Random Walk Shoes

The amount of RAM that Amy needs is directly tied to what she is planning to host. It is highly recommended by our team that she monitor processes to see which ones consume too much memory and to optimize every part of the setup for better performance. Traffic – The number of hits, page views, and unique visits are the main variables to take into account. Obviously, there is going to be a lot of traffic through Amy’s website, I suggest that Amy use more RAM. Operating System – To run the Windows Server, she needs at least 512MB RAM, with recommended 1GB for Windows Server 2003 and recommended 2GB for Windows Server 2008. For a Linux based server, 64MB RAM will be enough, or even less depending on a choice of a distro. Content Message Systems – Usage of Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, and other CMS’s will result in the need for more RAM. Caching – If a large part of the site is set to be cached by proxy servers and browsers, that will significantly improve performance and decrease ram usage.

Some static content that does not change too often should be always cached. Such as images, css, and js (WebmasterFormat, 2009). Random Walk Shoes’ web site has 8000 visits in the first month and 184,000 (23 pages * 8000) page views which leads us to suggest that Amy needs at least 2GB RAM. Disk storage needs at least 800MB (400MB+200MB+200MB). A good graphic card like Nvidia Geoforce would be suffiient. Dark Souls requires a 2.6 Ghz or better processor speed (Spakles, 2013). An operating system like Vista or Windows 7 will run slow on that lower processor speed. We suggest that Amy use a processor speed of at least 3GHz, which will cost between 500-700 dollars. -2-

We took into consideration that Amy has two major choices of operating systems for her online business. The first option is Windows and the other is Linux. The following chart outlines the market share of the operating system market share for both Desktop and Sever:

Source: HitsLink (desktop, May 2014), IDC Q4 2013
If we only take the PC market share, Windows dominates the market, but it is fairly different in sever operating system side. Linux is ranked as number 2 in the server operating system market which has 29% market share, not far from Windows (46%) by the end of 2013. Linux has many differences from Windows and we can see it from the following table:

Linux
Windows
Manufacturer
Linux kernel is developed by the community. Linus Torvalds oversees things. Microsoft created the Windows operating system, but allows other computer manufactures to distribute their own computers with Windows pre-installed. Price

The majority of Linux variants are available for free or at a much lower price than Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Windows can run between $50.00 – $150.00 US dollars per each license copy. Ease Although the majority Linux variants have improved dramatically in ease of use, Windows is still much easier to use for most computer users because of the familiarity of Windows and because it’s more likely they are using a Windows computer at home, in school, or at the office. Microsoft has made several advancements and changes that have made it a much easier to use operating system, and although arguably it may not be the easiest operating system, it is still Easier than Linux. Reliability

The majority of Linux variants and versions are notoriously reliable and can often run for months and years without needing to be rebooted. Although Microsoft Windows has made great improvements in reliability over the last few versions of Windows, it still cannot match the reliability of Linux. Software

Linux has a large variety of available software programs, utilities, and games. However, Windows has a much larger selection of available software. Because of the large amount of Microsoft Windows users, there is a much larger selection of available software programs, utilities, and games for Windows. Software Cost

Many of the available software programs, utilities, and games available on Linux are freeware or open source. Even such complex programs such as Gimp, OpenOffice, StarOffice, and wine are available for free or at a low cost. Although Windows does have software programs, utilities, and games for free, the majority of the programs will cost anywhere between $20.00 – $200.00+ US dollars per copy. Hardware

Although hardware manufacturers have made great advancements in supporting Linux it still will not support most hardware devices. However, for the hardware devices that have driver support they usually work in all versions of Linux. Because of the amount of Microsoft Windows users and the broader driver support, Windows has a much larger support for hardware devices and almost all hardware manufacturers will support their products in Microsoft Windows. Security

Linux is and has always been a very secure operating system. Although it still can be attacked when compared to Windows, it much more secures. Although Microsoft has made great improvements over the years with security on their operating system, their operating system continues to be the most vulnerable to viruses and other attacks. Open Source

Many of the Linux variants and many Linux programs are open source and enable users to customize or modify the code however they want to. Microsoft Windows is not open source and the majority of Windows programs are not open source. Support

Although it may be more difficult to find users familiar with all Linux variants, there are vast amounts of available online documentation and help, available books, and support available for Linux. Microsoft Windows includes its own help section, has vast amount of available online documentation and help, as well as books on each of the versions of Windows.

