Remote access to the company’s intranet would be restricted to authorized users only, who would connect to the VPN (Virtual Private Network), a password protected remote access link to the servers and internal company sites that are required in order for the employee to work effectively, with access to all the tools that they would need for their job (Mitchell, 2013). A VPN may be setup on a VPS. A VPS, short for virtual private server, is a term used by many hosting providers as a middle ground between shared hosting and dedicated hosting. This virtual host, though running on the same server as other customers, and using the same software, is the equivalent of running the information off of a separate computer, and has the privacy of a separate physical computer (Power VPS, 2013).
The VPS works in a manner similar to that of a dedicated server, working to support not only the VPN, the chat software, and the intranet, but the company website and any potential ordering system as well. The only additional thing that the company will need will be some form of ecommerce software, if they do not already have one. It is recommended that they go with Magento, given its ease of setup, and it is recommended that they stay away from Prestashop, due to its security issues (Lamb, 2010), including loss of data and ease of hacking due to extensive security vulnerabilities. The VPS may be setup on servers present within the server room at the company, or they may opt to go with a hosting provider, such as Hostgator, in order to decrease the overall costs to the company.
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The company is interested in looking at several different options for their operating systems, and in light of this, it is recommended that the company go with a Linux based operating system. Linux is an open source version of the UNIX operating system, created by Linus Torvalds in the 1990s (Garrels, 2008). This operating system is used on both servers and personal computers. It was created as an alternative to the Windows and Mac operating systems, providing an interface between computer or server hardware and the programs that run on the machines themselves (Linux.org, 2013). The beauty of open source software is that it grants users the right to use, change, and improve the design in any way they may desire without experiencing licensing issues. Users are allowed to change the coding in any way they see fit in order to be able to utilize the software, making it one of the most fully customizable options available to the public itself.
Linux is strongly recommended for use on personal computers in a workstation environment and even more strongly recommended as the operating system for use on the servers, due to the stability that the operating system offers. The downtime itself is few and far between, and the server environment itself beats out a Windows server in every single possible way. Whereas a Windows server is fraught with limitations in regards to what is and is not possible to accomplish within the system itself, Linux does not have that issue. If something is not currently possible in the operating system, a programmer simply has to adjust the coding and the issue is solved. The workstation environments are highly user friendly, and look quite similar to the other popular operating systems. Fedora’s layout looks and functions like Leopard, the Mac operating system, while Windows 7 copied a good portion of its design from Ubuntu’s layout. Depending on what operating system the company is currently using will depend on which distro will be selected for the workstations, as, due to their similarities, to decrease training costs, the operating system that correlates to the operating system that is most familiar to the employees will be selected. The learning curve for Linux is small, but due to the limited availability of common documentation regarding Linux, it has maintained its image of being solely for the tech geeks; those who use it seldom write about it and those who write about it seldom use it (Linux.org, 2013). In the process of utilizing these applications, servers, and communications technologies, employees will be able to effectively and efficiently perform the duties of their job.
- Garrels, M. (2008). History of linux. Retrieved from http://tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/sect_01_01.html
- Lamb, E. (2010). Should we use prestashop?. Retrieved from http://blog.ericlamb.net/2010/05/should-we-use-prestashop/
- Linux.org. (2013). What is linux?. Retrieved from http://www.linux.org/article/view/what-is-linux
- Mitchell, B. (2013). What is a vpn?. Retrieved from http://compnetworking.about.com/od/vpn/a/what_is_a_vpn.htm
- Power VPS. (2013). What is a vps?. Retrieved from http://www.powervps.com/cpanel-plesk-vps_what.aspx
