Monica looked quite frustrated when she entered the room.She had been undergoing a lot change since her last switch between two companies.She threw her carry bag on the table,took a soda from the fridge ,turned on the television and pushed herself back on the sofa.I was trying to complete an assignment but thought to sit with her for a while.
Me: Hi....How was office today?
Monica: Hey....T'was ok!!!! (Trying to open the soda as if it was the only thing that she wanted right now)
Me: That didn't look nice.Tell me whats going on with you.(I sat next to her)
Monica: (trying to remove the string of hair that kept falling on her face)Nothing.
Me: See ..you can play this game of "what happened-nothing"..forever..or what you can do is answer me right now and save us both ,the time.
Monica: I told you that it would be difficult for me to adjust in an IT company. I dont even know the basics...Like everyone was talking about "system architecture"..and I was'nt able figure it out what exactly did they mean.I just stood there pretending I understood everything but I know that it was other way round.
Me: Hmmmm...But why do you want to know about system architecture? You work in the sales division.
Monica: I just dont want to stand out there looking like a fool..And knowledge doesnt cause any harm.By the way if you dont have time to explain it to me then I can ask Nitin to do .
Me: Come on...Gal!!!!!!!tell me...what do you want to know?
Monica: Give me a brief idea what it is all about.(Turned towards me.Had one sip of soda and kept it on the table)
Me:I'll tell you in very simple words.Database describes what is to be processed and Applications tell How is it to be done.I guess you know what a database and an application is....(giggling)
Monica: I'll slap you if you tease me(trying to pull my hair)
Me: ok ..ok.!!!!!!Relax ! I was just kidding.There is a huge amount of data and there are various applications needed to play with that data.Now we have to make sure that these two dont get mixed up else there will be huge chaos.Therefore everything is arranged in such a manner that it is convenient and efficient as well.Even if they are on the same machine , they need to be separated. Now instead of keeping all the data on each machine,we have a server that keeps all the data and other computers are connected to this server so that they can access it as and when required.This makes up Local area Network.If this area is spread in a large amount of area and plenty of computers are attached to it then we call it WAN(wide area network).Are you getting it?
Monica: Yes..yes..carry on(folding her legs comfortably on the couch and seems to be interested)
Me: Ok..This we call as Client-Server architecture...Clients being the various computers attached to the server.To access these we need Oracle,Sql etc.On the client's end we have GUI-graphical user interface, that helps us to work on the machine.Now it has some demerits as well.Like It might be slow due to various machines trying to access the same server and the applications might need to be updated because we have newer versions coming up every now and then.
Next comes the Three tier architecture.In this ,at the server end, we keep the business application along with the data as it is common for the users.Business logic is kept central whereas presentation logic is kept locally.
Next is the INTERNET which we refer to as Multi-tier architecture.(walking towards the fridge).You need another soda?
Monica: Yes(smiling)!!
(I pulled out two chilled sodas and gave one to her)
Me:So..At the server we have data,business application,and web server.Now the clients just need to have the web browser to access the data.They need not even have the business applications .But this calls for an added disadvantage of security.For that we use firewalls in order to give access to only authorized person.
Now what corporate companies do is that they have this corporate database,enterprise application,and web server at one end,connected to this is a firewall server to protect from the web.
Monica: I guess thats enough for me today.Thank you! that was really helpful.
She stood up,had the soda in one go and went inside..I moved towards my table,opened the laptop and continued writing the assignment...
"Monica looked quite frustrated when she......"
