N-tier applications

This paper describes middleware for n-tier architecture, describes how this middleware is meeting the unique demands of Internet applications and e-commerce, and suggests selection guidelines to assist business managers in choosing appropriate types of middleware for n-tier systems that will meet their internet needs. Different types of middleware provide the functionality for addressing many distinct and disparate problems arising from the distributed processing associated with n-tier systems. This paper associates the type of middleware with the nature of the system being developed. Thie Internet has grown at a pace so rapid that technology has struggled to keep up. A communications medium that not long ago was read-only, text based-advertising has blossomed into full-scale client-server transaction processing. The conventional technologies that make client-S£;rver computing possible are limited in meeting the needs of the Internet. The purpose of this piapfjr is to describe the enabling technologies of n-tier architecture, describe how middleware is meeting the unique demands of Internet applications and e-commerce, and suggest selection guid(;lii].es that can assist business managers in choosing the correct mix of building blocks for n