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MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIONMBA SEM – III

MI0033 – Software Engineering Assignment Set- 1

Q1. Quality and reliability are related concepts but are fundamentally different in a number of ways. Discuss them.

Answer:-

Quality Concepts It has been said that no two snowflakes are alike. Certainly when we watch snow falling it is hard to imagine that snowflakes differ at all, let alone that each flake possesses a unique structure. In order to observe differences between snowflakes, we must examine the specimens closely, perhaps using a magnifying glass. In fact, the closer we look the more differences we are able to observe. This phenomenon, variation between samples, applies to all products of human as well as natural creation. For example, if two “identical” circuit boards are examined closely enough, we may observe that the copper pathways on the boards differ slightly in geometry, placement, and thickness. In addition, the location and diameter of the holes drilled in the boards varies as well. All engineered and manufactured parts exhibit variation. The variation between samples may not be obvious without the aid of precise equipment to measure the geometry, electrical characteristics, or other attributes of the parts. However, with sufficiently sensitive instruments, we will likely come to the conclusion that no two samples of any item are exactly alike.

Quality Quality of design refers to the characteristics that designers specify for an item. The grade of materials, tolerances, and performance specifications all contribute to the quality of design. As higher-grade materials are used, tighter tolerances and greater levels of performance are specified, the design quality of a product increases, if the product is manufactured according to specifications.

Quality of conformance is the degree to which the design specifications are followed during manufacturing. Again, the greater the degree of conformance, the higher is the level of quality of conformance. In software development, quality of design encompasses requirements, specifications, and the design of the system. Quality of conformance is an issue focused primarily on implementation. If the implementation follows the design and the resulting system meets its requirements and performance goals, conformance quality is high.

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Software Reliability There is no doubt that the reliability of a computer program is an important element of its overall quality. If a program repeatedly and frequently fails to perform, it matters little whether other software quality factors are acceptable. Software reliability, unlike many other quality factors, can be measured directed and estimated using historical and developmental data. Software reliability is defined in statistical terms as "the probability of failure-free operation of a computer program in a specified environment for a specified time" [MUS87]. To illustrate, program X is estimated to have a reliability of 0.96 over eight elapsed processing hours. In other words, if program X were to be executed 100 times and require eight hours of elapsed processing time (execution time), it is likely to operate correctly (without failure) 96 times out of 100. Whenever software reliability is discussed, a pivotal question arises: What is meant by the term failure? In the context of any discussion of software quality and reliability, failure is nonconformance to software requirements. Yet, even within this definition, there are gradations. Failures can be only annoying or catastrophic. One failure can be corrected within seconds while another requires weeks or even months to correct. Complicating the issue even further, the correction of one failure may in fact result in the introduction of other errors that ultimately result in other failures.

(i) Measures of Reliability and Availability Early work in software reliability attempted to extrapolate the mathematics of hardware reliability theory (e.g., [ALV64]) to the prediction of software reliability. Most hardware-related reliability models are predicated on failure due to wear, rather than failure due to design defects. In hardware, failures due to physical wear (e.g., the effects of temperature, corrosion, shock) are more likely than a design-related failure. Unfortunately, the opposite is true for software. In fact, all software failures can be traced to design or implementation problems; wear (see Chapter 1) does not enter into the picture. There has been debate over the relationship between key concepts in hardware reliability and their applicability to software (e.g., [LIT89], [ROO90]). Although an irrefutable link has yet to be established, it is worthwhile to consider a few simple concepts that apply to both system elements. If we consider a computer-based system, a simple measure of reliability is meantime- between-failure (MTBF), where

MTBF = MTTF + MTTR The acronyms MTTF and MTTR are mean-time-to-failure and mean-time-to-repair, respectively.

(ii) Software Safety When software is used as part of the control system, complexity can increase by an order of magnitude or more. Subtle design faults induced by human error – something that can be uncovered and eliminated in hardware-based conventional control – become much more difficult to uncover when software is used. Software safety is a software quality assurance activity that focuses on the identification and assessment of potential hazards that may affect software negatively, and cause an entire system to fail. If hazards can be identified early in the software engineering process, software design features can be specified that will either eliminate or control potential hazards.

A modeling and analysis process is conducted as part of software safety. Initially, hazards are identified and categorized by criticality and risk. For example, some of the hazards associated with a computer-based cruise control for an automobile might be causes uncontrolled acceleration that cannot be stopped.

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Q2. Discuss the Objective & Principles Behind Software Testing.

Answer:-

What is Software Testing? Test is a formal activity. It involves a strategy and a systematic approach. The different stages

of tests supplement each other. Tests are always specified and recorded. Test is a planned activity. The workflow and the expected results are specified. Therefore the

duration of the activities can be estimated. The point in time where tests are executed is defined.

Test is the formal proof of software quality.

Overview of Test Methods Static testsThe software is not executed but analyzed offline. In this category would be code inspections (e.g. Fagan inspections), Lint checks, cross reference checks, etc. Dynamic testsThis requires the execution of the software or parts of the software (using stubs). It can be executed in the target system, an emulator or simulator. Within the dynamic tests the state of the art distinguishes between structural and functional tests. Structural testsThese are so called "white-box tests" because they are performed with the knowledge of the source code details. Input interfaces are stimulated with the aim to run through certain predefined branches or paths in the software. The software is stressed with critical values at the boundaries of the input values or even with illegal input values. The behavior of the output interface is recorded and compared with the expected (predefined) values. Functional testsThese are the so called "black-box" tests. The software is regarded as a unit with unknown content. Inputs are stimulated and the values at the output results are recorded and compared to the expected and specified values. Test by progressive Stages The various tests are able to find different kinds of errors. Therefore it is not enough to rely on one kind of test and completely neglect the other. E.g. white-box tests will be able to find coding errors. To detect the same coding error in the system test is very difficult. The system malfunction which may result from the coding error will not necessarily allow conclusions about the location of the coding error. Test therefore should be progressive and supplement each other in stages in order to find each kind of error with the appropriate method. Module testA module is the smallest compilable unit of source code. Often it is too small to allow functional tests (black-box tests). However it is the ideal candidate for white-box tests. These have to be first of all static tests (e.g. Lint and inspections) followed by dynamic tests to check boundaries, branches and paths. This will usually require the employment of stubs and special test tools. Component testThis is the black-box test of modules or groups of modules which represent certain functionality. There are no rules about what can be called a component. It is just what the tester defined to be a component, however it should make sense and be a testable unit. Components can be step by step integrated to bigger components and tested as such. Integration test

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The software is step by step completed and tested by tests covering a collaboration of modules or classes. The integration depends on the kind of system. E.g. the steps could be to run the operating system first and gradually add one component after the other and check if the black-box tests still run (the test cases of course will increase with every added component). The integration is still done in the laboratory. It may be done using simulators or emulators. Input signals may be stimulated. System testThis is a black-box test of the complete software in the target system. The environmental conditions have to be realistic (complete original hardware in the destination environment).

Which Test finds which Error? Possible error Can be best found by Example

Syntax errors Compiler, LintMissing semicolons, Values defined but not initialized or used, order of evaluation disregarded.

Data errorsSoftware inspection, module tests

Overflow of variables at calculation, usage of inappropriate data types, values not initialized, values loaded with wrong data or loaded at a wrong point in time, lifetime of pointers.

Algorithm and logical errors

Software inspection, module tests

Wrong program flow, use of wrong formulas and calculations.

Interface errorsSoftware inspection, module tests, component tests.

Overlapping ranges, range violation (min. and max. values not observed or limited), unexpected inputs, wrong sequence of input parameters.

Operating system errors, architecture and design errors

Design inspection, integration tests

Disturbances by OS interruptions or hardware interrupts, timing problems, lifetime and duration problems.

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Integration errorsIntegration tests, system tests

Resource problems (runtime, stack, registers, memory, etc.)

System errors System tests Wrong system behaviour, specification errors

Q3. Discuss the CMM 5 Levels for Software Process.

Answer:-

Levels of the CMM:

Level 1 - Initial

Processes are usually ad hoc and the organization usually does not provide a stable environment. Success in these organizations depends on the competence and heroics of the people in the organization and not on the use of proven processes. In spite of this ad hoc, chaotic environment, maturity level 1 organizations often produce products and services that work; however, they frequently exceed the budget and schedule of their projects. Organizations are characterized by a tendency to over commit, abandon processes in the time of crisis, and not be able to repeat their past successes again. Software project success depends on having quality people.

Level 2 - Repeatable

Software development successes are repeatable. The processes may not repeat for all the projects in the organization. The organization may use some basic project management to track cost and schedule. Process discipline helps ensure that existing practices are retained during times of stress. When these practices are in place, projects are performed and managed according to their documented plans. Project status and the delivery of services are visible to management at defined points (for example, at major milestones and at the completion of major tasks). Basic project management processes are established to track cost, schedule, and functionality. The minimum process discipline is in place to repeat earlier successes on projects with similar applications and scope. There is still a significant risk of exceeding cost and time estimate.

Level 3 - Defined

The organization’s set of standard processes, which is the basis for level 3, is established and improved over time. These standard processes are used to establish consistency across the organization. Projects establish their defined processes by the organization’s set of standard processes according to tailoring guidelines. The organization’s management establishes process objectives based on the organization’s set of standard processes and ensures that these objectives are appropriately addressed. A critical distinction between level 2 and level 3 is the scope of standards, process descriptions, and procedures. At level 2, the standards, process descriptions, and procedures may be quite different in each specific instance of the process (for example, on a particular project). At level 3, the standards, process descriptions, and procedures for a project are tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes to suit a particular project or

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organizational unit.

Level 4 - Managed

Using precise measurements, management can effectively control the software development effort. In particular, management can identify ways to adjust and adapt the process to particular projects without measurable losses of quality or deviations from specifications. At this level organization set a quantitative quality goal for both software process and software maintenance. Sub processes are selected that significantly contribute to overall process performance. These selected sub processes are controlled using statistical and other quantitative techniques. A critical distinction between maturity level 3 and maturity level 4 is the predictability of process performance. At maturity level 4, the performance of processes is controlled using statistical and other quantitative techniques, and is quantitatively predictable. At maturity level 3, processes are only qualitatively predictable.

Level 5 - Optimizing

Focusing on continually improving process performance through both incremental and innovative technological improvements. Quantitative process-improvement objectives for the organization are established, continually revised to reflect changing business objectives, and used as criteria in managing process improvement. The effects of deployed process improvements are measured and evaluated against the quantitative process-improvement objectives. Both the defined processes and the organization’s set of standard processes are targets of measurable improvement activities. Process improvements to address common causes of process variation and measurably improve the organization’s processes are identified, evaluated, and deployed. Optimizing processes that are nimble, adaptable and innovative depends on the participation of an empowered workforce aligned with the business values and objectives of the organization. The organization’s ability to rapidly respond to changes and opportunities is enhanced by finding ways to accelerate and share learning. A critical distinction between maturity level 4 and maturity level 5 is the type of process variation addressed. At maturity level 4, processes are concerned with addressing special causes of process variation and providing statistical predictability of the results. Though processes may produce predictable results, the results may be insufficient to achieve the established objectives. At maturity level 5, processes are concerned with addressing common causes of process variation and changing the process (that is, shifting the mean of the process performance) to improve process performance (while maintaining statistical probability) to achieve the established quantitative process-improvement objectives.

Q4. Discuss the Water Fall model for Software Development.

Answer:

Water fall model:

The simplest software development life cycle model is the waterfall model, which states that the phases are organized in a linear order. A project begins with feasibility analysis. On the successful demonstration of the

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feasibility analysis, the requirements analysis and project planning begins. The design starts after the requirements analysis is done. And coding begins after the design is done. Once the programming is completed, the code is integrated and testing is done. On successful completion of testing, the system is installed. After this the regular operation and maintenance of the system takes place. The following figure demonstrates the steps involved in waterfall life cycle model.

The Waterfall Software Life Cycle Model

With the waterfall model, the activities performed in a software development project are requirements analysis, project planning, system design, detailed design, coding and unit testing, system integration and testing. Linear ordering of activities has some important consequences. First, to clearly identify the end of a phase and beginning of the others. Some certification mechanism has to be employed at the end of each phase. This is usually done by some verification and validation. Validation means confirming the output of a phase is consistent with its input (which is the output of the previous phase) and that the output of the phase is consistent with overall requirements of the system.

The consequence of the need of certification is that each phase must have some defined output that can be evaluated and certified. Therefore, when the activities of a phase are completed, there should be an output product of that phase and the goal of a phase is to produce this product. The outputs of the earlier phases are often called intermediate products or design document. For the coding phase, the output is the code. From this point of view, the output of a software project is to justify the final program along with the use of documentation with the requirements document, design document, project plan, test plan and test results.

