Computer Systems Report: Design, Building, Configuration, Maintenance

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of computer systems, focusing on the design, building, and maintenance aspects for a recruitment company, SYNERGY. It begins with an introduction to the role of computer systems in various environments, including home, business, mobile, education, and gaming. The report then delves into the hardware, software, and peripheral components of a computer system, followed by a comparison of different types of computer systems, such as analog, digital, and hybrid computers. Task 2 focuses on designing a computer system to meet SYNERGY's needs, including system design specifications and their suitability. Task 3 covers the building and configuration of the computer system, along with test plans and outcomes. Finally, Task 4 discusses routine maintenance tasks and hardware/software upgrades for the computer system. The report uses the scenario of a London-based recruitment company, SYNERGY, to demonstrate practical application of IT system design and implementation.

Computer systems

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................1
1.1 The role of computer systems in different environments.............................................................1
1.2 Hardware, software and peripheral components of a computer system.......................................2
1.3 Comparison of different types of computer systems....................................................................3
TASK 2 DESIGNING OF COMPUTER SYSTEM..............................................................................4
2.1 System design specification to meet a SYNERGY needs............................................................4
2.2 Suitability of a system design specification for SYNERGY........................................................7
TASK 3 BUILDING AND CONFIGURATION OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS....................................7
3.1 Configuration of a computer system to meet SYNERGY’s Design Specification.......................7
3.2 Test and document a SYNERGY’s computer system showing clearly test plans and the test
outcomes..........................................................................................................................................16
TASK 4 ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ON COMPUTER SYSTEMS................................................19
4.1 Routine maintenance tasks on SYNERGY’s computer system..................................................19
4.2 Up gradation of the hardware and software on a computer system for SYNERGY’s computer
system..............................................................................................................................................19
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
In this highly globalized world there are several uses of computer systems. Most of
the people are highly attracted towards the various activities on internet. All the existing
devices of computer systems are highly user friendly and companies can perform several
tasks at one time (Cassedy, 2004). With the help of using various computer systems
companies can easily enhance their firm’s profitability. Further, the present report is based on
the scenario of recruitment company, SYNERGY. The company is based in central London
which needs to develop an IT system within their firm that would fit in well with their rapid
expansion plans but not cost the earth during their start-up phase. Moreover, the present study
gives appropriate design specification for I.T. systems for two companies within the same
organisation all under one roof. It also provides appropriate information for the suitability of
a system design specification for SYNERGY. Proper configuration as well as test results of
the developed IT system is going to be presented in this study.
1.1 The role of computer systems in different environments
A computer system plays a most important role within the different area of field such
as:
Home
It is one of the most common environment in which computer systems are used for
different purpose. Due to the rapidly changing technology, computer system plays a most
important role in our day to day activities (Avoine, Junod and Oechslin, 2007). Internet gives
people access to resources as well as information from all over the world. For home purpose,
people can use desktop of home computers. In this, Home computers can be used for
different purposes such as work as well as leisure. For this type of computer, basic software’s
are required such as windows operating system as well as some regular used software’s such
as photo editing software’s, Ms-word, Ms-Excel etc.
1

Business
Except home network nowadays computer systems are used for several business
purposes. In most of the organizations it is essential to have computer systems all the day
such as retail, IT, hotel etc. (Warford, 2009). Further, it can be stated that it is the most
common environment in which computer systems plays a most crucial and important role.
There are different types of computers used for the business purpose containing useful and
required software’s. It gives total network support to the whole business by different
accounting software’s for calculation such as Ms-Excel as well various other software’s.
Higher version graphic card, Apple Mac OS as well as Microsoft OS are typically considered
as most important for business firms.
It is used for the accounts holding work as well as several other fields such as
organizing daily activities and keeping records of customers etc. Further, a whole network of
an organization must contain higher range of specifications.
Mobile
2

There are several mobile applications which are made up by the use of various
computer systems. In any mobile system there are various operating systems which can run
various types of application software known as app. With the help of computer system as
well as devices individual can share and transfer the data such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc (Gagne
and et.al, 2006). Further, it can be stated that within the area of mobile technology there is a
huge role of computer systems.
Education
In today’s highly competitive and advanced world education sector is one of the
fastest growing areas due to the use of computer systems. With the help of computer systems
education has become easier (Hura and Singhal, 2010). There is various use of computer
system within the area of education such as audio-visual aids in teaching, quick data
processing as well as storage of information etc. Within the education a simple desktop is one
of the most effective types of computer system which covers their whole requirements. In this
various languages and programming software’s must be installed in order to teach the
students such as C, Java etc.
Gaming
It is another most effective area in which users can go through all the things which
can entertain them. It has been founded from the past study that computer games are very
useful and it creates determining addiction to the users and players.
These computer systems are high end laptops which contains various gaming
software’s and requires higher cost. There are various custom gaming PCs with C-synch
display as well as desktop graphics and CPU.
1.2 Hardware, software and peripheral components of a computer system
For an appropriate assembled computer system there are various components which
need to connect such as:
3

Hardware: These are the most important components of any computer system. The
total speed and working capabilities of the system depends on the specification of hardware
system such as: processor, system RAM, ROM, disk speed etc. It is necessary to have high
processing speed of computer so that all the business operations can run smoothly (Blundell,
2008). In addition to this, it must have 2.5 gigahertz so that computer can perform multitasks.
On the other hand, RAM is another most important part which helps in boosting up the
performance of operating system. ROM is internal hardware component which is non-volatile
and stores various critical programs. In addition to this, disk speed is essential to set at the 20
gigabytes minimum in order to serve multitask business operations. Moreover, it can be
stated that hardware components plays a most important role in the proper functioning of
computer systems (Kissoon, 2011).
Software: Within any computer system there is needed to have powerful operating
system. It is the most important part of any computer system as it controls the whole system
as well as programs running in this. It can be Windows XP, Vista etc. Further, software also
includes antivirus software’s within the computer system which helps in protection of the
total system (Zannetti and et.al, 2000). In order to maintain several work record spreadsheets
need to be maintained. It can be made under the software MS-Office.
Moreover, there are various input-output devices known as peripheral devices such as
monitor, keyboard, mouse etc. All these devices individually can perform different
operations. Comments
1.3 Comparison of different types of computer systems
Within the changing time period there are various computer systems which have been
changed as per their design specifications as well as features. There are different types of
computer i.e. Analog, Digital and Hybrid computers:
Analog computer: These type of computers works on the approximation and it deals
with quantity that keeps on changing such as voltage, pressure etc.
Digital computers: This device works on the numbering system in which whatever
person types will convert into binary language and display outcomes on screen (Bryant and
O'Hallaron, 2011). It is classified by size and power in different systems such as:
supercomputer, mainframe, minicomputer, workstation, personal computer, desktop model
etc. All these computers are highly technical and revolving with the changing time.
Supercomputers are extremely fast and they can perform millions of instructions per second.
With the changing second generation digital computer have been developed mainframe
4

computers which are capable of supporting thousands of users simultaneously. In addition to
this, with the changing time there are various workstations which are used for different
purposes such as software development, desktop publishing as well as various other
applications (CAD/CAM).
These are the most important types of computer system which mainly comes with the
large, high resolution graphic screen as well as large amount of RAM (Tseng, Lin and Chen,
2011). Moreover, they are linked together from local area network and serve various business
operations. Further, personal computers have been evolved with changed perspective and that
is relatively inexpensive and designed for individual users. In this type of system,
manufacturer can put entire CPU on one chip. In this way, there are different types of
business operations which can be done on such computer systems with the revolving time
such as word processing, accounting, running spreadsheet and database management
applications. However, there are some of the fastest developing and growing business models
of computers which serve different business functions in a more effective such as desktop
model (Carminati, 2013). It fits comfortably in the top of desk and generally they are limited
to three internal mass storage devices. Upcoming version of desktop model was notebook
which is extremely lightweight personal computer and user can carry this notebook at
anywhere at any time. It is small enough to fit easily in briefcase. Advanced featured system
of notebook is laptop computers as well as other hand held computers; these are portable
systems convenient to carry.
Further, it can be stated that as compared to analog and hybrid computers these are the
fastest growing computers. They have revolved with time and managed various business
functions with latest features.
Hybrid computers: It can be define as a mixture of both analog and digital computers
which is used for the automatic operation of complicated physical process and machines
(Tice, 2012). These types of computer system can serve high class feature and attract more
and more number of people as well for smoothing functioning.
TASK 2 DESIGNING OF COMPUTER SYSTEM
2.1 System design specification to meet a SYNERGY needs
A system design specification covers a full documentation about the appropriate
information needed to develop the system.
5

Introduction: There are different needs of SYNERGY system which needs to be fulfilled by
Mr.Timoth Kelly. As per his concern company required to buy different computers and other
required equipment within the budget for all staffs. All computers need to be set as per
through which company can migrate the system across multiple servers and utilise Microsoft
server 2008 and terminal server 2008. The company mainly required to have featured system
with built-in redundancy and an excellent remote access system (Cassedy, 2004). Initial
system was a single server running ‘small business server 2003’. It gives various benefits to
small business servers such as: secure user login system, roaming profiles, centralized data
store as well as outlook web access.
Project scope: The initial system was running on small business server 2003 but with
the expansion of business, company need to migrate the system across multiple servers by
utilizing Microsoft server. It is the main terminal point where servers can run on the different
computer system.
Design specification: Mr. Timothy Kelly suggested that SYNERGY can have a fully
featured system with build in redundancy by implementing thin client server system in their
business firm (Kanoglu and Arditi, 2001). Under this, they can serve various business
functions from a single Hamilton point and easily operate different business functions as per
the major concern of company.
With the help of this company can easily compile different users from a single point
of source. All those computers connected from single server system must be able to process
the required jobs such as multimedia documents effectively and promptly. Under this, user
need to start with the server part of the model and all the applications and data are deployed,
managed and supported at the servers (Galvin and et. al, 2013).
In this, users are encouraged to create their login account during the setup process.
These profiles are an NT profile which means that end user data is separated and by default
these accounts are not password protected. In this users, can set their password as per their
choice and requirements. Further, it can be determine that all the clients are compiled in a
way in which they host from a single Hamilton point. Company can go through the total
implementation process of thin client server system within their business firm after setting
appropriate design specification. For this, it is essential and common components to
implemented are right processors, motherboard, memory, hard disk, monitor, keyboard,
mouse, cooling fan, CD-ROM, printer, Operating systems, Servers, Routers etc (Kovacich,
2013).
6

