Three-Tier Web Application Architecture Diagram
Show presentation, application and data tiers with load balancer and database layers.
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A three-tier web application architecture diagram separates a system into a presentation tier, an application tier and a data tier. The presentation tier is the browser-facing frontend, the application tier holds business logic on web and app servers behind a load balancer, and the data tier stores persistent state in a database, often with caching and read replicas. Clear boundaries between tiers make the system easier to scale and secure.
Full-stack developers, architects and students use this diagram to document classic web apps and plan deployments. It is a foundational template for explaining separation of concerns, where load balancing fits, and how requests flow from the browser through application servers to the database and back.
Great for
- Web app documentation
- Deployment planning
- Computer science teaching
- Architecture reviews
- Cloud migration design
Frequently asked questions
What is three-tier architecture?+
Three-tier architecture organizes an application into a presentation tier for the UI, an application tier for business logic, and a data tier for storage, each able to scale independently.
What are the three tiers in a web application?+
The presentation tier is the frontend or browser, the application tier runs the server-side business logic, and the data tier is the database and storage layer.
Why use a three-tier architecture?+
Separating tiers improves scalability, security and maintainability because each layer can be developed, deployed and scaled without tightly coupling to the others.
Where does the load balancer fit?+
A load balancer sits in front of the application tier, distributing incoming requests across multiple app servers for higher availability and throughput.
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