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Tiêu đề Application Service Provider Configuration Handbook
Tác giả Gary Palmatier
Người hướng dẫn Dale Booth, Chairman & CEO
Trường học Syngress Publishing, Inc.
Chuyên ngành Application Service Provider
Thể loại sách
Năm xuất bản 2001
Thành phố San Diego
Định dạng
Số trang 66
Dung lượng 1,64 MB

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6Application Outsourcing 7Business Process Outsourcing 7Platform Information Technology Outsourcing 7The Elements That Make an ASP Viable 8Life Cycle for the Cost of Ownership 8The Initi

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Vice President of Business Development and Solution

Architecture, EngineX Networks, Inc.

Foreword by Dale Booth,

Chairman & CEO, EngineX Networks, Inc.

Sean ThurstonTechnical Editor

Become an Application Service Provider!

• Step-by-Step Instructions for Converting an ISP from Standard Bandwidth Provisioning to Providing Complex Services

• Hundreds of Common ASP Terms Defined, Types of ASP Firms Identified, and Best Platforms Revealed

• Complete Coverage of Application Outsourcing, Business Process Outsourcing, and Platform IT Outsourcing

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s o l u t i o n s @ s y n g r e s s c o m

With more than 1,500,000 copies of our MCSE, MCSD, CompTIA, andCisco study guides in print, we continue to look for ways in which we canbetter serve the information needs of our readers One way we do this is

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Syngress Publishing, Inc., the author(s), and any person or firm involved in the writing, editing, or production (collectively “Makers”) of this book (“the Work”) do not guarantee or warrant the results to be obtained from the Work.

There is no guarantee of any kind, expressed or implied, regarding the Work or its contents.The Work is sold

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In no event will Makers be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other dental or consequential damages arising out from the Work or its contents Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you.

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Syngress Media®, Syngress®, and “Career Advancement Through Skill Enhancement®,”are registered trademarks

of Syngress Media, Inc “Ask the Author™,”“Ask the Author UPDATE™,”“Mission Critical™,” and “Hack Proofing™” are trademarks of Syngress Publishing, Inc Brands and product names mentioned in this book are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.

KEY SERIAL NUMBER

ASP Configuration Handbook: A Guide for ISPs

Copyright © 2001 by Syngress Publishing, Inc All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or dis- tributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, with the exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed

in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication.

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

ISBN: 1-928994-26-1

Technical Editor: Sean Thurston Freelance Editorial Manager: Maribeth Corona-Evans Co-Publisher: Richard Kristof Copy Editor: Beth A Roberts

Cover Design by: Michael Kavish Index by: Robert Saigh

Page Layout and Art by: Shannon Tozier Distributed by Publishers Group West in the United States.

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Acknowledgments

v

We would like to acknowledge the following people for their kindness and support

in making this book possible

Richard Kristof and Duncan Anderson of Global Knowledge, for their generousaccess to the IT industry’s best courses, instructors, and training facilities

Karen Cross, Lance Tilford, Meaghan Cunningham, Kim Wylie, Harry Kirchner, BillRichter, Kevin Votel, Brittin Clark, and Kent Anderson of Publishers Group West forsharing their incredible marketing experience and expertise

Mary Ging, Caroline Hird, Simon Beale, Caroline Wheeler,Victoria Fuller, JonathanBunkell, and Klaus Beran of Harcourt International for making certain that ourvision remains worldwide in scope

Anneke Baeten, Annabel Dent, and Laurie Giles of Harcourt Australia for all their help

David Buckland,Wendi Wong, Daniel Loh, Marie Chieng, Lucy Chong, Leslie Lim,Audrey Gan, and Joseph Chan of Transquest Publishers for the enthusiasm withwhich they receive our books

Kwon Sung June at Acorn Publishing for his support

Ethan Atkin at Cranbury International for his help in expanding the Syngress program

Joe Pisco, Helen Moyer, and the great folks at InterCity Press for all their help

