The Client/Server Database Environment

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Over the last thirty plus years, in which computer software applications have been vital to business operations, the concept of client/server applications has evolved. In the early 1980’s the term, Client/Server, primarily referenced capabilities of new powerful centralized hardware. The computer world is different today and the concept is better defined as a system where the different logical components are separated from each other. The first of the three basic logical components is the Presentation Logic. The Presentation Logic is what is shown to the end user and handles the inputs and outputs of the underlying application. The second logical component is the Processing Logic. The Processing Logic handles all of the Input and Output processing and contains all of the business rules and logical processing that drives the system. The final logical component is the Storage Logic, which is where the data is stored and retrieved from and often takes the form of a database. These three components can be found in any type of Client/Server database environment.

How these logical components are grouped together forms the basis of a layering approach to a client/server system. The most basic of these is called a One-tier application, where all three logic components are grouped together as part of the client software. In this configuration each client “application has its own copy of the database engine; only the data is shared, not the database logic itself.” (Fastie, 1999) This type of system is easy to develop but has several drawbacks when many users are using it. To overcome these shortcomings, most applications do not use the One-tier environment and instead use a Two-tier or Three-tier environment to separate the di...

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...Server application it is important to examine the different types that are available and how the system will be used. While a One-tier environment may be easy to develop, it may lead to complications down the road when a new interface layer is desired. The same is true for two-tier environments, if too much of the application layer is included inside the client application. However, including the wrong application processing hosted on the server could lead to performance problems and require expensive server hardware to handle client requests. It is important to remember that no one client/server environment will be perfect for all applications.

Works Cited

Fastie, W. (1999, February 9). Understanding Client/Server Computing. PC Magazine, 229. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.portal.lib.fit.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA54221060&v=2.1&u=melb26933&it=r&p=CDB&sw=w

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