The recommended architecture to be used for the payroll program is that of client/server architecture. With this architecture, there is one application which is installed in the main server of the company. One application will be installed in the server which is located at the main data center in the headquarters. This is where the main applications will be installed. The users who are located in the different branches will access the application through the network. This will mean that there is no need to install the applications in different computers. There will only be one application being installed. This architecture fits the application and this situation because it will be simple to maintain the system. This is also a recommended architecture because it will help save on the cost. There will be no need to have different applications that will be used in all the branches of the company. One application will be used to server all the branches. With this architecture, it will be simple to maintain the system (Garlan, Monroe, & Wile, 2010).
The architecture will ensure that there will be enhanced data sharing within the company. The data in the company will be retained by the normal business processes and accessed by the users through the company network. there will be similar data that will be shared across all the users in the network. with the availability of Structured Query Language (SQL) it will be easier to access a set of data that is stored in a data repository. This architecture serves the company well.
With this architecture, every client will be able to access corporate services through the desktop application. There will be availability of all the features that are integrated to the main payroll program that has been installed at the headquarters. Also with this architecture, there will be shared resources within the company network. with the different branches of the company, there is bound to be different hardware platforms. This architecture will enable the different users to access the application without the need to have similar architectures.
This architecture also has better security of data and resources. There are technologies that are integrated to the server that will enable secure access to the main application (Nasuto, Cassone, & Gotta, 2011).
Technologies
One of the technologies in this architecture is the database. This is a storage technology that will be used to store the data in the system. This is an important technology which makes the whole system to work. Another technology that will be required in this architecture is that of http request. This is required in the architecture because there will be the use of requests to eth server. The users will want to access the server in order to process business requests for the different users in the network. Since there will be the use of a web browser to access the main application in the network, there will be a need to have a service which will be used to access the main application in the system. This is why the http request should be made available.
There will be also the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology. The users are distributed in various geographical locations in the United States. This means that there will be the need to have a technology that will be used to undertake connections. It is important to understand that the company will make use of the wide area network to make the connections. This will require that the company makes use of the wide network to undertake the connections. The public network will be used to enable connections of the different users of the payroll system. The company will not lay out a new network for the different branches of the company. They will be used to undertake interconnection of the users in the network (Aronovich, Mushkin, & Sonin, 2013).
Figure 1: Payroll client/server architecture
One of the ethical issues that arises with this new architecture is that the network administrator that maintains the entire network has access to all the data processes from all the branches of the company. This is unethical because the users do not have private rights over their data. The network administrator will access the data in the database and also will have to check the logs in the application server. This renders the system without any form of privacy.
Another ethical issue with the new architecture is that information sharing will have to be allowed. There are branches which have enhanced networks and system resources. Their access will be standardized and will not have an advantage of the resources they are using. This is unethical because there is no favor for the users who have invested for better services and resources.
References
Aronovich, L., Mushkin, K., & Sonin, O. (2013). U.S. Patent Application 13/789,932.
Nasuto, A., Cassone, G., & Gotta, D. (2011). U.S. Patent No. 7,933,988. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Garlan, D., Monroe, R., & Wile, D. (2010, November). Acme: an architecture description interchange language. In CASCON First Decade High Impact Papers (pp. 159-173). IBM Corp..
