The OpenROAD Server enables business logic written in the OpenROAD 4GL language to be accessed by client applications. The OpenROAD Server is multi-threaded and allows concurrent access from a number of client interfaces. These client interfaces include the following:

The OpenROAD Server provides access to the Ingres RDBMS Server. It also can access the Ingres Enterprise Access Server, which provides transparent access to other databases such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, or IBM UDB.

Configuration information for the OpenROAD Server is stored in the Windows Registry (or the MainWin Registry on Linux or UNIX). When enabled, OpenROAD Server events are written to the SPO log file.

The OpenROAD Server uses COM or DCOM to communicate between the OpenROAD Server clients and the OpenROAD Server. COM and DCOM provide location transparency and data access from the OpenROAD Server and its associated clients.

The OpenROAD Server uses the Ingres communications infrastructure to communicate between itself and the Ingres or Enterprise Access Server. The Ingres communications infrastructure provides location transparency and data access between the OpenROAD Server and the Ingres or Enterprise Access Servers.