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Contributors

Dale Boothis EngineX Networks’ Chairman and CEO He has morethan two decades of telecommunications industry experience, includingthe role of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at FujitsuNetwork Services, a division of Fujitsu Network Communications Dalecreated the vendor-neutral services division and powered it to a 373 per-cent compound annual growth rate He also served as Chief InformationOfficer of Fujitsu Network Communications Prior to that, he held var-ious technical and management positions at InteCom, a PBX start-upspecializing in converged voice and data platforms Dale has an engi-neering degree from DeVry Institute and did post-graduate work at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,Wharton School of Business He serves onnumerous boards and councils, including Daisytek International, the TexasQuality Foundation, and the International Engineering Consortium

Gary Palmatieris Vice President of Business Development and SolutionArchitecture for EngineX Networks Inc He is responsible for definingmarkets, creating technical service solutions, and managing customer,partner, and alliance relationships He has more than 18 years of telecom-munications industry experience Previously, he was Director of AdvancedNetwork Services at Fujitsu Network Services, where he established theprofessional services business unit and directed the division’s global profes-sional services efforts Gary has a master’s degree in IS management fromAurora University, in Aurora, IL and a bachelor’s degree in industrial tech-nology from Southern Illinois University Gary serves as Chairman of theSystems Integration Committee of the National Convergence Alliance

He is certified as an Oracle Master Systems Analyst and is a member ofthe IEEE Gary has been a featured speaker at Argonne NationalLaboratory, professional societies, and industry symposiums on topics such

as software engineering, innovation, and management systems He has alsotaught electronics technology, programming languages, and networking atthe college level

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Matt Lyons(CCIE #1133) is the Director of Solution Architecture forEngineX Networks Inc Matt has over 20 years of experience workingwith networking and IP He has worked for such early network pioneers

as Ungermann Bass, SynOptics Communications, Network General, andNestar Systems, the first company to network the Apple II After morethan 7 years at Cisco Systems, and leveraging his international consultingexperience, he has joined EngineX Networks to build a Solution

Architecture group that is focused on large-scale carrier network issuesand design Matt lives in Fremont, CA

Kevin Murphy(CCNA, CSE) is the Director of Business Developmentfor EngineX Networks Inc Kevin is responsible for developing the part-nerships and alliances required to support EngineX Networks’ advanceddesigns and deployments Previously, Kevin served on the EngineXDesign team as a Solution Architect and Engagement Manager His areas

of focus include VoIP, content networking, and VPN He has also held ious business development and sales positions within the Infrastructuresegment Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration fromthe University of Southern California with an entrepreneur emphasis Helives in San Francisco, CA

var-Aaron Davidson(CCNA) is a Solution Architect with EngineXNetworks Inc He creates infrastructure and data center design solutions.His specialties include security, load balancing, and implementation of var-ious vendors’ equipment Aaron’s background includes designing andsecuring several Silicon Valley dot.com ventures and working fornumerous Internet service providers Aaron lives in the East Bay and isworking on his certifications and a music career

Mark Egan(CCNP, MCSE, MCP+I, CNE) is a Senior SolutionArchitect for EngineX Networks Inc He provides technical leadership forthe Solution Architecture team as well as support for the design andimplementation of customer networks Mark’s background includesworking for Sprint-Paranet as a Technical Analyst and as a Consultant forExxon Mark Lives in Dublin, CA

viii

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Ben Tsui(CCNP, CCDA, MCSE, MCP+I, MBA) is a Senior NetworkEngineer with EngineX Networks Inc He designs telecommunicationsinfrastructures and implements network devices as well as the provision oflocal loop for transport deployment His specialties include research, doc-umentation, and implementation Ben’s background includes positions asDesign Engineer for PacBell and a Network Engineer Specialist for SBCDatacomm Ben lives in Fremont, CA He is pursuing his master’s degree

in telecommunications

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Sean Thurston(CCDP, CCNP, MCSE, MCP+I) is a Senior SolutionArchitect with EngineX Networks Inc He provides network and datacenter design solutions for large-scale deployment His specialties includeimplementation of multi-vendor routing and switching equipment andXoIP (everything over IP) installations Sean’s background includes posi-tions as a Technical Analyst for Sprint-Paranet and the Director of a brickand mortar advertising dot-com company Sean is also a contributing

author to Syngress Publishing’s Building a Cisco Network for Windows 2000,

ISBN: 1-928994-00-8 Sean lives in Renton,WA He is currently pursuinghis CCIE

Technical Editor

and Contributor

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What This Book Can Do for You 4Whom This Book Is Written For 5Definitions of Common ASP Terms 5What Is an Internet Service Provider? 5What Is an Application Service Provider? 6

