Computer and Network Requirements:

There are many ways the C.I.M.S. system can be set up. This gives your company a great deal of flexibility, and allows the use of existing resources which will help protect your investment and give you better control of your business. Also the hardware and network configuration can easily be changed any time in the future. These requirements may vary depending on how the software is to be set up. Please contact Great Lakes Software if you have any questions about your existing systems. CIMS requires the following minimum client hardware requirements:

Client Workstation Minimum Configuration

*486 Processor
*16MB RAM
*300MB Free Space on Hard Drive
*14" Color monitor w/VGA video
*28.8 kbps modem *
*PC Anywhere software for Windows v. 2.0 *
*Windows 3.1, Windows '95 or NT
*Mouse
*Dot Matrix or Inkjet printer

Client Workstation Ideal Configuration

*Pentium Pro 200Mhz Processor
*64MB RAM
*4GB Hard Drive and CD-ROM Drive
*21" Color monitor w/2MB SVGA accelerated video
*33.6 kbps Faxmodem *
*PCAnywhere32 v 7.5 *
*Windows '95 or NT
*Microsoft Mouse
*Laser Printer

* These items are only needed for data communication in the absence of a network or if dial up support is required.

The following is the Minimum Hardware Requirements for a File server:

File server Minimum Configuration

*486 Processor
*16 MB RAM
*1 GB Hard Drive
*Novell Netware v 3.11 or Windows NT Server 3.52 or other shared drive.
*Tape Backup System and Software
*Battery Backup Power Supply
*10/100 Mbps Ethernet or 4/16 TokenRing or other similar topology.
*Hub and cable system
*14" Monochrome monitor w/VGA video
*Keyboard

File server Ideal Configuration

*Pentium Pro 200Mhz Processor
*128MB RAM
*4GB Mirrored Hard Drive
*14" Monochrome monitor w/VGA video
*DDS-2 DAT Digital Tape Backup
*Tape Backup Software
*Battery Backup Power Supply
*Novell Netware v 4.1+ or Windows NT Server 4.0+
*Ethernet 100 MBPS Hub
*Ethernet 100 Mbps Network Interface Cards
*101-key enhanced Keyboard

It is not necessary to dedicate a file server to CIMS. CIMS will work fine sharing a file server with several other applications. Because of its low server processing load, CIMS will run adequately even on older servers (i.e. Netware 3.11, 486/16Mb Ram, 1Gb Hard Drive, with slow arcnet connections.)

Disk Storage Requirements

In a server configuration all CIMS data is stored on the central file server. In the stand alone implementations CIMS data resides on the local hard disk drive. Depending on the number of products, locations and modules used, the disk space requirements can vary greatly. It is also possible to configure the CIMS system to automatically purge older data files. For a full implementation of all CIMS modules, a company selling 400 products at 20 sales centers, with 2 manufacturing plants and an annual sales volume of 50 million cases per year total, can expect to use approximately 2Mb of disk space (in 160 files) per day. Therefore, approximately 500Mb of disk storage space per year (in approximately 40,000 files) would be required for this installation. More or less space will be needed depending on the unique requirements of each installation. When installed on a file server it may be useful to install CIMS on its own separate volume or disk which is dedicated to this purpose. Although this is not required, installing CIMS on a separate volume or disk isolates it from other server volumes and sometimes makes backups easier or may improve performance. The following table is an approximate estimate for 400 SKUs.

* Modules normally only used by manufacturing locations.

Enterprise Networking Scenarios There are various scenarios that can be used to determine the hardware and networking costs associated with the implementing a new system, listed is a short description of the hardware infrastructure in each case. The various advantages and disadvantages of each case have been described. Great Lakes Software will be glad to help you set up any of these scenarios.

In practice, Great Lakes Software has found that a hybrid approach combining the principles of these scenarios can also work very well. For example, in order to reduce the initial hardware costs, a company may want to use the stand alone PC's and modems of scenario #1 for some of the smaller sales locations, but install local area networks everywhere else as described in scenario #4. It is also possible to include the remote access capabilities of scenario #3 to give the added benefit of management being able to roam using laptop computers to dial in to the network and keep up to date. So in practice it may be that the best solution is really a combination of the best features of each of the described scenarios.

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Scenario #1: Stand alone PC computers using modems for data transport.
In this scenario each sales center or warehouse is equipped with a stand alone computer, printer, modem and dedicated telephone line. Data communications is facilitated by a file transfer network which synchronizes data at regular intervals as defined by headquarters. A distributed database is maintained by propagating updated information in both directions between a central hub system and each of the remote sales centers, warehouses or manufacturing plants. The central hub system is responsible for picking up and dropping off data at regular intervals and can be configured to run automatically. This way users at the remote sales centers don't need to worry about sending or pulling data. The frequency of this update can be as fast as every few hours. Because a distributed database is maintained, a replicated set of data is available on the local hard drive making performance extremely fast. Transactions are made locally and then propagated throughout the network with the next data communication file transfer. This scenario works very well for small sales centers or remote offices which have only a few users or who cannot cost justify a multiuser network with the ongoing cost of leased communications lines.

