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Purpose
Metal.Com.Ru Information System is aimed at providing fast and free exchange of buy-and-sell metal production offers published by market participants.
Transactions with business offers are being carried out with help of Trade Terminals. Terminal is a program that can be installed on any personal computer. Terminal Interface may be viewed here (the picture will appear in a new window).
If you have already acquainted with Metal.Com.Ru Trade System and principles of its operation are familiar to you, get straight to installation. Below you will find the detailed description of Metal.Com.Ru Trade System.
General questions
Introduction
Metal.Com.Ru TS is a globally-spread Trade System aimed at:
 | providing fast and free exchange of up-to-date commercial information; |
| creating a transparent market of standard and unified subjects of sale; |
| optimizing industrial activity of the companies-participants. |
An access to Metal.Com.Ru TS is provided by Terminal, that may be installed on any computer at any place (or several places) the customer finds appropriate (provided that a telephone line is available). To send or receive the data, Terminal gets in touch with one of specially organized Servers. Connection is established via easily accessible and inexpensive Internet channels.
The Terminal is an ordinary computer with Windows platform. The computer should have an access to Internet and be provided with special software which makes it possible to get connection with TS and make further necessary operations with it. Establishing connection to Internet is inexpensive and easily performed operation.
The data put into the Terminal during the on-line session with Server is spread among all Terminals and becomes public immediately after completion of the session. During the on-line session Customer also gets information that came from other Terminals. Customer can easily enter (change or delete) the data in TS directly from his/her Terminal at any appropriate time.
Principle of operation
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Metal.Com.Ru TS
Functional scheme
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All technological features of Metal.Com.Ru TS are not accessible for Customer and protected from incorrect (or purposely unfair) actions. Operating the Terminal (excepting necessary actions, like: placing, changing, looking through, analyzing and searching for requests) does not require from Customer specific technical skills - it is just necessary to press one button to establish connection with Server (when connecting automatically, the mentioned little step is excessive).
TS may be looked upon as one global database accessible via Terminals. And which is most important - each Terminal keeps a copy of this global database being renewed during each on-line session with Server. It co-ordinates interactions between Terminal and System making this process economical, safe and fast.
Specifications
TS is designed in terms of a client-server architecture. Terminals prove to be Clients located at any appropriate for System Customer place; special TS Servers are Servers which are reasonably located to achieve most effective and fastest interacting with all Terminals. Internet channels are used for connection between Servers and Terminals which makes the communication process safe and inexpensive.
Several Servers are at simultaneous work (System support up to 128 Servers), any Terminal connecting with any TS Server to get full information or place requests into the System. Thus, TS functional structure obtains the following most important features:
| High scalability: to increase productivity of System it is sufficient just to add more Servers. |
| High productivity: all TS Servers work with Terminals independently and at the same time. |
| High capacity: communication channel are used just to send/receive information about changes in the database. |
| High reliability: Trade System is capable of functioning till at least one TS Server works properly. |
Some Servers are located on high-speed Internet channels, thus, forming a sort of a "skeleton" of Metal.Com.Ru TS which makes the System work smoothly; the other Servers are located on low-speed channels to make the connection with Terminals placed on these channel sections safe and to ease data streams (net traffic) on overloaded high-speed channels. Each TS Server has the right to register requests from Terminals even under temporally disconnection (for instance, in case of technical problems with the channel); and after the connection is restored, all requests are immediately sent to the other Servers.
TS Terminal allows to look through, change, delete and put requests into TS common database, as well as carry out necessary service operations, such as: processing, searching and analyzing certain data.
TS Terminal also makes it possible to conduct negotiations and use e-mail for the purpose of effective Internet transacting. Therefore, Customer may save on long distance phone calls.
Exclusive User's Interface is a special pride of System Developers who made their best to create most friendly, comfortable, rich in information work environment.
Each Terminal keeps a copy of the common database that gets renewed after every on-line session with TS Server. Thus, Terminal works with the local database that is more advantageous in comparison with keeping data on a remote server:
| The speed of access and processing the local database is much higher than that of addressing a remote database; this also saves on time instantly processing the data. |
| Since only amendments to data are transferred via the net, no high capacity demands are incurred (an ordinary modem is quite sufficient) to support a database of any volume. |
| There is no need of constant on-line connection; which, first, makes work with the System independent of whether the connection channel is available or not (temporary disconnection automatically incurs blocking Terminal work); second, Terminal can be installed on a portable computer and used wherever Customer likes. Customer will only need to establish Internet connection from time to time to upload new data; and, third, the System is economical meaning reasonable payment for Internet services and usage of telephone lines. |
TS Structure
Despite apparent simplicity of operating Terminal, one should keep in mind that TS is rather a complicated structural formation which includes TS Servers (up to 128 units), TS Operators (up to 256 ones), TS Administrator and TS Supervisor interacting in strict accordance with certain rules; as well as several auxiliary servers. The Terminal proves to be the final part of TS. Therefore, TS functioning is supported by many independent structural units, each of them performing specific operations.
TS Administration is carried out by several participants according to their authority and duties. For example, TS Operator (up to 256 of them in the System) is only eligible of registering newly connected Terminals and modifying those already existing.
Why it is important to install Terminal?
Widely-spread circulations about great expenditure and long-term payback allegedly incurred by modern technologies can be mostly explained by previous irrational and insufficient attempts to automate business processes, where correct directing information streams is of paramount importance. On the contrary, thoroughly elaborated approach to automation problems is by all means profitable and prospective.
Metal.Com.Ru TS serves as a real example of how effective modern technologies can be - when correctly applied by bright professionals.
Advantages of using Terminal
| Money saving: high technologies and full automation incur low exploitation expenditure; |
| High efficiency: the information you want to publish immediately spreads among System's participants, and this accelerates business transactions; |
| Unique opportunity to monitor the market activities and respond 'on-the-fly'. |
| Economical use of telephone lines: the speed of data transmission during the on-line session with Server is some hundreds requests a minute, the rest of the time the line is not busy; |
| Saving on long distance phone calls; |
| Saving on advertizing: placing ads in TS can be considered as reasonable alternative to the usual way of advertising, especially when efficiency and precise addressing are concerned. |
| Comfortable work environment: special attention is paid to user-friendly interface design; |
| Time saving: the Terminal acquires a special function searching for some determined offer; |
| Real opportunity to attract new clients and conquer new business markets - all these with minimum investments. |
To be brief - Metal.Com.Ru Trade System is a powerful tool to mobile your business workforces.
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