Lexpar's Common Internet Performance Architecture (CIPA) provides our clients with technology that overcomes the limitations of traditional web browsers and traditional client server applications.

CIPA provides Lexpar customers with a common technical architecture that:

• Improves application functionality
• Allows disconnected, offline data entry
• Automatically merges of offline database changes into the online database
• Maximizes available Internet connection speed
• Automatically backs up and archives data
• Securely transmits and stores data
• Distributes application updates automatically over the Internet
• Implements robust, layered control of access to user data
• Supports multiple commercial and open source databases
• Allows users to choose among Windos, Mac OS X and Linux/Unix operating systems
• Permits optionally selection of Open Source or traditional proprietary components
  

TRADITIONAL WEB BROWSER LIMITATIONS

Web-based applications have several advantages:

• Minimal to no Client-side configuration
• Use a centralized server where most business logic resides
• Application accessibility via "any" browser.

However, advanced data entry requirements and/or business locations where Internet access is limited or slow make browser-based tools less advantageous.
Users that require the ability to do useful work while disconnected from the Internet are not easily accomodated by a browser style interface.

Finally, the user interface style supported by browsers is inherently less able to support high-speed responses needed for large data entry tasks.The web-based user interface is inherently less able to support high-speed responses needed for sophisticated data entry.

"FAT CLIENT" Limitations

Increasingly Fat Client architectures where more function is placed on the client are being used to overcome browser limits.

Fat Client advantages include:

• Advanced use of Windows interface features without the browsers limitations
• Ability to work with a database on the users computer as well as a central database
• Faster response to user actions

Fat Clients introduce new challenges such as distributing application updates and they do nothing intrinsically to address slow Internet connections or the need to work offline.

Frequently, Fat Clients actually demand more network speed unless they are very carefully engineered and so they've tended to be used on intranets and not as often on the Internet.

Finally, Fat Clients tend to retrieve data more often and in larger amounts from the central server than web based clients thereby expanding rather than reducing the need for high-speed network access.