Connection Pooling of Database Connections

One of the lessons we learned from the two-tier client/server model of database programming is that databases are not good connection managers and that making the initial connection to the database in many cases takes longer than the actual database activities we are trying to perform. To help improve overall database performance, the application server will open a number of database connections at startup and then manage those connections for the various applications that are using the database(s). This way the cost (time) of establishing the database connections is only incurred once (at startup). Once opened, the connections are never shut down; instead, they are shared by the applications. After all, a connection is a connection is a connection…and Web-based applications do not usually need a connection for more than the current query.