ICT BTEC UNIT 2 - REPORT

GCSE BTEC UNIT 2 REPORT

I have been assigned the task of an ICT support section of an up and coming web

Development Company that dedicates itself to the incorporation of high-resolution graphics and video on web pages. Nevertheless their designs and solutions are restricted by the lack of decent hardware and software which is quickly becoming outdated in such a fast changing industry.

They have reached out to me to resolve their predicament by asking me to put together a written report by researching the following

Computer system

Operating system

Video editing software

Web design software

By doing this I have to build and appropriate system which is able to construct more complex websites.

OPERATING SYSTEM

In the table inserted in the next page is a list of 4 types of operating systems including windows vista premium, window XP professional, Linux and windows vista ultimate. In these next paragraphs before the table I will be comparing the four in slightly less detail than the table and give definitions on what each of the components are and what their functions are.

So for the hardware side if things the four OS (operating systems) requirements vary quite a lot as the CPU (central processing unit) on vista premium, which is at 1 GHz, (Gigahertz) is a lot more then that of XP professional which is at 300 MHz (Megahertz). The CPU speed is how fast the computer will operate so if the requirements are 300MHz and the CPU is 1GHz than the computer will be fast acting and shouldn’t freeze or crash as long as you aren’t trying to conduct to many operations all at one time obviously the bigger the CPU the amount programs you can run at one time will increase.

Another requirement for OS is RAM (Random Access Memory) this is quite self explanatory as it is randomly accessed memory and is the most familiar type of memory used in computers. RAM is used to find files very fast so the more RAM you have the less time it takes to open a program as everything on a computer is stored in files. Linux RAM requirement is 64MB (Megabytes) which is a lot less then that of windows vista ultimate at 512 MB.

HDD (Hard Drive Disk) space is where everything is stored it’s the computer main memory source and once again OS need a certain amount of disk space before it can install itself onto the computer system. For example windows XP only needs 1.5GB free HDD space so if the computer has a 80GB hard drive then it will have loads of space to install and download a lot of other programs. Windows vista premium and windows vista ultimate both require 15GB free HDD space this is a lot but contains a lot more inbuilt programs and applications including firewalls and things that will need a lot of HDD space.

When you buy an OS on Disc than depending on what the format of the disc is depends on what disc drive you have most up to date things are DVDs especially if it is to store a lot of stuff on one disc such as windows vista which is 15GB however things like Linux which only requires 250MB free HDD space will probably sold on a

CD so your computer could have a CD drive but a DVD will run the program.

VIDEO EDITING

During this next page I will be explaining the table I have inserted on the following page. This table shows 4 different video editing programs that all have there own unique qualities such as their system requirements for example the graphics cards each of them use they are very high tech and these are great gadgets which gives the user a great sense of satisfactory when making such a great video.

The table also shows all the system requirements for each of the programs and judging by them you don’t need to spend a ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

VIDEO EDITING

The table also shows all the system requirements for each of the programs and judging by them you don’t need to spend a fortune on a computer to run the programs although you might need room for expansion which might cost that little bit extra. On the end column of the table are some advantages and disadvantages to all the programs which basically explains what each of the programs feature or don’t feature and why.

Although they are all very good programs I would have to recommend the following two

Adobe Premier Pro CS3

Sony Vegas

As they are both very god programs and have many good things going for them in comparison I have noticed that they are both very easy to understand, both compatible with Windows Vista Ultimate and Premium. Both of the packages give you the chance to learn and do things for yourself where as other programs do everything for you and you don’t really have a great deal of control over them and don’t really get the chance to have your say.

The one thing that all of the packages have in common are that they are all very easy to use and most of them are very quick, they will be quicker depending on the computer. All of the programs have their own system requirements however if your computer specs are higher than the requirements of the program than it’s bound to be faster, more efficient and less tedious.

When using these programs there are certain things that you must remember for example each of them will require a lot of patients. This could be seen as a disadvantage or a bad thing however some times taking a lot of time can result in a great finished product and this will ensure that you get as much as you can out of the packages you use.

Another thing to remember is making sure that when your creating a video to be burnt on to disc you must remember what format it has to be and how much memory your disc has for example most average single layered RW-DVDs are 4.7 GB so there wouldn’t be much point in making a great DVD with as much special affects as possible to find out it wont fit on the disc you have.

You also have to remember what the playback device is going to be because certain DVD players wont play home made DVDs because they don’t support the format you used.

WEB DESIGN

The next table to be inserted on the following page will include a list of four specific Web design package that can be installed on your computer and will create a fully working website and will even publish them to the internet providing you have a suitable web hosting company that will provide you with web space.

These Web Design programs all very good but there are to that stand out and from what I’ve seen have fantastic capabilities that will leave you with a very satisfactory product at the end. Neither of these programs is hard to use and they both give you a lot of help and guidance with your work. They are also both very different from each other for the following reasons: one of them is designed to help you build a company website which has said to be the best package to create a successful business if you’re running an online company which so many more people are doing now its like the way of the future, however you can design other websites which don’t necessarily have to be company websites. The other one of the two is less specific in what you can create and gives you a very wide range of templates to choose from to help you build although can create one from scratch if it’s easier for you.

