Sapphire/Web and the CGI/application server programs it generates are client applications that utilize the services of the Gateway. You must have a Gateway running during project development, but the Gateway is optional during project deployment. The Gateway provides the client applications with access to database objects, such as tables and stored procedures. A client application does not communicate directly with a database server, so each client must connect to the Gateway in order to utilize database objects.
If you have two or more networked workstations, the distributed capabilities of Sapphire/Gateway allow client applications to connect to the Gateway across the network. Sapphire/Gateway supports a network environment that includes diskless workstations.