup. This is done by setting the backup software to leave a file's "archive flat"
unchanged after it is backed up. This method gives you redundancy – the original
full backup and the most current differential backup. Using the full backup and
the latest differential backup, one can safely restore an entire hard drive. This
method requires a lot of tape space, however.
2. Incremental Method (I full backup+ several incremental backups) : This
method backs up only the files that have been modified since the last backup,
either full or incremental. Setting the backup software to clear the file's "archive
flat" after it is backed up does this. This requires minimum tape space but may
require several tape backup sets to find a lost file. To restore an entire hard drive
you must restore the full backup and then restore each incremental backup in
the cycle.
Get the biggest and fasten backup system you can afford.

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 Working group Submitted
Internet engineering
individual, IESG, or RFC editor
structure group
IAB initiates process Content concerns
or editorial comments

RFC is published
and widely distributed

Process of request for comments (RFC) publication

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 DIGITAL CERTIFICATE

A Digital Certificate (a small piece of very unique data used by encryption

and authentication software), which is also known as a SSL Server
certificate, enables SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption on a web server.
This allows a Web site to accept credit card orders securely; in addition, it
helps to keep hackers at bay. An e-commerce Web site is required to have a
Digital Certificate before a Commerce Hosting Service will allow the Web
site to use their services
Logical Layers Services in each layer
Application layer Customer to Business
Business to Business
Customer to Customer
Middleman Services Mail order houses, hosting services
Payment schemes, E-cash
Mailing services
Value Added Networks
Digital Signature Certificate Authority
Secure Messaging Encryption
EDI
Firewalls
World Wide Web Services HTTP Hypertext transfer protocol
Structured documents-[HTML Hypertext Markup Language, XML
Extensible Markup Language]
Compound documents OLE, opendoc
Search Engines
Software agents
Logical Network Internet
Intranet TCP/IP Protocol
Extranet
Physical Network PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)
Wireless, Optical fibre
LAN, Bridges
Routers

Layered Architecture for E-Commerce 53

Uninterruptible Power Supply
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a device with a built-in battery that sits between the power
supply and the server. It protects the equipment from power outages, brownouts, sags, surges, bad
harmonies etc. which can adversely affect the performance of the system. UPS are available in
numerous configurations. A UPS that can protect a single Web server will cost around $250. If you
have a network of servers, UPS costs can run into thousands of dollar and require a special build out
to handle the weight of the UPS.
Standby Power Supply
There are many UPSs with varying capabilities. A "standby power supply" or "offline UPS". It wont
protect your Web server. This standby power supply's power comes directly from the power line, until
the power fails, then a battery –powered inverter takes over.
Hybrid UPS
A "hybrid UPS" is a device that uses a ferroresonant transformer to maintain a constant output
voltage between the power source and your server, protecting against line noise. It can maintain
output relying on its battery (a secondary power source) for a limited period of time. If power is not
reinstated, a total outage occurs. It is questionable whether this type of device can actually respond
when needed without an accompanying interruption in power.
True UPS
My best recommendation is for you to use a true UPS. While these systems are more expensive to
purchase and maintain than the others we have examined thus far, this system continuously operates
from an inverter with no switchover time and offers good protection from power problems.
RAID can be found in many different configurations and in as many
price ranges :
• A floor-standing cabinet
• A complete system in all full size drive by
• A self contained system which can have its own redundant power
supplies etc.
• In RAID levels 3 and 5, drives can be hot swapped (you can charge
drives without shutting down the server) and the RAID controller and
reconstruction software will automatically rebuild any lost data

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REDUNDANCY
Redundancy is a safety measure where you install multiple units of all critical
hardware devices. Redundancy of two, three, or more times may be used to support
the operations of a Web site including its switches, routers, and other components.

BACKUP
Server crashes and hard drive failures are inevitable due to such things as
equipment failure, lightening, power outages, simple age or defect-related failures,
bugs, hackers, viruses and, of course, human error. The most basic method of saving
your data is to "Backup". All backup solutions have one thing in common –they
involve copying data from your hard drive(s) to a second media, from which you can
restore your data in the event that your hard drive(s) or server fail.

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RAID
RAID is an acronym for "redundant array of independent (or inexpensive) disks" and is a
system designed to link the capacity of two or more hard drives that are then viewed as
a single large virtual drive by the RAID management software. By doing this it is possible
to improve data storage reliability and thereby achieve fault tolerance.
RAID must be a part of any Web site. By purchasing a good UPS you've protected your
site against power problems. Now you need to protect your Web site against data
problems and drive failure. That's where RAID comes is.
A basic RAID system includes RAID functionality built into a controller and two or more
hard drives.

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RAID LEVELS
RAID-0 divides each data file into blocks and distributes these among multiple disks in a
process called disk stripping. This provides high performance since more than on disk is
read and/or written to simultaneously.

RAID-1 is the easiest and, for a small Web site can be one of the least expensive ways
to protect your Web site's data from a hard drive failure. With RAID-1 as the data is
being written it is simultaneously being copies or mirrored onto a second disk which is
considered to be the most common, secure and reliable form of RAID.

RAID-3 Stripes data across multiple disks one byte at a time. Parity is also calculated bit-
by-bit and stored on an extra "parity drive". All drives have synchronized rotation.
When a drive fails, data is rebuilt transparently in the background from the remaining
functioning drives as the system continues to operate.

RAID -5 is the most popular high-end RAID technique used today. RAID -5 stripes data
at the sector or block level across a minimum of three drives. It also provides stripe
error correction information by stripping it along with the data evenly over the drive
set. This results in excellent performance and good fault tolerance but it still lags
behind the performance found with RAID-1 disk mirroring. Most of the high-end pre-
configured RAID set-ups are RAID-5.

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