Information AboutThree-tier (computing) |
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In Computing , Three-tier is a Client-server Architecture in which the User Interface , Functional Process Logic ("business rules"), Data Storage and Data Access are developed and maintained as independent Module s, most often on separate Platform s. The term "three-tier" or "three-layer", as well as the concept of Multitier Architecture s, seems to have originated within Rational Software . The three-tier model is considered to be a Software Architecture and a Software Design Pattern . Apart from the usual advantages of modular Software with well defined interfaces, the three-tier architecture is intended to allow any of the three tiers to be upgraded or replaced independently as requirements or Technology change. For example, a change of Operating System from Microsoft Windows to Unix would only affect the user interface code. Typically, the user interface runs on a desktop PC or Workstation and uses a standard Graphical User Interface , functional process logic may consist of one or more separate modules running on a workstation or Application Server , and an RDBMS on a Database Server or Mainframe contains the Data Storage Logic . The middle tier may be multi-tiered itself (in which case the overall architecture is called an "n-tier architecture"). It seems similar, although defined in slightly different terms, to the Model-view-controller concept and the Pipes And Filters concept. Web services usage In the Web Service field, three-tier is used to refer to Website s, often Electronic Commerce websites, which are built using three tiers: # A front end Web Server serving static content # A middle dynamic content processing and generation level Application Server , for example Java EE platform. # A back end Database , comprising both data sets and the Database Management System or RDBMS software that manages and provides access to the data. SEE ALSO
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