CORBA 2.3.3 Getting Started Guide (NonStop CORBA 2.3.3+)

Chapter 1. Overview of Distributed Object Computing and CORBA
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Chapter 1. Overview of Distributed Object Computing
and CORBA
Table of Contents
Distributed Object Computing
Client/Server Computing with NonStop CORBA
The Benefits of Distributed Object Computing
The Challenges of Distributed Object Computing
CORBA Defines Standard Interfaces and Services
Distributed Object Computing
Distributed object computing refers to a computing methodology in which applications are composed of
object-based components distributed across processes and networks. In a distributed object environment,
objects communicate using message-based interfaces.
Client/server computer applications can be roughly defined as a set of systems that interoperate. In a
client/server system, a process that makes a request of an object is termed a client, and the system on which
the object executes is called a server. In this system, the server processes the request made by the client, and
often returns a result to the client.
The terms client and server are relative: the same process can both receive and make requests. For example,
Figure 1.1 shows several client applications running workstations sending transaction requests to server
processes on other systems. In turn, these servers can send database requests to a server process running on a
third system; the transaction server becomes a client process to the third system.
Figure 1.1. Distributed Object Computing