Another implication of the linear ordering of phases is that after each phase is completed and its outputs are certified, these outputs become the inputs to the next phase and should not be changed or modified. However, changing requirements cannot be avoided and must be faced. Since changes performed in the output of one phase affect the later phases that might have been performed. These changes have to make in a controlled manner after evaluating the effect of each change on the project. This brings us to the need for configuration control or configuration management.

The certified output of a phase that is released for the best phase is called baseline. The configuration management ensures that any changes to a baseline are made after careful review, keeping in mind the interests of all parties that are affected by it. There are two basic assumptions for justifying the linear ordering of phase in the manner proposed by the waterfall model. For a successful project resulting in a successful product, all phases listed in the waterfall model must be performed anyway. Any different ordering of the phases will result in a less successful software product.

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Q5. Explain the Advantages of Prototype Model, & Spiral Model in Contrast to Water Fall model.

Answer:-

The Prototyping Model

Often, a customer defines a set of general objectives for software but does not identify detailed input, processing, or output requirements. In other cases, the developer may be unsure of the efficiency of an algorithm, the adaptability of an operating system, or the form that human/machine interaction should take. In these, and many other situations, a prototyping paradigm may offer the best approach. The prototyping paradigm begins with requirements gathering. Developer and customer meet and define the overall objectives for the software, identify whatever requirements are known, and outline areas where further definition is mandatory. A "quick design" then occurs. The quick design focuses on a representation of those aspects of the software that will be visible to the customer/user (e.g., input approaches and output formats). The quick design leads to the construction of a prototype. The prototype is evaluated by the customer/user and used to refine requirements for the software to be developed. Iteration occurs as the prototype is tuned to satisfy the needs of the customer, while at the same time enabling the developer to better understand what needs to be done. The prototype can serve as "the first system." The one that Brooks recommends we throw away. But this may be an idealized view. It is true that both customers and developers like the prototyping paradigm. Users get a feel for the actual system, and developers get to build something immediately. Yet, prototyping can also be problematic for the following reasons:

1. The customer sees what appears to be a working version of the software, unaware that the prototype is held together “with chewing gum and baling wire,” unaware that, in the rush to get it working, no one has considered overall software quality or long-term maintainability. When informed that the product must be rebuilt so that high levels of quality can be maintained, the customer cries foul and demands that "a few fixes" be applied to make the prototype a working product. Too often, software development management relents.

2. The developer often makes implementation compromises in order to get a prototype working quickly. An inappropriate operating system or programming language may be used simply because it is available and known; an inefficient algorithm may be implemented simply to demonstrate capability. After a time, the developer may become familiar with these choices and forget all the reasons why they were inappropriate. The less-than-ideal choice has now become an integral part of the system.

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The Spiral Model

The spiral model, originally proposed by Boehm [BOE88], is an evolutionary software process model that couples the iterative nature of prototyping with the controlled and systematic aspects of the linear sequential model. It provides the potential for rapid development of incremental versions of the software. Using the spiral model, software is developed in a series of incremental releases. During early iterations, the incremental release might be a paper model or prototype. During later iterations, increasingly more complete versions of the engineered system are produced. A spiral model is divided into a number of framework activities, also called task regions. Typically, there are between three and six task regions. A spiral model contains six task regions:

Customer Communication – tasks required to establish effective communication between developer and customer.

Planning – tasks required to define resources, timelines, and other project-related information.

Risk Analysis – tasks required to assess both technical and management risks.

Engineering – tasks required to build one or more representations of the application.

Construction and Release – tasks required to construct, test, install, and provide user support (e.g., documentation and training).

Customer Evaluation – tasks required to obtain customer feedback based on evaluation of the software representations created during the engineering stage and implemented during the installation stage.

Each of the regions is populated by a set of work tasks, called a task set, that are adapted to the characteristics of the project to be undertaken. For small projects, the number of work tasks and their formality is low. For larger, more critical projects, each task region contains more work tasks that are defined to achieve a higher level of formality. In all cases, the umbrella activities (e.g., software configuration management and software quality assurance) noted in Section 2.2 are applied. As this evolutionary process begins, the software engineering team moves around the spiral in a clockwise direction, beginning at the center. The first circuit around the spiral might result in the development of a product specification; subsequent passes around the spiral might be used to develop a prototype, and then progressively more sophisticated versions of the software.

Each pass through the planning region results in adjustments to the project plan. Cost and schedule are adjusted based on feedback derived from customer evaluation. In addition, the project manager adjusts the planned number of iterations required to complete the software. Unlike classical process models that end when software is delivered, the spiral model can be adapted to apply throughout the life of the computer software. An alternative view of the spiral model can be considered by examining the project entry point axis, the starting point for different types of projects. A “concept development project” starts at the core of the spiral and will continue (multiple iterations occur along the spiral path that bounds the central shaded region) until concept development is complete. If the concept is to be developed into an actual product, the process proceeds through the next cube (new product development project entry point) and a “new development project” is initiated. The new product will evolve through a number of iterations around the spiral, following the path that bounds the region that has somewhat lighter shading than the core. In essence, the spiral, when characterized in this way, remains operative until the software is retired. There are times when the process is dormant, but whenever a change is initiated, the process starts at the appropriate entry point (e.g., product enhancement).

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The spiral model is a realistic approach to the development of large-scale systems and software. Because software evolves as the process progresses, the developer and customer had better understand and react to risks at each evolutionary level. The spiral model uses prototyping as a risk reduction mechanism but, more importantly, enables the developer to apply the prototyping approach at any stage in the evolution of the product. It maintains the systematic stepwise approach suggested by the classic life cycle, but incorporates it into an iterative framework that more realistically reflects the real world. The spiral model demands a direct consideration of technical risks at all stages of the project and, if properly applied, should reduce risks before they become problematic. But like other paradigms, the spiral model is not a panacea. It may be difficult to convince customers (particularly in contract situations) that the evolutionary approach is controllable. It demands considerable risk assessment expertise and relies on this expertise for success. If a major risk is not uncovered and managed, problems will undoubtedly occur.

Q6. Explain the COCOMO Model & Software Estimation Technique.

Answer:-

COCOMO Model:

COCOMO stands for constructive cost model. It is used for software cost estimation and uses regression formula with parameters based on historic data. COCOMO has a hierarchy of 3 accurate and detail forms, namely: Basic, Intermediate and Detailed. The Basic level is good for a quick and early overall cost estimate for the project but is not accurate enough. The intermediate level considers some of the other project factors that influence the project cost and the detailed level accounts for various project phases that affect the cost of the project.

Advantages of COCOMO estimating model are:

COCOMO is factual and easy to interpret. One can clearly understand how it works. Accounts for various factors that affect cost of the project. Works on historical data and hence is more predictable and accurate.

Disadvantages of COCOMO estimating model

COCOMO model ignores requirements and all documentation. It ignores customer skills, cooperation, knowledge and other parameters. It oversimplifies the impact of safety/security aspects. It ignores hardware issues. It ignores personnel turnover levels. It is dependent on the amount of time spent in each phase.

Software Estimation Technique:

Accurately estimating software size, cost, effort, and schedule is probably the biggest challenge facing Software developers today.

Estimating Software Size

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An accurate estimate of software size is an essential element in the calculation of estimated project costs and schedules. The fact that these estimates are required very early on in the project (often while a contract bid is being prepared) makes size estimation a formidable task. Initial size estimates are typically based on the known system requirements. You must hunt for every known detail of the proposed system, and use these details to develop and validate the software size estimates. In general, you present size estimates as lines of code (KSLOC or SLOC) or as function points. There are constants that you can apply to convert function points to lines of code for specific languages, but not vice versa. If possible, choose and adhere to one unit of measurement, since conversion simply introduces a new margin of error into the final estimate. Regardless of the unit chosen, you should store the estimates in the metrics database. You will use these estimates to determine progress and to estimate future projects. As the project progresses, revise them so that cost and schedule estimates remain accurate. The following section describes techniques for estimating software size.

Estimating Software Cost

The cost of medium and large software projects is determined by the cost of developing the software, plus the cost of equipment and supplies. The latter is generally a constant for most projects. The cost of developing the software is simply the estimated effort, multiplied by presumably fixed labor costs. For this reason, we will concentrate on estimating the development effort, and leave the task of converting the effort to dollars to each company.

Estimating Effort

There are two basic models for estimating software development effort (or cost): holistic and activity-based. The single biggest cost driver in either model is the estimated project size. Holistic models are useful for organizations that are new to software development, or that do not have baseline data available from previous projects to determine labor rates for the various development activities. Estimates produced with activity-based models are more likely to be accurate, as they are based on the software development rates common to each organization. Unfortunately, you require related data from previous projects to apply these techniques.

Estimating Software Schedule

There are many tools on the market (such as Timeline, MacProject, On Target, etc.) which help develop Gantt and PERT charts to schedule and track projects. These programs are most effective when you break the project down into a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and assign estimates of effort and staff to each task in the WBS.

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Master of Business Administration – IS Semester 3 MI0034 – Database Management System

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Assignment Set- 1

Q1. Differentiate between Traditional File System & Modern Database System? Describe the properties of Database & the Advantage of Database?

Answer:  

Traditional File Systems Vs Modern Database Management Systems

Traditional File System Modern Database Management Systems

Traditional File system is the system that was followed before the advent of DBMS i.e., it is the older way.

This is the Modern way which has replaced the older concept of File system.

In Traditional file processing, data definition is part of the application program and works with only specific application.

Data definition is part of the DBMSApplication is independent and can be used with any application.

File systems are Design Driven; they require design/coding change when new kind of data occurs.E.g.: In a traditional employee the master file has Emp_name, Emp_id, Emp_addr, Emp_design, Emp_dept, Emp_sal, if we want to insert one more column Emp_Mob number then it requires a complete restructuring of the file or redesign of the application code, even though basically all the data except that in one column is the same.

One extra column (Attribute) can be added without any difficultyMinor coding changes in the Application program may be required.

Traditional File system keeps redundant [duplicate] information in many locations. This might result in the loss of Data Consistency.For e.g.: Employee names might exist in separate files like Payroll Master File and also in Employee Benefit Master File etc. Now if an employee changes his or her last name, the name might be changed in the pay roll master file but not be changed in Employee Benefit Master File etc. This might result in the loss of Data Consistency.

Redundancy is eliminated to the maximum extent in DBMS if properly defined.

In a File system data is scattered in various files, and each of these files may be in different formats, making it difficult to write new application programs to retrieve the appropriate data.

This problem is completely solved here.

Security features are to be coded in the Coding for security requirements is not

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Application Program itself. required as most of them have been taken care by the DBMS.

Hence, a data base management system is the software that manages a database, and is responsible for its storage, security, integrity, concurrency, recovery and access.The DBMS has a data dictionary, referred to as system catalog, which stores data about everything it holds, such as names, structure, locations and types. This data is also referred to as Meta data.

Important properties of Database:

1. A database is a logical collection of data having some implicit meaning. If the data are not related then it is not called as proper database. 

2. A database consists of both data as well as the description of the database structure and constraints.

3. A database can have any size and of various complexity. If we consider the above example of employee database the name and address of the employee may consists of very few records each with simple structure.

4. The DBMS is considered as general-purpose software system that facilitates the process of defining, constructing and manipulating databases for various applications.

5. A database provides insulation between programs, data and data abstraction. Data abstraction is a feature that provides the integration of the data source of interest and helps to leverage the physical data however the structure is.

6. The data in the database is used by variety of users for variety of purposes. For E.g. when you consider a hospital database management system the view of usage of patient database is different from the same used by the doctor. In this case the data are stored separately for the different users. In fact it is stored in a single database. This property is nothing but multiple views of the database.

7. Multiple user DBMS must allow the data to be shared by multiple users simultaneously. For this purpose the DBMS includes concurrency control software to ensure that the updation done to the database by variety of users at single time must get updated correctly. This property explains the multiuser transaction processing.

Advantages of using DBMS

Redundancy is reduced. Data located on a server can be shared by clients. Integrity (accuracy) can be maintained. Security features protect the Data from unauthorized access. Modern DBMS support internet based application. In DBMS the application program and structure of data are independent. Consistency of Data is maintained. DBMS supports multiple views.

Q2. What is the disadvantage of sequential file organization? How do you overcome it? What are the advantages & disadvantages of Dynamic Hashing?

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Answer:

There are several standard techniques for allocating the blocks of a file on disk. In contiguous (sequential) allocation the file blocks are allocated to consecutive disk blocks. This makes reading the whole file very fast, using double buffering, but it makes expanding the file difficult. In linked allocation each file block contains a pointer to the next file block. A combination of the two allocates clusters of consecutive disk blocks, and the clusters are linked together. Clusters are sometimes called segments or extents.

