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Downsizing With Client/server Computing
Source: Oracle Magazine Published: Jul 1990
An early champion of client/server computing, George Schussel explains how this technology can improve benefits and lower costs at the same time. Excerpts follow:
One of the best ways to downsize is by using the new generation of SQLbased client-server computing technologies from vendors such as Oracle, Sybase, Gupta and Novell. In the client-server model, the application is split between functions that execute on the client, a PC or workstation, and functions that run on the server, a multiuser data repository. Most application logic runs at the client desktop machine. When the application requires data, it generates the necessary SQL command and then passes high-level code to the communications facility. This facility then directs the SQL commands to the server, where the database request is executed.
The idea of managing data on a separate machine fits well with the management approach of treating data as a corporate resource. In addition to executing the SQL statement, the server handles security and provides for concurrent access to the data by many queries.
A benefit of using SQL client-server computing is that the hardware and software products supporting this approach are new and take advantage of the latest developments, such as application languages in a windowing environment. Another benefit is network efficiency. In traditional file-serving PC LAN approaches, the entire data file must be transmitted across a network to the client machine. With SQL as the basis for database management, this problem is resolved, since only the necessary query response data (a table) is transmitted to the client machine. SQL on the server also enables the implementation of advanced facilities, such as triggers and automatic procedures in the database.