What Is Information Technology Outsourcing? 6Application Outsourcing 7Business Process Outsourcing 7Platform Information Technology

Outsourcing 7The Elements That Make an ASP Viable 8Life Cycle for the Cost of Ownership 8The Initial Cost of Hardware Acquisition 9Hardware Maintenance and Associated

Costs 10Initial System Software Package

Acquisition 10Initial Application Software Package

Acquisition 10Implementation 10The Cost of Hardware Upgrades 11The Cost of System Software Upgrades 11

Choose the Best

Platform for Your ASP

ASPs take advantage of

existing Internet

connectivity to offer

corporations the

opportunity to outsource

not only peripheral

applications but also

mission-critical

applications This trend

will continue to escalate

as customers discover that

outsourcing firms can

deliver mission-critical

applications that meet

their demands for service

licensing agreements

(SLAs) For ISPs and ASPs,

these application-hosting

responsibilities require the

choice of a platform that

can deliver the correct

balance of performance,

scalability, upgradeability

and manageability.

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xii Contents

The Cost of Application Software Upgrades 12Network Administration Resources 12Other Support (Training, Help Desk, Etc.) 12Possible Business Models and Offerings 12

Professional Consulting 14Project-Based Service Providers 14

Layer 8:The Political Layer 21Layer 9:The Religion Layer 22Layer 10:The Financial Layer 22Choosing the Best Platform for Your ASP 22Hardware 23Servers 24Hewlett-Packard 24

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Hewlett-Packard WebQoS 30IBM 31Microsoft 32Resonate 32Segue 33Business Drivers for the Conversion to ASP 34Business Factors That Impact the ASP Model 34

Barriers to the ASP Business Model 37ASP Business Model Strategies 38System Integrators and Implementers 40Internet Service Providers and

Telecommunication Companies 41Independent Software Vendors 42Independent Software Vendor Companies 43

Amount of System Uptime (Five Nines) 46Failover 47Clustering 47

Compaq 48

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Frequently Asked Questions 57

Introduction 60

The Onset of Commoditization 63Broadband—The Enabling Technology 64Service Provider Business Requirements 67

Customers’ Demands 69

The Steps Necessary to Offer Value 73

Value-Added Services and CoreCompetencies 78The Service Provider of the Future 80

The Finances Involved 82The Case for Application Service Provider

ASP Customer Value Proposition 86ISP Value Proposition 88ASP Services Also Enable Future

Migration Up the Value Chain 91ISP to ASP:The Perfect Fit? 91

Current Analysis published

the results of their survey

of ASP customers that

ranked the major decision

criteria they used to

choose an ASP provider.

Major factors included:

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Contents xv

Summary 103

Frequently Asked Questions 106

Chapter 3 Server Level Considerations 109

Introduction 110Implementation,Where to Begin 111

Central Processing Unit 112Symmetric Multiprocessing 114Random Access Memory 115

Virus Scanning Suggestions 168

information, storage area

networking (SAN), and file

servers to truly provide

well-rounded application

service offerings These

"server farms" must be

maintained and supported

with the priority that the

application demands.

Remember that the design

of a system and

implementation of an

infrastructure that will

work for your company and

satisfy your customers will

require exceptionally

careful planning and

forethought.

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xvi Contents

Summary 179

Frequently Asked Questions 184

Chapter 4 Performance Enhancement Technologies 187

Introduction 188

What Is Load Balancing? 189What Is Content Routing? 189Web Caching and How It Works 189

The Benefits of Data Caching? 191What Happens With and Without a

How to Reduce Bandwidth Usage 195Key Requirements for a Caching Solution 195Deployment Models for Data Caching 197

Content Delivery

Networks and Streaming

Media

Content Delivery Networks

can provide more efficient

service, as they can store and

forward multiple formats and

bit rates for streaming media.

A number of companies now

offer streaming media

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Contents xvii

Criteria You Should Look for in a SuperiorLoad-Balancing Solution 209Dependability 209

Can Load Balancing Enhance andExtend Your Network? 211Vendor Credibility and Their Support

Infrastructure 211Load-Balancing Solutions from F5 212

First-Generation Load-Balancing

What Takes a Site Down? 213Guaranteeing Availability to Your Client 214Cisco Systems’ LocalDirector 215

Managing Your Server Connections 218Security with the LocalDirector 219LocalDirector Configuration Samples 219Multiple Virtual Servers and One

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xviii Contents

What CDN Service Providers Require 238CDN Deployment Basics and

Considerations 239Network Service Providers 239Satellite-Based Network Service Providers 240What Network Service Providers

Require from CDN Service Providers and CDN Component Product Makers 240CDN Product Manufacturers 240Enterprises 241Consumers 241The CDN Services Landscape 241Industry Standardization Efforts 241The Content Alliance 242The Content Bridge Alliance 243CDN Solutions from Various Vendors 244Inktomi Content Delivery Suite 244Inktomi Content Distributor 246Inktomi Content Manager 247Cisco System’s Content Delivery

Networks and Next-GenerationContent-Based Services 247

Frequently Asked Questions 255

Introduction 258Upfront Concerns and Selection Criteria 259Concerns for Your Storage Devices 259

Mixed Vendor Support 260

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Location of NAS in Your Network 266

Comparing Fiber Channel to SCSI 275The Benefits of Fiber Channel 276What Are the Limitations of SCSI? 277All Fiber versus Mixed Solutions 277

Configuration Management 281Performance Management 281Availability Management 281Scalability and How It Affects Your Business 282Storage in Your Infrastructure 282Wire Speed and How It Can Help You 284

Fault Tolerance Features and Issues 288

Synchronous 290Asynchronous 291

Choose the Best

Storage Solution for

Your Company

Six major concerns and

criteria should be taken

into account before

deciding on the storage

solution that best fits your

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xx Contents

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks 291RAID-0 293RAID-1 293RAID-2 293RAID-3 293RAID-4 294RAID-5 294RAID-6 294RAID-10 294RAID-53 295SAN Solutions Offered by Various Vendors 295

The IBM SAN Strategy 295Summary 297

Frequently Asked Questions 301

Chapter 6 ASP Security System Provisioning 303

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Frequently Asked Questions 361

To Inside

To Outside

External Network (Internet)

Internal Network

To Inside

To Outside

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xxii Contents

Introduction 364The Effect of Outsourcing 364Service Level Agreements 365Some Common SLA Guarantees 365What Are the Basic Components of SLAs

for Frame Relay Circuits? 366What Service Levels Should the Service

Their Implemented SLA? 372What Are the Guidelines for Implementing

the Monitoring Necessary to Handle

The Operation Support System Model 377What Are the Basics of OSS? 378The Workflow Engine 378Ordering 379Inventory and Allotment 379

Learn the Three Main

Areas of Service Level

Agreements

Planning Determining

the wide area network

(WAN) service levels.

Verification Monitoring

the service levels to

guarantee fulfillment.

Troubleshooting

Isolating issues when

service levels are not

delivered.

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Contents xxiii

Engineering and Provisioning 379Activation and Service Management

Network Management and Support 380What Is OSS Interconnection, and What

What Are the Challenges Facing Interconnection? 382

Efficiencies in Your OSS 383

API Functionality and Gateways 383Supporting Your Data Services 384Provisioning Data Service 385Activation of Data Services 386Broadband Access Changes the Market 386Getting Access to the Masses 386

What Tools Do You Need to Automate TMN? 396

Industry Examples of SuccessfullyDeployed ASP Management Tools 398ASP Infrastructure Operations 399Network Operating System 400Pricing Models and Billing 401Billing 404Managing Billing with Partners 405

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xxiv Contents

Summary 407

Frequently Asked Questions 414

Chapter 8 Designing the Infrastructure 415

Business 420

Physical Equipment Space 421Network Equipment Basics 424Designing with the Hierarchy in Mind 425Scalability of Hierarchical Internetworks 426Manageability of Hierarchical Internetworks 427Optimization of Broadcast and Multicast

Internetworks 434Hybrid-Meshed Frame Relay Internetworks 436Regional Topologies for Frame Relay

Networks 437

Fully Meshed Topologies 437

Answer Your Questions

about Capacity

Planning

Q:I have agreed to a

Committed Interface

Rate (CIR) with a client.

How do I charge them

if they "burst" over this

intervals You will be

charging the customer

for whatever their

usage is for 95 percent

of the time.