File Headers: A file header or file descriptor contains information about a file that is needed by the header and includes information to determine the disk addresses of the file blocks as well as to record format descriptions, which may include field lengths and order of fields within a record for fixed-length unspanned records and field type codes, separator characters. To search for a record on disk, one or more blocks are copied into main memory buffers. Programs then search for the desired record utilizing the information in the file header. If the address of the block that contains the desired record is not known, the search programs must do a linear search through the file blocks. Each file block is copied into a buffer and searched until either the record is located. This can be very time consuming for a large file.

Magnetic tapes are sequential access devices; To access the nth block on tape, we must first read the proceeding n 1 block. Data is stored on reels of high capacity magnetic tape, somewhat similar to audio or videotapes. Tape access can be slow, and tapes are not used to store on-line data. However, tapes serve a very important function that of backing up the database. One reason for backup is to keep copies of disk files in case the data is lost because of disk crash, which can happen if the disk read/write head touches the disk surface because of mechanical malfunction.

Dynamic Hashing TechniqueA major drawback of the static hashing is that address space is fixed. Hence it is difficult to expand or shrink the file dynamically. In dynamic hashing, the access structure is built on the binary representation of the hash value. In this, the number of buckets is not fixed [as in regular hashing] but grows or diminishes as needed. The file can start with a single bucket, once that bucket is full, and a new record is inserted, the bucket overflows and is slit into two buckets. The records are distributed among the two buckets based on the value of the first [leftmost] bit of their hash values. Records whose hash values start with a 0 bit are stored in one bucket, and those whose hash values start with a 1 bit are stored in another bucket. At this point, a binary tree structure called a directory is built. The directory has two types of nodes.

1. Internal nodes: Guide the search, each has a left pointer corresponding to a 0 bit, and a right pointer corresponding to a 1 bit.

2. Leaf nodes: It holds a pointer to a bucket a bucket address.

Each leaf node holds a bucket address. If a bucket overflows, for example: a new record is inserted into the bucket for records whose hash values start with 10 and causes overflow, then all records whose hash value starts with 100 are placed in the first split bucket, and the second bucket contains those whose hash value starts with 101. The levels of a binary tree can be expanded dynamically.

Advantages of dynamic hashing:

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1. The main advantage is that splitting causes minor reorganization, since only the records in one bucket are redistributed to the two new buckets.

2. The space overhead of the directory table is negligible.3. The main advantage of extendable hashing is that performance does not degrade as the file

grows. The main space saving of hashing is that no buckets need to be reserved for future growth; rather buckets can be allocated dynamically.

Disadvantages:

1. The index tables grow rapidly and too large to fit in main memory. When part of the index table is stored on secondary storage, it requires extra access.

2. The directory must be searched before accessing the bucket, resulting in two-block access instead of one in static hashing.

3. A disadvantage of extendable hashing is that it involves an additional level of indirection.

Q3. What is relationship type? Explain the difference among a relationship instance, relationship type & a relation set?

Answer:

Relationships: In the real world, items have relationships to one another. E.g.: A book is published by a particular publisher. The association or relationship that exists between the entities relates data items to each other in a meaningful way. A relationship is an association between entities.A collection of relationships of the same type is called a relationship set.A relationship type R is a set of associations between E, E2..En entity types mathematically, R is a set of relationship instances ri.E.g.: Consider a relationship type WORKS_FOR between two entity types - employee and department, which associates each employee with the department the employee works for. Each relationship instance in WORKS_FOR associates one employee entity and one department entity, where each relationship instance is ri which connects employee and department entities that participate in ri.Employee el, e3 and e6 work for department d1, e2 and e4 work for d2 and e5 and e7 work for d3. Relationship type R is a set of all relationship instances.

Some instances of the WORKS_FOR relationshipDegree of relationship type: The number of entity sets that participate in a relationship set.

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A unary relationship exists when an association is maintained with a single entity:

A binary relationship exists when two entities are associated:

A tertiary relationship exists when there are three entities associated:

Constraints on Relationship TypesRelationship types usually have certain constraints that limit the possible combination of entities that may participate in the relationship instance. E.g.: If the company has a rule that each employee must work for exactly one department. The two main types of constraints are cardinality ratio and participation constraints.The cardinality ratio specifies the number of entities to which another entity can be associated through a relationship set.

Mapping cardinalities should be one of the following.One-to-One: An entity in A is associated with at most one entity in B and vice versa.

Employee can manage only one department and that a department has only one manager.One-to-Many: An entity in A is associated with any number in B. An entity in B however can be associated with at most one entity in

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.Each department can be related to numerous employees but an employee can be related to only one department

Many-to-One: An entity in A is associated with at most one entity in B. An entity in B however can be associated with any number of entities in A. Many depositors deposit into a single account.

Many-to-Many: An entity in A is associated with any number of entities in B and an entity in B is associated with any number of entities in A.

An employee can work on several projects and several employees can work on a project.

Participation Roles: There are two ways an entity can participate in a relationship where there are two types of participations.1. Total: The participation of an entity set E in a relationship set R is said to be total if every entity in E participates in at lest one relationship in R. Every employee must work for a department. The participation of employee in WORK FOR is called total.

Some instances of the WORKS_FOR relationshipTotal participation is sometimes called existence dependency.

2. Partial: If only some entities in E participate in relationship in R, the participation of entity set E in relationship R is said to be partial.

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Some instances of the WORKS_FOR relationshipWe do not expect every employee to manage a department, so the participation of employee in MANAGES relationship type is partial.

Q4. What is SQL? Discuss.

Answer:

THE SQL STATEMENT CAN BE GROUPED INTO FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.

1. DDL(Data Definition Language)2. DML(Data Manipulation Language)3. DCL(Data Control Language)4. TCL(Transaction Control Language)

DDL: Data Definition LanguageThe DDL statement provides commands for defining relation schema i,e for creating tables, indexes, sequences etc. and commands for dropping, altering, renaming objects.

DML: (Data Manipulation Language)The DML statements are used to alter the database tables in someway. The UPDATE, INSERT and DELETE statements alter existing rows in a database tables, insert new records into a database table, or remove one or more records from the database table.

DCL: (Data Control Language)The Data Control Language Statements are used to Grant permission to the user and Revoke permission from the user, Lock certain Permission for the user.

SQL

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1 Data Retrieval Statement (SELECT)The select statement is used to extract information from one or more tables in the database. To demonstrate SELECT we must have some tables created within a specific user session. Let us assume Scott as the default user and create two tables Employee and Department using CREATE STATEMENTCREATE TABLE Department (Dno number (d) not nullDname varchar2 (10) not nullLoc varchar2 (15)Primary key (Dno));Create table employee (SSN number (4) not nullName varchar3=2(20) not nullBdate date,Salary number (10,2)MgrSS number (4)DNo number (2) not nullPrimary key (SSN)Foreign key [MgrSSN] reference employee (SSN)Foreign key (DNo) reference department (DNo))The syntax of SELECT STATEMENT is given below:Syntax:Select* | {[DISTINCT] column | expression \)From table(s);The basic select statement must include the following;A SELECT clauseA FROM clause

Selecting all columnsExample 1Select * From employeeThe * indicates that it should retrieve all the columns from employee table. The out put of this query shown below:

Out put

Dno SSN NAME BDATE SALARY MgrSSN

1 1111 Deepak 5-jan-62 20000 4444

3 2222 Yadav 27-feb-60 30000 4444

2 3333 Venkat 22-jan-65 18000 2222

3 4444 Prasad 2-feb-84 32000 Null

3 5555 Reena 4-aug-65 8000 4444

SELECTING SPECIFIC COLUMNS:We wish to retrieve only name and salary of the employees.Example-3SELECT name, salary FROM employee:OUT PUT

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NAME SALARY

Prasad 32000

Reena 8000

Deepak 22000

Venkat 30000

Yadav 18000

Using arithmetic operators:SELECT name, salary, salary * 12FROM employee;Output

NAME SALARY SALARY *12

Prasad 32000 384000

Reena 8000 96000

Deepak 22000 264000

Yadav 18000 360000

Venkat 30000 216000

USING ALIASES (Alternate name given to columns):SELECT \ (Name, Salary, Salary *12 "YRLY SALARY"FROM EmployeeOUT PUT

NAME SALARY SALARY *12

Prasad 32000 384000

Reena 8000 96000

Deepak 22000 264000

Yadav 18000 360000

Venkat 30000 216000

Eliminating duplicate rows:To eliminate duplicate rows simply use the keyword DISTINCT.SELECT DISTINCT MGRSSN FROM EmployeeOUTPUTMGRSSN22224444

DISPLAYING TABLE STRUCTURE:

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To display schema of table use the command DESCRIEBE or DESC.DESC Employee;OUTPUT

NAME NULL? TYPE

Ssn NOT NULL NUMBER [4]

NAME NOT NULL VARCHAR2 [20]

BDATE DATE  

SALARY NUMBER [10,20]  

MGRSSN NUMBER [4]  

DNO NOT NULL NUMBER [2]

SELECT statement with WHERE clauseThe conditions are specified in the where clause. It instructs sql to search the data in a table and returns only those rows that meet search criteria.SELECT * FROM empWHERE name = 'yadav'Out put

SSN NAME BDATE SALARY MGRSSN DNO

2222 yadav 10-dec-60 30000 4444 3

SELECT Name, Salary FROM EmployeeWHERE Salary > 20000;OUT PUT

NAME SALARY

Prasad 32000

Deepak 22000

Yadav 18000

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RELATIONAL OPERATOR S AND COMPARISON CONDITIONS:

BETWEEN AND OR OPERATOR:To illustrate the between and or operators.SQL supports range searches. For eg If we want to see all the employees with salary between 22000 and 32000SELECT * from employeeWHERE salary between 22000 and 32000

Example

NAME SALARY

Prasad 32000

Yadav 30000

Deepak 22000

IS NULL OR IS NOT NULL:The null tests for the null values in the table

Example:SELECT Name FROM EmployeeWHERE Mgrssn IS NULL;OUT PUT:NAMEPrasadSORTING (ORDER BY CLAUSE):It gives a result in a particular order. Select all the employee lists sorted by name, salary in descending order.Select* from emp order by basic;Select job, ename from emp order by joindate desc;

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Desc at the end of the order by clause orders the list in descending order instead of the default [ascending] order.Example:SELECT* FROM EMPLOYEEORDER BY name DESC.

OUT PUT:NAMEReenaPoojaDeepakAruna

LIKE CONDITION:Where clause with a pattern searches for sub string comparisons.SQL also supports pattern searching through the like operator. We describe patterns using two special characters.Percent [%]. The % character matches any sub string.Underscore ( _ ) The underscore matches any character.Example:SELECT emp_name from empWHERE emp_name like 'Ra%'Example: 1NAMERajRamaRamanaSelect emp_name from emp where name starts with 'R' and has j has third caracter.SELECT *from EmpWHERE EMP_NAME LIKE 'r_J%';WHERE clause using IN operatorSQL supports the concept of searching for items within a list; it compares the values within a parentheses.1. Select employee, who are working for department 10&20.SELECT * from empWHERE deptno in (10, 20)2. Selects the employees who are working in a same project as that raja works onlSELECT eno from epWHERE (pno) IN (select pno from works_on where empno=E20);

AGGREGATE FUNCTIONS AND GROUPING:Group by clause is used to group the rows based on certain common criteria; for e.g. we can group the rows in an employee table by the department. For example, the employees working for department number 1 may form a group, and all employees working for department number 2 form another group. Group by clause is usually used in conjunction with aggregate functions like SUM, MAX, Min etc.. Group by clause runs the aggregate function described in the SELECT statement. It gives summary information.HAVING CLAUSE:The having clause filters the rows returned by the group by clause.Eg: 1>Select job, count (*) from emp group by job having count (*)>20;

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2>Select Deptno,max(basic), min(basic)from emp group by Detno having salary>30000find the average salary of only department 1.SELECT DnO,avg(salary)FROM EmployeeGROUP BY DnoHAVING Dno = 1;For each department, retrieve the department number, Dname and number of employees working in that department, so that department should contain more than three employees.- SELECT Dno, Dname, count(*)FROM Emp, Dept.WHERE Emp.Dno=dept.DnoGROUP BY DnoHAVING count (*) 3;

Here where_clause limits the tuples to which functions are applied, the having clause is used to select individual groups of tuples.For each department that has more than three employees, retrieve the department number and the number of its employees, who are earning more than 10,000.

Q5. What is Normalization? Discuss various types of Normal Forms? Answer:

Normalization is the process of building database structures to store data, because any application ultimately depends on its data structures. If the data structures are poorly designed, the application will start from a poor foundation. This will require a lot more work to create a useful and efficient application. Normalization is the formal process for deciding which attributes should be grouped together in a relation. Normalization serves as a tool for validating and improving the logical design, so that the logical design avoids unnecessary duplication of data, i.e. it eliminates redundancy and promotes integrity. In the normalization process we analyze and decompose the complex relations into smaller, simpler and well-structured relations.

