Tiered Architecture Applied to System Components

As shown in Figure 2–3, Java ES infrastructure service components provide the underlying infrastructure support for distributed software solutions. Some of these solutions, however, include application-level services provided directly by Java ES components. These solutions use logical tier design approaches.

For example, the email communication services provided by Messaging Server are implemented using a number of logically distinct configurations of Messaging Server. these distinct configurations each provide a distinct set of services. When designing messaging solutions, these distinct configurations are represented as separate components that are situated in different logical tiers, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 2–5 Messaging Server: Example of Tiered Architecture

Figure 2–5 is not meant to be a complete logical architecture; a number of Java ES components are omitted to simplify the illustration. Lines connecting components represent interactions.

The logical separation of Messaging Server functions into different tiers allows the logically distinct configurations of Messaging Server to be deployed on different computers in a physical environment. The physical separation allows for flexibility in meeting quality of service requirements (see Dimension 3: Quality of Service). For example it provides for different availability solutions for the different instances, and different security implementations for different Messaging Server functions.