Ask HN: What is 3-tier database?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2498779

by bo_Olean • 15 years ago

2 4 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Someone recently asked me to design a 3-tier database. I know the 3-tier (multi-tier) application architecture but not 3-tier database design. What does it means by 3-tier database? How do we design a 3-tier database?

bartonfink• 15 years ago

Maybe 3-tier refers to 3rd normal form?

michael_dorfman• 15 years ago

Why not just ask the client what they meant?

ChuckMcM• 15 years ago

This is definitely one of those 'go back to the customer and ask again.' kinds of times. I suspect they said 'tier 3' and not '3 tier' (well for me its the only possibility that makes sense) which would mean a database with relaxed SLA requirements (probably 99.9% uptime, up to 1sec latency, things like that). Basically for data they use infrequently and don't hold up the busisness if they are offline for a few hours.

bo_Olean• 15 years ago

I am quite sure that client focused more on "3-tier" database, they never mentioned "tier 3". I designed database for the project, normalized as far as i could (80+ tables, still needs further table breakdown) but my database design got rejected. Another developer from team is supposed to design the database now. The reason my database got rejected - it was not a "3-tier" database.

Yes, I asked what they meant by "3-tier" database but i got replied with the wiki page on multitier architecture[1]. Which is what i am familiar with.

I am really confused with this term, never heard of "3-tier database". Requirements you mentioned match to what the client is expecting (probably 99.9% uptime, up to 1sec latency, things like that). I can't get the work back now but for the sake of clearing confusion I have, I would like to know about "tier 3 database". Could you please share some ideas on what makes a database "tier-3"?

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitier_architecture

Ask HN: What is 3-tier database?

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