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Tier Vs Layered Architecture

Most of the time we use the term N-tier architecture and N-layer architecture interchangeably. In this post I will try to differentiate between the two

Tiers means that components of the application are separated physically. Consider the image below

Picture showing the representation of 2-Tier architecture

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In the screen shot above, a windows application is deployed on one machine and database on another server. Here components are separated physically so it is 2-tier architecture.

Picture showing the representation of 3-Tier architecture

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Similarly a web based application is 3-tier architecture (see the image above).

Layer means your application is logically separated but may or may not be physically.

Picture showing the representation of 3-layered architecture

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Consider the image above in which your application is logically separated into UI layer, business layer and data access layer.

Posted By -	Karan Gupta

Posted On -	Monday, April 20, 2015

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