Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The term “client/server” refers to a logical architecture that describes a way of subdividing tasks among processors in a network. Client/server applications and systems are distinguished from other logical architectures (such as hierarchical and peer‐to‐peer) by dividing tasks into two components: a client with which the user is generally in direct contact and a server that performs relatively standardized tasks for a set of clients. Multiple clients can be programmed to use the results of server activities; a single client can access one or more servers to perform a variety of tasks. Frequently, a personal computer or workstation is used for the client, while a workstation, minicomputer, mainframe, or supercomputer is used for the server. However, the logical client/server design can be implemented with other hardware patterns and may also be implemented on a single machine. One computer within a network can host both client and server programs. Middleware is generally required to provide communication routes for client requests to servers and server responses to clients. The simplest version of client/server architectures are organized in two tiers with clients interacting directly with servers; however, more robust designs use three or more tiers to provide queues, application processing, or other services ( www.sei.cmu.edu/str/descriptions/clientserver_body.html ). The client/server ... log in or subscribe to read full text