Book excerpt: SAP R/3, the world's foremost three-tiered relational database, is based on client/server technology and distribution of the software services needed over multiple servers. Change and transport management, implemented by configuring the R/3 System appropriately, focuses mainly on a specific element within the R/3 architecture; the database. Change and Transport is concerned with: -- The role the database plays in the R/3 architecture.-- The architecture of the database itself, in terms of the R/3 data components and R/3 clients.