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That is one of the advantages of the 'tier' design...you could use flat files if you wanted. So, yes (by 'SQL server' I presume you mean microsoft, as all the above are technichally 'SQL servers')

This is quite a choice, and not necessarily an easy question to answer as there could be quite a few options on every tier.
Client Side: Webstart, applet, stand-alone, jsp, servlet.
Business Side:...