UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA

02600 SINTOK
KEDAH

BKAS1013
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN ACCOUNTING
(Group C)
SEPTEMBER 2012/2013 (A121)

COMPUTING AND INTERNET TECHNOLOGY

Prepared by:
ALEXANDAR S.ARULDAS
YOOGEETAA JAYALAN
PARIMALAR RAJINDRAN
NEW SZE YEE
POH PEI SHAN

Presented to:
DR. MOHAMMAD AZHAR IBRAHIM
UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

FRONT PAGE

2.

TABLE OF CONTENT

3.

NATURE OF BUSINESS

4.

PORPOSED MINIMUM SPECIFICATION

5.

PURCHASE

6.

DECISION
ATTACHMENT

Nature of business.

As a group of four members, we came to a consensus to establish a company that aim

to provide a service as an insurer. The new company formed will be dealing with its target
consumer which varies among all group of age, acting as an insurer or insurance carrier.
Insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a
contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss,
from one entity to another.
As a result, the need of an information technology medium such as computers,
internet connection as well as an office intranet connection to exist in the company as a tool
for information gathering, archiving customer database, easy file management, internal memo
circulation as well as providing an efficient method of performing complex calculation
related to insurance premium, is significantly crucial to the smooth operation of the newly
formed company.
As a company that provides service, it is important to identify the target customer as
well as, form of communication used for customer support, in order to maintain a good
reputation of customer care and after sales service. Hence, it is decided that electronic mail
(e-mail) shall be used as the primary form of communication between sales representative
and customer, while the customer care hotline serves as an alternative channel.
In line with the current trend of bring your own device (BYOD) policy, staffs are
expected to bring their own notebook or other technologies as a platform for them to
complete their task, therefore it is crucial for the offices intranet network to be able to
support ad-hoc devices and at the same time able to sustain the stream of data ranging from
internal memo circulation to file sharing such as presentation and meeting minute among
multiple peripherals including printers, digital projector and staffs notebook.

In a nutshell, a computer that is durable as it will be switch on most of the time and
able to archive database and present them upon request from any one of the peripherals which
is connected in the intranet network, as well as, to always stay connected to the internet in
order to allow staff to access important files while working from home and able receive and
sort e-mail regarding customer care service.
Proposed Minimum Specifications of Server.
As a business that has multiple (peer to peer) client/notebook/remote users with the
aim of establishing a centralized file sharing, print services, remote access to data as well as
needs to establish greater control and centralization over critical information. It is decided
that a server is the best choice of computer needed to smoothen the operation of the company.
Server is a physical computer (a computer hardware system) dedicated to running
one or more services (as a host), to serve the needs of the users of other computers on the
network. Depending on the computing service that it offers it could be a database server, file
server, mail server, print server, web server, gaming server, or some other kind of server,
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing))
The processor plays an important role in a servers ability to support internal business
applications and respond to clients in the network. Since processors are continually changing,
it can be difficult to determine the series and model that suits the exact need of the business.
Hence the need to balance these considerations such as cost and features with the expected
performance is very crucial especially when selecting a processor for a server. As a result,
Intel Xeon processor 5600 series is favoured as the processor of choice, due to its vast
improvement from the previous series mainly in the aspect of data bandwidth and power
efficiency.

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer data storage. A random-access

device allows stored data to be accessed in very nearly the same amount of time for any
storage location, so data can be accessed quickly in any random order, unlike other form of
data storage, such as hard disks and DVDs where data are read and write in a predetermined
order, so a high capacity of RAM is necessary as the time to access a given data location
varies significantly depending on its physical location. As a result, the new Double Data Rate
3 (DDR3) memory technology is favoured as it offers significant advantages over the
previous DDR2 Fully Buffered DIMM (FBD) technologies. It is also decided that, only
server integrated with the DDR3 Registered Dual Inline Memory Modules (RDIMM) will be
considered as the RDIMM offers large memory capacity as well as broader future memory
expansion road map due to the ability to achieve three DIMMs per channel.
In order to serve the purpose as a storage medium, currently there is an array of
options offered in the market, ranging from Solid State Drive (SSD) to Hard Disk Drive
(HDD) in fact technology such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is also
available hence providing an alternative to combines multiple disk drive components into a
logical unit. Therefore, a consensus is achieved, where it was decided that 2 options of data
storage shall be chosen. First, a HDD is favoured compared to SSD, as it is more cost
effective and possess sufficient read/write speed for the smooth running of a server. Secondly,
it is also decided that RAID technology shall be adopted as it has higher performance,
support disk hot swapping and require lower complexity to manage when compared to
software-RAID.
In order establish a server with the capability of file sharing and remote access to data,
a specific networking hardware is required, usually it is a common practise to have the
network interface built-in on the system board. However, additional hardware such as

