three-tier
A special type of client/server architecture consisting of three well-defined and separate processes, each running on a different platform:
1. The user interface, which runs on the user’s computer (the client).
2. The functional modules that actually process data. This middle tier runs on a server and is often called the application server.
3. A database management system (DBMS) that stores the data required by the middle tier. This tier runs on a second server called the database server.
The three-tier design has many advantages over traditional two-tier or single-tier designs, the chief ones being:
The added modularity makes it easier to modify or replace one tier without affecting the other tiers.
Separating the application functions from the database functions makes it easier to implement load balancing.
Read Also:
- through-hole technology
A design standard for constructing electronic circuits where the components are mounted using pins that are inserted into pre-drilled holes on the printed circuit board (PCB) on one side, and then soldered to pads on the opposite side. Contrast with surface-mount technology. See “What You Need to Know About Motherboards” in the Quick Reference section […]
- throughput
The amount of data transferred from one place to another or processed in a specified amount of time. Data transfer rates for disk drives and networks are measured in terms of throughput. Typically, throughputs are measured in kbps, Mbps and Gbps.
- thumbnail
)A miniature display of a page to be printed. Thumbnails enable you to see the layout of many pages on the screen at once. Generally, thumbnails are too small to show the actual text, so greeking is used to indicate how the text will look.
- Thunderbolt
Intel’s Thunderbolt input/output (I/O) technology is designed to connect high-performance peripherals and HD video displays via a single port using two communications methods, or protocols, PCI Express for data transfer and DisplayPort for displays. Thunderbolt provides data transfer rates up to 10 Gbps, which is 20 times faster than the USB 2.0 standard and 12 […]
- thunk
(v.) In PCs, to convert a 16-bit memory address to a 32-bit address, and vice versa. Thunking is necessary because Intel’s older 16-bit microprocessors used an addressing scheme called segmented memory, whereas their 32-bit microprocessors use a flat address space . Windows 95 supports a thunk mechanism to enable 32-bit programs to call 16-bit DLLs. […]