Layered architecture style suggests the separation of application components into logical application layers deployed on dedicated infrastructure known as tiers, hence the name n-tier architecture ... Layered architecture has the benefits of making application components more manageable and reusable while making a Business application easier to maintain and extend, hence increasing software lifecycle, ROI and reducing maintenance costs ... The drawback of application layered architecture, or what I like to call micro layered architecture, is that the benefits of this design are bounded vertically by the application context.