Secure access of legacy databases from the Web using CORBA

After comparing general architectures for accessing business databases from the Web, we propose a platform-independent, language-independent, object-oriented, fourtier CORBA-based architecture. The proposed architecture is presented in pattern format. Several security mechanisms are incorporated into the proposed architecture. A Web Reservation System (WRS) was created to test this architecture. Starting from an analysis pattern, a design model for the WRS was developed using the CORBA Object Request Broker (ORB); this was a Virtual Car Reservation System (VCRS). In the VCRS system, a user can get a reservation number when necessary information is entered from a Web browser. The user can also retrieve the reservation information by using the reservation number. All reservation information is stored in a distributed database system at a remote site. A realistic application of the proposed architecture is also described. We also provide an evaluation and comparison of the proposed architecture with other architectures.