A gateway server enables a client to access a server that may or may not be able to accept the client connection directly. The gateway does not have to connect to an Adaptive Server Enterprise or, for that matter, to any DBMS server. It could connect to a file system or an application program that can act as a server.
An Open Server application that accesses an Adaptive Server Enterprise or another Open Server application includes both Client-Library and Server-Library routines. It assumes both client and server roles. In the server role, it uses Open Server to interface with clients. In the client role, it uses Client-Library routines to send requests to, and receive results from, an Adaptive Server Enterprise or another Open Server. See “Gateway applications” for details.
The gateway above connects clients to an Adaptive Server Enterprise. The dotted lines in the illustration indicate that this particular gateway uses “TDS passthrough mode,” a low-overhead method of passing requests and results between Sybase clients and Sybase servers. See “Passthrough mode” for details.
