The goal of this book is to present and compare various options one for systems architecture from two separate points of view. One, that of the information technology decision-maker who must choose a solution matching company business requirements, and secondly that of the systems architect who finds himself between the rock of changes in hardware and software technologies and the hard place of changing business needs.Different aspects of server architecture are presented, from databases designed for parallel architectures to high-availability systems, and touching en route on often- neglected performance aspects.