[Require Analysis Document]
[ Group 5 ]
[This document will describes the system in terms of functional and nonfunctional requirements and serves as a
contractual basis between the client and the IT managers for North Miami Beach senior high school .]
Seijiro Ikeda
Johann Padron
Steven King
Krysta Riefkohl
Asher Shllachtman
[Florida Internation University - IT Automation - COP4993]
Introduction
Information Technology, IT, is vital for the functionality of North Miami Beach Senior High School.
Administration, teaching, grades and security are all dependent on IT. With over 150 computers in the
school, a broad network connecting these computers and servers that provide vital software services, the
operation of the IT system as a whole affects all aspects of the school's functionality. Unfortunately,
network outages, frequent crashes, security breaches, data loss and frequent interruption of vital services
(such as access to the grading software) have lead to overall down time that seems unacceptable to most
teachers and administrators on the system. A new system involving a system-wide software and
hardware overhaul offers a solution to the problems of the current system. This overhaul will provide new
functionality that will not only solve the current problems, but prevent other problems before they arise.
Current System
The current system, as stated earlier, is made up of over 150 computers, including a computer in
each class room, three labs with 30 computers each, 10 computers in the media center and a computer
at each desk in the administrative office. Multiple servers provide access to various software as well as
providing e-mail and other network features. All of the computers are connected via a network, which also
provides the users with Internet access. There is a printing station in the main office, though a few
teachers have elected to provide themselves with printers as a convenience.
The key software used in the classrooms is the Pinnacle Suite [Excelsior Software] 1. This
software is used to provide grade book and attendance records, and is accessed through the network via
a web browser. The only other software provided to teachers is the Microsoft Office Suite. Many teachers
install software to aid in the teaching that is provided by the text book printers as supplemental material.
The teachers also create their own presentation material, and print tests and handouts in the main office.
The labs are used for computer science and graphic design courses. The computer science labs
have software development tools in addition to the Microsoft Office suite that is installed on every
computer in the school. The graphic design lab computers have an array of design software that reflects
the teaching material that is currently being used. The media center computers are available for research
purposes, and connect to an indexing tool that allows students to search the media center's catalog.
The office computers provide all administrators with access to student records, including to the
district database, and e-mail services that are used to communicate in the office, as well as with teachers.
The advisors create schedules for the students, as well as facilitate any changes, and this is all done
through the network. The secretaries manage paper communications, including mailings and payroll. The
clerks use the computers to provide information to parents or students and register absence excuses as
well as tardy students. This information is input directly into the grading software.
1
http://www.excelsiorsoftware.com/
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Thus, the system has been plagued by a multitude of problems, including the following:
1. Network Outages- Malfunctioning hardware as a result of power failures, overheating, dust
accumulation, and insufficient electricity flow to networking devices. This includes workstations,
servers, switches, and routers.
2. Frequent System Failures- System failures include overheating of the internal devices.
Computers are left on all the time to receive patch management updates from our servers and on
weekends the AC is turned off for power conservation. Manufacture defects also causes for
system failures on the machines such as bad hard drives or bad memory.
3. Inconsistent System Performance- During examinations, research projects, and free time on the
computers, the students at north miami beach senior utilize the workstations resources heavily
and thus slowing down the speed of the internet and the network traffic. Also, viruses that are not
blocked by the current anti virus halt system stability and performance.
4. Slow Troubleshooting- The IT technician is overwhelmed by work orders. The communication
between those experiencing problems and the technician is not streamlined in any way, coming
from e-mails, phone calls and face to face requests. Every problem requires an on-site visit from
the technician, so he spends nearly as much time moving between computers as he spends
servicing them.
5. Occasional disk failure, leading to data loss- Over the past two years, there have been many hard
drive failures. Some were the result of receiving a bad batch of disks and others were caused by
heat issues. Teachers at the school have lost lesson plans, costing time to rewrite the material,
and administrators have lost irreplaceable information such as grade reports and student
transcripts. These incidents have proved costly and often embarrassing for the school.
6. Occasional server failure, crippling whole system- There have been some occasions that the
servers have gone down and prevented the teachers from inputting the grades into the Excelsior
grade book. Usually it takes the technician about a day to resolve the issue. This is the critical
feature used by the teachers, and not having access to the grade book prevents the teacher from
accessing grades, and forces them to take extra time to re-enter the hand recorded grades into
the software.
