System Architecture

Figure 1 depicts the three-tier system architecture typical for Internet applications. Users use web browsers to access various online banking applications via the Internet. Applications are executed by a web server. An example of such an application is the quotation of currency exchange rates. The user selects desired currencies and a branch of bank on a query input form and submits the query. The web server accepts the query, processes it, and returns the response back to the user's browser. Depending on the particular application, the web server may consult with a CORBA application server and/or a database server. The response is returned in the user's language of choice (German, French, Italian, or English).

Figure 1. System architecture

Per the bank's internal software development standard, all Internet applications, executed by the web server, are written using Java programming language and Java servlets. Although people from the Microsoft camp will most certainly disagree, this is a de facto standard for writing serious Internet applications.

All servers in the production environment run Sun Microsystems Solaris UNIX operating system. The web server is NES (Netscape Enterprise Server) with the addition of JRun engine for running Java servlets. The database server is Oracle. The CORBA application server is IONA OrbixWeb. CORBA clients use an internally developed API (Application Programming Interface) and wrapper Java classes developed on top of OrbixWeb.

The challenge in this project was to develop software in a distributed fashion without any physical presence at the production site, while still adhering to the very strict bank's security rules.