Database Management Systems Paper

This paper was written to explain the database management system that is used at my place of employment. Although I never get to use the system, I asked my supervisor and he clued me in as to what the system is called. They use a database system called AS/400. I am not familiar with it and he said that they have used it for quite a long time. I work for a snack food packaging plant in Hanover Pennsylvania. We have clients all over the world. I was surprised to hear that it wasn't a more up to date system. Apparently it works just fine and they are ready for a change. The company has been in business since 1921 and they are still going strong today.

AS/400

The AS/400 was formally renamed as the "IBM iSeries", however, it is still known commonly as the AS/400. The database itself is a midrange server more commonly seen in small businesses and smaller departments of large enterprises. It does work well however, with web applications and distributed networks. The operating system that is runs on in called OS/400. It is an IBM computer PC microprocessor that makes this all happens. According to my research, the AS/400 is actually a widely installed database application. It is even used in some government agencies today. It comes with the database built right into in and most of the applications are already web-enabled. Some of the newer uses for the AS/400 include:

1. Data Warehousing

2. Java Application Development

3. Web and E-Commerce Serving

4. Corporate Groupware Services

The data warehousing can act as a repository for large amounts of company data to which data mining can be applied. This is due to the fact that it comes complete with such a large about of hard disk space in which to store the information. The Java application development acts as a virtual machine and has new tools designed by IBM to help build commercial application with the use of Java. The AS/400 can then be used as a development system. The web and e-commerce serving helps the company to track order, take orders, provide different type of services to the customers, and works with the suppliers or vendors. In my company this is a big plus because we sell our pretzels and chips all over the world. Doing so through e-commerce helps to add more of a customer base to our company. Keeping a log of who buys what products and when they need those products helps us to keep our customers happy. We can also sell to countries abroad and store in other states. The corporate groupware services supplies the company with interoffice capabilities such as email, project file sharing, whiteboards and electronic collaboration. These are all assets to larger and smaller companies.

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