type 3 jdbc drivers

Could you please clarify what this means.
Type 3: JDBC-network bridge
1)JDBC-network bridge drivers remove the need for client-side database drivers. They make use of network-server middleware to access a database. This makes such techniques as load balancing, connection pooling, and data caching possible.
2) Because type 3 drivers often involve a relatively small download time, are platform independent, and require no client-side installation or administration, they are good for Internet applications.
What does it mean when they refer to "client side database drivers". If in my applciation server (weblogic), I specify the driver name as in the below example in my connection pool, am I not installing the drivers on my machine which is the client to the database ?
<JDBCConnectionPool CapacityIncrement="2" DriverName="oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver" InitialCapacity="2" MaxCapacity="10" Name="testPool" Properties="user=test;password=test;dll=oestcijdbc8;protocol=thin" RefreshMinutes="1" Targets="adminserver" TestConnectionsOnRelease="true" TestConnectionsOnReserve="true" TestTableName="dual" URL="jdbc

racle:thin:@xxxxx.com:1511:xxx" />
In point 2, they refer to a download time which seems to contradict statement 1. Please clarify.
Regards,
Ann

Hi Ann,
No clarification from my side. Just a remark: you are aware taht Oracle's Thin driver is a type 4 driver, are you?
Rudy.

Rudy, thanks for pointing that out. I guess I missed that. I was just searching the web for oracle drivers and found more information. I guess my problem is that I am working on an application which has the basic infrastructure like the drivers and everything set up. And I am trying to understand what exactly is happening behind the scenes. Do you have any good pointers as to where I can start off.
Thanks.

Hi Ann,
There should be tutorials and the like on JDBC on the Sun Java site, but I wouldn't have the URL at hand. If I am not mistaken there are some chapters from the rather authorative JDBC reference and tutorial published on the site. In case this isn't enough of a pointer, just let me know.
Good riddance,
Rudy.