DATABASE ARCHITECTURE TIERS
1.)
Presentation tier
This is the first tier of DB, it is responsible for user interface and how data is presented
to the users. This includes; web pages or web browsers and desktop or mobile
applications. Presentation tier performs the following main functions:
 Data presentation- receive data from application tier and transform it for
display i.e. by adding graphics.
 User interaction-it allows input and gives out output whether by actions
through clicking buttons or submitting forms or reports.
 User experience-provides the ease of user experience which is friendlier.
2.)
Application tier
This is the second most tier of DB, it’s responsible for processing data and business
logic of the application. It performs a couple of roles like
 Security and authentication-this ensures proper security mechanism is
followed to protect the system and that only authorized users can gain access
or use the system.
 Business logic- this governs the behavior of the system, also orchestrates the
overall workflow of the application.
 Performance optimization- the application tier may implement caching
strategies, optimize query execution and manage system resources to ensure
efficient system performance.
3.)
Data tier
This tier is responsible for storing and managing the data. Includes the DB server and
the DBMS. The DBMS its role is to manage the data and security of the system. The
data tier does;


Data storage-stores data and ensures its reliability. Also manages physical
storage like files and disk partitions to hold the data.
Querying and data retrieval-enables easy retrieval of data using query
mechanism like SQL or sequel to filter or fetch data specifying the user
requirements.
1

Back -up and recovery-this ensures protection against data loss or system
failure like restoration of data procedure.
Within Data tier, there are several DB architectural models which includes;
 Single-tier-both the presentation, application and data tiers are
joined to form a single system. Typically used in small size
applications.
 Two-tier/ a client-server architecture-this divides presentation tier
from data tier. Mainly used in server side applications.
 Three-tier-in this model separates presentation, application and data
tiers into a definite layers. Communication is done from presentation
to application to data tiers respectively. Mostly used in web
applications.
 N –tier- here, the application tier is divided into multiple layers each
upholding into a specific task. It is commonly used in large enterprise
applications.
NB;
The three data architectural tiers work together to make up a complete
database architecture that meets the requirement of the application system.
My reference is from Microsoft Bing or Edge through multiple resources and
articles
2