Question

(a) Propose the most suitable software architecture (Centralized, Peer-to-peer or Hybrid) and Hardware Architecture (2-Tier or 3-Tier) for the following system with justifications and reasoning (8 marks) An Airline Reservation System is installed in the multiple branches of the Airline around the country, where the agents can reserve the tickets. The agent systems can share the information with each other and also have a record of their local customers. The agent systems are connected with the headquarter system which is responsible for maintaining the record of all reservations. (b) Please write two key properties of an Effective User Interface. Please explain each in one line only. marks)

Answer 1

a). First of all the question is wrong as ( Centralised, Peer to Peer, Hybrid ) are forms of different setups of computer network which is related to the hardware placement ans accessibility of the computer devices in the network and Software Architecture is related to ( 2-tier or 3-tier), it is basically the backend process of how the client or the user accesses the services provided to them.

So, now coming to the Airline Reservation System- the type of network topology in hardware architecture that will best fit for the system will be the Hybrid Architecture of the systems in the network. This type of architecture comprises of both centralised ( which follows Client Server Model ) and peer-to-peer architecture. This type of network hadware architecture makes it easy for the agent systems to share information among themselves as peer to peer is supported and also maintains a connection of the agent systems with the central headquaters which is responsible for maintaining all the records. Hybrid architecture helps in maintaining ease of accessibility as different agents can share information among themselves and no inconsistency occurs during booking flight tickets as every record is stores into the centralized server present at the headquaters and its local copy is also maintained at the local system. Thus it also helps in easy searching and accessibility and also the records are maintained both at the central and individual agent levels so that there is no redundancy and inconsistency in the data.

Now coming to the software architecture- 3 - tier software architecture should be adopted and optimally followed.

Three tier architecture comprses of three layes that build up the architecture

1). Client Layer :- It is the layer used for taking input from the user. It is also knownn as the Presentation layer which is basically an UI build for the ease of the users for taking and processing their inputs.

2). Business Layer :- In this layer all business logic are written like validation of data, calculations and data insertion. This layer acts as an interface between the Data Access Layer and Client layer . This layer is also called the intermediate layer as it helps to make communication faster between client and data layer.

3). Data Layer :-This is the layer in which the actual data comes into the scene. It consists of the servers where the actual data is written and stored. It contains approriate methods and functions that are needed to access the actal database where data is stored. Methods like update,insert,delete are performed by this layer over our data stored in the database.

Central Shower Systems Hybrid Network Architecture

Presentation Layer Business Layer contains Data Access Layer userk contains Datab y contains Presentation Logic Business Logic Data Access Logic 3-| tier Architecture

   

b). Some of the key properties of a good User Interface are listed below :-

• Responsive-- This deals with a number of things. Your UI should be fast enough to give the user a satisfying experience while interacting with the UI. Slow and laggy interface means thing take up time to load and there is a lot of time wasted in buffering and loading which can be frustating for the users. Seeing things load up very quickly or taking the least amount of time adds upto a good overall experience of the UI. Responsive aslo means that the UI also provides some sort of feedback to the user.
• Consistent
• Attractive -- Attractive in a sense that it makes the experience of that user-interface enjoyable for the user who is interacting with it. The UI can be simple, easy to use, efficient and responsive, and it will do its job well – but if you can go an extra step further to make it look more attractive, then you will make the experience of using that interface truly satisfying. It solely depends on the maker how effectively they can make their UI presentable and user friiendly.
• Familiar
• Clear
• Concise
• Forgiving
• Efficient

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