Windows
Pros:
1 Compatibility: Almost every application, driver or game will work on Windows. 2 Technical support: Having so many users, you can always find someone (either online or offline) who can help you with Windows. 3 Huge quantity of function: When you get to know Windows well, you’ll find out that there are so many functions that you can do almost anything quite easily.

Cons:
1 Viruses: You may need to buy an antivirus program, although free ones exist. 2 Slow: Windows, especially Vista, 7 and 8, requires a lot of computer resources (memory, processor, disk space), and thus, runs slower. 3 Price: It easily costs over a hundred dollars.

Linux
Pros:
1 Price: Linux is F-R-E-E. You can download it, install it, use it, modify it… All for a whopping 0$. 2 Variety: Linux is not a full operating system. It is just a kernel. To use the kernel, additional software needs to be bundled with Linux. Several hundreds of these bundles (called “distributions” or simply “distros”) exist. The most popular ones include Ubuntu, Mint and Fedora. The good thing is, with so many different flavors of Linux, there are always one to suit your needs! 3 Viruses: Although being more vulnerable to viruses than Mac (because it is open source), Linux still has very, very, very few viruses.

Cons:
1 Complicated: Although some distros are quite easy to use, most of them will require a good deal of computer knowledge in order to get them to work. 2 Compatibility: Like Mac, representing only a few percent of the market share, Linux does not have as many programs and games as Windows. 3 Vendors: You won’t find a lot of vendors selling Linux computers. Usually, you’ll just end up having to buy Windows computer, reformatting the hard drive, and installing Linux yourself.

Although Linux is not so upscale and users who are familiar with Windows operating system especially Desktop (PC) system may feel strange to Linux at first, but Linux has the advantages that Windows doesn’t have. The more important thing is Linux is a fee operating system. Comparing to Windows, Linux is more suitable for small business. Amy’s business is just start and Linux can totally meet her requirements. -3-

In order to accomplish the goals that Amy has for her Random Walk Shoes website, there are four software packages to consider that could potentially meet her needs. In order to perform a thorough analysis, the advantages and disadvantages of each need to be outlined. Apache is a popular leader in open-source server software that allows many people to contribute to the source code and includes a reduction in error possibilities. It is relatively efficient and there is a large base of users in the business environment. There are many options for technical support including blogs, forums and other websites that can offer support to Amy. Given our previous analysis on operating systems, Apache is capable of running on both Linux and/or Windows with static and/or dynamic service. One unique feature of Apache is that is allows for direct programming which can improve website performance.

The next software package to consider is Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS). IIS is not as popular as Apache but is still an option for Amy. Although it is a free operating system, the cost of the software package can cost up to several thousand dollars. IIS is only compatible with Windows operating system which gives it some limitations as to usage capability. Since it is a Microsoft product, Microsoft can offer technical support as well as support through online blogs or guides. Nginx is another web server that can be considered since it is a free, open-source software option. Nginx is more event-driven rather than process-driven which contributes to its speed features. There are fewer features offered which places limitation on the software such as non-support of some operating systems such as OpenVMS and IBMi. This should not be considered as an option for Amy but does deserve to be included in the analysis in order to highlight the features offered by Apache and IIS.

Lighttpd is another software package that can be considered since it has recognizable security and performance features. Although it has some positive features, it does require a great deal of memory in order to function effectively. Given Amy’s requirements, this probably would not be a good option for her. Since Apache seems to be popular in the business environment due to its ease of use, functionality features, and cost effectiveness, our group suggests that Amy use Apache software for her business. It is also a plus that is functions with other computer platforms which allows for more flexibility and offers additional security features.

REFERENCES
WebmasterFormat. (August 25, 2009). WebmasterFormat Blog. How much RAM does your dedicated server need? Retrieved from http://webmasterformat.com/blog/how-much-ram
Spakles. (2013). Yahoo Answers. Is processor speed 1.7GHz good? Retrieved from https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20131130095722AA18oPq