7. Roaming technicians may be needed at a vital time- As mentioned earlier, a technician spends up
to half of his time walking from incident to incident. There is no prioritization, and an emergency
may arise where he is needed, but is unavailable while dealing with a trivial issue while he is
urgently needed elsewhere.
8. Security Breaches- The students do not have policies on their profile, and as a result are able to
install inappropriate software that could retrieve passwords such as key loggers. Students have
gained access to the grading software and changed their grades and the grades of others. The
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teachers have to go back and enter the grades again, and double check all of their grades
wasting unnecessary time.
Proposed System Changes
Overview
The changes being proposed to the system will need to eliminate all of these problems and make
the overall experience a more fluid and pleasant one for all users on the system. The goal is to provide
the intended functionality of the current system without the problems that appear inherent to it.
This will include detailing a chart of the network, and finding ways to eliminate the recurring
problems there. In addition, restricting the access that users have to the computers they are using will
enable a more consistent experience, thus, file storage and user information will be kept on servers. A
detailed backup and recovery plan will be developed to make sure that there is never a time when a user
loses all of their files.
An efficient auditing plan will allow the hardware in place to always be accounted for, in addition
to making sure all necessary software is on each machine. A monitoring system will also need to be set
up, so that when a problem arises, the user of the computer does not have to be the first person to know
about it, and if part of the network goes down, IT will know what is down without having to do a survey of
each computer. This will also allow the IT administration to know when it may be necessary to upgrade
hardware and storage, before a computer is unusable, or there is no more storage space.
Centralized security will make sure that all machines have the appropriate protection, and will
allow for distribution of any necessary patches at an appropriate time to all computers that need to be
patched. In addition, software deployment should be controlled by IT to make sure that the functionality of
the system is preserved, and that potentially damaging software is not installed on any machines.
Software to manage and record all assistance calls will be needed. This suite should include a ticketing
system that will record and thread all incidents. In addition, remote control should be available to the IT
department to decrease the time spent on troubleshooting individual machines. A detailed plan of the
functionality provided to specific computers by specific agents will be designed. Finally, it will be
determined what new hardware will be needed to enable the changes and how the new system will affect
IT costs.
Functional Requirements:
1. Network Monitoring/Auditing: With the help of these features we can pin point where a problem
occurs within the school before the following school day. So that when the problem is
encountered, as a result of the network monitoring, we can refer to the audit reports to see which
devices are malfunctioning as a result of issues regarding dust and overheating. We can seek
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discrepancies from the audit reports we have on each device, so that power failures are resolved
immediately.
2. Auditing: We can use the auditing reports to see which computers are not connecting to the
server due to manufacture defects such as bad hard drives or bad memory. The reports also
show faulty cartridges on routers, faulty switch ports which are also due to manufacture defects.
3. Patch management/scripting: The workstations are updated periodically by the patch
management feature. That way our anti-virus software can be fully updated to prevent viruses
that affect the workstations. We can also create scripts to control the utilization of bandwidth.
Once the server detects a high usage of bandwidth to any particular workstation, the script will
cap off the speed so it won’t consume as many resources. The administrative staff will not be
issued a script that limits their capacity, only the students.
4. Ticketing & help desk: Utilizing a ticketing system will provide a better source of communication
between the teachers and the technicians by getting reports from them about problems in a direct
fashion. Due to the faster way to report the issues we can implement the ticketing technique with
help desk.
5. Backup and Recovery: Backups are essential in everyday task, they should be the first priority in
NMB senior high. Incidents like a fire, flood or any other disaster could occur with no warning.
Therefore, performing remote backup to NMB will decrease chances of loosing essential data by
having them stored in an safe external location.
6. Imaging - Using an imaging software, the technician can remotely administer an image of the
operating system once a week. This will provide a backup of all the programs that are available to
the students and staff if the operating system is lost.
7. Remote Control - By using remote control software, the technician can eliminate the time that is
spent walking from incident to incident, saving precious time. The technician can multitask
fluently, solving multiple issues from one remote location.
8. Centralized user management: Enforcing group policies on all the computers on the network will
prevent users from having illegal access under their profile. This will keep the unauthorized users
from accessing critical data and network resources from NMB high school. This way they will not
be able to have access to the grade book and the teacher’s files.
Non-Functional Requirements:

