Ask HN: What is 3-tier database?

2 points·bo_Olean··4 comments

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?

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Why not just ask the client what they meant?

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.

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

Maybe 3-tier refers to 3rd normal form?

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