A web-based database architecture provides access to a database using a web brow

Question

A web-based database architecture provides access to a database using a web browser as the client. Complete the reading assignment and research database access using web-based technologies. Start a discussion thread that explores some aspect of this topic. For example, you could discuss how this technology works and what is required, or compare it with customized client software used to access network databases through its own graphical user interface. You might want to examine what information is required to connect to a database over the network. Please cite your references. Remember that you are the moderator of your thread. Try to give other students something to think about and respond to. Read all threads and respond to at least two.

Explanation / Answer

Imagine a person on a desktop computer who uses Microsoft Access to load up a list of personal addresses and phone numbers that he or she has saved in MS Windows' “My Documents†folder. This is an example of a one-tier database architecture. The program (Microsoft Access) runs on the user's local machine, and references a file that is stored on that machine's hard drive, thus using a single physical resource to access and process information.

Another example of a one-tier architecture is a file server architecture. In this scenario, a workgroup database is stored in a shared location on a single machine. Workgroup members use a software package such as Microsoft Access to load the data and then process it on their local machine. In this case, the data may be shared among different users, but all of the processing occurs on the local machine. Essentially, the file-server is just an extra hard drive from which to retrieve files.

Yet another way one-tier architectures have appeared is in that of mainframe computing. In this outdated system, large machines provide directly connected unintelligent terminals with the means necessary to access, view and manipulate data. Even though this is considered a client-server system, since all of the processing power (for both data and applications) occurs on a single machine, we have a one-tier architecture.

One-tier architectures can be beneficial when we are dealing with data that is relevant to a single user (or small number of users) and we have a relatively small amount of data. They are somewhat inexpensive to deploy and maintain.

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