Mike, I don' see this as a three tier design.  To me, it is  a client
server design, where a server becomes a client.  If going through
 multiple computers makes something a multi-tier design, than this
 message is a n tier operation as it goes throught how many
 computers to get to you?  To me a tiered structure implies some kind
of hierarchy.  My piont was and is we need hosts (servers) a
communications network and clients.  The 3000 makes an excellent host.
Most desktop clients are IBM compatible OC's (Yes, you Applephiles,
I said MOST.

Regards,

Nick Demos

----------
> From: Michael L Gueterman <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]; 'Nick Demos' <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: n-tier computing designs; was: The Future of the 3000 isLike
rear wheeldrive
> Date: Sunday, February 01, 1998 11:55 PM
>
> Nick,
>
>   Nothing fits everything, and although two-tier designs fit most of
> the traditional (and current) applications, there are good cases for
> three-tier and even greater tier designs.  Let me try and give you
> one :)
>
> <plug>
>
> In my growing list of Cold Fusion demonstration applications is a
> very tiny one which accepts a SkyWord pager pin number and the
> text of a message.  You enter the information, click on the [Send Page]
> button, and if all goes well, the person with that pager receives the
> message within about a minute.  From the users point of view, nothing
> fancy at all is going on here, but in back are some pretty neat things.
> .     First, the web page accepts the input from the user (plain simple
HTML),
>       and upon clicking the [Send Page] button, the contents are shipped
>       off to a Cold Fusion application page where the information is taken,
>       and the page that the user will see starts to be constructed.
> .     This Cold Fusion page then calls a Cold Fusion Custom Tag (a
>       glorified name for a user-written function) which takes the information
>       and makes passes it to an HTTP server at SkyTel.
> .     The server at SkyTel accepts the information, and queues the message
>       up for subsequent delivery.  A confirmation page is constructed and
>       returned.
> .     The Cold Fusion page accepts the SkyTel confirmation page, and includes
>       it IN WITH its own page that it was building.  The whole mess is then
>       returned back to the originating user.
>
>       Now the cool part of this is that the user NEVER LEAVES the original
>       site.  The Cold Fusion server is the entity which made the call to
SkyTel.
>       The Cold Fusion "server" itself became a client to the SkyTel server at
>       the bequest of the original client (er customer :)  This setup allows
the
>       information contained in other web pages to be included as a subset of
>       the information you are presenting back to your customer, and not as
>       a frame or separate window.  You have the ability to manipulate the
>       information returned from the other server as it is treated like a large
>       string variable.
>
> So in this case, what originally was a simple two-tier web application,
became
> at a minimum a three-tier system, with that middle tier not only acting
as a
> networking device, but as part of the content providing mechanism itself.
 This
> allows for (in theory) unlimited tier application designs "when the
situation
> warrants it".  As with most things, the simpler the better, but sometimes
simple
> doesn't get the job done.
>
> While I'm still in plug mode, you can check out these demonstration apps
> (several of which involve the HP3000) at:
> http://www.editcorp.com/editcorp/site-demos/
> I've still got a few more on the table to do, including side by side
comparisons
> of HP's ODBCLink/SE, Computing Solutions Limited's - Linkway, and
Minisoft's -
> ODBC32 drivers with a Cold Fusion front end, and the same HP3000
datasource
> as the backend for all three.
> </plug>
>
> Regards,
> Michael L Gueterman
> Easy Does It Technologies
> email: [log in to unmask]
> http://www.editcorp.com
> voice: (888) 858-EDIT -or- (509) 943-5108
> fax:   (509) 946-1170
> --
>
>
> ----------
> From:  Nick Demos[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:  Sunday, February 01, 1998 7:12 PM
> To:  [log in to unmask]
> Subject:  Re: [HP3000-L] Re[2]: The Future of the 3000 isLike rear
wheeldrive
>
> <snip>
>
> >> 1. Standard, more open interfaces to data sources.
> >>  2. Host based Internet/Intranet computing services.
> >>  3. Give users productivity gains over work process.
> >>  4. Enterprise wide services.
> >>  5. Multi-tier architectures.
> >OK on 1 through 4, but 5 is an ERROR.  WE need a thick (or
> >sometimes thin) client a communications network
> >and servers.   A third layer just adds unnecesary  complexity.
> >Put another way, one can have as many layers as one wants, but
> >as long as one has server to server communications capability,
> >one only needs two kinds of equipment and perating systems -
> >servers and clients.
>
> <snip>
>
>