Networking in a Client Environment - Essay Example

?NETWORKING IN A CLIENT/SERVER ENVIRONMENT Networking in a Client/Server Environment Affiliation In the past few years the use of computers has increased to an amazing extent for the reason that they offer a large number of facilities and capabilities for all the areas of life. In this scenario, a computer is utilized in different ways however the basic purpose is to collect, process, and store business related or personal data. When the size of an organization increases or it expands its business operations it requires a number of people to enter and process data simultaneously. In this scenario, they need to form a computer network (Nash, 2000, p. 5; Sanati, 2011). This paper presents an analysis of client/server networking environment. This paper discusses some of the advantages and applications of client/server based networks. As its name indicates, a client/server networking environment is based two logical parts: a server and a client. In this scenario, a server is used to provide services to the client on the other hand a client that requests services of the server. Additionally, both the client and server form a joint network environment with a diverse partition of accountability and tasks. In their paper, (Lewandowski, 1998) relate the concept of client/server networking a consumer/producer relationship where a client performs the role of a consumer in a client/server system while the job of a produce is performed by the server. To be precise, clients establish connection with servers with the intention of getting information or services and then use the feedback to complete their own task. Throughout the network architecture, the server continuously serves as the producer, providing services and information to clients in response to their requests. In addition, the networks based on a client / server architecture attempts to support or improve the functionalities and operations of the networks utilized by usual business organizations that have a limited number of dedicated servers and a number of moderately dominant workstations. Additionally, in the past few years, client/server networking environment has become very popular among industries because of the development of economical and low-priced equipments and the more and more obvious fact of the supposition that a framework formed on huge applications fails when a large number of functionalities and processes are integrated into a single system or when the number of people using a network increases too high (Lewandowski, 1998). Figure 1 demonstrates the working of a client/server network. In our daily lives we regularly use ATM (automated teller machine) to check our account balance or withdraw desired amount. Actually, a simple ATM network is an excellent example of a client/server environment. In this scenario, users normally make use of this automated teller machine as a client to connect with a small sub-server that works together with a larger server, which is responsible for managing all the sub-servers. In this scenario, the sub-servers can be acknowledged as clients to the master server and servers to the ATMs. In addition, these intermediate servers support the application logic, for instance transferring money between accounts and checking account balances while ATMs present the user interface and can be used according to need (such as for multilingual support). In view of the fact that by adding more servers we can increase the number of ATMs to be supported hence the sub-servers allow the system to be balanced. On the other hand, the centralized server can provide the application logic. Additionally, the users can see the results of the services through the ATMs. Moreover, the centralized server offers extra application logic, for instance making sure that synchronized transactions are managed in the approved manner. Furthermore, it also performs the role of a central brokerage for all account information with the intention that users can be able to access their accounts from any ATM throughout the world (Lewandowski, 1998; Jing, Helal, & Elmagarmid, 1999). In addition, the client-server networking environment differs between devices as well as applications. In this scenario, clients in the network send requests to a server by transmitting messages, and servers answer their clients by fulfilling each request and returning results. In a client/server environment, one server can be used to handle requests of a number of clients, and several servers can be connected together in the form of a group to deal with the increased processing load as the size of the network increases (Mitchell, 2013). Both the elements of a client/server network are discussed below: Clients Basically, clients are provided with an up to date and easy to use graphical user interface (GUI) through which a user can access any resource as an independent object. In this scenario, the user interfaces are supported through the operating system with the intention that reliability across a wide variety of applications is sustained. Additionally, one of the simplest examples of a GUI is the most common desktop metaphor which demonstrates file, printer and storage device as an autonomous icon and entities. However, services can be provided between different clients or they can share services with each other. Moreover, the standard models of client/server environment do not pose any restriction on the number of servers accessible to a client at the same time. Servers As discussed above, servers are systems that submissively wait for requests coming from clients and then perform actions to provide them with required services or information. However, current studies and experiments in this discipline covers systems satisfying the abstract association of client/server computing in which servers have the capability to dynamically discover variations in the position of clients and take suitable action accordingly. It is an admitted fact that servers carry out one particular task for which they are implemented and incorporated only the specified services in order that the status of the server is secure as well as the clients are unable to identify the medium through which the service is provided. With the purpose of accommodating workstation clients as unparalleled network associates, servers need to make use of peer-to-peer protocols which are used to handle PC messages, file sharing with PCs, and service PC resources through local standards. In addition, the granularity of services offered by a server can be determined through the likelihood of having servers serving as clients to other servers. Moreover, by following this mechanism a server can carry out an activity by dividing it into sub- routines and then allowing other servers to carry out these subtasks (Lewandowski, 1998; Burgess, 2004). Some of the advantages of client/server network architecture are outlined below: In a client-server network environment, the server is for all time accessible to the clients, hence information and files can be accessed at any time. Additionally, the server can perform the role of a centralized hub for sharing and storing files. In this scenario, the configuration setting of this network enables a large number of users to access files and update to a single centralized copy. Therefore, it reduces version control problems that frequently take place due to various versions of the same file. This networking environment allows the business organizations to automatically take backups of data available in client computers. They can also reinstate data based on those backup descriptions, in the case of a client hard drive breakdown. In addition, the client/server network architecture support remote access through which business managers, partners, employees and customers can access data on the server without physically being in front of the system (Sanati, 2011). Conclusion Without a doubt, the computer has become an essential tool for the business organizations. However, when the size of a business organization increases they need to form a computer network. At the present, there are many types of a computer network. This paper has discussed one of those types. This paper has discussed some of the important aspects of a client / server network. In this network, a client sends a request to a server while the server fulfills the requests of the client. This paper has also discussed the real life example of this network. ATM is a very common example of client/server networks. References Burgess, M. (2004). Principles of Network and System Administration, 2nd Edition. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Jing, J., Helal, A. S., & Elmagarmid, A. (1999). Client-server computing in mobile environments. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), Volume 31 Issue 2, pp. 117-157. Lewandowski, S. M. (1998). Frameworks for component-based client/server computing. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), Volume 30 Issue 1, pp. 3-27. Mitchell, B. (2013). Introduction to Client Server Networks. Retrieved February 16, 2013, from About.com: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/basicnetworkingfaqs/a/client-server.htm Nash, J. (2000). Networking Essentials, MCSE Study Guide. California: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. Sanati, J. (2011, May 02). Top 10 Reasons to Setup a Client-Server Network. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from Intel.com: http://communities.intel.com/community/datastack/blog/2011/05/02/top-10-reasons-to-setup-a-client-server-network Client/Server Network Figure 1Demonstration of a client/server Environment, Image Source: (Lewandowski, 1998) Read More