The document discusses database system concepts including architecture, schema, and instances. It describes 1-tier, 2-tier, and 3-tier architectures. A 1-tier architecture has the client, server, and database on one machine. A 2-tier architecture separates the presentation and data layers across two machines. A 3-tier architecture introduces an application layer between the presentation and data layers. The schema defines the database structure while instances represent the stored data at a point in time.