Internet-Enabled Business Intelligence By William A. Giovinazzo
Table of Contents
Chapter 5. Servers: The Heart of IEBI
In this chapter, we discussed three different types of architectures: mainframes, client/server, and the Internet. We learned how the inaccessibility of data within the mainframe gave rise to client/server computing and how client/server evolved into Internet-enabled computing. Rather than seeing the Internet as something new and different, we have come to see the Internet-enabled application as the next step in the evolution of client/server. The server takes on more of the processing, leaving the client primarily to manage the user interface.
We should make no mistake about the mainframe: These systems aren't quite dead yet. They will continue to serve as sources of legacy information and in some instances as repositories of information for IEBI systems. In these latter cases, the mainframe will be surrounded by middle- tier applications that provide Internet capabilities. Moving forward, we will see the mainframe playing a dwindling role. The lack of accessibility to data and the inflexibility of the system will bring about its ultimate demise. Many have made this prediction, and mainframe supporters quickly point out how wrong they have been. In the long run, the shrinking mainframe market will reduce investment in the technology to the point where it will fall so far behind that it will no longer be a viable alternative.
