Client/Server Networks

While PC operating systems were designed in response to the waning of client/server systems, Solaris and other UNIX systems are firmly designed as client/server systems. While a PC is designed to run many high-powered applications using the local CPU, a client/server network is designed around the concept of multiple thin clients that access data and execute applications on a fat centralized server, or on a number of servers that are dedicated to one particular purpose. For example, a typical Solaris network might consist of hundreds of Sun Ray thin client systems, which are supported on the front line by several E450 departmental servers, as well as a set of rack-mounted 420R systems that run database, web server, and development systems.

The client/server topology is also reflected in the structure of UNIX services: client applications running on client systems are designed to connect through to server applications running on server systems. Sun was instrumental in initiating key distributed computing technologies, such as the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) technology used in the Network File System (NFS) protocol. In addition, the Remote Method Invocation (RMI) technology developed as part of the Java networking and distributed computing APIs allows objects to be passed around the network as seamlessly as RPC.