The object adapter acts as a mediator between the communications framework of the server-side ORB and the servant objects that reside on that server.
When the server-side ORB receives a request, the ORB passes the request to the object adapter. The object adapter identifies the target of the request and dispatches it to that servant object. The object adapter class provides methods that allow the server application to participate in the exporting and importing of object references and the selection of threads to which remote requests are dispatched.