Normal forms Based on Primary KeysA relation schema R is in first normal form if every attribute of R takes only single atomic values. We can also define it as intersection of each row and column containing one and only one value. To transform the un-normalized table (a table that contains one or more repeating groups) to first normal form, we identify and remove the repeating groups within the table.E.g.Dept.

D.Name D.No D. location

R&D 5 [England, London, Delhi)

HRD 4 Bangalore

Figure AConsider the figure that each dept can have number of locations. This is not in first normal form because D.location is not an atomic attribute. The dormain of D location contains multivalues.

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There is a technique to achieve the first normal form. Remove the attribute D.location that violates the first normal form and place into separate relation Dept_location

Functional dependency: The concept of functional dependency was introduced by Prof. Codd in 1970 during the emergence of definitions for the three normal forms. A functional dependency is the constraint between the two sets of attributes in a relation from a database.Given a relation R, a set of attributes X in R is said to functionally determine another attribute Y, in R, (X->Y) if and only if each value of X is associated with one value of Y. X is called the determinant set and Y is the dependant attribute.

Second Normal Form (2 NF)A second normal form is based on the concept of full functional dependency. A relation is in second normal form if every non-prime attribute A in R is fully functionally dependent on the Primary Key of R.A Partial functional dependency is a functional dependency in which one or more non-key attributes are functionally dependent on part of the primary key. It creates a redundancy in that relation, which results in anomalies when the table is updated.Third Normal Form (3NF)This is based on the concept of transitive dependency. We should design relational schema in such a way that there should not be any transitive dependencies, because they lead to update anomalies. A functional dependence [FD] x->y in a relation schema 'R' is a transitive dependency. If there is a set of attributes 'Z' Le x->, z->y is transitive. The dependency SSN->Dmgr is transitive through Dnum in Emp_dept relation because SSN->Dnum and Dnum->Dmgr, Dnum is neither a key nor a subset [part] of the key.According to codd's definition, a relational schema 'R is in 3NF if it satisfies 2NF and no no_prime attribute is transitively dependent on the primary key. Emp_dept relation is not in 3NF, we can normalize the above table by decomposing into E1 and E2.

Transitive is a mathematical relation that states that if a relation is true between the first value and the second value, and between the second value and the 3rd value, then it is true between the 1st and the 3rd value.

Q6. What do you mean by Shared Lock & Exclusive lock? Describe briefly two phase locking protocol?

Answer:

Shared Locks: It is used for read only operations, i.e., used for operations that do not change or update the data. E.G., SELECT statement:, Shared locks allow concurrent transaction to read (SELECT) a data. No other transactions can modify the data while shared locks exist. Shared locks are released as soon as the data has been read.

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Exclusive Locks: Exclusive locks are used for data modification operations, such as UPDATE, DELETE and INSERT. It ensures that multiple updates cannot be made to the same resource simultaneously. No other transaction can read or modify data when locked by an exclusive lock. Exclusive locks are held until transaction commits or rolls back since those are used for write operations. There are three locking operations: read_lock(X), write_lock(X), and unlock(X). A lock associated with an item X, LOCK(X), now has three possible states: "read locked", "write-locked", or "unlocked". A read-locked item is also called share-locked, because other transactions are allowed to read the item, whereas a write-locked item is called exclusive-locked, because a single transaction exclusive holds the lock on the item. Each record on the lock table will have four fields: <data item name, LOCK, no_of_reads, locking_transaction(s)>. The value (state) of LOCK is either read-locked or write-locked. read_lock(X): B, if LOCK(X)='unlocked' Then begin LOCK(X)"read-locked" No_of_reads(x)1 end else if LOCK(X)="read-locked" then no_of_reads(X)no_of_reads(X)+1 else begin wait(until)LOCK(X)="unlocked" and the lock manager wakes up the transaction); goto B end; write_lock(X): B: if LOCK(X)="unlocked" Then LOCK(X)"write-locked"; else begin wait(until LOCK(X)="unlocked" and the lock manager wkes up the transaction); goto B end; unlock(X): if LOCK(X)="write-locked" Then begin LOCK(X)"un-locked"; Wakeup one of the waiting transctions, if any end else if LOCK(X)=read-locked" then begin no_of_reads(X)no_of_reads(X)-1 if no_of_reads(X)=0 then begin LOCK(X)=unlocked"; wakeup one of the waiting transactions, if any end end;

The Two Phase Locking Protocol The two phase locking protocol is a process to access the shared resources as their own without creating deadlocks. This process consists of two phases. 1. Growing Phase: In this phase the transaction may acquire lock, but may not release any locks. Therefore this phase is also called as resource acquisition activity.

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2. Shrinking phase: In this phase the transaction may release locks, but may not acquire any new locks. This includes the modification of data and release locks. Here two activities are grouped together to form second phase.

IN the beginning, transaction is in growing phase. Whenever lock is needed the transaction acquires it. As the lock is released, transaction enters the next phase and it can stop acquiring the new lock request.

Strict two phase locking: In the two phases locking protocol cascading rollback are not avoided. In order to avoid this slight modification are made to two phase locking and called strict two phase locking. In this phase all the locks are acquired by the transaction are kept on hold until the transaction commits. Deadlock & starvation: In deadlock state there exists, a set of transaction in which every transaction in the set is waiting for another transaction in the set. Suppose there exists a set of transactions waiting {T1, T2, T3,……………….., Tn) such that T1 is waiting for a data item existing in T2, T2 for T3 etc… and Tn is waiting of T1. In this state none of the transaction will progress.

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Master of Business Administration – IS Semester 3 MI0035 – Computer Network

Assignment Set- 1

Q.1 Explain all design issues for several layers in Computer. What is connection – oriented and connectionless service?

Answer:

Connection Oriented and Connectionless Services

Layers can offer two types of services namely connection oriented service and connectionless service.

Connection oriented service: The service user first establishes a connection, uses the connection and then releases the connection. Once the connection is established between source and destination, the path is fixed. The data transmission takes place through this path established. The order of the messages sent will be same at the receiver end. Services are reliable and there is no loss of data. Most of the time, reliable service provides acknowledgement is an overhead and adds delay.

Connectionless Services: In this type of services, no connection is established between source and destination. Here there is no fixed path. Therefore, the messages must carry full destination address and each one of these messages are sent independent of each other. Messages sent will not be delivered at the destination in the same order. Thus, grouping and ordering is required at the receiver end, and the services are not reliable. There is no acknowledgement confirmation from the receiver. Unreliable connectionless service is often called datagram service, which does not return an acknowledgement to the sender. In some cases, establishing a connection to send one short messages is needed. But reliability is required, and then acknowledgement datagram service can be used for these applications.

Another service is the request-reply service. In this type of service, the sender transmits a single datagram containing a request from the client side. Then at the other end, server reply will contain the answer. Request-reply is commonly used to implement communication in the client-server model.

Q.2 Discuss OSI Reference model.

Answer:

The OSI Reference Model The OSI model is based on a proposal developed by the International Standards Organization as a first step towards international standardization of the protocols used in the various layers. The model is called the ISO – (International Standard Organization – Open Systems Interconnection) Reference Model because it deals with connecting open systems – that is, systems that follow the standard are open for communication with other systems, irrespective of a manufacturer.

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Its main objectives were to: Allow manufacturers of different systems to interconnect equipment through a standard interfaces.

Allow software and hardware to integrate well and be portable on different systems. The OSI model has seven layers shown in Figure. The principles that were applied to arrive at the seven layers are as follows:

1. Each layer should perform a well-defined function. 2. The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye toward defining internationally

standardized protocols. 3. The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the information flow across the

interfaces.

The set of rules for communication between entities in a layer is called protocol for that layer.

The Physical Layer

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The Physical layer coordinates the function required to carry a bit (0s and 1s) stream over a physical medium. It defines electrical and mechanical specifications of cables, connectors and signaling options that physically link two nodes on a network.

The Data Link Layer The main task of the data link layer is to provide error free transmission. It accomplishes this task by having the sender configure the input data into data frames, transmit the frames sequentially, between network devices and process the acknowledgement frames sent back by the intermediate receiver. The data link layer creates and recognizes frame boundaries. This can be accomplished by attaching special bit pattern to the beginning and end of the frame. Since these bit patterns can accidentally occur in the data, special care must be taken to make sure these patterns are not incorrectly interpreted as frame boundaries.

The Network Layer Whereas the data link layer is responsible for delivery on a hop, the network layer ensures that each packet travels from its sources and destination successfully and efficiently. A key design issue is determining how packets are routed from source to destination. Routes can be based on static tables that are “wired into” the network and rarely changed. They can also be determined at the start of each conversation, for example, a terminal session. Finally, they can be highly dynamic, being determined a new for each packet, to reflect the current network load. When a packet has to travel from one network to another to get its destination, many problems can arise. The addressing used by the second network may be different from the first one. The second network may not accept the packet at all because it is too large. The protocols may differ, and so on. It is up to the network layer to overcome all these problems to allow heterogeneous networks to be interconnected.

The Transport Layer The basic function of the transport layer is to accept data from the session layer, split it up into smaller units if need be, pass these to the network layer, and ensure that the pieces all arrive correctly at other end. Furthermore, all this must be done efficiently, and in a way that isolates the upper layers from the inevitable changes in the hardware technology. Transport layer provides location and media independent end-to-end data transfer service to session and upper layers.

The Session Layer The session layer allows users on different machines to establish sessions between them. A session allows ordinary data transport, as does the transport layer, but it also provides enhanced services useful in some applications. A session might by used to allow a user to log into a remote timesharing systems or to transfer a file between two machines. One of the services of the session layer is to manage dialogue control. Sessions can allow traffic to go in both directions at the same time, or in only one direction at a time. If traffic cans only way at a time (analogous to a single railroad track), the session layer can help keep track of whose turn it is. A related session service is token management. For some protocols, it is essential that both sides do not attempt the same operation at the same time. To manage these activities, the session layer provides tokens that can be exchanged. Only the side holding the token may perform the desired operation. Another session service is synchronization. Consider the problem that might occur when trying to do a 2 hour file transfer between two machines with an one hour mean time between crashes. After each transfer was aborted, the whole transfer would have to start over again and would probably fail again the next time as well. To eliminate this problem, the session layer provides a way to insert markers after the appropriate checkpoints.

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The Presentation Layer Unlike all the lower layers, which are just interested in moving bits reliably from here to there, the presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information transmitted. A typical example of a presentation service is encoding data in standard agreed upon way. Most user programs do not exchange random binary bit strings, they exchange things such as people‟s names, dates, amounts of money and invoices. These items are represented as character strings, integers, floating-point number, and data structures composed of several simpler items. Different computers have different codes for representing character strings (e.g., ASCII and Unicode), integers (e.g., one’s complement and two’s complement), and so on. In order to make it possible for computers with different representations to communicate, the data structure to be exchanged can be defined in an abstract way, along with a standard encoding to be used “on the wire”. The presentation layer manages these abstract data structures and converts from the representation used inside the computer to the network standard representation and back.

The Application Layer Application layer supports functions that control and supervise OSI application processes such as start/maintain/stop application, allocate/de-allocate OSI resources, accounting, and check point and recovering. It also supports remote job execution, file transfer protocol, message transfer and virtual terminal.

Q.3 Describe different types of Data transmission modes.

Answer:

Data Transmission Modes The transmission of binary data across a link can be accomplished in either parallel or serial mode. In parallel mode, multiple bits are sent with each clock tick. In serial mode, 1 bit is sent with each clock tick. While there is one way to send parallel data, there are three subclasses of serial transmission: asynchronous, synchronous, and isochronous.

Data transmission and modes

Serial and Parallel

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Serial Transmission In serial transmission one bit follows another, so we need only one communication channel rather than n to transmit data between two communicating devices. The advantage of serial over parallel transmission is that with only one communication channel, serial transmission reduces cost of transmission over parallel by roughly a factor of n. Since communication within devices is parallel, conversion devices are required at the interface between the sender and the line (parallel-to-serial)and between the line and the receiver (serial-to-parallel). Serial transmission occurs in one of three ways: asynchronous, synchronous, and isochronous.

Parallel Transmission Binary data, consisting of 1 s and 0 s, may be organized into groups of n bits each. Computers produce and consume data in groups of bits much as we conceive of and use spoken language in the form of words rather than letters. By grouping, we can send data n bits at a time instead of 1. This is called parallel transmission. The mechanism for parallel transmission is a simple one: Use n wires to send n bits at one time. That way each bit has its own wire, and all n bits of one group can be transmitted with each clock tick from one device to another. The advantage of parallel transmission is speed. All else being equal, parallel transmission can increase the transfer speed by a factor on n over serial transmission. But there is a significant disadvantage: cost. Parallel transmission requires n communication lines just to transmit the data stream. Because this is expensive, parallel transmission is usually limited to short distances.

