Lakshmi Priya Vijay: How Data Met Algorithms... :-)

A glance at the title of the post would have cast a shining smile on the face of the millions of “How I Met Your Mother”( HIMYM) fans. And, to those who are still to be enlightened on it, guys, this famous American sitcom that premiered on CBS unfolds the social life of Ted Mosby and his friends Marshall Eriksen,, Lily Aldrin, Robin Scherbatsky and Barney Stinson and is set in Manhattan. HIMYM is a voiceover narration by the main character, Ted, in the year 2030 to his son and his daughter, the events that led to his meeting their mother. Special thanks to Craig Thomas, Carter Bays and Pamela Fryman for the wonderful job!

Well, this post is meant to “enlighten” you further (kindly bear with me…)… I begin the story of “How Data Met Algorithms” with the advice : Watching at least a season of HIMYM would (no “Marketing” intended…) help you understand the post better.

Ted, an Architect by passion and profession (a graduate of Wesleyan University) had heard about “Systems Architecture” from his friend Barney. After the lecture from the great orator, it was very easy for him to explain the same to his kids who wanted to hear “The WWW Story”!

So Dad Ted is all set out here teaching his kids on the topic …who are, as usual, sitting on the same sofa (you know, this magical sofa has always given them better listening power! )

And Ted begins...in his usual opening dialogue…

Ted: Kids, I've been telling you the story of how I met your mother…this time let me explain “How Data Met Algorithms”. You guys have been playing games and watching cartoons on the computer all the time. Have you thought about the use of computers at my office?

Son: Dad… that’s why we are here…

Ted: Oh yeah… so kids…me, the Architect was unaware of “The WWW Story” until one day your LEGEN…wait for it…DARY Uncle Barney, who then was working at the Goliath National Bank, explained to me how these computers helps us a lot in office, where we have a lot of raw data which is required for carrying out our day to day work. This data has to be processed in different ways to make our work faster and easier.

Daughter: That’s quite interesting to Dad… I am eager to hear more about it.

Ted: Good to hear sweetie... As you know there are a lot of employees in every company. The employees in the organization who simultaneously work need a lot of inputs from each other.

Son: So Dad, does the computer connect you all?

Ted: Bravo…you got it… you are simply Legendary my dear… But there is a small correction…The computer is a part of the big chain called the System which can be the Internet, WAN,LAN etc.. And kids…like my building drawings; this system has an “Architecture” which does the magic of connecting. This is popularly known as “System Architecture”.

Daughter: Dad, you mean to say that if this architecture wasn’t there you had to run from one colleague to another to get the required inputs.

Ted: Exactly my dear… You guys make me feel so proud.

Son: Dad why don’t you explain what the architecture consist of. I mean… other than the computer…

Ted: Okay… computers as you know, is made of hardware and software. Also, there is Data and Program. Programs process data to give useful results. This system consists of two things, the Database or what to be processed and Applications or how it is to be processed.

Son: We know that Dad... could you explain the Architecture?

Ted: Basically, the Architecture is the connection of the hardware, software, database servers and some client computers.

Depending on the complexity level, the System Architecture has been classified into a few.

The first and the simplest is the Single Tier Architecture. Here all the data and the applications are stored in a single computer.

The different files and documents that you have in the computer is the data and the different games, video players include the application.

In such a system the data in a single computer could be used by only one user.

Daughter: But in your office as you said so many people exchange data. How is that possible Dad?

Ted: Exactly. Such a requirement gave birth to Two Tier Architecture. The simple diagram of this kind of an architecture looks like this.

Here, the data and applications are separated, the data being stored in one server and the client computers are separate entities having the applications. That enables a lot of employees at the office to simultaneously work on the same data or files.

Son: Dad, do we have more complex architectures?

Ted: Yes son, in huge organizations operating worldwide, the Three Tier Architecture is used which looks like this.

Here, there are three layers – Central Data server, Business Logic Server and Client Server. The new server here called the Business logic server controls the functioning of the applications used by the users and it processes the whole of the data.

And kids, this is how the internet works. If the internet is used as the network, we require a web browser where web server is included between the Application server and the client machines. This web server connects the application server and the client machines which look like this.

A consolidated figure looks like this: