Information Engineering Services

"Making Information Technology Work Since 1965"

Systems Design by Information Engineering Services

While we have participated in design of very large systems as part of a team, this section focuses on small business applications, where we may supply hardware and software as well as specify or recommend it.

Hardware Subsystems

Our physical system designs include specification of the right system capacity for your needs. When the system specification indicates Intel-based systems, we can supply hardware systems custom-built to our specifications.

We also upgrade existing systems to match new requirements, provided the existing system will support the required upgrade

We also specify Oracle SPARC architecture when appropriate to your computing needs, and will assist you in ordering custom systems from the manufacturer or distributor.

Software Subsystems

We employ a wide variety of software systems, selecting the appropriate operating system, services, applications, and programming languages to suit the requirements. The examples below are representative of resources and tools used in past projects, but our designs are not restricted to these choices.

Operating Systems

We usually recommend a Unix-based server solution, for most standard business networking functions. We have experience with designing and implementing server solutions on Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD, and Tru64 platforms. In our own offices, we use a KVM-based virtual machine host and Linux workstations with Wine, VMWare Player, or Oracle Virtualbox to run Windows and Windows applications, and exclusively Unix/Linux-based file and print services and network applications.

Server Applications

Server-side applications include web servers, file and print services, mail servers, and database management systems. On Unix systems, these services include Apache Web Server, OpenLDAP, SSH, sendmail, UW-IMAP, Qpopper, wu-ftpd, SAMBA (Microsoft-compatible File and Print Sharing), Oracle, mySQL, SQLite, and PostgreSQL.

Custom Applications

Custom applications include dynamic web pages and forms, written in PHP, Ruby, and Perl; Interactive shell applications have been written in Korn Shell, awk, sed, Perl, Ruby, C, and Common LISP. Most of our custom software has been written on and for the Unix environment, but some has been ported to the Windows environment. We develop almost no end-user software on or for the Windows environment: Open Source systems are more flexible and do not depend on expensive and complex proprietary tools, keeping us on the leading edge of capability with lower overhead costs.

Productivity Software

The total end-user software package required is determined first, in order to determine whether your needs can be satisfied with off-the-shelf shrink-wrapped tools or vertical market solutions, before we consider custom software and before we begin to determine the operating environment and hardware required to support the software. The total system productivity and cost is determined by the best fit between system capability and user needs.

When setting up office productivity systems, we consider the specific workgroup needs, as well as your need for interoperability with customers and suppliers. We specify Microsoft Office and other productivity products when required for interoperability or when this is the primary background of the office staff. Where cost is a factor, or interoperability must exist between Unix and Windows, we specify Sun StarOffice suite or the OpenOffice version.

We generally do not specify financial or inventory tracking systems, as these are usually best procured directly from vertical market suppliers who service your type of business. We do coordinate with vertical market systems vendors to ensure your computer systems will satisfy not only their optimum requirements, but other aspects of your business as well.

We will specify, install, and provide training for specialized productivity packages, such as image processing, project management, email, web authoring, and other tools you may need to support your business. Products are specified according to best match between the capabilities and your requirements, as well as interoperability with other software.

Small Office Customers

Bruce Hecke, Accountant
Our Lady Star of the Sea Church
Seacor, Bremerton Office
Timeless Treasures Quilt Shop
Realizations Fabric Arts

Corporate Customers

Dell Services Federal Government [formerly Perot Systems Government Services] (Unix systems consulting)
SRA