Compaq Reliable Transaction Router manual 1 Client Symbol

RTR Terminology

RTR Application

Client

An RTR application is user-written software that executes within the confines of several distributed processes. The RTR application may perform user interface, business, and server logic tasks and is written in response to some business need. An RTR application can be written in any language, commonly C or C++, and includes calls to RTR. RTR applications are composed of two kinds of actors, client applications and server applications. An application process is shown in diagrams as an oval, open for a client application, filled for a server application.

A client is always a client application, one that initiates and demarcates a piece of work. In the context of RTR, a client must run on a node defined to have the frontend role. Clients typically deal with presentation services, handling forms input, screens, and so on. A client could connect to a browser running a browser applet or be a webserver acting as a gateway. In other contexts, a client can be a physical system, but in RTR and in this document, physical clients are called frontends or nodes. You can have more than one instance of a client on a node.

Figure 1–1 Client Symbol

Server	A server is always a server application, one that reacts to a
	client's units of work and carries them through to completion.
	This may involve updating persistent storage such as a database
	file, toggling a switch on a device, or performing another
	predefined task. In the context of RTR, a server must run on
	a node defined to have the backend role. In other contexts,
	a server can be a physical system, but in RTR and in this
	document, physical servers are called backends or nodes. You
	can have more than one instance of a server on a node. Servers
	can have partition states such as primary, standby, or shadow.

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