Client-Server Networking: SOme basic features
Client-Server Networking: SOme basic features
A computer network in which one centralized, powerful computer (called the server) is a hub to which many less powerful personal computers or workstations (called clients) are connected. The clients run programs and access data that are stored on the server. Let's understand some basic features of a client-server network architecture in detail.
We discussed client server in detail in the earlier article - Client-Server Networking: Function-Based Network Classification. We continue with the basic features of Client server model in this article.
Clients are interconnected by local area networks and share application processing with network servers, which also manage the networks. Client and Server can operate on separate computer platforms.
Either the client platform or the server platform can be upgraded without having to upgrade the other platform.
The server is able to service multiple clients concurrently; in some client/server systems, clients can access multiple servers.
Action is usually initiated at the client end, not the server end.
The network system implemented within the client/server technology is commonly called by the computer industry as Middleware. Middleware is all the distributed software needed to allow clients and servers to interact. General Middleware allows for communication, directory services, queuing, distributed file sharing, and printing.
Some of the prominent characteristics of C/S architecture are as follows:
Service
C/S provides a clean separation of function based on the idea of service. The server process is a provider of services and the client is a consumer of services.
Shared Resources
A server can service many clients at the same time and regulate their access to the shared resources.
Transparency of Location
C/S software usually masks the location of the server from the clients by redirecting the service calls when needed.
Mix-and-Match
The ideal C/S software is independent of hardware or Operating System software platforms.
Scalability:
In a C/S environment, client workstations can either be added or removed and also the server load can be distributed across multiple servers.
Integrity:
The server code and server data is centrally managed, which results in cheaper maintenance and the guarding of shared data integrity. At the same time, the clients remain personal and independent.
Issues in Client/Server Network
(i) When the server goes down or crashes, all the computers connected to it become unavailable to use.
(ii) Simultaneous access to data and services by the user takes little more time for server to process the task.
Well, that's it on Client server model. We shall discuss in detail about Peer to Peer model in the next article. Stay tuned for that.
And like always, if you have any concerns, doubts or suggestions just click on ask questions at the left panel of your screen.
Thank You.
