2-Tier or 3-Tier Infrustructure

1. Mini case 1

The first alternative is the type of client-server application architecture. That is the client sides have the presentation logic, the application logic and functions. The server which in the case is the DRUB, holds the data storage and data access logic function for the clients to view, download, and analysis. Based on the the case, tool developed in C++ that clients will download onto their computers to run. The tool will communicate with the DRUB server to select data to analyze, so the application logic is on the client side, so is a thick-client architecture. More efficient because the distributed processing between client and server, the cost of infrastructure is lower, allow the software and hardware from different vendor to be used together. The cons are: difficult in getting software from different vendor to work together smoothly, may need middleware or higher tiers to face the future more complicated categories.

The second alternative is the type of thin client type client-server architecture. That is the client side which is the browser they use, have the Presentation logic and, the server side has the data access, data storage and application logic functions. The pros of this kind of architecture are: Little or no application logic on client, easier to manage (only the server application logic generally needs to be updated). Also, the cons are: The Heavily loaded network: More distributed processing necessitates more data exchanges and becomes more difficult to program and test due to increased complexity.

I recommend the Web-Server application architecture (Thin), not only because it is popular in the recent market, but also it can improve the efficiency, also has higher scalability.

2. Mini Case 2

SMTP means simple mail transfer protocol. It is a text-based e-mail protocol. A SMTP-based two tier client-server architecture is like this: the client have application software like installed, and use it to receive and send e-mail...