Advantages:
Lower cost.
Faster implementation.
Excellent performance because data is accessed from local hard drive.
Data is naturally replicated and distributed, less risk of data loss.
One location can go down and the rest continue normally.

Disadvantages:
Limited access to the data at only one workstation.
Regular phone lines are much slower and less reliable than leased lines.
Security is more limited.
Modem is dedicated to CIMS data communications.
Data refresh rate is normally slower than other scenarios.
Extra disk space is needed to store data redundantly at each location.

Scenario #2: Stand alone PC computers using Mainframe for data transport.
This is essentially the same as scenario #1 with the exception that the data is not communicated using modems but is instead transferred using a mail box in/out protocol on an existing computer platform such as a minicomputer or mainframe. For example a network of existing AS400 computers may have the ability to transfer files between each AS400. For this scenario to work, the PC's at each remote sales center or warehouse must have the ability to read and write data to a specific drive and directory on the minicomputer or mainframe. Also, a program somewhere on the network must run continuously on the minicomputer or mainframe which will copy data placed in certain directories. The data thereby moves between minicomputers or mainframes using the existing infrastructure, and PC computers at each location can pick up and send data using this mail box protocol. When properly implemented this scenario is effective, but relies on other computer systems and operating software. The increased complexity of this scenario should be considered only when connectivity already exists between PC computers and the local minicomputer or mainframe, and between locations. This scenario becomes more attractive if dedicated telephone lines are high in cost or low in reliability.

Advantages:
Uses existing infrastructure
Lower cost.
Excellent performance because data is accessed from local hard drive.
Data is naturally replicated and distributed, less risk of data loss.
One location can go down and the rest continue normally.

Disadvantages:
Limited access to the data at only one workstation.
Security is more limited.
Data refresh rate is normally slower than other scenarios.
Extra disk space is needed to store data redundantly at each location.
Relies on other computer platform and operating software.
More complex to set up and maintain.

Scenario #3: LAN at central location, remote access PC computers at sales warehouses.
In this scenario a Novell or Windows NT local area network is established at a single central location. PC's at remote locations connect by modem or ISDN to the central network through a remote access device such as those offered by Shiva corporation. In this scenario all data exists centrally on the file server of the local area network. The CIMS client software is installed on the local hard drive of each remote sales center PC. The client software then reads and writes transactions directly to and from the central data repository. This also give the ability for managers with laptops or home computers to dial in and generate reports or check on the business at any time from any location. Because of the centralized nature of this scenario, no data replication takes place and reliable backups become very important. Also, any downtime at the central local area network causes every location to be down. This scenario is viable if care is taken to design the central local area network to be extremely fault tolerant. This scenario is also useful if true real time access to data is a requirement.

Advantages:
True real time access to data.
All changes are visible immediately.
Multiple user network access possible at all locations.
Ability for managers to "roam" using laptops or home computers.
Less disk space is needed, no data redundancy.
Increased security provided by network operating system.

Disadvantages:
Slower performance at remote locations, because data access is not local.
Regular phone lines are slow and less reliable.
Must pay for every minute remote users are connected.
Increased cost of building local area network and cost of connection time.
Data exists in only one place, must ensure frequent reliable backups.
Possibility of total network being down for extended time if central system fails.

Scenario #4: Local Area Networks at all locations connected to form a Wide Area Network.
In this scenario a Novell or Windows NT local area network is established at every location. This gives multiple users access to the system at every location and provides for users to update or access the information simultaneously from different workstations connected to their local area network. Similar to scenario #1, a distributed database is maintained by propagating updated information in both directions between a designated central hub file server and each of the remote file servers. The central hub server is responsible for picking up and dropping off data at regular intervals and is configured to run automatically. The frequency of this update can be as fast as every few minutes, and this data synchronization is transparent to the users. One important advantage of this scenario is that if any local area network or file server fails it will not take down the entire operation. Processing can continue for the portion of the wide area network which remains functional. (This includes the ability for any of the file servers to temporarily act as the central hub server for data synchronization.) Also the replicated database of this scenario gives excellent data protection and ensures the data is always safe, because a complete synchronized copy of the database is maintained at multiple sites. This is the networking solution we recommend for CIMS because it is the safest, most trouble free, and best performing scenario.

Advantages:
One location can go down and the rest continue normally.
Data is naturally replicated and distributed, less risk of data loss.
Increased security provided by network operating system.
Excellent performance because data is accessed from local file server.
"Nearly" real time access to data.

Disadvantages:
More disk space is used to store data redundantly.
Increased cost of building local area networks at all locations.
Need communication infrastructure to create wide area network.

For more information on CIMS, Computerized Inventory Management System, contact us today.

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