Compare and contrast two-tiered, three-tiered, and n-tiered client server architectures. What are the technical differences, and what advantages and disadvantages does each offer?

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Tiers are the logical components of an application that can be executed on the same or different physical or virtual servers.

Two-Tiered Client-Server Architecture

In 2-tier architecture the front-end user agent connects with the back-end database server without any intermediary. Since there is a dedicated session between the client and the database server there is no shared cache on the server. The logic processing and database access are both performed by the back-end server.

Example: A website hosted on a web server is 2-tier client-server architecture.

Three-Tiered Client-Server Architecture

There are three components in 3-tier architecture: a front-end client and a back-end application server and database servers. The back-end application server is an intermediary between the client and database servers. The application server executes the logic and maps client messages to the database access request. The client has a dedicated session to the application server; these sessions are multiplexed over shared sessions between the application server and the database servers for database access. A shared object cache is present on the database server to serve the multiple clients that have been multiplexed on the same session.

Example: A website with a separate database component is 3-tier client-server architecture.

N-Tiered Client-Server Architecture

In n-tiered architecture, the application is divided into n components that execute in separate process contexts. The client is a component that runs on the user terminal and the other components are created by dividing the back-end functionality of the application into logical granules. The logical granules are created according to the functionality and scalability requirements. Multiple applications and multiple database servers can be present in the back-end. In an n-tier (n > 3) application the presentation tier and the application tier are combined into a single-tier also called middle-ware and the client can communicate with the data tier via middle-ware.

Example: The online shopping cart is an example of n-tier client-server architecture.

Locks are configured to prevent data corruption in the database due to synchronous read and write operations for the same memory location from the single or multiple users. The communication between the front-end client application and the back-end server may be HTTP/SOAP+XML, JMS, DCOM or RMI/CORBA. The communication between the back-end server components may be DCOM, JDBC or RMI-GIOP/CORBA.

Feature	2-tier	3-tier	n-tier
Scalability	The number of sessions is limited.	A greater number of sessions is supported due to multiplexing between the 2nd and 3rd tiers.	The processing and storage requirements may vary with different tier configurations on the back-end.
Sessions	One session per client.	One session per client to the application server shared session between the application server and database server.	One dedicated session between front-end and back-end, dedicated or shared sessions between back-end components.
Back-end	Processing logic & database are combined into one server.	Processing logic & database are separate server applications.	Processing logic & database are separate or single server applications
Architecture	Simple, back-end is a single process.	Simple, the back-end is divided into two components with a shared session between them. Greater configuration flexibility and higher performance as compared to 2-tier architecture.	Complex, if n=1, it is a single process application For n>3, the back-end is divided into more than two components. Components can be upgraded independently.
Cache	There is no shared cache.	The shared object cache is present.	A shared object cache may be used between back-end components.

Difference between different client-server architectures

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Academic.Tips. (2021) 'Compare and contrast two-tiered, three-tiered, and n-tiered client server architectures. What are the technical differences, and what advantages and disadvantages does each offer'. 29 October.

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Academic.Tips. (2021, October 29). Compare and contrast two-tiered, three-tiered, and n-tiered client server architectures. What are the technical differences, and what advantages and disadvantages does each offer? https://academic.tips/question/compare-and-contrast-two-tiered-three-tiered-and-n-tiered-client-server-architectures-what-are-the-technical-differences-and-what-advantages-and-disadvantages-does-each-offer/

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Academic.Tips. 2021. "Compare and contrast two-tiered, three-tiered, and n-tiered client server architectures. What are the technical differences, and what advantages and disadvantages does each offer?" October 29, 2021. https://academic.tips/question/compare-and-contrast-two-tiered-three-tiered-and-n-tiered-client-server-architectures-what-are-the-technical-differences-and-what-advantages-and-disadvantages-does-each-offer/.

1. Academic.Tips. "Compare and contrast two-tiered, three-tiered, and n-tiered client server architectures. What are the technical differences, and what advantages and disadvantages does each offer?" October 29, 2021. https://academic.tips/question/compare-and-contrast-two-tiered-three-tiered-and-n-tiered-client-server-architectures-what-are-the-technical-differences-and-what-advantages-and-disadvantages-does-each-offer/.

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Academic.Tips. "Compare and contrast two-tiered, three-tiered, and n-tiered client server architectures. What are the technical differences, and what advantages and disadvantages does each offer?" October 29, 2021. https://academic.tips/question/compare-and-contrast-two-tiered-three-tiered-and-n-tiered-client-server-architectures-what-are-the-technical-differences-and-what-advantages-and-disadvantages-does-each-offer/.

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"Compare and contrast two-tiered, three-tiered, and n-tiered client server architectures. What are the technical differences, and what advantages and disadvantages does each offer?" Academic.Tips, 29 Oct. 2021, academic.tips/question/compare-and-contrast-two-tiered-three-tiered-and-n-tiered-client-server-architectures-what-are-the-technical-differences-and-what-advantages-and-disadvantages-does-each-offer/.

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