> glossary > client-server

client-server

Pre-Internet network computing. In client-server computing (often abbreviated to client/server), applications store data on a network server (sometimes called the 'back-end'), but execute the business logic on a client device (the 'front-end'). This two-tier model is primarily associated with Windows computing, since it gained popularity as a result of the emergence of desktop PCs and workstations, along with high-speed local area networking (LAN) technologies. Because of the resource overhead of installing the entire application logic on every single client, clent/server is being superseded by multi-tiered models that take advantage of Internet technologies to distribute application logic more efficiently across the network.