Section 9

Mobile database case study

Objectives
The previous two sections have dealt with the theory of distributed data, mobile
issues associated with distributed data and potential Oracle technologies used to
support this domain.
This section takes a more practical view, and by using the course case study, seeks
to map the theory into the case study.

Introduction
Make sure you are familiar with the Staffordshire Food Haulage Limited case study,
as this section will expect you to design an appropriate mobile solution to for this
case study.
Client Server based
Self Study Activity 1
Imagine that the management of Staffordshire Food Haulage Limited have
employed you as a technical consultant to undertake an appraisal of their current
mobile data solution.
They have strongly suggested to you that the system they require should be client
server based running on hand held devices.
Produce a bullet point style list of the positives and negatives of implementing
such a system.
Would you recommend this system to the management?
Prepare a one paragraph executive summary of your decision.
Fully replicated data
Self Study Activity 2
The management of Staffordshire Food Haulage Limited has taken aboard your
comments about using just a client server approach to data access, and have
decided that a different approach is perhaps what they need.
They have suggested to you that the system that they now require should be an
application that has all the mobile users required data on it, and still running on
hand held devices.
Produce a bullet point style list of the positives and negatives of implementing
such a system.
Would you recommend this system to the management?
Prepare a one paragraph executive summary of your decision.

Hybrid approach
Self Study Activity 3
The management of Staffordshire Food Haulage Limited have appraised your
comments from your second report, and have decided that a third approach is
what they need.
They have suggested to you that the system that they require now should be an
application that has some the mobile users required data on it. If the users
require additional data some form of remote access will be needed. The
management still feel that the required application will run on hand held devices.
Produce a bullet point style list of the positives and negatives of implementing
such a system.
Would you recommend this system to the management?
Prepare a one paragraph executive summary of your decision.
Conclusions
There are no right answers for the 3 scenarios covered above.
There are some answers that will cause the full range of functionality not to be
achieved or giving performance issues that cause the mobile user not to be able to
utilise the full range of functionality within the application.
Discussion
The following sections will attempt to give an overview of the issues from each of
the sections, but these are not an exhaustive list.
Client Server approach
Self Study Activity 1
Imagine that the management of Staffordshire Food Haulage Limited have
employed you as a technical consultant to undertake an appraisal of their current
mobile data solution.
They have strongly suggested to you that the system they require should be client
server based running on hand held devices.
Produce a bullet point style list of the positives and negatives of implementing
such a system.
Would you recommend this system to the management?
Prepare a one paragraph executive summary of your decision.

Discussion
Positives
Technically this will be the easiest approach to take. The mobile user will simply
login into the central server via their mobile device, perform whatever data
accesses they require and log off.
The central database server will have an accurate record of all transactions, as the
mobile user will only be able to accomplish this operation whilst connected to the
database server.
The application will have a lower footprint on the mobile device, only requiring the
client server application installed on it. There will be no need for additional data
storage or additional memory for the local database, as there is no requirement
for it.
Any complex arithmetic or processing will be performed on the server, freeing up
resources on the mobile device, and perhaps increasing the battery life of the
machine.
Negatives
The major drawback of this approach is that it requires an (near) instantaneous
network connection. Without this style of connection the remote mobile user will
not be able to perform the operations required.
There is no local data store with this approach, so any data access will have a
time lag whilst the connection is made and the data is acquired.
The speed of the network will be a factor, the slower the connection the slower
the application will appear to before slower than expected.

Fully distributed approach

Self Study Activity 2
The management of Staffordshire Food Haulage Limited has taken aboard your
comments about using just a client server approach to data access, and have
decided that a different approach is perhaps what they need.
They have suggested to you that the system that they now require should be an
application that has all the mobile users required data on it, and still running on
hand held devices.
Produce a bullet point style list of the positives and negatives of implementing
such a system.
Would you recommend this system to the management?
Prepare a one paragraph executive summary of your decision.

Discussion
Positives
A major positive to this approach is that the mobile user has full access to the
data that they require.
All the required data in stored locally, all access is local and therefore the mobile
user is only reliant on the mobile device.
Negatives
There are a number of major disadvantages to this approach.
The first is that the user needs a full copy of the database of their mobile device.
Depending on the size of the data, this could require a large amount of data
storage (in terms of disc space and memory).
Another major disadvantage is deciding if the data on the mobile device is
accurate and up to date. The mobile device could be synchronised every night by
placing into a docking station, and allowing automatic database processes to
replication or update any data changes. Therefore, you could guarantee that at
the point the mobile user takes the mobile device from the docking station that
they have a complete and accurate copy of the database.
Depending on the business logic, it is entirely feasible for the mobile user not to
need access to the data server during their working day. This depends on how
volatile the data is. Using the case study as the basis for the decision you could
argue that this could be a feasible approach, depending on how much and often
the buyers purchase goods. The organisation probably only needs to purchase a
certain level of goods, once that target have been achieved, no more goods of
that type should be bought.
Perhaps the final positive is also a negative; the mobile user is reliant on the
mobile device, and all associated issues.

Hybrid approach
Self Study Activity 3
The management of Staffordshire Food Haulage Limited have appraised your
comments from your second report, and have decided that a third approach is
what they need.
They have suggested to you that the system that they require now should be an
application that has some the mobile users required data on it. If the users
require additional data some form of remote access will be needed. The
management still feel that the required application will run on hand held devices.
Produce a bullet point style list of the positives and negatives of implementing
such a system.
Would you recommend this system to the management?
Prepare a one paragraph executive summary of your decision.

Discussion
The ideal approach would probably contain the best elements of both sections and
solve the issues concerned with the negative aspects of the two.
The major advantage of this approach is that the user has access to whatever
data they require, when they need it. The central data server has a timely copy of
whatever data updates the mobile user has performed during the day.
The major drawback on this approach is that it introduces a far more complex
architecture, and that not allowing data items to vary requires checking of the
data server.
There has also been an assumption that the organisation has a single data server,
which introduces a single point of failure, which is a different issue.

Summary
Computer science is still relatively immature and yet perhaps like no other science
the demands made of the infant often outstretch the capabilities. Whilst the
desktop model has achieved some significant improvements both in terms of
deliverables and the underpinning principles by which they are constructed, the
mobile model is still barely out of the incubator.
Any real solution will depend on:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)

what existing hardware infrastructure the organisation already has

the budget available
the available mobile network
the characteristics of the mobile network
what functionality the software supports
what functionality the database management systems supports

It is fine in theory to design a logical view of any application and system, but the
physical constraints placed on it by the various components that comprise the
system will need careful consideration.