Usability: The experience should not appear different to the end user as much as possible,
the administration, teachers and students should need little to no training to use the system.

Reliability: The new system needs to be reliable; regular crashes, network outages, and
catastrophic data loss are never to be expected. The grade book software will be running at
all times for the teachers and the loss of connectivity to the internet will be little to none.
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
Performance: The students at NMB senior high will be able to use the resources of the
workstations with sufficient performance without any computer lockups.

Supportability: When problems do arise, such as the troubleshooting experience should be
efficient and not time consuming, on the students side or the administrative side.
Agent Groups
The school can be divided and subdivided to allow efficient management of IT. The divisions will
also be reflected in the actual implementation of the system. The lowest level of each group represents
individual agents.
·
Building 1
◦
Main Office
▪
▪
▪
◦
·
·
Principal Computer
·
Vice-Principal Computers
·
Advisor Computers
Secretaries and Clerks
·
Front Office Computers
·
Printing Station
IT Administration
·
Servers
·
Administrative Station
Classrooms
▪
◦
Upper Level Administration
Teacher's Computer
Design Lab
▪
Teacher Computer
▪
Student Computers
Buildings 2
◦
Classrooms
▪
◦
◦
◦
Teacher Computer
Media center
▪
Media specialist Computer
▪
Student Computers
Computer Science Lab 1
▪
Teacher's Computer
▪
Student Computers
Computer Science Lab 2
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·
▪
Teacher's Computer
▪
Student Computers
Buildings 3
◦
Classrooms
▪
◦
◦
◦
Teacher Computer
Media center
▪
Media specialist Computer
▪
Student Computers
Computer Science Lab 1
▪
Teacher's Computer
▪
Student Computers
Computer Science Lab 2
▪
Teacher's Computer
▪
Student Computers
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The following map shows the distribution of computers throughout the buildings.
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9
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Agent Roles:

File/Application Server- Provides file storage for the principal/assistant principal, main office
staff, the technician and teachers as well as access to remotely stored applications, including
the grading system. This does not include the students who do not have access to save
information directly to the file/application server. The students are required to have personal
thumb drives to allow them to save their files/projects. This method is used to prevent
viruses, illegal downloading, games, and inappropriate software. By implementing this
method, the file/application servers will not have an influx of unnecessary data allowing for
the server to perform better.

Network- As internet is becoming a part of our daily lives, NMB senior relies heavily on the
world wide web as one of the main resource tools for students to complete their assignments.
Internet access is being provided to everyone at NMB senior. The technicians on the other
hand have full access to all the computers in the network. This includes remote control,
monitoring, policies and patch management to name a few. This method is being
implemented to protect the integrity of the network.

Exchange Server- E-Mail is the main source of communication at NMB senior. This utility is
provided to the principal/assistant principal, main office staff, technician and teachers. This
service is vital to keep everyone at the school informed with the latest news and current
events. The students on the other hand do not have access to the Exchange server. Any
information that is vital to the students/parents will be reported via telephone.

Backup/Restore Server- The most important task at NMB senior is backup/disaster recovery.
This will allow the school to provide redundancy for all sensitive material in case of disaster
such as fire, black outs, floods, etc... in a remote and safe location. This utility is provided
only to the principal/assistant principal and the technician. As mentioned above, this is to
protect the integrity of the server. The teachers do not have access to this utility since the
only important task is the grade book (Excelsior) which is being backed up for them by the
technician. As for the students, they do not have sensitive enough data to be considered for
backup on the backup server.

Management Serve/Administration Stationr- From all the servers, the management server is
the most heavily used. Everyday, staff needs assistance from the technician. Whether it be,
computer has frozen, software needs to be installed or not working properly, printer needs to
be troubleshooted, grade book assistance, etc... As a result, the management server is the
backbone of problem solving. In order to accomplish this task efficiently and reliable, it must
have the most powerful specifications such as additional memory, the latest cpu, backup
power supply, dual network cards, etc... This service is provided only by the technician to
facilitate the NMB Senior staff.
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
Administrator Computers(in main office)- This includes the principal/assistant principal and
main office staff. These workstations provide essential tasks such as assistance to the
students via scheduling and advising. In addition, they are capable of most of the roles
mentioned. The main office staff is the only one with access to the financial software since
they are responsible for handling the school budget.

Front Desk Computers- This role provides service to visitors of NMB senior. This person is
responsible of making appointments for administrators, routing phone calls and regular daily
tasks in the main office such as making copies, faxing and replying to basic E-Mails from
parents/visitors.

Printing Station- In each individual classroom, including the main office, we have a computer
dedicated to the specific needs of the user. For example, the administration has access to
color print outs from high end printers, where as the students only have access to black and
white print outs. By implementing this method, NMB senior cuts down on heavy spending.
The staff are capable of unlimited print outs with the ability of configuring the printers. The
students on the other hand have a limitation and cannot modify the configuration of the
printer. This keeps an organized hierarchy for the technician to maintain the printer stations.

Teacher’s Computers- The teacher workstations though basic, are capable of meeting their
needs. They gain access to the network, grade book (Excelsior), file system storage,
exchange server and also remote control of their own student machines. This will allow them
to have reasonable access to accomplish their needs but yet limited to unnecessary roles.

Media Specialist Computer- These workstations are specifically configured to handle media
software that allows the students to check out books from the library. This software is very
sophisticated with a database that is always synchronizing providing the students with a real
time inventory of the books. The media center specialist also orders specific books requested
by teachers or main office. In addition, this workstation controls and monitors the print outs in
detail from the students in the media center.

Media Center Student Computers- These workstations are limited to specific educational and
research based websites. These workstations are configured with website filters that only
allows the users to surf the NMB senior website or related educational websites.

Student’s Computers- The majority of the computers at NMB senior are student workstations.
These workstations are equipped to allow the students to perform limited tasks such as word
processing, spreadsheet development, and power point presentations. These tasks are
accomplished by using centain applications like Microsoft Office, grade book viewer, Adobe
Flash, Java Reader, and Internet Explorer (IE). They have internet access but are filtered
from non educational/inappropriate websites. This will prevent viruses and keep a safe
educational environment.
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
Agent Role Functionality Map:
The following chart should make clear which of the earlier discussed functionalities are specific to
which agents. The backup schedule is explained on the next chart.
Agent
Role/Function
ality
File/Applicatio
n Server
User
Management
Backup &
Recovery
Auditing
Security Help Desk Monitorin Patch
g
Management
U
U
Network/Exch
ange Server
Backup/Resto
re Server
U
S
S
S
S
S
S
A/P
A
A
P
A
A/P
U
U
U
U
A
U
P
Front Office
U
U
U
U
A
U
P
Print Station
U
U
U
A
U
P
Teacher/ Lab
Teacher
Lab Student
U
U
U
A
U
P
U
U
A
U
P
Media
Specialist
Media Center
U
U
U
A
U
P
U
U
A
U
P
Management
Server
S
IT
Administration
Station
Administrator
A/P
U
U
U
U
S=Serves
A=Accesses Service
U=Utilizes Service
P=Provides Service
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The following schedule will keep all the systems protected. All agents that do not maintain local
storage will not be backed up, but instead, an image file will be maintained to speed restoration and limit
down time.
Agent Role/Backup Schedule Daily
Weekly
Monthly
File/Application Server
I
D
F
Network/Exchange Server
I
D
F
Backup/Restore Server
I
D
F
Management Server
I
D
F
I
D
F
IT Administration Station
Administrator
Front Office
Print Station
Teacher/ Lab Teacher
Lab Student
Media specialist
Media Center Student
I=Incremental
D=Differential
F=Full
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Glossary
(IT) Information Technology - the development, implementation, and maintenance of computer hardware and
software systems to organize and communicate information electronically.
Agent - a piece of software installed on all of the computers that allows the computer once installed to be remotely
administered.
Patch Management - acquiring, testing, and installing multiple patches to an administered computer system.
Software Deployment - the process of managing and automating the packaging, testing, distribution and installation
of software files and/or applications to systems across an enterprise network.
Servers - a computer or device on a network that manages network
resources.
Remote Desktop - allows a user to connect to a networked computer from a remote location.
Auditing - a systematic measurable technical assessment of a system or application.
(NMB) – North Miami Beach.
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