MIS - CLIENT/SERVER COMPUTING

Client/Server is a term used to describe a computing model for the development of computerized systems. This model is based on the distribution of functions between two types of independent and autonomous processors: servers and clients. A client is any process that requests specific services from server processes. A server is a process that provides requested services for clients.Client and server processes can reside in the same computer or in different computers connected by a network. To truly understand how much of the Internet operates, including the Web, it is important to understand the concept of client/server computing. The client/server model is a form of distributed computing where one program (the client) communicates with another program (the server) for the purpose of exchanging information.

The client's responsibility is usually to:

• Handle the user interface.
• Translate the user's request into the desired protocol.
• Send the request to the server.
• Wait for the server's response.
• Translate the response into "human-readable" results.
• Present the results to the user.

The server's functions include:

• Listen for a client's query.
• Process that query.
• Return the results back to the client.

A typical client/server interaction goes like this:

• The user runs client software to create a query.
• The client connects to the server.
• The client sends the query to the server.
• The server analyzes the query.
• The server computes the results of the query.
• The server sends the results to the client.
• The client presents the results to the user.
• Repeat as necessary.