hi everyone.

just to have a little background, our company is going to develop its new application using vb.net and sql server 2005. there would be at least 50 users for the application. they have an existing system made in vb 6. the IT team is planning to use a n-tier architecture for the said applciation using winforms. our dilemma here is that is it really necessary to use the n-tier architecture? is n-tier architecture really fit for winforms?

most of us, programmers, are quite new to .net.

i hope someone will enlighten us.

also, if someone could please elaborate more on the topic by providing sample programs/tutorials re the matter.

i really appreciate the help.

many thanks.

gamena

Hi gamena,

You said the users of your application is at least 50. In other words, it can be very large. From my experience, it is necessary to use the database 3-tier architecture to develop your application. In this kind of architecture, we have a database, several servers and lots of clients. The servers would directly connect to the database, such as via TCP protocol. A client would connect to a server which is free or nearer to this client. The server can use .Net remoting, web service or WCF technology to provide services for the client.

This is a sample project of 3-tier architecture:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/architecture/three_tier_architecture.aspx

These are some documents about .Net remoting and WCF:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kwdt6w2k(VS.71).aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms735119.aspx

Let me know if this helps or not.
Aland Li

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Please mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark if they don't. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi gamena,

You said the users of your application is at least 50. In other words, it can be very large. From my experience, it is necessary to use the database 3-tier architecture to develop your application. In this kind of architecture, we have a database, several servers and lots of clients. The servers would directly connect to the database, such as via TCP protocol. A client would connect to a server which is free or nearer to this client. The server can use .Net remoting, web service or WCF technology to provide services for the client.

This is a sample project of 3-tier architecture:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/architecture/three_tier_architecture.aspx

These are some documents about .Net remoting and WCF:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kwdt6w2k(VS.71).aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms735119.aspx

Let me know if this helps or not.
Aland Li

---

Please mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark if they don't. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.