Both of these packages seem to be built to make it easier for you and these fantastic packages are:

Adobe Dreamweaver CS3

Xsite Pro

The only thing I would say lets it down for Adobe Dreamweaver is its price at the minimum of £399 which is hardly a match for Xsite pro at a fantastic price of £197 and you get virtually the same thing.

Xsite Pro also has fewer requirements than Adobe Dreamweaver which is a great advantage because like I said previously if you have a big system than your program is guaranteed to run a hell of a lot faster.

The things that put me off about the other to is that one of them doesn’t allow you to insert your own documents which can be annoying if you have prepared something in another program to save time and just want to insert it into you website.

From what I have observed both “Magix Website Maker” and “First Page V3 Final” are very basic and have some issues, although small can become very annoying when you put the program into action.

Although I don’t like Magix Website Maker I must admit that it has one good thing going for it and that is that it is free to use online with no installation needed which can save valuable space on your computer and you wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally deleting your work neither would you have to worry about losing it if your system crashes or goes down.

Much like “Magix Website Maker” First page is free however unlike Magix Website Maker you do have to download and install the program to your computer which does also have its advantages in the sense that if your internet goes down you can carry on doing your work without having to worry about losing it.

So overall I would definitely have either Xsite Pro or even Adobe Dreamweaver for the pure reason that this is for a company website and it needs to be as professional and presentable as possible. The other two are more for amateurs and learners who need to work on the web design skills and not suitable for big companies.

COMPUTER SYSTEMS

In the following table is two computer systems that I have made up using Dell computer customise service which allows you to pick a tower and customize it from hardware to software. What ever you choose to put into it will increase or even decrease the products price.

The two computers are both capable of running all the programs required however the bottom computer system is using all the minimum system requirements which could cause the computer to be slow and tedious. The top computer meets the requirements and then exceeds them this will make the computer a very fast system but comes at a considerably higher price at £8,395 however having said that you pay for the quality and quantity of this computer whereas the other computer system is a mere £3,672 but you do get enough for the money you pay.

If I had the money I would definitely go with the Dell Precision T7400 as I think it will be quick and fun to use and make work so much more pleasurable to do instead of having to wait a long time for everything to load up.

There are significant differences in the two computer systems in the table below, the Dell Precision T7400 has an Intel Xeon processor Quad Core which will make your computer extremely fast and will be a hell of a lot quicker responding to commands. Unlike the Dell Precision WorkStation T3400 only has a Intel Core 2 Duo processor which isn’t as fast as the Quad Core but can be just as efficient when executing programs. There are several good reasons for why they’re both good but the Dell Precision T7400 is more high spec and that’s what makes it stand out in quality and quantity.

The hard drives are tremendously different in size the Dell Precision T7400 has a 750GB hard drive where as the Dell Precision WorkStation T3400 has a 1TB Hard Drive with a 16MB DataBurst Cache. Obviously the hard drive in the Dell Precision WorkStation T3400 is exceptionally better as it has more memory which is more efficient for storing all the software needed for video editing, web design and the operating system. Having more hard drive space also helps the speed and efficiency of the computer system.

The RAM on both systems are at opposite extremes the Dell Precision T7400 has 16GB which will speed up opening files and accessing documents and folders whereas the Dell Precision WorkStation T3400 has only 2GB of RAM although this isn’t as big as the Dell Precision T7400 but it does meet all the software system requirements.

The Graphics card on the Dell Precision T7400 has 1.5GB PCI which is basically the expansion on the graphics card the higher the PCI the better graphics so this graphics card is better than the one in the Dell Precision WorkStation T3400 which is DUAL PCI but hasn’t got the extra 1.5GB expansion.

The optical drives in each of them are DVD-RW and are considerably fast however the optical drive in the Dell Precision WorkStation T3400 runs with the following programs Cyberlink, PowerDVD and Roxio Creator which may come standard with the drive however the optical drive in the Dell Precision T7400 may run with the previous programs but don’t come as standard.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion I have found there are many things I like about the systems, software and hardware; I recommend that you would try Windows Vista Ultimate as your operating system for the following reasons:

GUI (graphics user interface) is totally new for this operating system which means that its an all new layout and has many more effects and settings, a higher degree of security when surfing the internet and with a high spec computer system like the Dell Precision T7400 in the table above this operating system will run really fast.

The second recommendation I would have for you is Adobe Premier Pro CS3 as your video editing software as it has the following features and qualities:

You can create some of the most high tech and up to date DVDs including blu-rays and HD videos. Adobe Premier Pro has a very wide selection of editing tools of which you can create many special effects. Once again depending on the computer system depends on the performance of the program.

As for the Web design programs I recommend Xsite Pro for the following reasons:

Xsite Pro was designed for small companies to make business websites and has been proven to be very effective and profitable it’s also space efficient, its system requirements are minimal and is capable of running to an efficient speed on most up to date computer systems so can be run on both of the computer systems in the table on the previous page.

Both of the computer systems in the table are both up to date and are capable of running all these programs the bottom system has matched all the minimum system requirements for all the programs and slightly exceeded them for performance however the top system is of high spec and exceeds all the minimum requirements by a huge margin and will be capable of running the programs with ease and quality.

I would like to think this report has met the specifications of its purpose and you will find it easy to read, useful and informative.