CHAPTER 2: MINI-CASE I. DEALS-R-US BROKERS (PART 1)
Question 1: Classify the two alternatives in terms of what type of application architecture they use.

a. The first suggested solution is a client-based architecture since it’s the client that tells the server what data to select to analyze, making the client perform most of the work. b. The later architecture is two-tier Client-Server architecture since it requires an application layer, in this case, a web browser and all processing is done by the server. The server is responsible for the data and the client, the application and presentation. Using the web browser the client will talk to the web server using HTTP standard.

Question 2: Outline the pros and cons of the two alternatives and make a recommendation to Fred about which is better.
Solution 1: Client-based Pros 1. This method will be much more inexpensive to implement as micro-computers are considerably cheaper versus mainframe. 2. Hardware devices from different manufacturers/platforms can function together on the same network.
Solution 1: Client-based Cons 1. Data always flows through the network between the client and the server. 2. So much data traffic on the network between client and host could put a significantly slow down the network thereby affecting performance and response time.
Solution 2: Two-Tier Client-Server Pros 1. Performance in this method will be better as processing is distributed to multiple machines (in this case, multiple web servers). 2. The cost of infrastructure is low as they place less of a load on networks and thus require less network capacity.
Solution 2: Thin-Client Cons 1. More expensive as more web-servers will be involved. 2. Slower in processing compared to solution one as processing over the network is much slower that that fully downloaded and processed locally.