How HEAT Works
HEAT communicates with a Microsoft SQL database to store and retrieve information, enabling multiple ways to enter and share data in a a customizable, object-oriented environment. HEAT supports Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and IBM DB2 databases. You can link to other databases and import external database data.
The following illustrates the layers in a HEAT network:
Architecture
The HEAT platform utilizes standard three-tier architecture:
- Tier I: Database
- Tier II: Application Server
- Tier III: Client
This three-tier design lets business logic components (such as business objects, fields, relationships, and rules) and services run on the client tier and the server tier. As a result, information can be cached on either tier.
If your system includes the optional Request Fulfillment module, then the three-tier design shown here is required. That module is not supported in two-tier environments in which end users logged in to the application server connect directly to the database.
The application is an example of an interface in which web client and smart client users work. The FRS Application Administrator is the interface that applies changes to the databases to give structure to the application.
Administrator Access to the Database
The HEAT platform is built on the .NET framework, a Microsoft software technology. Using web services, .NET enables the connection to and integration of various XML-based applications (modules).