Synchronous and Asynchronous transmission

Synchronous Transmission In synchronous transmission, the bit stream is combined into longer “frames”, which may contain multiple bytes. Each byte, however, is introduced onto the transmission link without a gap between it and the next one. It is left to the receiver to separate the bit stream into bytes for decoding purpose. In other words, data are transmitted as an unbroken sting of 1s and 0s, and the receiver separates that string into the bytes, or characters, it needs to reconstruct the information. Without gaps and start and stop bits, there is no built-in mechanism to help the receiving device adjust its bits synchronization midstream. Timing becomes very important, therefore, because the accuracy of the received information is completely dependent on the ability of the receiving device to keep an accurate count of the bits as they come in. The advantage of synchronous transmission is speed. With no extra bits or gaps to introduce at the sending end and remove at the receiving end, and, by extension, with fewer bits to move across the link, synchronous transmission is faster than asynchronous transmission of data from one computer to another. Byte synchronization is accomplished in the data link layer.

Asynchronous Transmission Asynchronous transmission is so named because the timing of a signal is unimportant. Instead, information is received and translated by agreed upon patterns. As long as those patterns are followed, the receiving device can retrieve the information without regard to the rhythm in which it is sent. Patterns are based on grouping the bit stream into bytes. Each group, usually 8 bits, is sent along the link as a unit. The sending system handles each group independently, relaying it to the link whenever ready, without regard to t timer. Without synchronization, the receiver cannot use timing to predict when the next group will arrive. To alert the receiver to the arrival of an new group, therefore, an extra bit is added to the beginning of each byte. This

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bit, usually a 0, is called the start bit. To let the receiver know that the byte is finished, 1 or more additional bits are appended to the end of the byte. These bits, usually 1s, are called stop bits. By this method, each byte is increased in size to at least 10 bits, of which 8 bits is information and 2 bits or more are signals to the receiver. In addition, the transmission of each byte may then be followed by a gap of varying duration. This gap can be represented either by an idle channel or by a stream of additional stop bits. The start and stop bits and the gap alert the receiver to the beginning and end of the each byte and also it to synchronize with the data stream. This mechanism is called asynchronous because, at the byte level, the sender and receiver do not have to be synchronized. But within each byte, the receiver must still by synchronized with the incoming bit stream. That is, some synchronization is required, but only for the duration of a single byte. The receiving device resynchronizes at the onset of each new byte. When the receiver detects a start bit, it sets a timer and begins counting bits as they come in. after n bits, the receiver looks for a stop bit. As soon as it detects the stop bit, it waits until it detects the next start bit.

Isochronous Transmission In real-time audio and video, in which uneven delays between frames are not acceptable, synchronous transmission fails. For example, TV images are broadcast at the rate of 30 images per second; they must be viewed at the same rate. If each image is send by using one or more frames, there should be no delays between frames. For this type of application, synchronization between characters is not enough; the entire stream of bits must be synchronized. The isochronous transmission guarantees that the data arrive at a fixed rate.

Q.4 Define Switching. What is the difference between circuit switching and Packet Switching?

Answer:

Switching A network is a set of connected devices. Whenever we have multiple devices, we have the problem of how to connect them to make one-to-one communication possible. One of the better solutions is switching. A switch is network consists of a series of interlinked nodes, called switches. Switches are devices capable of crating temporary connections between two or more devices linked to the switch. In a switched network, some of these nodes are connected to the end systems (computers or telephones). Others are used only for routing. Switched networks are divided, as shown in the figure.

Comparison of switching techniques

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Q.5 Classify Guided medium (wired).Compare fiber optics and copper wire.

Answer:

Guided Transmission Medium Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit form one device to another, include twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable. A single traveling along any of these media is directed and contained by the physical limits of the medium. Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic (copper) conductors that accept and transport signals on the form of electric current. Optical fiber is a cable that accepts and transports signals in the form of light.

Comparison of fiber optics and copper wire

Fiber has many advantages over copper wire as a transmission media. These are: It can handle much higher band widths than copper. Due to the low attenuation, repeaters are needed

only about every 30 km on long lines, versus about every 5 km for copper.

Fiber is not being affected by the power surges, electromagnetic interference, or power failures. Nor it is affected by corrosive chemicals in the air, making it deal for harsh factory environment.

Fiber is lighter than copper. One thousand twisted pairs copper cables of 1 km long weight 8000 kg. But two fibers have more capacity and weigh only 100 kg, which greatly reduces the need for expensive mechanical support systems that must be maintained.

Fibers do not leak light and are quite difficult to tap. This gives them excellent security against potential wire tappers.

If new routes designed, the fiber is the first choice because of lower installation cost .

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Fibers have the following disadvantages over copper wire:

Fiber is an unfamiliar technology requiring skills most engineers do not have.

Since optical transmission is inherently unidirectional, two-way communication requires either two fibers or two frequency bands on one fiber.

Fiber interfaces cost more than electrical interfaces.

Fibers can be damaged easily by being bent too much.

Q.6 What are different types of satellites?

Answer:

Classification of Satellites

Four different types of satellite orbits can be identified depending on the shape and diameter of the orbit:

GEO (Geostationary orbit)

LEO (Low Earth Orbit)

MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) or ICO (Intermediate Circular Orbit)

HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) elliptical orbits Geostationary orbit Altitude: ca. 36000 km above earth surface Coverage: Ideally suited for continuous, regional coverage using a single satellite. Can also be used equally effectively for global coverage using a minimum of three satellites Visibility: Mobile to satellite visibility decreases with increased latitude of the user. Poor Visibility in built-up, urban regions. Low Earth orbit Altitude: ca. 500 - 1500 km Coverage: Multi-satellite constellations of upwards of 30-50 satellites are required for global, continuous coverage. Single satellites can be used in store and forward mode for localized coverage but only appear for short periods of time. Visibility: The use of satellite diversity, by which more than one satellite is visible at any given time, can be used to optimize the link. This can be achieved by either selecting the optimum link or combining the reception of two or more links. The higher the guaranteed minimum elevation angle to the user, the more satellites is needed in the constellation.

Medium Earth orbit

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Altitude: ca. 6000 - 20000 km Coverage: Multi-satellite constellations of between 10 and 20 satellites are required for global coverage Visibility: Good to excellent global visibility, augmented by the use of satellite diversity techniques Highly elliptical orbit Altitude: Apogee: 40 000–50 000 km, Perigee: 1000–20 000 km. Coverage: Three or four satellites are needed to provide continuous coverage to a region Visibility: Particularly designed to provide high guaranteed elevation angle to satellite for Northern and Southern temperate latitudes.

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MBA SEMESTER IIIMB0050 –Research Methodology

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Assignment Set- 1

Q1.a) Differentiate between nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales, with an example of each.b) What are the purposes of measurement in social science research?

Answer:a.)

Measurement may be classified into four different levels, based on the characteristics of order, distance and origin. 1. Nominal measurement This level of measurement consists in assigning numerals or symbols to different categories of a variable. The example of male and female applicants to an MBA program mentioned earlier is an example of nominal measurement. The numerals or symbols are just labels and have no quantitative value. The number of cases under each category are counted. Nominal measurement is therefore the simplest level of measurement. It does not have characteristics such as order, distance or arithmetic origin. 2. Ordinal measurement In this level of measurement, persons or objects are assigned numerals which indicate ranks with respect to one or more properties, either in ascending or descending order. Example Individuals may be ranked according to their “socio-economic class”, which is measured by a combination of income, education, occupation and wealth. The individual with the highest score might be assigned rank 1, the next highest rank 2, and so on, or vice versa. The numbers in this level of measurement indicate only rank order and not equal distance or absolute quantities. This means that the distance between ranks 1 and 2 is not necessarily equal to the distance between ranks 2 and 3. Ordinal scales may be constructed using rank order, rating and paired comparisons. Variables that lend themselves to ordinal measurement include preferences, ratings of organizations and economic status. Statistical techniques that are commonly used to analyze ordinal scale data are the median and rank order correlation coefficients.3. Interval measurement This level of measurement is more powerful than the nominal and ordinal levels of measurement, since it has one additional characteristic – equality of distance. However, it does not have an origin or a true zero. This implies that it is not possible to multiply or divide the numbers on an interval scale. Example The Centigrade or Fahrenheit temperature gauge is an example of the interval level of measurement. A temperature of 50 degrees is exactly 10 degrees hotter than 40 degrees and 10 degrees cooler than 60 degrees. Since interval scales are more powerful than nominal or ordinal scales, they also lend themselves to more powerful statistical techniques, such as standard deviation, product moment correlation and “t” tests and “F” tests of significance. 4. Ratio measurement This is the highest level of measurement and is appropriate when measuring characteristics which have an absolute zero point. This level of measurement has all the three characteristics – order, distance and origin. Examples Height, weight, distance and area.

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Since there is a natural zero, it is possible to multiply and divide the numbers on a ratio scale. Apart from being able to use all the statistical techniques that are used with the nominal, ordinal and interval scales, techniques like the geometric mean and coefficient of variation may also be used. The main limitation of ratio measurement is that it cannot be used for characteristics such as leadership quality, happiness, satisfaction and other properties which do not have natural zero points. The different levels of measurement and their characteristics may be summed up.

b.)

There are two dimensions of reliability – stability and equivalence or non-variability. Stability refers to consistency of results with repeated measurements of the same object, as in the weighing machine example. Non variability refers to consistency at a given point of time among different investigators and samples of items. The problem of reliability is more likely to arise with measurements in the social sciences than with measurements in the physical sciences, due to factors such as poor memory or recall of respondents, lack of clear instructions given to respondents and irrelevant contents of the measuring instrument. Reliability can be improved in three ways – 1) By reducing the external sources of variation. This in turn can be achieved by standardizing the conditions under which measurement is carried out, by employing trained investigators and by providing standard instructions. 2) By making the measuring instrument more consistent internally, through an analysis of the different items 3) By adding more number of items to the measuring instrument, in order to increase the probability of more accurate measurement. The desired level of reliability depends on the research objectives, as well as the homogeneity of the population under study. If precise estimates are required, the higher will be the desired level of accuracy. In the case of a homogeneous population, a lower level of reliability may be sufficient, since there is not much variation in the data. Reliability and validity are closely interlinked. A measuring instrument that is valid is always reliable, but the reverse is not true. That is, an instrument that is reliable is not always valid. However, an instrument that is not valid may or may not be reliable and an instrument that is not reliable is never valid.

Q2.a) What are the sources from which one may be able to identify research problems?b) Why literature survey is important in research?

Answer:a.)

The selection of a problem is the first step in research. The term problem means a question or issue to be examined. The selection of a problem for research is not an easy task; it self is a problem. It is least amenable to formal methodological treatment. Vision, an imaginative insight, plays an important role in this process. One with a critical, curious and imaginative mind and is sensitive to practical problems could easily identify problems for study.

The sources from which one may be able to identify research problems or develop problems awareness are:

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Review of literature Academic experience

Daily experience

Exposure to field situations

Consultations

Brain storming

Research

Intuition

b.)

Frequently, an exploratory study is concerned with an area of subject matter in which explicit hypothesis have not yet been formulated. The researcher’s task then is to review the available material with an eye on the possibilities of developing hypothesis from it. In some areas of the subject matter, hypothesis may have been stated by previous research workers. The researcher has to take stock of these various hypotheses with a view to evaluating their usefulness for further research and to consider whether they suggest any new hypothesis. Sociological journals, economic reviews, the bulletin of abstracts of current social sciences research, directory of doctoral dissertation accepted by universities etc afford a rich store of valuable clues. In addition to these general sources, some governmental agencies and voluntary organizations publish listings of summaries of research in their special fields of service. Professional organizations, research groups and voluntary organizations are a constant source of information about unpublished works in their special fields.

Q3. a) What are the characteristics of a good research design?b) What are the components of a research design?

Answer:a.)

Characteristics of a Good Research Design 1. It is a series of guide posts to keep one going in the right direction.

2. It reduces wastage of time and cost.

3. It encourages co-ordination and effective organization.

4. It is a tentative plan which undergoes modifications, as circumstances demand, when the study progresses, new aspects, new conditions and new relationships come to light and insight into the study deepens.

