3-Tier Architecture
Chandrasekaran Rajagopalan Cs6704 11/01/99
Emergence
File Sharing Architecture Client/Server architecture Two-Tier Architecture Three-Tier Architecture
File Sharing Architecture
Server downloads files from shared location to Desktop environment Job is run at the desktop environment Works if
Shared usage is low Data transferred is low Contention is low
File-Server Architecture
Client/Server Architecture
Database server to replace File server Query based approach Reduced traffic, since required content is only transferred Improves multi-user updating RPC or SQL typically used
Two-Tier Architecture
Example of C/S Architecture Improves scalability over File Sharing Architecture Consists of 3 components
User system interface Processing Management Database Management
Two Tier Architecture
Two-Tier Architecture
Limitations
Performance deteriorates if number of users is greater than 100 Restricted flexibility and choice of DBMS, since data language used in server is proprietary to each vendor Limited functionality in moving program functionality across servers
Three-Tier Architecture
To overcome the limitations of Two-Tier Architecture Middle tier between UI and DB Ways of incorporating Middle-Tier
Transaction processing Monitors Application Servers Message Servers
3-Tier with a TP Monitor
Online access through
Time sharing or Transaction Processing
Client connects to TP instead of DB Monitor accepts transaction, queues it and takes responsibility until it is completed Asynchrony is achieved
3-Tier with a TP Monitor
Key services provided by the monitor
ability to update multiple different DBMS in a single transaction connectivity to a variety of data sources, including
flat files non relational DBMS mainframe
more scaleable than a 2-tier approach ability to attach priorities to transactions robust security For large (e.g., 1,000 user) applications, a TP monitor is one of the most effective solutions.
3-Tier With a Messaging Server
A message is a self-contained element (treated as objects) Message knows what it is,where to go, what to do (Intelligent) Contains two parts
Message header
Address, id and priority
Body of the Message
Messaging Systems
Designed for robustness Independent from underlying technologies (wired or wireless protocols) Use store& forward logic and provide message delivery after and around failures Don’t require persistent connection between Client and Server Easier to move to ORB-based 3TAs
Differences between monitor based and message based architectures
Transactions
Middle Tier
Dumb Vs Intelligent Less flexible Vs More flexible
Portability
Less portable Vs More portable (Reason: middle layer not abstract from other layers)
3 Tier with an Application Server
Most of Application’s business logic is moved to Shared host server PC is used only for presentation services Approach is similar to X Architecture
Both aim at pulling the main body of application logic off the desktop and running it on a shared host.
3 Tier with an Application Server
Advantages to Application Designer
Less software on client, hence less to worry about security Application is more scalable Less software maintenance cost Easier to design the application to be DBMS-agnostic Allows “after the fact” application partitioning
3-Tier With an Object DBMS
Using ODBMS as Middle layer ODBMS acts as “hot Cache” Retrieve, assemble and Store persistent until required
For Generalized form of storage in DBMS (server) may be inadequate for specific application E.g: Voice or Video not supported by RDBMS
Distributed/Collaborative Enterprise Architectures
Based on ORB technology Goes beyond CORBA by using shared, reusable business models(not just objects) Applications built with “plug & play”components Performance tuning can be made, by transferring processes
Distributed/Collaborative Enterprise Architectures
same interface can be used for building a desktop, single location application or a fully distributed application application can be developed and tested locally technical issues like queuing, timing and protocols aren't an issue for the application developer
Future ?
References
http://news.dci.com/geos/ http://javaexchange.com/dcb_white.html http://www.sei.cmu.edu/str/descriptions/
Distributed/Collaborative Enterprise Architectures Two Tier Software Architectures Three Tier Software Architectures Middleware Client Server Software Architectures