Network Architecture and Hardware Environment

Figure 1 illustrates an architecture 100, in accordance with one embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, a plurality of remote networks 102 are provided including a first remote network 104 and a second remote network 106. A gateway112 may be coupled between the remote networks 102 and a proximate network 108. In the context of the present architecture 100, the networks 104, 106 may each take any form including, but not limited to a LAN, a WAN such as the internet, public switched telephone network (PSTN), internal telephone network, etc. 

In use, the gateway112 serves as an entrance point from the remote networks 102 to the proximate network 108. As such, the gateway112 may function as a router, which is capable of directing a given packet of data that arrives at the gateway112, and a switch, which furnishes the actual path in and out of the gateway112 for a given packet. 

Further included is at least one data server 114 coupled to the proximate network 108, and which is accessible from the remote networks 102 via the gateway112. It should be noted that the data server(s) 114 may include any type of computing device/groupware. Coupled to each data server 114 is a plurality of user device(s) 110. User device(s) 110 may also be connected directly through one of the networks 104, 106, 108. Such user device(s) 110 may include a desktop computer, lap-top computer, hand-held computer, printer or any other type of logic. It should be noted that a user device 110 may also be directly coupled to any of the networks, in one embodiment. 

A peripheral(s) 116 or series of peripheral(s) 116, e.g., facsimile machines, printers, networked and/or local storage units or systems, etc., may be coupled to one or more of the networks 104, 106, 108. It should be noted that databases and/or additional components may be utilized with, or integrated into, any type of network element coupled to the networks 104, 106, 108. In the context of the present description, a network element may refer to any component of a network. 

According to some approaches, methods and systems described herein may be implemented with and/or on virtual systems and/or systems which emulate one or more other systems, such as a UNIX system which emulates an IBM z/OS environment, a UNIX system which virtually hosts a MICROSOFT WINDOWS environment, a MICROSOFT WINDOWS system which emulates an IBM z/OS environment, etc. This virtualization and/or emulation may be enhanced through the use of VMWARE software, in some embodiments. 

In more approaches, one or more networks 104, 106, 108, may represent a cluster of systems commonly referred to as a “cloud.” In cloud computing, shared resources, such as processing power, peripherals, software, data, servers, etc., are provided to any system in the cloud in an on-demand relationship, thereby allowing access and distribution of services across many computing systems. Cloud computing typically involves an internet connection between the systems operating in the cloud, but other techniques of connecting the systems may also be used. 

 Figure 2 shows a representative hardware environment associated with a user device(s) 110 and/or server 114 of Figure 1, in accordance with one embodiment. Such figure illustrates a typical hardware configuration of a workstation having a central processing unit 202, such as a microprocessor, and a number of other units interconnected via a system bus 216. 

The workstation shown in Figure 2 includes a Random Access Memory (RAM) 206, read only memory (ROM) 210, an I/O adapter 204 for connecting peripheral devices such as disk storage units 212 to the bus 216, a user interface adapter 218 for connecting a keyboard 220, a mouse 226, a speaker 224, a microphone 222, and/or other user interface devices such as a touch screen and a digital camera (not shown) to the bus 216, communication adapter 208 for connecting the workstation to a communication network 214 (e.g., a data processing network) and a display adapter 228 for connecting the bus 216 to a display device 230. 

The workstation may have resident thereon an operating system such as the Microsoft Windows.RTM. operating system (OS), a MAC OS, a UNIX OS, etc. It will be appreciated that a preferred embodiment may also be implemented on platforms and operating systems other than those mentioned. A preferred embodiment may be written using XML, C, and/or C++ language, or other programming languages, along with an object oriented programming methodology. Object oriented programming (OOP), which has become increasingly used to develop complex applications, may be used.