Introduction to Client/Server Systems: A Practical Guide for Systems Professionals [Paperback]

A newly revised edition of the guide to making the most of this increasingly important information systems technology. Using real–life examples, the book demonstrates the potentials and limits of client/server technology, examines how this technology can be used to increase productivity, describes the design of client/server systems using a variety of software systems and more. This edition offers expanded material on technical aspects of client/server systems including upgrade management, middleware, network printing, IEEE, LAN and ATM protocols, CORBA, HTTP and HTML. Also includes a new chapter on network SQL, ANSI SQL and ODBC as well as an expanded appendix and exercises and projects that cover topics chapter–by–chapter.

Comments on the 2nd Edition
The 2nd Edition (594 pages) contains significantly more information than its predecessor (333 pages).

The text of the 2nd Edition is organized into 5 major parts:

Part 1: Basics
This is introductory material aimed at people who want to understand what client/server is all about.

Part 2: Vision
This presents a vision of where client/server computing leads (including the effect of the Internet).

Part 3: Management Aspects
This deals with all the aspects of business cases, management issues, transition, and operations. This section also contains some handy planning checklists.

Part 4: Technology
This reviews all the basics of client server protocols including RPCs, Message Queueing, RPC Programming, SQL, SQL Programming, Networked SQL, CORBA, OLE/DCOM.

Part 5: Implementation Apsects
This addresses all the things you need to know about actually building client/server systems including architectural rules of thumb, scaleability, security, distributed systems management, reliability, performance and capacity planning.

Overall, you will find this book to be a great guide during your first time through it and you'll also find yourself using it as a handy reference guide for years to come. One of my goals when I wrote this text was to try to include all the kinds of things that I always needed to look up the details on.

Teachers note that this text has been very popular in the educational market and is frequently used as a textbook in senior college, university and continuing education credit courses.

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as the many others who already have. Note that it is also available in Chinese, Portuguese, and French as well as English.END

"A wealth of practical information from someone who has spent several years in the client/server trenches." ––Data Based Advisor

"Offers sound advice for the IS Manager who wants to justify a client/server endeavor, for the architect who is designing such systems, and for the systems administrator." ––IEEE Parallel & Distributed Technology

This classic handbook is must reading for anyone working with client/server technology. Thoroughly revised and updated, this Second Edition of Paul Renaud′s critically acclaimed guide includes more than 70% new and revised material based on real–life experiences with both successful and failed client/server systems. Behind each opinion, tip, technique, and rule of thumb is a wealth of applied knowledge in developing and running client/server systems. Readers will learn:
∗ What client/server is, what it is not, and how it affects OLTP, OLAP, and Internet systems
∗ How to use this technology in combination with business process reengineering to dramatically increase user productivity
∗ Ninety–seven cost factors to consider when calculating a detailed business case for client/server systems
∗ Practical transition tactics to minimize risks when implementing client/server systems
∗ Cost–effective rules of thumb that can be used to contain client/server operation costs
∗ Key concepts underlying how client/server communication works
∗ Details about the major client/server protocols and SQL standards
∗ How communicating object technology will affect client/server systems
∗ Proven techniques for designing and building client/server systems
∗ Useful tips in managing client/server systems
∗ How to model performance and availability in client/server systems

PAUL E. RENAUD is Vice President of Development at Cognos Inc., where he is responsible for the product engineering of world–class client/server business intelligence tools such as PowerPlay and Impromptu. Prior to joining Cognos, Mr. Renaud was director of computing and networking at Bell Northern Research, where he was responsible for the implementation and management of several thousand distributed computing systems comprising enterprise–scale client/server systems.