5. It has to be geared to the availability of data and the cooperation of the informants.

6. It has also to be kept within the manageable limits

b.)It is important to be familiar with the important concepts relating to research design. They are:

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1. Dependent and Independent variables: A magnitude that varies is known as a variable. The concept may assume different quantitative values, like height, weight, income, etc. Qualitative variables are not quantifiable in the strictest sense of objectivity. However, the qualitative phenomena may also be quantified in terms of the presence or absence of the attribute considered. Phenomena that assume different values quantitatively even in decimal points are known as „continuous variables‟. But, all variables need not be continuous. Values that can be expressed only in integer values are called „non-continuous variables‟. In statistical term, they are also known as „discrete variable‟. For example, age is a continuous variable; where as the number of children is a non-continuous variable. When changes in one variable depends upon the changes in one or more other variables, it is known as a dependent or endogenous variable, and the variables that cause the changes in the dependent variable are known as the independent or explanatory or exogenous variables. For example, if demand depends upon price, then demand is a dependent variable, while price is the independent variable. And if, more variables determine demand, like income and prices of substitute commodity, then demand also depends upon them in addition to the own price. Then, demand is a dependent variable which is determined by the independent variables like own price, income and price of substitute.2. Extraneous variable: The independent variables which are not directly related to the purpose of the study but affect the dependent variable are known as extraneous variables. For instance, assume that a researcher wants to test the hypothesis that there is relationship between children‟s school performance and their self-concepts, in which case the latter is an independent variable and the former, the dependent variable. In this context, intelligence may also influence the school performance. However, since it is not directly related to the purpose of the study undertaken by the researcher, it would be known as an extraneous variable. The influence caused by the extraneous variable on the dependent variable is technically called as an „experimental error‟. Therefore, a research study should always be framed in such a manner that the dependent variable completely influences the change in the independent variable and any other extraneous variable or variables. 3. Control: One of the most important features of a good research design is to minimize the effect of extraneous variable. Technically, the term control is used when a researcher designs the study in such a manner that it minimizes the effects of extraneous independent variables. The term control is used in experimental research to reflect the restrain in experimental conditions. 4. Confounded relationship: The relationship between dependent and independent variables is said to be confounded by an extraneous variable, when the dependent variable is not free from its effects.

Research hypothesis: When a prediction or a hypothesized relationship is tested by adopting scientific methods, it is known as research hypothesis. The research hypothesis is a predictive statement which relates a dependent variable and an independent variable. Generally, a research hypothesis must consist of at least one dependent variable and one independent variable. Whereas, the relationships that are assumed but not be tested are predictive statements that are not to be objectively verified are not classified as research hypothesis.

Experimental and control groups: When a group is exposed to usual conditions in an experimental hypothesis-testing research, it is known as „control group‟. On the other hand, when the group is exposed to certain new or special condition, it is known as an „experimental group‟. In the afore-mentioned example, the Group A can be called a control group and the Group B an experimental one. If both the groups A and B are exposed to some special feature, then both the groups may be called as „experimental groups‟. A research design may include only the experimental group or the both experimental and control groups together.

Treatments: Treatments are referred to the different conditions to which the experimental and control groups are subject to. In the example considered, the two treatments are the parents with regular earnings and those with no regular earnings. Likewise, if a research study attempts to examine through an experiment regarding the comparative impacts of three different types of fertilizers on the yield of rice crop, then the three types of fertilizers would be treated as the three treatments.

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Experiment: An experiment refers to the process of verifying the truth of a statistical hypothesis relating to a given research problem. For instance, experiment may be conducted to examine the yield of a certain new variety of rice crop developed. Further, Experiments may be categorized into two types namely, absolute experiment and comparative experiment. If a researcher wishes to determine the impact of a chemical fertilizer on the yield of a particular variety of rice crop, then it is known as absolute experiment. Meanwhile, if the researcher wishes to determine the impact of chemical fertilizer as compared to the impact of bio-fertilizer, then the experiment is known as a comparative experiment.

Experiment unit: Experimental units refer to the predetermined plots, characteristics or the blocks, to which the different treatments are applied. It is worth mentioning here that such experimental units must be selected with great caution.

Q4.a) Distinguish between Doubles sampling and multiphase sampling.b) What is replicated or interpenetrating sampling?

a.)

Double Sampling and Multiphase Sampling Double sampling refers to the subsection of the final sample form a pre-selected larger sample that provided information for improving the final selection. When the procedure is extended to more than two phases of selection, it is then, called multi-phase sampling. This is also known as sequential sampling, as sub-sampling is done from a main sample in phases. Double sampling or multiphase sampling is a compromise solution for a dilemma posed by undesirable extremes. “The statistics based on the sample of ‘n’ can be improved by using ancillary information from a wide base: but this is too costly to obtain from the entire population of N elements. Instead, information is obtained from a larger preliminary sample nL which includes the final sample n.Replicated or Interpenetrating Sampling It involves selection of a certain number of sub-samples rather than one full sample from a population. All the sub-samples should be drawn using the same sampling technique and each is a self-contained and adequate sample of the population. Replicated sampling can be used with any basic sampling technique: simple or stratified, single or multi-stage or single or multiphase sampling. It provides a simple means of calculating the sampling error. It is practical. The replicated samples can throw light on variable non-sampling errors. But disadvantage is that it limits the amount of stratification that can be employed.

Q5.a) How is secondary data useful to researcher?b) What are the criteria used for evaluation of secondary data?

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a.)The second data may be used in three ways by a researcher. First, some specific information from secondary sources may be used for reference purpose. For example, the general statistical information in the number of co-operative credit societies in the country, their coverage of villages, their capital structure, volume of business etc., may be taken from published reports and quoted as background information in a study on the evaluation of performance of cooperative credit societies in a selected district/state. Second, secondary data may be used as bench marks against which the findings of research may be tested, e.g., the findings of a local or regional survey may be compared with the national averages; the performance indicators of a particular bank may be tested against the corresponding indicators of the banking industry as a whole; and so on. Finally, secondary data may be used as the sole source of information for a research project. Such studies as securities Market Behaviour, Financial Analysis of companies, Trade in credit allocation in commercial banks, sociological studies on crimes, historical studies, and the like, depend primarily on secondary data. Year books, statistical reports of government departments, report of public organizations of Bureau of Public Enterprises, Censes Reports etc, serve as major data sources for such research studies.

b.)When a researcher wants to use secondary data for his research, he should evaluate them before deciding to use them. 1. Data Pertinence The first consideration in evaluation is to examine the pertinence of the available secondary data to the research problem under study. The following questions should be considered.

What are the definitions and classifications employed? Are they consistent ? What are the measurements of variables used? What is the degree to which they conform to the

requirements of our research? What is the coverage of the secondary data in terms of topic and time? Does this coverage fit the

needs of our research? On the basis of above consideration, the pertinence of the secondary data to the research on hand should be determined, as a researcher who is imaginative and flexible may be able to redefine his research problem so as to make use of otherwise unusable available data. 2. Data Quality If the researcher is convinced about the available secondary data for his needs, the next step is to examine the quality of the data. The quality of data refers to their accuracy, reliability and completeness. The assurance and reliability of the available secondary data depends on the organization which collected them and the purpose for which they were collected. What is the authority and prestige of the organization? Is it well recognized? Is it noted for reliability? It is capable of collecting reliable data? Does it use trained and well qualified investigators? The answers to these questions determine the degree of confidence we can have in the data and their accuracy. It is important to go to the original source of the secondary data rather than to use an immediate source which has quoted from the original. Then only, the researcher can review the cautionary ands other comments that were made in the original source.

3. Data Completeness The completeness refers to the actual coverage of the published data. This depends on the

methodology and sampling design adopted by the original organization. Is the methodology sound? Is the sample size small or large? Is the sampling method appropriate? Answers to these questions may

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indicate the appropriateness and adequacy of the data for the problem under study. The question of possible bias should also be examined. Whether the purpose for which the original organization collected the data had a particular orientation? Has the study been made to promote the organization’s own interest? How the study was conducted? These are important clues. The researcher must be on guard when the source does not report the methodology and sampling design. Then it is not possible to determine the adequacy of the secondary data for the researcher’s study.

Q6. What are the differences between observation and interviewing as methods of data collection? Give two specific examples of situations where either observation or interviewing would be more appropriate.

Answer:

Observation has certain advantages: 1. The main virtue of observation is its directness: it makes it possible to study behaviour as it occurs. The researcher need not ask people about their behaviour and interactions; he can simply watch what they do and say.

2. Data collected by observation may describe the observed phenomena as they occur in their natural settings. Other methods introduce elements or artificiality into the researched situation for instance, in interview; the respondent may not behave in a natural way. There is no such artificiality in observational studies, especially when the observed persons are not aware of their being observed.

3. Observations is more suitable for studying subjects who are unable to articulate meaningfully, e.g. studies of children, tribal, animals, birds etc.

4. Observations improve the opportunities for analyzing the contextual back ground of behaviour. Further more verbal resorts can be validated and compared with behaviour through observation. The validity of what men of position and authority say can be verified by observing what they actually do.

5. Observations make it possible to capture the whole event as it occurs. For example only observation can provide an insight into all the aspects of the process of negotiation between union and management representatives.

6. Observation is less demanding of the subjects and has less biasing effect on their conduct than questioning.

7. It is easier to conduct disguised observation studies than disguised questioning.

8. Mechanical devices may be used for recording data in order to secure more accurate data and also of making continuous observations over longer periods.

Observation cannot be used indiscriminately for all purposes. It has its own limitations: 1. Observation is of no use, studying past events or activities. One has to depend upon documents or narrations people for studying such things. 2. Observation is not suitable for studying and attitudes. However, an observation of related behaviour affords a good clue to the attitudes. E.g. and observations of the seating pattern of high caste and class persons in a general meeting in a village may be useful for forming an index of attitude.

3. Observation poses difficulties in obtaining a representative sample. For interviewing and mailing methods, the selection of a random sampling can be rapidly ensured. But observing people of all types does not make the sample a random one.

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4. Observation cannot be used as and when the researcher finds a convenient to use it. He has to wait for the eve n to occur. For example, an observation of folk dance of a tribal community is possible, only when it is performed.

5. A major limitation of this method is that the observer normally must be at the scene of the event when it takes place. Yet it may not be possible to predict where and when the even will occur, e.g., road accident, communal clash.

6. Observation is slow and expensive process, requiring human observers and/or costly surveillance equipments.

There are several real advantages to personal interviewing. First the greatest value of this method is the depth and detail of information that can be secured. When

used with well conceived schedules, an interview can obtain a great deal of information. It far exceeds mail survey in amount and quality of data that can be secured.

Second, the interviewer can do more to improve the percentage of responses and the quality of information received than other method. He can note the conditions of the interview situation, and adopt appropriate approaches to overcome such problems as the respondent’s unwillingness, incorrect understanding of question, suspicion, etc.

Third, the interviewer can gather other supplemental information like economic level, living conditions etc. through observation of the respondent’s environment.

Fourth, the interviewer can use special scoring devices, visual materials and the like in order to improve the quality of interviewing.

Fifth, the accuracy and dependability of the answers given by the respondent can be checked by observation and probing.

Last, interview is flexible and adaptable to individual situations. Even more, control can be exercised over the interview situation.

Interviewing is not free limitations. Its greatest drawback is that it is costly both in money and time.

Second, the interview results are often adversely affected by interviewer’s mode of asking questions and interactions, and incorrect recording and also by the respondent’s faulty perception, faulty memory, inability to articulate etc.

Third, certain types of personal and financial information may be refused in face-to face interviews. Such information might be supplied more willingly on mail questionnaires, especially if they are to be unsigned.

Fourth, interview poses the problem of recording information obtained from the respondents. No full proof system is available. Note taking is invariably distracting to both the respondent and the interviewer and affects the thread of the conversation.

Last, interview calls for highly interviewers. The availability of such persons is limited and the training of interviewers is often a long and costly process.

Master of Business Administration - MBA Semester IIIMB0051 – Legal Aspects of Business

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Assignment Set- 1

Q1. What is the difference between fraud and misinterpretation? What do you understand by mistake?

Answer:

Fraud is generally defined in the law as an intentional misrepresentation of material existing fact made by one person to another with knowledge of its falsity and for the purpose of inducing the other person to act, and upon which the other person relies with resulting injury or damage. Fraud may also be made by an omission or purposeful failure to state material facts, which nondisclosure makes other statements misleading.

Misrepresentation means a false statement of fact made by one party to another party, which has the effect of inducing that party into the contract. For example, under certain circumstances, false statements or promises made by a seller of goods regarding the quality or nature of the product that the seller has may constitute misrepresentation. A finding of misrepresentation allows for a remedy of rescission and sometimes damages depending on the type of misrepresentation.

Difference between fraud and misinterpretation:-1. In misrepresentation the person making the false statement believes it to be true. In fraud the false

statement is person who knows that it is false or he does not care to know whether it is true or false.2. There is no intention to deceive the other party when there is misrepresentation of fact. The very purpose

of the fraud is to deceive the other party to the contract.3. Misrepresentation renders the contract voidable at the option of the party whose consent was obtained by

misrepresentation. In the case of fraud the contract is voidable It also gives rise to an independent action in tort for damages.