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Contents xxv

Partially Meshed Topologies 438Broadcast Issues for Frame Relay Networks 439Creating a Broadcast Queue for an Interface 440Committed Interface Rates 440Capacity Planning for Your Infrastructure 442Connection and Expansion 442

Traffic Classification 456Congestion Avoidance 457Scheduling 458Scalability Considerations 458

Scaling Considerations 458

Virtual LANs and Emulated LANs 462

WAN Link Considerations 464Routing and Scalability 464Planning for the Future Growth of Your

Company’s Infrastructure 465Even More Network Scalability 465

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Things to Consider When ImplementingHigh-Availability 469Summary 472

Frequently Asked Questions 477

Appendix A Sample Configuration for an Application Service Provider Network 479

Introduction 480

The Logical Network Overview 481

The Distribution Layer 482

Configuration with Cisco Systems Commands

Configuration for a Cisco Systems 7200Router That Is Located within the CoreLayer 486Configuration for a Cisco Systems

Gigabit Switch Router Router That

Is Located within the Distribution Layer 509Configuration for a Second Cisco

Systems Gigabit Switch Router Router That Is Located within the Distribution

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Contents xxvii

Configuration for a Cisco Systems MGXRouter That Is Located within the AccessLayer 537Summary 553

Appendix B ASP Configuration Handbook

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For the modern Web-enabled community to grow and prosper, we need to create

and deploy communication solutions that can collate an assorted collection of data

and applications, while incorporating legacy solutions still in use and allowing for

painless migration to future technologies

For the Application Service Provider (ASP) to grow and prosper they must

pro-vide reliable access and integration of independent information, applications, and data

stores into dynamic, interactive solutions that delight their customers

The Web of Change

Technology historian James Burke refers to events that lead to technological

advance-ment as the “Web of Change.” In his numerous books, including Connections, The

Day the Universe Changed (both of which were fantastic series on BBC and The

Discovery Channel), and The Pinball Effect, Burke brought together disparate and

apparently unconnected advancements in engineering, chemistry, and technology to

show how these developments lead to unforeseen and unpredictable consequences

When linking these events together, Burke always brought a sense of logical

advancement to technology, while highlighting the haphazard nature of efforts to

produce breakthrough results

As an example of this, Burke explains that there was a need for early American

rail systems to coordinate trains.The need was desperate because only a one-track

line connected one point to another As a result, there were numerous accidents from

trains traveling in both directions on a single track, as it’s really difficult for two trains

speeding along a single set of rails in opposite directions to pass each other

(some-thing about two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time)

Foreword

xxix

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xxx Foreword

To prevent these accidents, railroad companies began deploying telegraphs andcreating schedules, which helped to delegate authority for the management of day-to-day business.This created divisions and departments that were far removed fromcentral headquarters and were able to handle things in a geographically closer area.The railroads were able to handle the delivery of goods and products, by ensuringtimely delivery In many cases, different products had different priorities Perishableproducts had to be delivered in shorter times than dry goods, for example

The ability to coordinate the delivery of goods, Burke hypothesized, allowed forthe creation of the department store.These new stores were able to offer an array ofgoods to customers, and the products were now available from far and wide, as geo-graphic constraints were removed.These stores started to use the communicationsand management techniques that were pioneered by the railroads for managing thisincreasingly complex inventory of products Since inventory was likely to includeitems that had a certain level of timeliness attached to them, department stores sought

to manage delivery schedules and set priorities for the arrival of particular items.They did this so that they had competitive advantage by being able to deliver popularitems before rival stores could.This led to guaranteed delivery that created strongloyalties among big-spending but impatient customers

As you can see, there is a close parallel between the events that led to the arrival

of the department store and the future of internet service providers (ISPs) and ASPs.Like the railroad companies, ISPs control the means of transportation; the access

to the network, if you will.The railroads could only offer access onto the network ofrail lines that they had constructed across the country.With the arrival of more finelytuned services (such as express rail, more reliable schedules, high levels of “uptime,”etc.), railroad customers saw limited benefits

Today’s ISPs also have to deal with a limited set of goods to offer customers.Initially, bandwidth alone was their stock in trade, and that was the norm because nocompetitors were offering anything but bandwidth, and no customer was demandingmore than that However, as things progress, companies are requiring a larger array ofofferings from their ISP

