3-tier Solution

At the request of our clients we have created the option in StrongHold to run the application from within an application server. The application server will supply all business logic and control information while users can access this application through a lightweight application wrapper. This new option will be supplied with all new versions of StrongHold. Through the unique way in which this is made possible clients can chose to deploy the same application in a 2-tier or 3-tier fashion.

StrongHold on the application server

With the addition of this option to StrongHold it extends its use as a development environment and will keep your converted application up to date and conform to new demands.

Application server model

All the advantages of an application server

The new option delivers all the advantages of any application server. The implementation is fully J2EE compliant and can be deployed on any J2EE application server. Customers have already successfully deployed on JBoss and Oracle's iAs. This means you can easily scale and load-balance your application to your specific user needs.

The server implementation makes use of the option to share resources between instances keeping the load on your server and network to a minimum. With this option managing your application will become more efficient and fast.

All the advantages of a rich client

The StrongHold framework is intended to support the users as much as possible with entering and retrieving data. We support mouse and full keyboard operations and allow for direct feedback, validation and contextual information. These possibilities were all kept moving to the 3-tier model by accessing the application server through a thin-client application, call it an application browser. This provides all the richness of the 2-tier application on a 3-tier platform.

No programming involved

The unique way we implemented the 3-tier option makes it possible to convert and develop your application in a 2-tier version using the principles already part of the StrongHold framework. When the application is ready to deploy a simple script will split the application in parts for the server and client and can be distributed to your application server. The framework will take care of the correct distribution on the 3-tier.

This means you can develop your application fast and efficient, while developers do not have to consider on which layer the code will run. Development testing of the application is therefor also easier than you would expect from a 3-tier application.

Technical requirements

To use StrongHold on an application server You need next to the latest StrongHold version the following:

  • A J2EE compliant application server. More application servers should be added depending on the expected number of users.
  • A network speed of at least 50Mb/s
    Less bandwidth will work, even over the Internet, but users might experience some sluggishness.
  • If the application server and clients will not be part of the same network it is strongly advised to use the encryption possibilities the StrongHold server offers.
  • At the moment you'll need a way to distribute the client application and definitions for the GUI. For this you can use Java webstart. In the next StrongHold release it will be possible to distribute the definitions through the server software itself

More information on StrongHold you can find here. If you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact us.