The Essential Client/Server Survival Guide

Citation

Fellows, G. (1998), "The Essential Client/Server Survival Guide", Internet Research, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr.1998.17208aaf.011

The Essential Client/Server Survival Guide

The Essential Client/Server Survival Guide

Robert Orfali, Dan Harkey and Jeri Edwards (1996), 2nd ed., Wiley Computer Publishing: New York, NY, ISBN 0-471-15325-7 pp xxvi-676 incl index. $US 29.95. Available: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Professional, Reference and Trade Group, 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10158-0012; HYPERLINK http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/

There are many How to, Dummy's Guide to, Teach Yourself guides in book publishing, each suggesting the beginner can become an expert in a few short weeks. I had to update my knowledge in this area to teach a new subject so was pleased that this book became available. I was a bit worried by the cartoon on the cover and the foreword by Zog Martian but after having read the book I am glad I set a lighter-weight book for my students. I lent the book to a few students and each found it heavy-going. One student whose first language is not English did find the diagrams very useful.

The authors say the best approach to using this book is to read it over a week, sitting on a beach. I think ten to 15 minutes a day over two months would be better. The book appears to be designed for short study sessions given its 35 chapters which are organised into ten parts.

The first section starts with an overview of client/server followed by the client/server capabilities of current operating systems. Network Operating Systems and middleware are covered next. The next four sections describe different models of client/server ­ database server model; transaction processing monitor; the groupware model; and finally the Internet is explained from a client/server perspective. Part Nine discusses management issues and the final part brings it all together describing how to design, build and deploy three-tiered client/server applications.

There are several interesting features in this book. It takes the form of a guide to an exotic location from an intergalactic perspective rather than a mere global one. Another feature is the boxed, grey-shaded sidebars which are really extended footnotes. There are soapbox sidebars stating opinions or declaring biases, briefing boxes for background or tutorial material and detail boxes for describing some esoteric areas which the authors feel may not be of interest to the general readership. Finally there are warning boxes noting traps for the novice.

This is the second edition of this book. The authors note that in the computer industry time should be measured in dog years. In that case, the first edition came out more than fourteen dog years ago, so required a major update. Does that make it useless? No, because it does contain the essential history, background and intensions of the client/server industry at that time together with predictions some of which with hindsight missed the mark.

The style is quite unusual. Production values are of a high standard. The content is detailed with descriptions of the industry players and products and the experiences and opinions of seasoned practitioners. It is useful for anyone who would like to become familiar with most aspects of the client/server computing. It is not specifically for programmers who may also like the next book Client/Server Programming with CORBA Objects by two of the authors.

Geoff FellowsCharles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia