Mumbai University > Information Technology > Sem4 > Computer Networks

Topic : Application layer & Presentation Layer

Marks : 10M

Year : May 18

Client

A client is a single-user workstation that provides presentation services, database services and connectivity along with an interface for user interaction to acquire business needs.

Server

A server is one or more multi-user processors with a higher capacity of shared memory which provides connectivity and the database services along with interfaces relevant to the business procedures.

Client/Server computing provides an environment that enhances business procedures by appropriately synchronizing the application processing between the client and the server.

Characteristics of The Client And The Server

Service: The client/server is basically a relationship between processes running on distributed devices, server process considered as a supplier of services where the client process is a consumer of services. Briefly, this methodology provides a separation of functionalities subject to offered services.

· Resource sharing: A server is eligible of handling clients simultaneously, controlling the service access for the resources.

Inter- Communication via messages: Interaction between clients and servers is obtained through a message-passing mechanism mainly to deliver service requests and responses.

· Encapsulation of services: A server is specialized in satisfying client requests varyingly and can be upgraded without affecting its external environment (clients, shared resources) as long as the message broadcasting interface remains the same.

· Scalability: Client/Server systems can be scaled horizontally or vertically. Horizontal scaling implies the addition or removal of client workstations with a minor impact in performance. Migration to more efficient servers or dividing the work load over numerous servers is considered as vertical scaling.

· Integrity: Since the server code and server data is managed centrally, maintenance cost is less and results in shared data consistency and undependability of clients.