Changing the Business

As we look into the deployment of new technologies and how they impact tional ISPs, it is essential to stress that the Web itself is constantly changing.Thefuture manifestations of the World Wide Web will drive the demand for new ISPbusinesses such as the ASP model.These new models will drive the changes of the

tradi-www.syngress.com

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Web from within.The Web is becoming increasingly frictionless.The Internet is

able to spread information to clients that is personalized to meet their specific needs

and interests

In the early use of the Internet as a viable business model, there were no

differ-entiated classes of service to applications Applications that made money for the

com-pany were given the same priority as lesser or nonrevenue-generating applications

In order to counteract this flawed model, the application that generates revenue

should have “always on” high-availability status that allows it to meet customer

demands.This also allows for the prioritization of different classes for customers, so

the businesses that are willing to spend more will gain more robust access than the

window shopper

The Electronic Economy

The electronic economy has provided ISPs with a challenging and demanding Web

environment In 1994, the Internet was mainly used for the publishing of information

and related marketing activities of a company Now, people routinely use the Internet

for information gathering on any and all topics Many companies (even most

nontech-nical companies) established a presence on the World Wide Web It was almost like a

validation for their existence in a market that was too vast to understand

Information in these Web sites about offerings and prices of goods and services

allowed for a modicum of stickiness People started to e-mail each other about

var-ious sites, and these spikes in attention created traffic, and so on

In 1997, a new technology was incorporated into the Web.The ability to perform

transactions was introduced and configured to work with vendors’ Enterprise

Resource Planning (ERP) systems, which provided seamless integration with

backend systems End-users were able to buy products and services through their

Web browsers.This was a boon and a pariah at the same time

In this day and age, very few Web sites occupy markets without some form of

competition.This is fairly understandable as there is very little barring multiple sites

from inhabiting the same markets Price points and services are the differentiators for

these sites Online vendors are always looking for ways to draw users to their sites,

and keep them there For the most part, goods were sold from fixed-price lists, which

is part of the reason that many of the brick and mortar companies were unable to

jump directly into the Web economy As an example, you may go to a store that is

part of a nationwide chain Depending on where you are, the price for an item may

be higher or lower.There are several factors as to why this works, such as

geograph-Foreword xxxi

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xxxii Foreword

ical economics and relative need in an area Most Web-enabled vendors have tion points that are located throughout a region, which allows them to charge a stan-dard rate for the items that are purchased

distribu-The most recent wave of the electronic economy is the movement to the hostedand managed application model In these models, the issues of scale and reach are lessdependent on location and more dependent on the ability to access business applica-tions in a timely manner

The electronic economy allowed for greater flexibility in the implementation andmonitoring of hosted Web servers and gave ISPs the ability to offer a range of services

to their customers.This has a ripple effect in that it will in turn create newer businessmodels, which will spawn even more ripples.The intersection of customer demand andnew technologies in the electronic economy will allow for more flexible hostingoptions that will create the same type of explosion in economic activity that consistent,predictable rail service had on dry-good merchants in the nineteenth century

New Opportunities for Service Providers

Internet service providers are finding new opportunities in the hosting of onlinetransaction sites.These hosting opportunities allow ISPs to offer a full suite of onlinesales and services, by connecting online commerce databases to their clients’ corebusiness software applications

As it stands now, the simple transfer of applications from the intranet to an ISP as

an outsourced service is not the only business model for ISPs to pursue.There is also

a trend toward a more granular and complex price-for-service matrix that can extendbeyond hardware, software, and access packages that are currently offered by ISPs.TheASP will look for more sophisticated prospects in the form of processing power andtransaction-per-second service level agreements (SLAs) for their clients.This bookwill help ASPs to focus their attention on the optimization of their application envi-ronment, while competing on a price for performance matrix with other ASPs

In conclusion, the future of a well-managed and maintained ASP is bright.TheASPs’ best days may yet be ahead of them ASPs will be able to offer better services,retain and grow their customer base, and generate higher margins and profits

One of the key elements in creating this next-generation ASP will be the ability

to extend its offerings in the uncontrollably changing environment of the WorldWide Web.The ASP that can react quickly and efficiently to customers’ needs will bethe ASP that thrives in the coming years

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