Analysis of N-Tier Architecture Applied to Distributed-Database Systems

N-tier architecture has been more commonly used as a methodology for developing large database applications. This work evaluates the use of this architecture instead of the classical Client/Server architecture in developing corporate applications based on distributed databases. The comparison between architectures is performed using applications that execute transactions similar to those defined in the Transaction Process Council Type C benchmark (TPC-C). The environment used for development and testing was the AFIT Bimodal Cluster (ABC); a heterogeneous cluster of PCs, running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 OS. The comparative experimental analysis demonstrated that the N-tier architecture allows more efficient bandwidth utilization between client and server machines, with similar performance. Results led to conclusion that the N-tier architecture is better suited than the Client/Server for use in corporate systems interconnected by low bandwidth Wide Area Networks (WANs), such as the Internet