Hardware/Cloud Analysis

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Assignment Objectives

Last week, you learned about computer hardware, and how that hardware can be virtualized. You have also learned about IT infrastructure and how the cloud can be used to support that IT infrastructure. In this assignment you will apply what you have learned to perform an analysis of comparable on-premises and cloud-based systems.

This assignment assesses the following learning objectives:

  • Understanding the parts of a computer system (CPU, memory, disk). You will recommend the purchase of physical and cloud-based servers based on these factors.
  • Understanding how to procure cloud services and how cloud services are provisioned using tools provided by Rackspace and Amazon or others.
  • Explore the web to learn about hardware and software providers of on-premises and cloud-based infrastructure.
  • Identifying how the software and hardware you design and configure contribute to an organizations IT infrastructure.

Business Scenario

Suppose that a company is expanding their sales force and opening a new office. You have been tasked with procuring the necessary computer equipment and sales force automation software for the staff that works in the office. You will also need to procure the virtualized cloud hardware designed to implement a web server. These are all parts of the companys IT infrastructures.

  • Assume that there are thirty field sales people that will need laptop computers. Each laptop computer must be the same.
  • There are five in-house sales people that will need desktop computers with two monitors each.
  • You will need to buy printers for the office.
  • The company has decided to use sales force automation software in the cloud. You will need to evaluate at least two vendors and determine estimated pricing.
  • The company requires a cloud-based database server. You will need to estimate the pricing for this server.

All of the laptop and desktop computer vendors support website shopping. Dells is probably the most robust and easy to use. I suggest that you compare computers from Dell and one other company, such as HP or Lenovo. There are many others to choose from, as well. For this exercise, do not use Macs. Im not against Macs. Just suppose that a Windows-based environment is the specification.

Part 1: Laptop Requirements

The laptops that you procure must meet the following minimum (maximum) specifications:

  • Each should have between 4 GB and 8 GB of memory. Tell me how much memory you are configuring in the system.
  • The I family of CPUs is one of the current Intel product families. Current products include the I3, I5, and I7. Your configuration should use I5 or I7 CPUs. You might also select other CPUs from AMD or a few others. But the Intel CPUs are some of the most common.
  • Your laptops must have at least 300 GB of usable disk.
  • The laptop monitor size must be between 13 and 15 inches.
  • A touch screen is not required.

Part 2: Desktop and Printer Requirements

The desktop computers must meet the following specifications:

  • Use I5 or I7 CPUs.
  • The systems must have two monitors.
  • The systems must have at least 1 terabyte of disk space.
  • The systems must have at least 8 GB of memory.
  • The company needs one multifunction printer that can print, scan, and copy. It does not need to be color. The printer must be capable of printing thirty pages per minute (PPM). You need to find a printer company from which to buy the printer. Dell and HP sell them.

Part 3: Salesforce Automation Software

For this part of the assignment, you should take a look at two of the following salesforce automation products. They are all entirely cloud-based.

  • PipelineDeals
  • SalesForce.com
  • Zoho.com

You should have learned a bit about salesforce automation in your Marketing 210 class. From that knowledge, evaluate two of the three packages using suitable criteria of your choosing. Compare the prices of the two applications. As you complete the comparison, pay attention to the different license levels and how the applications are licensed.

Part 4: Cloud Server and Database Server

  • The virtual cloud server should run Windows and have between 4 and 8 GB of memory. The virtual cloud server should have a database.
  • Some cloud providers provision a database as part of the virtual server itself. In such a case, you need only one virtual server. You can use any kind of database that you want. That is, you can provision a MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, or some other database. I suggest that you provision an Amazon SQL Server instance.

There are many cloud providers out there. The following links are either to websites or calculators that will help you to get the information you need.

  •  has a calculator to estimate the cost of its web services.
  •  has a similar calculator.
  • We have not talked about it much, but  publishes their pricing for Azure services.

Deliverables

In Word or in Google Docs, create a document in which you compare the cost and features of the four IT infrastructure parts listed above.

First, create a table to compare the laptop systems. I suggest that you create a second similar table to compare the desktop systems.

Configuration Item Computer 1 Computer 2
Computer manufacturer and model number    
CPU type, speed, number of cores    
Amount of memory installed    
Disk information    
Computer cost    

Write a short paragraph to justify which computers you chose and why. Do so for both the laptop and desktop systems.

The third objective was to compare two sales force automation software packages. Based on factors such as cost and features, suggest one of two products over the other. Again, you should explore the marketing website for the two products to get the information about product features.

To fulfill the fourth objective, you should compare the cost of two cloud service providers. I suggest that you create a similar table to the one above for the virtualized systems. Of course, the CPU and other devices are virtual cloud devices.

Create a summary table that depicts initial and monthly recurring costs to implement the system. I suggest that you do this in Excel or Google Sheet. Your spreadsheet should identify and summarize all of the one-time initial costs. These initial costs include the cost of all the laptops and the two desktops. You should identify and summarize the recurring monthly costs for the cloud services (hosting and sales force management).