Over the past thirty years, as computer software applications have been vital to business operations, the concept of client/server applications has evolved. In the early 1980s the term Client/Server primarily referred to the capabilities of powerful new centralized hardware. The world of computers today is different and the concept is best defined as a system in which the different logical components are separated from each other. The first of the three basic logical components is presentation logic. Presentation logic is what is displayed to the end user and handles the inputs and outputs of the underlying application. The second logical component is Processing Logic. Processing logic handles all input and output processing and contains all the business rules and logical processing that drives the system. The final logical component is the storage logic, which is where data is stored and retrieved and often takes the form of a database. These three components can be found in any type of client/server database environment. The way these logical components are grouped together forms the basis of a tiered approach to a client/server system. The most basic of these is called a single-tier application, where all three logical components are bundled together as part of the client software. In this configuration each “client application” has its own copy of the database engine; only the data is shared, not the database logic itself.” (Fastie, 1999) This type of system is easy to develop but has several drawbacks when used by many users. To overcome these shortcomings, most applications do not use the one-tier environment and instead use a two- or three-tier environment to separate the di......middle of the paper......The application server is It is important to look at the different types available and how the system will be used. While a one-tier environment may be easy to develop, it could lead to complications down the road when you want a new interface layer. The same is true for two-tier environments if too much of the application tier is included in the client application. However, including incorrect processing of applications hosted on the server could cause performance issues and require expensive server hardware to handle client requests. It's important to remember that no client/server environment will be perfect for all applications. Works CitedFastie, W. (1999, February 9). Understand client/server processing. PC Magazine, 229. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.portal.lib.fit.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA54221060&v=2.1&u=melb26933&it=r&p=CDB&sw=w