Enterprise

An enterprise is a bold or difficult undertaking, but in computers or business, an enterprise is basically a big system. An enterprise is usually handled by a medium sized business or a large corporation, however a small business or individual who handles a lot of things may also have enterprise issues. There is nothing magical about enterprise issues but when you are dealing with enterprise issues, the attitude is to should sit back, have some tea, and think about things. The adage of "measure twice and cut once" should apply multifold.

Logistics is the main concept in enterprises. The issue is not so much the resources, but the distribution of resources. Scalability is not the problem, manageability is. Improved logistics can be implemented in multiple ways.

• Scale Processing
  • Scaling up increases serial processing, but is bound by Moore's Law. That is, get faster, more powerful processors and data buses.
  • Scaling out increases parallel processing, and is unbound by Moore's Law. That is, get multi-processor machines, multiple machines, and run processes simultaneously.
• Distribute Data (see also my article on Distributed Databases)
  • Distributed data does not need to be distributed to those who need it, but is hard to manage.
    • Fragmented Data. Different data at different locations.
    • Downloaded Data. Snapshots of a central database stored at different locations.
    • Replicated Data. Automatic fresh snapshots of portions of a central database stored at different locations.
  • Centralized data must be distributed to those who need it, but it is easy to manage.
• Separate Services (See also my article on Tier Architecture)
  • Data Services. The raw material. The database's point of view. The SQL code to add, delete, edit, and administer data. Some people break this tier into two sub-tiers:
    • Database. This is usually the DBMS such as SQL Server.
    • Data Manipulation. These are usually standard objects that encapsulate basic tasks such as adding, retrieving, deleting, editing, etc. These are usually COM objects or DLLs.
  • Business/Logic Services. The transformation of the material. The business' point of view. The way the business treats the data. These are usually COM objects or DLLs.
  • Presentation Services. The finished product. The user's point of view. The administration and production of the data. This is usually an application such as a VB app or an ASP Web app.
• Security
  • Physical Security.
  • Fault Tolerance.
  • Secured Transmissions.
  • Audits.
  • Access Authentication.
  • Network Access.

Page Modified: (Hand noted: 2007-08-28 22:00:17Z) (Auto noted: 2010-12-24 22:45:44Z)