Under this type of network all the applications runs locally on every PC.
Component and process design: Under this section whole functioning of each
hardware and software is going to be described. Here, as per the given requirements of the
SYNERGY some of the most essential requirements for the systems are as follows. These all
features can be presented by implementing the Microsoft server 2008 within all the existing
computer systems. Within the whole company there are some different computers can be set
by implementing Microsoft windows server 2008 system (Mano, 2007). As per all the given
requirements of SYNERGEY some of the most common design specifications for all the
computer systems are as follows:
COMPONENT REQUIREMENTS
Processor  Minimum: 1.4 GHz
Note: At the time of maintaining windows
2008 servers it is essential to have Itanium
based systems.
Memory  512 MB RAM
 Recommended: 2 GB RAM
 Maximum: 64 GB
7

Available disk space  Minimum: 10 GB
 Recommended: 40 GB
Note: computers with more than 16 GB of
RAM will require more disk space and dump
files.
Drive DVD-ROM drive
Display and peripheral  Super VGA (800*600) Or higher
resolution monitor
 Keyboard
 Microsoft mouse
With the help of selecting Microsoft server 2008 all the specifications can be clearly
identified. All the above given specifications are the most essential part of any computer
system. At the time of implementing Microsoft 2008 server all the above given specifications
must be fulfilled by SYNERGY. At the time of installation and activation it does not requires
any type of product key (Bryant and O'Hallaron, 2011).
Under a thin client 2008 server System Company can have a fully featured system
with excellent remote access systems. SYNERGY Company can set up thin client systems in
which all of them are connected with a single server. It is a computer system that heavily
depends on another computer to fulfil all its computer roles. Under this type of thin client
system server is taking on the whole processing load of several clients from a single point of
failure (Gagne and et.al, 2006). In addition to this, it can be defines that all the computer
systems connected with a server system must be run as per the set configuration. Comments
2.2 Suitability of a system design specification for SYNERGY
As Mr. Timothy Kelly recommended a thin client system with Microsoft server 2008
it can be define that it is the most effective system for SYNERGY. It helps in fulfilling all the
requirements of the company. They can run outlook web access within all their computer
system through which all the users can easily get connected with each other. They can share
any type of information via emails (Mackenzie, 2003). Further, it can be stated that thin client
server system can easily get connected with multiple servers and provide IT systems for two
companies within the same organization all under one roof. Moreover, it will consist
Microsoft server system 2008 which all covers all the basic specifications of hardware and
software’s. All such specifications must be presented within the server system. With the help
8

of LAN all their computer systems are connected with each other as well as various
corresponding departments. In order to provide IT solution to two companies within the same
organization all under one roof different computer systems are connected with a single serve
named as thin client server. It is a best traditional network which covers all the necessary
requirements as per the given scenario (Kissoon, 2011). All the applications can be easily run
on the centralized system so that access the necessary servers for the data they requires. It is
installed on the LAN and give an appropriate set up to the company. Different applications of
the users are installed on this server as they would on a normal workstation PC.
It is the most suitable server system due to the various strengths and opportunities
associated with it such as:
Strengths: Thin client system with Microsoft server 2008 is basically designed to
power the next generations of networks and web services as well. The major strength and
advantage of using this server is that it is 45 times faster than its predecessor, windows server
2003. It is quite high and efficient in terms of speed and virtualization technologies. Another
major strength associated with this tool is security enhancement, reduced cost as well as well
as it also provides solid foundation for the IT infrastructure of SYNERGY. There are several
new virtualization features which easily create and test development environments.
Weaknesses: There are several features associated with this system have been
removed. It may consider as its major weaknesses such as OSPF, AppleTalk protocol, POP3,
NNTP, Post Office protocol etc.
Threats: The major threat for this technique is related to the thick clients for desktop
virtualization. This technique may be overcome with the thick server systems.
Opportunities: Using thin client system with Microsoft server 2008 provides several
advanced technological opportunities to firms. They can deliver the flexible working
environment and enhance their customer base by providing them quality services.
TASK 3 BUILDING AND CONFIGURATION OF COMPUTER
SYSTEMS
3.1 Configuration of a computer system to meet SYNERGY’s Design Specification
In order to run all the computer systems within the company it is essential to
configure the Microsoft server 2008 as well as terminal server 2008 within their host
computers. Proper configuration for such systems is as follows:
9

Steps for Windows server 2008 installation for all the computers of SYNERGY are as
follows:
Inserting the Windows server 2008 disk on computer systems DVD drive
Reboot the computer
At the time when asked for installation language and other regional options, ensure to
press Next
On the next step, press Install Now to begin the installation process
10