4. Mis-representation is not an offence under Indian penal code and hence not punishable. Fraud, In certain cases is a punishable offence under Indian penal code.

5. Generally, silence is not fraud except where there is a duty to speak or the relations between parties is fiduciary. Under no circumstances can silence be considered as misrepresentation.

6. The party complaining of misrepresentation can’t avoid the contract if he had the means to discover the truth with ordinary diligence. But in the case of fraud, The party making a false statement cannot say that the other party had the means to discover the truth with ordinary diligence.

MistakeAmis take is an erroneous belief, at contracting, that certain facts are true. It may be used as grounds to invalidate the agreement. Common law has identified two different types of mistake in contract: "unilateral mistake" and "mutual mistake, "sometimes called "common mistake."

Q2. What are the remedies for breach of contract.

Answer:

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Many states utilize a mix of statutory and common law to provide remedies for breach of contract. Depending on the contract and circumstances of the breach, you may have several basic choices of remedies. There are two general categories of relief for breach of contract: damages and performance. Damages involve seeking monetary compensation for a breach of contract. Performance involves forcing the other side to do what they originally promised in the contract agreement. An attorney that specializes in contract law can help you decide which direction is best for your breach of contract dispute.

Monetary Damages for Breach of ContractBefore you file a breach of contract lawsuit, you should know which type of remedy you are seeking. Many people simply want monetary compensation for the grief caused by the other party’s breach of contract. Types of damages for breach of contract include:

Compensatory Damages - money to reimburse you for costs to compensate for your loss

Consequential and Incidental Damages - money for losses caused by the breach that were foreseeable (foreseeable damages are when each side reasonably knew that--at the time of the contract--there would be potential losses if there was a breach

Attorney Fees and Costs - only recoverable if expressly provided for in the contract Liquidated Damages - damages specified in the contract that would be payable if there is a fraud Punitive Damages - money given to punish a person who acted in an offensive and egregious manner

in an effort to deter that person and others from continuing to act in this way. You generally cannot collect punitive damages in contract cases.

The controlling law, the conduct of the violating party, and the extent of harm you suffered can influence which of these damages for breach of contract will be awarded in your situation. The more egregious and intentional the behavior, the greater the chance you have of being awarded larger, punitive damages. If the breach was unintended and arose from negligent behavior, you will probably receive compensatory or consequential damages.

Requesting Performance of the Contract

Sometimes money just cannot fix the problem. Instead of asking for damages, you can also seek actual performance or modification of performance of the original contract. Performance remedies for breach of contract include:

Specific Performance - a court order requiring performance exactly as specified in the contract; this remedy is rare, except in real estate transactions and other unique property, as the courts do not want to get involved with monitoring performance

Rescission - the contract is canceled and both sides are excused from further performance and any money advanced is returned

Reformation - the terms of the contract are changed to reflect what the parties actually intended

Pursuing Appropriate Remedies for Breach of ContractSome of these remedies for breach of contract may be limited by the contract. Before you file a lawsuit, you should review your contract for any limitations or notice requirements contained within your contract so that you do not accidentally waive any contractual remedies. Enforcing a contract with a lawsuit can be expensive. Before you make a final decision on which remedy you want to pursue and how you intend to obtain it, you should consider the cost-effectiveness of full litigation. Instead of jumping into a lawsuit, it may make more

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sense for the parties to agree on a form of alternative dispute resolution such as direct negotiation, mediation or arbitration. These avenues for obtaining a remedy may be more cost effective than simply filing a lawsuit and letting the court settle the dispute. Many communities now offer mediation and arbitration services for a nominal fee. 

If the breach of contract dispute involves a significant amount of damages, a wise option would be to retain an  experienced contract attorney  to help you propose settlement terms and to review any proposed settlements in advance. They can also help you draft pleadings so that you do not omit requests for certain remedies which you are entitled to by law or by contract. Even if you do not use an attorney to file a lawsuit, you may want to consult with an attorney to help you draft and finalize settlement documents. If your settlement does not include the particular remedy for breach of contract that you were seeking, you can accidentally forfeit your right to those remedies or damages.  

Q3. Distinguish between indemnity and guarantee.

Answer:The difference between a guarantee and an indemnity  

 

Introduction  

Guarantees and indemnities are both long established forms of what the law terms suretyship. There are important legal distinctions between them.

 

   

What is what?  

   

A guarantee is For example:

a promise to someone that a third party will meet its obligations to them “if they don’t pay you, I will”

An indemnity isa promise to be responsible for another’s loss, and to compensate them for that

loss on an agreed basis

For example: “if it costs you more than £250 to fix that, I will reimburse you the difference”.

 

 

   

Section 4 of the venerable Statute of Frauds Act 1677 requires guarantees to be in writing if they are to be enforceable. There is no such requirement in the case of an indemnity, although of course written agreement is always best as a matter of practice and for proof.

 

 

Further, a guarantee provides for a liability co-extensive with that of the principal. In other words, the guarantor cannot be liable for anything more than the client. The document will be construed as a guarantee if, on its true construction, the obligations of the surety are to “stand behind” the principal and only come to

 

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the fore once an obligation has been breached as between the principal and the financier. The obligation is a secondary one, reflexive in character.

   

An indemnity however, provides for concurrent liability with the principal throughout and there is no need to “look first” to the principal. In essence it is an agreement that the surety will hold the financier harmless against all losses arising from the contract between the principal and the financier.

 

   

It is not always obvious whether a clause or agreement is a guarantee or an indemnity.  

   

And an example...  

Some of the differences were highlighted by the Court of Appeal in the 2007 case Pitts and Ors v Jones.  

   

The appellants bringing the claim were minority shareholders in a company of which the other party was managing director and majority shareholder.

 

   

The majority shareholder had negotiated the sale of the company to a purchaser who had agreed to buy the shares of the minority at the same price.

 

   

The appellants were summoned to the sale completion meeting and were told that as part of the terms agreed their shares would be purchased after a delay of six months.

 

   

On being made aware of the risk of the purchaser becoming insolvent within this period they declined to sign the documents but relented when the majority shareholder undertook verbally to pay if the purchaser failed to do so.

 

   

The purchaser did subsequently become insolvent and could not pay for the minority shareholders’ shares, so they sued the majority shareholder on his undertaking to pay them.

 

   

The Court of Appeal found that, while all the other necessary elements of a legally binding contract were present (offer, acceptance, consideration and the intention to create legal relations), the undertaking given to the minority shareholders was unenforceable since it was a guarantee and was not in writing.

 

   

The minority shareholders lost the value of their shares and were left with no recourse.  

   

How to tell which is which  

Whether the security document is a guarantee or an indemnity (or both) is a matter of construction. There is a mass of case law on the distinction, but ultimately it comes down to the document in question.

 

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Considerations are as follows:

The words used; the fact that one label or another is used is not determinative but it may demonstrate what the parties were attempting to achieve;

Whether the document purports to make the surety liable for a greater sum than could be demanded under the principal contract, in which case the inference is that he is undertaking an obligation to indemnify;

Whether a demand upon the principal debtor is defined as a condition precedent to proceeding against the surety – in which case the document may well best be read as a guarantee;

An indemnity comprises only two parties- the indemnifier and the indemnity holder. A guarantee is a contract between three parties namely the surety, principal debtor and the creditor.

Q4. What is the distinction between cheque and bill of exchange.Answer:

Difference Between Bill of Exchange and Cheque/Check:Learning Objectives:

1. What is the difference between bill of exchange and cheque/check?

Cheque Bill of Exchange

It is drawn on a banker It may be drawn on any party or individual. It has three parties - the drawer, the drawee,

and payee. There are three parties - the drawer, the

drawee, and the payee. It is seldom drawn in sets Foreign bills are drawn in sets

It does not require acceptance by the drawee. It must be accepted by the drawee before he

can be made liable to pay the bill.

Days of grace are not allowed to a banker Three days of grace are always allowed to the

drawee. No stamp duty is payable on checks Stamp duty has to be paid on bill of exchange.

It is usually drawn on the printed f It may be drawn in any paper and need not

necessarily be printed.

Q5. Distinguish between companies limited by shares and companies limited by guarantee.

Answer:

Companies Limited by Guarantee and by Shares 

A company limited by guarantee is a lesser known type of business entity which is generally formed by non-profit purposes and has members instead of shareholders.

There are both some similarities and differences between the two groups.

Members and shareholders enjoy limited liability, however in cases where a share based company is

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liquidated; the latter might be required to pay all amounts of unpaid monies relating to the shares they hold.

For example, if an individual shareholder holds 100 shares of £1 each, all of which remains unpaid at the time of dissolution, then they would be required to pay £100 to the company.

Most companies limited by guarantee have a constitution which states that each member is only required to pay £1 should it be dissolved.

Assuming that an average shareholder holds more than one share in a company, members in a business limited by guarantee do appear to have less risk attached to their positions.

Profit Making Status

Perhaps the most fundamental difference between the two types of limited companies is that those with shares generally exist for profit making purposes.

Companies limited by guarantee however, are non-profit making organisations and are usually registered to provide a specified service to the public or a particular segment of the population.

The memorandum and articles of association of each would also differ as companies limited by shares usually have very general objects clauses which allow them to pursue any legal trade or activity.

Objects of companies limited by guarantee

Companies limited by guarantee however, often have very specific objects and detailed rules pertaining to which areas they can engage in.

Charities, which are often of this type, might have restrictions imposed on them by their major donors who wish to ensure that their donations will be spent according to their wishes and not in a manner

which they would not approve.

By having a defined set of objects, companies limited by guarantee which are seeking to raise funds might find it easier to do so because they would be able to demonstrate that sufficient restrictions

exist to protect the donor’s intentions.

Removing the Word Limited

Companies limited by guarantee can have the word “limited” removed from their name under section 30 of theCompanies Act.

Company directors, secretary and declarant

Both types of companies are bound by the same requirements to have at least one director, a secretary and adeclarant at the time of incorporation and throughout any period of its existence.

When forming a company limited by guarantee, members are listed in the same manner in which

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shareholders would be, even though no allotments are made to them.

Q6. What is the definition of cyber crime.

Answer:

There is a very old and correct saying that goes on to say that a coin has two sides. Like a coin almost every aspect of life has two sides. For example the most common example can be taken of the advent of technology and the crime associated with it. With the advent of time and technology, computers have formed an integral part of the working society. Computers along with them have brought greater work and time efficiency in the working circle of the society as a whole. But there comes the twist. Along with all the benefits that computers and technology have brought, there also comes the rising and alarming threat of cyber crime.Cyber crime in recent times has been credited along with a lot of attention by the general public, thanks to the almost impossible crimes committed by the hackers. The dangers that cyber crime is posing to computers and information in computers has been acknowledged by almost all the countries. Serious concern and alarm have been raised against the growing threat of cyber crime and its potential threat to the information possessed in the computers. The reason that cyber crime is posing a serious threat, is because of the reason that most countries around the world have no existing law that they can exert against cyber crimes. This leaves the businessmen and their business at the mere mercy of the technology that is being used by the businessmen in their business.

The only resort that the individuals have or can take against cyber crime is the way of self protection. Although self protection is the one step that people can take against cyber crimes, but still unfortunately it's not a full proof safe step. As hackers can easily hack through the computers of others, this makes the information stored in the computer more vulnerable to information leakage. One main reason why cyber crime has been gathering so much of attention, is because of the fact that cyber crime has no boundaries of working or occurring. Cyber crime have been reportedly breaching national barriers at ease there by jeopardizing the political and the defense strategies of the country in front of the other nations, as it has been reported that after committing the crime the hackers sell the leaked information to the rival countries for money.

The other reason as to why cyber crime is posing a serious threat is because of the fact that it is usually very hard to track the hackers as they operate together but from far and different places, making it harder for the law enforcers to track and find them. These hackers usually operate from different and far off places, sometimes even different countries making it almost impossible for anyone to track them. Thus national bodies and governments should operate together to make a legal framework and structure through which no hackers can slip through after committing cyber crime

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MBA IS- 3rd SEMMI0036 – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TOOLS

Assignment Set- 1  Q1. Define the term business intelligence tools? Briefly explain how the data from one end gets

transformed into information at the other end?

Answer:

Business intelligence (BI) is a wide category of applications and technologies which gathers, stores, analysis, and provides access to data.

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It helps enterprise users to make better business decisions. BI applications involve the activities of decision support systems, query and reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting, and data mining.

Business intelligence applications include: Mission-critical and important to an enterprise's functions or occasional to meet a unique requirement.

Enterprise-wide or restricted to one division, subdivision, or project.

Centrally started or driven by user demand.

Business Intelligence is a term used to refer a number of activities a company may undertake to gather information about their market or their competitors. Some of the activities are:

Competition analysis.

Market analysis.

Industry analysis.

Industrial intelligence.

Predictive analysis.

Online analysis.

