Client-server computing
Alok K. Sinha · Communications of the ACM · 1992
~e c h n o lo~, 3 .,~o TIME-SHARED COMPUTINGwo decades ago, the data processing industry was using powerful mainframes with the users sharing CPU cycles and data storage facilities.Access to the mainframes was tightly controlled by MIS departments and the only method of accessing the data from mainframes was through punched cards or primitive terminals.We saw evolution of pioneering data retrieval and analysis methodologies in the years to come; yet the techniques were arduous and constrained due to centralized resources and userhostile interfaces.Thus, when PCs came to the computing industry in the early 1980s, their growth was phenomenal, as they provided limited CPU cycles and data storage facilities on user desktops, user control over desktops, and user-friendly PC-based software.