One MS place I worked were adamant that 3 tier meant physical separation as well; e.g. frontend servers, BL/middle-tier servers and database and duct-tape every

One MS place I worked were adamant that 3 tier meant physical separation as well; e.g. frontend servers, BL/middle-tier servers and database and duct-tape everything together with webservices or binary serialization. Thats when you know you are /really/ wearing your big boy pants to work.