Computer System Architecture

Figure 1 illustrates one example of a system architecture and data processing device that may be used to implement one or more illustrative aspects described herein in a standalone and/or networked environment. Various network nodesdata server 110, web server 106, computer 104, and laptop 102 may be interconnected via a wide area network 108 (WAN), such as the internet. Other networks may also or alternatively be used, including private intranets, corporate networks, LANs, metropolitan area networks (MANs) wireless networks, personal networks (PANs), and the like. Network 108 is for illustration purposes and may be replaced with fewer or additional computer networks. A local area network (LAN) may have one or more of any known LAN topology and may use one or more of a variety of different protocols, such as ethernet. Devicesdata server 110, web server 106, computer 104, laptop 102 and other devices (not shown) may be connected to one or more of the networks via twisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics, radio waves or other communication media. 

The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings refers not only to systems in which remote storage devices are coupled together via one or more communication paths, but also to stand-alone devices that may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that have storage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a “physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised of the data–attributable to a single entity–which resides across all physical networks. 

The components may include data server 110, web server 106, and client computer 104, laptop 102. Data server 110 provides overall access, control and administration of databases and control software for performing one or more illustrative aspects described herein. Data serverdata server 110 may be connected to web server 106 through which users interact with and obtain data as requested. Alternatively, data server 110 may act as a web server itself and be directly connected to the internet. Data server 110 may be connected to web server 106 through the network 108 (e.g., the internet), via direct or indirect connection, or via some other network. Users may interact with the data server 110 using remote computer 104, laptop 102, e.g., using a web browser to connect to the data server 110 via one or more externally exposed web sites hosted by web server 106. Client computer 104, laptop 102 may be used in concert with data server 110 to access data stored therein, or may be used for other purposes. For example, from client computer 104, a user may access web server 106 using an internet browser, as is known in the art, or by executing a software application that communicates with web server 106 and/or data server 110 over a computer network (such as the internet). 

servers and applications may be combined on the same physical machines, and retain separate virtual or logical addresses, or may reside on separate physical machines. Figure 1 illustrates just one example of a network architecture that may be used, and those of skill in the art will appreciate that the specific network architecture and data processing devices used may vary, and are secondary to the functionality that they provide, as further described herein. For example, services provided by web server 106 and data server 110 may be combined on a single server. 

Each componentdata server 110, web server 106, computer 104, laptop 102 may be any type of known computer, server, or data processing device. Data server 110, e.g., may include a processor 112 controlling overall operation of the data server 110. Data server 110 may further include RAM 116, ROM 118, network interface 114, input/output interfaces 120 (e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer, etc.), and memory 122. Input/output interfaces 120 may include a variety of interface units and drives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing data or files. Memory 122 may further store operating system software 124 for controlling overall operation of the data server 110, control logic 126 for instructing data server 110 to perform aspects described herein, and other application software 128 providing secondary, support, and/or other functionality which may or may not be used in conjunction with aspects described herein. The control logic may also be referred to herein as the data server softwarecontrol logic 126. Functionality of the data server software may refer to operations or decisions made automatically based on rules coded into the control logic, made manually by a user providing input into the system, and/or a combination of automatic processing based on user input (e.g., queries, data updates, etc.). 

memory 122 may also store data used in performance of one or more aspects described herein, including a first database 132 and a second database 130. In some embodiments, the first database may include the second database (e.g., as a separate table, report, etc.). That is, the information can be stored in a single database, or separated into different logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending on system design. Web server 106, computer 104, laptop 102 may have similar or different architecture as described with respect to data server 110. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the functionality of data server 110 (or web server 106, computer 104, laptop 102) as described herein may be spread across multiple data processing devices, for example, to distribute processing load across multiple computers, to segregate transactions based on geographic location, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc. 

One or more aspects may be embodied in computer-usable or readable data and/or computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices as described herein. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor in a computer or other device. The modules may be written in a source code programming language that is subsequently compiled for execution, or may be written in a scripting language such as (but not limited to) HTML or XML. The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computer readable medium such as a nonvolatile storage device. Any suitable computer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or any combination thereof. In addition, various transmission (non-storage) media representing data or events as described herein may be transferred between a source and a destination in the form of electromagnetic waves traveling through signal-conducting media such as metal wires, optical fibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space). various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, a data processing system, or a computer program product. Therefore, various functionalities may be embodied in whole or in part in software, firmware and/or hardware or hardware equivalents such as integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and the like. Particular data structures may be used to more effectively implement one or more aspects described herein, and such data structures are contemplated within the scope of computer executable instructions and computer-usable data described herein.