The best application is useless if it cannot be easily installed and administered. For distributed applications, it is critical to be able to centralize administration and make client installation as straightforward as possible. It is also necessary to provide administrators with ways to detect problems or failures as soon as possible.
To further these goals, this section provides the following information:
Diagram of the Installed CML Application
Using Microsoft Internet Explorer, clients can access the Corporate Media Library Web site. When Fitch & Mather personnel run the CML application, it retrieves the CML client component from the host server and installs it onto their individual workstations. All that is required is for the CML components to be shared from one central location.
The following diagram is a simplified illustration of the installed CML sample application components. After this application is installed on the server, it is easy to deploy to the client.
The F & M team chose to use one physical computer to support both the business-services and data-services tiers. This makes communication between these two tiers simple and fast, as well as simplifying installation.
The remainder of this section provides information about preparing for, installing, and deploying the CML application. It is heavy on procedures and designed to provide the information necessary to roll out the CML sample application. If you have questions about why a procedure is necessary, refer to the Design Decisions and Implementation sections of this guide.