Ch Solutions free essay sample

This idea, in the hands of researchers and scientists evolved even further allowing those researchers the capability to communicate with their colleagues at other universities. As personal computers became more popular and affordable, companies increasingly wanted to construct their own networks. This all led to the dramatic increase in business activity, but the commercialization of the Internet was really spurred by the emergence of the World Wide Web. The software that allowed computers to communicate while on the Internet is still the largest category of traffic today 2. Describe in two paragraphs the origins of HTML. Explain how markup tags work in HTML, and describe the role of at least one person involved with HTML’s development. Answer: SGML is a software language for describing electronic documents and how they should be formatted as well as displayed. This language is the precursor of HTML, which is used by all documents on the Web. Robert Calliau and Tim Berners-Lee independently invented HTML at the CERN research center in Switzerland. HTML’s document type definition is easier for users to learn and use for describing formatting and displaying electronic documents by Meta tag codes. 3. In about 200 words, compare the POP e-mail protocol to the IMAP e-mail protocol. Describe situations in which you would prefer to use one protocol or the other and explain the reasons for your preference. Answer: A POP message can tell the e-mail computer to send mail to the user’s computer and to delete it from the e-mail computer; to send mail to the user’s computer and do not delete it; or simply to ask whether new mail has arrived. IMAP protocol performs the same basic functions as POP, but includes additional features that can instruct the e-mail server to send only selected messages to the client instead of all messages. It also allows the user to view only the headers and the e-mail sender’s name before deciding to download the entire message. One would choose IMAP if they have a need for a more robust system that allows them to access their email from different computers at different times. In about 400 words, describe the similarities and differences between XML and HTML. Provide examples of at least two situations in which you would use XML and two situations in which you would use HTML. 4. Answer: XML and HTML are similar in that they are both powerful tools for creating web pages that use tags to organize data. However, XML is not a markup language with defined tags, as is HTML. XML is a framework within which individuals, companies and others can create their own tags. These tags do not specify how the text will appear on a web page – the tags convey the meaning of the information included with them. XML also allows developers to create a tag for each fact that define the meaning of the fact. 5. Use your favorite search engine and the links in the Online Companion (under the heading â€Å"Internet Connection Options†) to search for more information about broadband satellite connections, DSL connections, wireless connections and cable connections. Prepare a four-column table (one column for each technology) in which you list the advantages and disadvantages of each connection method. Include at least two advantages and two disadvantages for each connection method. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following: Satellite DSL Wireless Cable Advantages Upstream transmission Downstream transmission 500 Kbps Satellite users have to rely on plain old telephone system to upload files 100 – 640 Kbps 1. 5 – 9 Mbps Installation can be quirky 150 Kbps 500 Kbps Unusable for people living in large cities 300 Kbps Mbps Up to 10 Mbps Connection bandwidth varies with the number of subscribers Disadvantages Exercises 1. You are the assistant to Julie Davidson, the sales manager of Old Reliable Life Insurance Company. Julie is interested in equipping her sales force with the technology they need to sell Old Reliable’s insurance products. Most of her salespeople visit customers in their homes or offices. Today, the salespeople carry a laptop computer to show value projections and cash flow summaries for various policies. Many of them also carry a PDA for appointments and a mobile phone. Julie would like to ensure that salespeople have access to the home office server computers while they are making their sales presentations to customers. This access will let salespeople download the latest product information and obtain online assistance from office staff and inhouse experts when the salespeople get a question from a customer that they are not able to answer. A correct and quick answer to a customer’s question can often help close a difficult sale. Julie asks you to investigate various options for giving salespeople remote access to the home office server computers. She wants you to consider both wireless (directly to the laptop computers or through salespersons’ cell phones or PDAs) and wired options. Prepare a report for Julie in which you briefly review at least four options, writing no more than three paragraphs for each option. Then choose the best wired option and the best wireless option and write a one-page evaluation of strengths and weaknesses for each of them. Use the Online Companion links and your favorite Web search engines to do your research. 2 of 5 10/8/2011 1:07 PM 14188-37032_Ch02_Solutions http://www. scribd. com/doc/6739982/1418837032Ch02Solutions Electronic Commerce, 7th Edition Solutions 2-3 Answer: Options to consider include: iPass Offers secure remote access products that let both Palm and Pocket PC-based PDAs connect wirelessly to corporate servers securely. iPass is the solution to choose if you have a mix of users who use both wireless and dialup accounts to reach the corporate server. NetMotion Wireless A wireless-only provider of secure remote data access services. NetMotion works just with Windows-based PDAs like Windows CE and Pocket PC, but its VPN-based secure data tunnel has a compelling advantage over other solutions like iPass. 2. Bridgewater Engineering Company (BECO), a privately held machine shop, makes industrialquality, heavy-duty machinery for assembly lines in other factories. It sells its presses, grinders, and milling equipment using a few inside salespeople and telephones. This traditional approach worked well during the company’s start-up years, but BECO is getting a lot of competition from abroad. Because you worked for the company during the summers of your college years, BECO’s president, Tom Dalton, knows you and realizes that you are Web savvy. He wants to form close relationships with the steel companies and small parts manufacturers that are BECO’s suppliers so that he can tap into their ordering systems and request supplies when he needs them. Tom wants you to investigate how he can use the Internet to set up such electronic relationships. Use the Web and the links in the Online Companion to locate information about extranets and VPNs. Write a report that briefly describes how companies use extranets to link their systems with those of their suppliers, then write an evaluation of at least two companies (using information you have gathered in your Web searches) that could help develop an extranet that would work for Tom. Close the report with an overview of how BECO could use VPN technologies in this type of extranet. The three parts of your report should total about 700 words. Answer: Responses can vary significantly in this exercise. Any recommendation for systems development should include the infrastructure required to support a supply-chain management extranet, as well as the costs and the anticipated benefits. The infrastructure for a private network requires a TCP/IP network, Web authoring software, and a firewall server. The benefits include lower communication costs, and more timely and accessible information, as well as convenient use. 3. Frieda Bannister is the IT manager for the State of Iowa’s Department of Transportation (DOT). She is interested in finding ways to reduce the costs of operating the DOT’s vehicle repair facilities. These facilities purchase replacement parts and repair supplies for all of the state’s cars, trucks, construction machinery, and road maintenance equipment. Frieda has read about XML and thinks that it might help the DOT send orders to its many suppliers throughout the country more efficiently. Use the Online Companion links, the Web, and your library to conduct research on the use of XML in state, local, and federal government operations. Provide Frieda with a report of about 1000 words that includes sections that discuss what XML is and explain why XML shows promise for the ordering application Frieda envisions.