network switch is also needed in order to connect multiple clients as well as other peripherals
to the server in a network.
After considering that the server is going to be switched on almost 24 hours a day,
365 days a year. Hence, it is decided that weight and size is not a priority, as performance and
stability is more emphasized for the smooth operation of the company. In fact, the server is
going to be placed in a room with temperature and humidity control, in order to guarantee its
flawless performance and most important of all, a proper dissipation of heat generated from
the servers internal hardware components.
A computer with only hardware without proper functioning software is useless, hence
the next step is to decide the operating system (OS) that may suit and cater the most to the
needs of the company. After reviewing from the aspect of file and printer sharing, application
services, web site service, terminal services, caching, e-mail, groupware and messaging. No
other OS that appears more appealing than Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and this mainly
due to the fact that windows platform supports the most application software. Application
software is also equally important as OS, in laymen term; neither can one exist without the
other. Hence, the server purchased should be able to run important server application
software such as, WinRadius for the purpose of real-time processing of all kinds of
authentication, accounting message, such as PPP, PPPoE, PPTP, VPN, VoIP, ADSL, Cable
Modem, CDMA, GSM, GPRS as well as able to produce statistic accounting report and print
accounting report. This application is significantly important as any breach in system is able
to be detected with ease.
Any computer and internet user, regardless of the reasons that they are online, need to
have the latest antivirus software programs installed on their computer. New worms and
programs are being developed all the time. Some viruses target specific files, like word

documents or excel spreadsheets. Other more malicious programs can actually shut the
computer right down. However, security and peace of mind can both be guaranteed with the
installation of the state of the art antivirus software. Hence, it is decided that only the best in
business shall be considered, therefore the purchased computer should be able to run the
Kaspersky Business Space Security as an antivirus utility program. Kaspersky software is
chosen mainly due to its support for various platform and past success as well as outstanding
track record.
Even by definition, a server needs to be connected to network; hence it is important to
choose the right network to connect the server and its client. In order to serve the purpose of
getting the computer at the first place, the server must be connected to the office intranet
service as well as the internet. Telekom Malaysia is favoured as the Internet Service Provider
(ISP), as it offers the best bandwidth connection through its UniFi plan. UniFi is preferred
due to its high speed connection and no-buffer video streaming. This high bandwidth will
present as an advantage especially while communicating with clients that are accessing the
server while working from home.
Purchase Decision.
After reviewing 3 different models of the same series from the same manufacturer,
which are Dell T310 BEXXWK23, Dell T310 BEDWKR1 and Dell T310 BECWKK1. It is
decided that Dell T310 BEXXWK23 is the server of choice.
First of all, the reason why we only consider Dell servers are due to the non-existence
of a retailer and wholesaler for that particular brand, hence purchasing a Dell products, in
other words may refer to a value buy or a purchase that retain the value for money concept.
As the product is sold directly by the company that produces them, confidence on quality and

reliability also tend to increase. Finally Dell products are known for its durability and best
on-site warranty programme.
Dell T310 BEXXWK23 is the favoured model due to its technical specification as it
fits the need of the company perfectly. This model comes with Intel Xeon X3430 processor,
8gb memory, 2x 500GB HDD and Microsoft Small Business Server OS is bundled together.
In terms of weight and size, Dell T310 BEXXWK23 may fit perfectly in any corner as it has
a new revolutionised designed when compared to other tower-server, and this is mainly due
to the greatly improved cooling system and material used for the body casing which is able to
dissipate heat generated from servers component at a faster rate.
In a nutshell, the Dell T310 BEXXWK23 which shall be purchased at the price of
$1799 is considered a good deal and a win-win situation for both the accounting department
due to the willingness to allocate the amount of fund as well as for the staff of the company
for they will be able to experience a different and vastly improved working lifestyle when
compared to other conventional company.

ATTACHMENT 1 :

choosen

BEXXWK