Transcript IST Networking/Web Presentation

IST 220: Group 2
Networking and Website Project for
State College Borough Water
Authority
Outline
Introduction
 Where we Started
 1st Meeting with SCBWA
 Networking Layout
 Website Goals & Design
 How we Accomplished It
 View our SCBWA website
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Group Members & Jobs
Jenn – Group Leader
 Mike Conners – HTML Design
 Mike Rubin – HTML Design
 Huy – Assistant to M. Rubin
 Varun – Assistant to M. Conners
 Jim – Collected Meeting Information
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Where we started
Jenn coordinated the group and found out
from her former project manager at RBA
Professional Data Systems, Bob Hirsch, that
their customer, State College Borough
Water Authority, needed a Website
 Jenn set up the meeting with the three
executives, Max, Dave, & Marsha to find
out exactly what they needed
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State College Borough Water Authority
Step 1:
st
1
Meeting at SCBWA
-
-Introduced
group to Max, Dave, & Marsha who
are executives at SCBWA
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Collaborated ideas of a website with them
Toured SCWA building & networking room
Current Network Layout
- LAN (Local Area Network)
- Servers: Novell & Unix – uses Informix
- Shared File Servers, Printers, and Ethernet
Lines
- One main Database for billing, customer
information, & meter reading info
- Network is maintained by RBA Professional
Data Systems
Network Servers
Network Servers
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File Server: Novell – file & printer sharing
capability
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Database Server: Unix w/ Informix
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Application Server: Unix
Network Hardware & Software
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LAN Workstation Software:
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Windows-98
Application Software – Utility billing on Unix
Machine
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LAN System Software – Novell
Office Software
Unix Machine runs utility billing software
 Individual Workstations use office software
 Executives use WordPerfect, Microsoft
Publisher, RealWorld Accounting & Payroll
programs
 Meter Shop Workstations use special
software for to support wireless meter
readers, which dumps information into Unix
(billing software program)
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Network Topology
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Ethernet Topology
100 Base-T (100 Mbps baseband medium w/
twisted pair wires as medium) 2 switches Full
Duplex: (24 ports) – gives multiple access to
multiple servers from workstations
Collision access and detection, if two packets are
sent at the same time, collision is detected and
retransmitted
Topology
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Current Networking Typology is almost overkill
for traffic over network because there are not
many users (15 or less)
Benefits: Network is efficient and effective for
their day-to-day needs
Security – use firewall which is built into the
Internet modem (56k shared access) – low
problems because dial-up & hang up is automatic
Intranet only between Executives
Why use LAN?

LAN is used because no remote sites & no
data is being transferred

Example: Remote well fields have staff that
maintain them, but don’t use PC’s on site,
therefore they do not use any electronic
form of data transfer
Applications Implemented

Netscape Brower – Instant Internet
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ExpressIt! Email only – Executives Use

Front Office & Meter Office is not
permitted to have email access
Proposed Additions for Network
from Paper
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Add a Webserver to host new website. Hosting
currently provided by RBA Professional Data
Systems
Change from dial-up to Wireless or DSL for faster
Internet speed & allow front office Internet access
Could connect all well fields back to central office –
must use wireless connection though
Enhance their backup planning for remote site back
up storage
SCBWA Website
Goals for Website

Inform and Announce to SCBWA customers about
the following information regarding their water
service

Updates of current water conditions or problems
in local areas
Target Audiences

Local Centre County Community, includes
communities & townships such as:
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State College - Borough
Lemont - Benner
Pine Grove Mills - Ferguson
Boalsburg - Harris
Shingletown – Harris
College Township
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User Considerations
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Users will be interested in a very basic web
design that is easy to:
Download
 Access
 Read
 Navigate
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What the Site Provides to Users
Users will be able to view any information
about the SCBWA
 How to read their water bill
 Rates
 Annual Water Quality Report
 Posted Board Meetings
 Conservation Tips
 Frequently Asked Questions

User Profiles

80 – 90% of customers use Netscape 4.0 or higher
version
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No specific age group, age varies from 18 – 65+
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Most customers in this area have 56k modems and
average technology skills

Reference: www.census.gov
User Pros & Cons
Pros of Site:
 Easy to read, simple layout, easy navigation

Cons of Site:
 Water Quality Reports may take a while to
load depending on their modem capabilities
 Search options have not been provided
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Steps of project

Collected Data for Website
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Created two test Websites
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Got final approval from SCBWA
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Revised & Finalizing Site
Website Design Ideas
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Create an image map with various links to
informative pages
SCBWA graphics – building, water tanks
Advertising water services
Address and phone number of SCBWA building
Easy to read characters and fonts on all pages
Links that are easily found to navigate through
pages
Color Schemes – white background with blue
headers, nothing too flashy, per their request
Step 2: Collecting Data for Website

We collected information that Dave and Marsha
had ready for us to scan: (Meeting 2)
Water Quality Reports
 Board Meeting Updates
 Pictures of their building, water tanks & well
houses
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Step 3: Beginning of the Website

After the SCBWA information was scanned
and then emailed to group members, Mike
Rubin and Mike Conners began to do web
layouts

Varun and Huy provided assistance to them
when needed (graphics, related links)
Step 4: Fulfilling Requests from SCBWA

Max, Dave, & Marsha requested that we create
two front pages so that they could have a variety
of layouts to choose from
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On our 3rd meeting we showed them the sites and
they critiqued each front page
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They liked the combination of Mike Conner’s logo
and links & Mike Rubin’s frames and pictures
Choices Between Website Styles
Step 5: Putting the Two Sites Together
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Both sites were pieced together and more information
(provided by Dave & Max) was added to the site:
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History of SCBWA
Water Bill
Rates
FAQ
Related Links
Water Conservation Tips
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Step 6: Final SCBWA Meeting

We presented our “in progress” Website to
Max, Dave, & Marsha for their approval
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Executives were very happy with what they
saw and had a few additional requests to
add a few more pages to the site
Physical Design of Site
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HTML & JavaScript
Macromedia Flash was initially used, but then
taken out because of browser plug-in requirements
Most customers would not have been able to
access the image map logo with all of the available
links to pages for two reasons:
1) user would not have wanted to deal with or
know how to download plug-in
2) user may not go back to site if image map
would not open because of plug-ins
SCBWA dismissed idea of using Flash
Requests vs. Desires
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The design of this website was requested to be
very simple because it is a government page and
needed to remain in a specific type of framework
Based on this, our group did not use frames,
animated graphics, scrolling messages, rolling
banners, etc..
If we were not requested to do this, we would
have added all of those extra interfaces in the
page, but we respected the decisions of the
SCBWA – this is how the “real world” works!
Implementation & Testing of Site
Tested website using www.personal.psu.edu Web
server
 Final site will be published on www.scbwa.org
Web server for “live” site to be readily accessible
for SCBWA users
 Additional changes (if needed) & maintenance
will be made to Website by the staff at SCBWA
with assistance from RBA beginning
in May
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Step 7: Revise & Finalize Site

Currently, the group is adding the final
additions to the page & putting the finishing
touches on the site for Friday’s deadline
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What we have so far:
http://www.scbwa.org
Networking or Website
Questions or Comments?????