>>Help me on this: If the backend is located on an ISP, the client cannot directly call a (for example) stored procedure. The client will need either a CGI or COM service to get the data from an ISP? But inside the firewall, requests can be made (directly) through ODBC (right?).

One thing I'm not sure on - Can a client issue stored procedure calls (or SQL Selects) direct to an ISP SQL engine, or do ISP SQL request need to go through an ADO COM layer. I guess my confusion is on this point: A client cannot connect to the ISP's ODBC. Only a service local to the ISP can connect to ISP's ODBC, hence ADO COM? Why would we need ADO COM if we could connect to ISP's ODBC from a client?

>The last question is puzzling. If it's an ISP, then it could be an ASP page that calls a VFP... and that would all be on the same server. It wouldn't be a CGI script but it could be.

Lets see:
The ISP looks like this:
  An NT (with all the stuff it needs to be an ISP)
  SQL 7
  VFP (loaded and running)
  A VFP ADO COM (DLL or EXE) It has Error call backs, it's registered and waiting for a client CREATEOBJECTEX(), and connects to the server's SQL
  through the server's (the ISP's) ODBC. 
  
The Client Looks like this:
 The VFP exe logs into the ISP ( i haven't even considered how this really works), but bear with me.
    The VFP client CREATEOBJECTEX(..\server COM)
       The VFP client sends a Datasource request to the ISP ADO COM.
          The ISP ADO COM Connects to the proper ISP Database (the client sent a connection string)
             The ISP ADO COM Requests a data set (the client sent a stored procedure call or SQL select satement)
                The ADO COM builds a recordset
                   The VFP client creates a local reference to the ISP ADO COM's recordset
                       The VFP client (maybe disconnect from the COM, and) process the local recordset.

Almost everything we hear about ADo and COM relates to servicing Active Doc or ASP. I have always wondered, when the project calls for it, "Why can't an ISP ADO COM service a VFP client?"

Regarding the initail connect and authorization to the ISP, I guess that could be done through an OCX WinSock