Client and server roles in IBM® EMM

Most IBM® EMM applications consist of two parts.

The web application. The web application is the component that users access through a browser.

The server (for example, the Campaign listener and the Marketing Platform API server). This component is accessed programmatically.

These application components can act as either the client or the server in a communication, depending on the situation. The following examples and diagrams illustrate the roles played by IBM® components in various communications.

Example 1 - Communication between a browser and an IBM® EMM web application

When users communicate with IBM® EMM web applications through a browser, the browser is the client and the IBM® EMM web application is the server.

Example 2 - Communication between components of one IBM® EMM application

The two components of a single IBM® EMM application can also communicate with each other programmatically. For example, when the Campaign web application sends a request to the Campaign listener, the Campaign web application is the client and the listener is the server.

Example 3 - IBM® EMM components playing both roles

An IBM® EMM application component can communicate as a client in some exchanges and as a server in others. An example of these relationships is shown in the following diagram.