Processing analysis.

Data mining.

Business performance management.

Benchmarking.

Text mining.

Business Intelligence (BI) provides in depth knowledge about performance indicators, such as: Customers

Competitors

Business counterparts

Economic environment

Internal operations The improvement in business pace allows a company to constantly grow in diverse market conditions. According to Microsoft’s vision of BI for using SQL server 2005, “BI is a method of storing and key enterprise data so that anyone in your company can quickly and easily ask questions of accurate and timely data.” Effective BI allows you to use information to realise why your business got the particular results, to decide on courses of action based on past facts, and to correctly project potential results. BI data is displayed in a way that it is suitable to each type of user, i.e., the specialists are able to see into detailed data, executives concentrate on timely summaries, and middle managers will look into data presented in detailed way which helps them to make good business decisions. Example: Microsoft’s BI uses cubes, rather than tables, to store information and presents information via reports. The information can be accessible to end users in a range of formats: Windows applications, Web Applications, and Microsoft BI client tools, such as Excel or SQL Reporting Services. It is important to give an explanation to the term insight. Insights are the final goals for authors, vendors and IT consultants, when commencing the BI projects. They are sometimes called ‘moments of clarity’ that drive forward the enterprise. When a business overview is presented by BI, it is possible to look at a previously unseen fact or aspect of the organization.

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The main challenge of Business Intelligence is to gather and serve planned information regarding all applicable factors which makes the business profitable and allows you to access that knowledge easily and efficiently and in result maximize the success of an organisation. Example: Accountant‟s Armoury: Work Inc2 is group finance company and Gavin Leverett is the planning director since January 2007. One of his primary priorities was to get a strong set of coverage and enquiry tools in place as quickly as possible. According to him consolidation and reporting tools are key weapons in the accountant‟s armoury. One of his first priorities was to get a strong set of reporting and inquiry tools in place. A priority for Leverett was to put business intelligence tools in a place that would automate the work involved in collecting the monthly profit and loss data from each business unit, consolidate it, and compare it against the corporate budget. During 2008, the company worked with its systems integration partner Datel to give finance staff the ability to report against data held in the company's customer relationship management system, also from Sage, to get visibility into Work Inc's sales pipeline. Tile manufacturer CP Group, used business intelligence tools to analyse profitability right down to the level of the individual product. This involved the accumulation of information held in several back-end systems, including product lists, customer databases and sales reports, into a single "cube" of data, based on the Applix TM1 online analytical programming engine. From there, the data was taken out to make pricing decisions for CP Group's extensive product line. The next step was to create annual budgets. After that, it was used to analyse stock management data, so that CP Group could produce more accurate demand forecasts, which enabled the company to decide how much raw material to buy. Further, the company had intranet-based dashboards to let different departments benefit from some of the insight mined by the finance department, alerting them to where they need to focus their efforts in order to meet financial targets.

As shown in figure data warehouse is designed for query and analysis rather than for transactional processing. It brings data from various sources providing leaders and decision makers‟ greater approach into the project. The key tools provided through BI solutions include:

Performance Management.

Enterprise Reporting and Data Mining.

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BI provides an integrated Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing solution that meets its business needs. These solutions give an organisation the ability to plan performance for business strategy, goals and objectives. Through the connection of performance to corporate goals, leadership can use the day-to-day data generated throughout their organisation to monitor key indicators and take decisions that make a difference. With performance management solution that uses accessible information to assume performance, an organisation can quickly determine. The performance management solution generally includes the concern of metrics and the way to track them, and the expansion of dashboards to successfully communicate the performance results.

Enterprise reporting provides the organisation with the information needed to check and control behaviour and the associated performance and Data mining is used to identify trends to identify its customers and the inter-relationships of organisation performance. It uses web-based tools and processes best suited to meet the needs of each organisation based on their size and needs.

Q. 2 what do you mean by data ware house? What are the major concepts and terminology used in the study of data warehouse?

Answer:

A Data warehouse is a part of the data warehousing system. It provides consolidated, accessible and flexible collection of data for end user analysis and reporting. The characteristics of data warehouse as defined by Inmon as ‘a subject-oriented, integrated, non-volatile, time variant collection of data that supports the decision making process of an organisation. He explains the terms in the above definition as:

Subject-Oriented: Data Warehouse is subject-oriented as the data gives information about a particular subject instead of about a company’s ongoing operation.

Integrated: Data Warehouse is integrated as the data is gathered from a variety of sources into the data warehouse and merged into a coherent whole.

Time Variant: Data warehouse is time-variant as all the data in it is identified with a particular time period.

Non-Volatile: Data is stable in a data warehouse. More data is added but data is never removed. Thus, the management can gain a constant picture of the business. Hence the data warehouse is non-volatile (long term storage).

Data warehousing is different from data warehouse. It is necessary to distinguish between the two. It can be distinguished as follows: Data warehousing comprises a complete architecture whereas the data warehouse is data stored in the form of fact tables, aggregated fact tables, and lookup fact tables.

Data warehousing provides tools for the end users to access collection of stored data whereas a data warehouse is a collection of data that support the decision making process of a management.

 Q.3     what are the data modeling techniques used in data warehousing environment?

Answer:

OLAP Data Modelling

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In the OLAP data model the data is viewed as data cube that consists of measures and dimensions as mentioned earlier. Each level of data in the dimension can be arranged as a hierarchy with levels of detail. For example, the dimension time can have levels such as days, months and years. Each level in the hierarchy will have specific values at a particular given instance. While viewing a database, a user can either move up or down to view less or more detailed information between levels. Aggregation and Storage Models The fundamental of multidimensional navigation of OLAP is cubes dimensions, hierarchy, and measures. When data is presented in this manner, users can use a complex set of data automatically. The ideology of OLAP is to provide consistent response times for all operations the users request for. The information summary is worked out before hand as the data is always collected at the detail level only. These pre-computed values are the basis of performance gains in OLAP. When OLAP technology began, few data warehousing dealers believed that the only solution for OLAP application is a specialised, non-relational storage model. Later, however, the dealers found that relational database management system (RDBMS) could be used for OLAP through database structures (Star and Snowflakes Schema), indexing and storing aggregates. They called their technology as Relational OLAP (ROLAP). Then the earlier traders adopted the name Multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP). MOLAP can perform better than ROLAP technology but has issues with scalability. ROLAP is scalable. Customers prefer ROLAP as it implements existing relational database technology. Hybrid OLAP (HOLAP) has been developed. It combines the best features of ROLAP and MOLAP architectures that are better performance and high scalability. Building the OLAP Data Model The challenge in building an OLAP data model is the mapping of the initial database model to the multidimensional model. This involves certain programming skill. OLAP database design has become an indispensable process in the development of OLAP products as it links with the OLAP technology being set up. As a result, OLAP database developers are specialised, which has led to high costs in developing applications which is concentrated at the data design stage.

 Q.4     Discuss the categories in which data is divided before structuring it into data warehouse?

Answer:

Data Mart is a subset of the collection of data of an organisation that is applicable to a specific set of users. It is generally oriented towards a specific purpose or a main data subject that may be shared to support business requirements. For example, the sales division data mart may confine its subject to items sold, number of items sold, profits and loss. Data marts are represented as one dimensional model or a star schema with the fact table and multidimensional table. The concept of data mart can be applied to any kind of data. It is basically designed to meet the immediate requirements and is appropriate. Data Marts can be classified as Independent data mart or Dependent data mart depending on the source of data. These can be defined as follows:

Independent data mart originates from data gathered from one or more operational systems or external information providers, or data gathered locally within a company or a particular area.

Dependent data mart originates from enterprise data warehouses.

Aspects of Data Mart

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We have been introduced to data mart and its concepts. Now let us look into the aspects of data mart which talks about the points to remember while using a data mart.

External Data: While using external data in a data mart, one may come across two issues. 1. If more than one data mart requires the same external data, then the external data should be

placed in the data warehouse and later moved on to the specific data mart. This reduces the data redundancy. It also avoids the other data marts from receiving this data.

2. While collecting external data, the ancestry of the data is expected to be saved as well. It includes the source, size and acquisition of external data; filtering and editing criteria of the data and so on.

Reference Data: The reference table enables the users to access data faster. It relates data in the data mart to its expanded version. These tables are stored in addition to basic data in data mart. The reference tables are copied over from data warehouses directly. In rare occasions data mart itself manages its reference tables. In DSS environment, the content of reference tables should be managed over time. Time management is a complex task which data warehouse can best manage.

Performance Issues: The performance factors differ in context with Decision Support System (DSS) and OLAP environment (to be discussed in the next section). The response time issue is entirely different- In DSS environment, the real time or online response is not as important as it is in OLTP systems. The response time can be loosened and can vary from 1 minute to 24 hours. This is applicable especially to data warehousing where there is abundance of data to be dealt with. It is not the same with data mart environment. In data mart, the data is specific and requirements are clear. Therefore, certain performance expectations can be set and achieved. For example, performance can be achieved by using star joins. In the case of multidimensional (MDDB) environment, the performance issues differ again. Better performance can be achieved if the MDDB is not overloaded. We can say that good performance in a data mart environment can be achieved by limiting volume of data, using star joins in indexes, and creating aggregated data, pre-joining tables and arrays of data.

Requirements Monitoring for a Data Mart: Monitoring the data mart behaviour at specific time intervals is necessary. Monitoring the data mart is indispensable when the data mart is growing significantly. In this context, by monitoring we mean the data usage and data content tracking.

There are certain queries to be dealt with where data usage is concerned. They are: What data is being accessed?

Who are the users who are active?

What is the quantity of data access?

What are the usage timings?

What is the best way to access?

The data content tracking has the following queries to be dealt with: What are the contents of the data mart?

Is there any bad data in the data mart?

How much is the data mart growing?

How fast is the data mart growing?

Security in the Data Mart: When there is confidential information in the data mart; care must be taken to protect it well. Confidential information includes financial information, medical records and

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human resources information. Such information can be protected using encryption and decryption, log on/off security, application security, DBMS security, and firewall.

 Q.5    Discuss the purpose of executive information system in an organization?

Answer:

The basic focus of the BI projects is technical-oriented rather than business-oriented. The reason for this is that most of the BI projects are run by IT project managers with minimal business knowledge. These managers do not tend to involve in business communities. Therefore, it is not surprising that most of the projects fail to deliver the expected business profits. It is vital to note that around 20% of businessmen use BI applications 80% of the time. Therefore, it is important to recognise the main business and technical representatives at the starting of a BI project in order to keep them motivated throughout the project. A BI project team should have involved the stakeholders from the following areas:

Business Executives: They are the visionaries who are aware of the organisational strategies. They have to help make main project decisions and have to be solicited for deciding the project’s direction at different stages.

Finance Department: This department is responsible for accounting and can give insight into the organisation’s efficiencies and development areas.

Marketing Personnel: They have to be involved during all the phases of the project because they are the key users of the BI applications.

Sales and Customer Support Representatives: They must have direct customer contact and need to able to present the customers’ view during a BI project. The customers can help recognise the final aims of the BI system. Acceptance of the products or the service strategies matters the most. The main business partners have to give a different view of the customer and solicit the information at the start of an ongoing basis.

IT Personnel: They support the operational systems and gives awareness about the accumulation of BI requests from the various groups. In addition to giving technical expertise, the IT staff in the BI project team should analyse and give BI-related requests.

Operations Managers and Staff: They can make planned business decisions which will link between the strategic and the operational data which makes it important during some key phases of the BI project.

Q.6 Discuss the challenges involved in data integration and coordination process?

Answer:

Obtaining the required data quickly and accurately to make decisions is the biggest challenge and the solution to this is Business Intelligence. There are many challenges that organisations face. There are 10 critical challenges that organisations should understand and address for the success of BI. The BI projects fail because of the following: Failure to identify BI projects as cross-organizational business initiatives, and to recognize that they vary from the typical standalone solutions.

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Unengaged business supporters or supporters who have little or no power in the enterprise.

Unavailable or unwilling business representation.

Lack of skilled and readily available staff, or sub-optimal staff employment.

No software release idea, that is, no iterative development method.

No work breakdown arrangement, that is, no methodology. No business analysis or standardisation activities.

No regard for the impact of dirty data on business gain.

No understanding of the requirement for and use of meta-data.

Too much reliance on different methods and tools. (Silver bullet syndrome) With BI, the business success is realised through fast, easy access to actionable data. This access is best achieved through suitable and correct insight into business conditions and customers, finances and markets. Successful BI is never an accident, the organisations attain it when they do the following: Make good decisions with better speed and confidence.

Streamline the operations.

Reduce the product development cycles.

Maximise the value from the existing product lines and predict new opportunities.

Create better and more focused marketing as well as better relationships with the customers and the suppliers alike.

We will discuss the challenges which organisations face while implementing Business Intelligence.