Task 1 – Proposal for client machines - (Weighted at 40%)

Currently the client machines are of the following specification:
•Processor: Celeron 1.2GHz single core
•Motherboard: Asus P5QL-VM DO
•X24 CD-ROM
400W non-modular PSU
•RAM: 1GB 667MHz
•HD drive: IDE 320GB 7200rpm
•Graphics and sound: on board
•OS: Windows XP service pack 1
•20” CRT Monitors
The current server hardware specifications:
Custom made server with AMD Athlon XP 2400+ processor, 2000MHz, 2GB RAM, 1x500GB HDD
Software:
Red Hat 9 (released on 2002) running the following services:
MySQL version 3.23
PhP version 4.2.2
Apache web server version 2.0
The company is currently using a web based application to manage customers information.

Staff members and delegates have complained that the client machines are very slow and often crash. The organisation has requested that you submit a formal proposal for the improvement/replacement of the client machines. Managers are considering the upgrade of their current server architecture (software/hardware) to a modern architecture to support more integrated software modules such as, course management system, customer relationship management (CRM) and accounting system. The proposal should comprise the following sections:
1Provide a detailed assessment of the functionality and capacity of the existing client machines
2Provide a detailed assessment of the capacity of the existing server with the consideration of the new requirements (as mentioned above)
3Provide a sound justification for the choice of components to be used in the upgrade/replacment based on suitability, compatibility, cost and performance improvement.

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