Client/Server and Backup Tapes: Vanishing Technologies?

[rtroxel]

In an article titled, "Submerging Technologies: Five That Are Sinking Fast", Computerworld Magazine lists six current IT systems that may be disappearing within the next few years.

Two of them are:

CLIENT/SERVER COMPUTING

Why it's sinking: Two-tier computing with fat clients had its day, but there are now better ways to distribute data and computing power for flexibility, ease of maintenance and business continuity.

The original client/server scheme—where the application's visual presentation and business logic reside on the desktop, and data resides on a server—is an idea whose time has passed. It's being replaced by Web browser clients, n-tier systems and Web services.

and

TAPE BACKUP

Why it's sinking: Tape is cheap, but disk technology is closing the cost gap. For day-to-day backups, disk-to-disk systems that use inexpensive ATA technology make sense.

Although magnetic tape's cost per megabyte will give it a role in keeping archival records for years to come, better technologies and techniques are eroding tape's dominance for day-to-day backup and recovery tasks. "It will be replaced by other kinds of protection, like journaling and/or replication, snapshots or point-in-time copies"...

Both of these changes could make a lot of difference in how server rooms, ISPs, and business networks are run. Does anyone have any comments to add?

[Bubo]

I don't see client/server going away entirely. It offers many advantages from a security standpoint (allowing for a centralized "fallback" point to secure from intrusion). If I'm not mistaken, the current system of FTPing a web page to the server for presentation is classified as client/server as well.

While that might have been the original definition of client/server, I believe that the current concept of client/server has advanced beyond that limited definition.

[Anthony]

I also can't see client/server disappearing entirely, though it may change somewhat over the coming years. I've found hot-swappable hard drives to be far more efficient than tape backup drives. Not only are they faster at reading and writing, they offer the features of a standard hard drive compared to simple character transactions as with a tape drive.

[Bubo]

It's being replaced by Web browser clients, n-tier systems and Web services.

This is aimed at whoever wrote the article, not rtroxel. Those three services sound an awful lot like a client/server model.......

[fishfreek]

At the corporate level there will always be a need for client/server applications.

One that comes to mind right away is a minicomputer and users using dumbterminals, serial terminals (yes they still exist) or telnet to connect to the minicomputer to run applications that access a central database, billing, inventory control, payroll, etc.

[rtroxel]

hot-swappable hard drives to be far more efficient than tape backup drives.

Also, the price of hard drives is getting a lot lower than it was few years ago. Blank CDs are cheaper than zip drives which can cost around $100.