Revised: September 2, 2010 Created: March 31, 2010 Author: Jérôme Horber
CONTENTS Summary This document describes the system requirements and possible deployment architectures for MEGA Web Application. This document only applies to MEGA. It does not describe: How to perform installations (see installation documentation). How to upgrade installations (see CP/SP upgrade documentation). How to manage installations (see administrator manuals). How products are licensed (see licensing documentation). How to use features (see user manuals). Contents... 2 Deployments Models... 4 Deployment Comparison Table... 4 Standard Deployment... 5 Advanced Deployment... 6 Deployment requirements... 7 Common Model Requirements... 7 Web Client... 7 Web Application Server... 7 Web Cluster Server... 7 File Server... 8 Database Server... 8 Communication... 9 Between Web Client and Web server (Web Application Server or Web Server Cluster). 9 Between Application Server (MEGA Application Services) and Database Server (Oracle)9 Between Application Server (MEGA Application Services) and Database Server (SQL Server)... 9 Between Web Server Cluster (MEGA Application Services) and File Server... 9 Security and Administration... 10 Making Architecture Secure... 10 Firewalls and DMZ... 10 Making Communication Secure... 10 High load and Scalability... 10 Data Protection... 10 page 2/15
Data Integrity... 10 Data Access and Visibility... 10 Securing Access to Solutions... 11 Licensing... 11 Authentication Policy... 11 Password Protection and Storage... 11 Login and Password Management Rule... 12 LDAP Integration... 12 Service Administration... 12 Process and Session Monitoring... 12 Activity Tracking Elements (Logs)... 12 Glossary... 13 General terms... 13 FAQs... 15 Is MS Internet Explorer 6.0 supported as an HTML client?... 15 Why are Windows Server 2008 systems recommended?... 15 Is Google Chrome supported as an HTML client?... 15 Can the MEGA Web Application run on a web server other than IIS?... 15 Can MEGA Web Application run on a mobile platform?... 15 What are the JavaScript technologies used by MEGA Web Application?... 15 page 3/15
DEPLOYMENTS MODELS MEGA Web Application can be deployed in different typical architectures: Standard deployment: common deployment model, recommend for standard requirements. Advanced deployment: recommended for large deployments or if scalability and load balancing are concerned. Other deployment models For specific requirements, other deployment models are possible. For further information, contact your sales representative. Deployment Comparison Table This table can help you choose the appropriate deployment model: 1-29 concurrent 30-500 concurrent users users* Recommended architecture Standard deployment Advanced deployment * Beyond 100 users, we recommend a specific study to confirm that the deployment model and the administration procedures are appropriate for project activity and the technical architecture used. page 4/15
Standard Deployment Here is a short description of the most common deployment model, recommended for standard requirements. 3 main nodes are involved: Web Client. Web Application Server: single server used as: o o Web Server. Application and File Server (MEGA Application Services, MEGA Environment, MEGA License). Database Server. HTML Browser Adobe Flash Player Web client HTTP Request HTTP Response Internet Information Services W indows File System MEGA Web Application (IIS) Web Application Server DCOM Request DCOM Response MEGA Application Services MEGA Environment MEGA License Folder RDBMS Request RDBMS Response RDBMS Server Database Server MEGA Repository page 5/15
Advanced Deployment Here is a short description of the advanced deployment model, recommended for high scalability requirements. 4 main nodes are involved: Web Client. Web Server Cluster (MEGA Application Services, Web Server). File Server, used to host MEGA Environment and MEGA License. Database Server. HTML Browser Adobe Flash Player Web client HTTP Request HTTP Response Web Server Cluster Internet Information Services MEGA Web Application (IIS) DCOM Request DCOM Response MEGA Applic ation Servic es SMB Request RDBMS Request SMB Response RDBMS Response W indows File System RDBMS Server File Server Database Server MEGA Environment MEGA License Folder MEGA Repository page 6/15
DEPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS Common Model Requirements Web Client HTML client Configuration Plug-in MS Internet Explorer IE 7.0, 8.0 Mozilla Firefox Firefox 3.0 Screen resolution 1024x768 65000 colours JavaScript enabled Cookies enabled Adobe Flash player 9.0 or higher Web Application Server Operating system Hardware Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) recommended Windows Server 2008 (32-bit or 64-bit) recommended Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2003 SP2 (32-bit) For other systems a specific study is necessary Processor Multi core RAM 2 GB minimum. 1 GB for the system 250 MB per concurrent user Disk space 1.5 GB recommended for MEGA Application Services 500 MB recommended for MEGA Web Application (IIS) 1 GB recommended per MEGA Environment folder 10 MB for MEGA Licence Web Server MS Internet Information Services 6.0 MS Internet Information Services 7.0 MS Internet Information Services 7.5 Script layer Web Cluster Server ASP.NET.NET Framework 2.0 or higher Operating system Windows Server 2008 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) For other systems a specific study is necessary page 7/15
Hardware Processor Multi core 1 core per group of 20 users. RAM 2 GB minimum. 1 GB for the system 250 MB per concurrent user Disk space 1.5 GB recommended for MEGA Application Services 500 MB recommended for MEGA Web Application (IIS) Web Server MS Internet Information Services 6.0 MS Internet Information Services 7.0 MS Internet Information Services 7.5 Script layer File Server ASP.NET.NET Framework 2.0 or higher Operating system Hardware Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Windows Server 2008 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2003 SP2 (32-bit) For other systems a specific study in necessary Processor Multi core RAM 1 GB minimum. 1 GB for the system Disk space 1 GB recommended per MEGA Environment folder 10 MB for MEGA Licence Database Server Operating system See RDBMS requirements RDBMS Oracle Database Server 11 Standard or Enterprise Edition Version 11.1.0.6 Oracle Database Server 10g R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition Versions 10.2.0.4 or higher SQL Server 2008 (32-bit) Standard or Enterprise Edition SQL Server 2005 Standard or Enterprise Edition Disk space Hardware Data: refer to the document 'Repository - RDBMS Installation Guide MEGA '. For Oracle, 2 GB minimum per user or system repository RAM: a specific study is required. Refer to the separate article 'Repository - RDBMS Installation Guide MEGA 2009 SP4'. CPU: see hardware requirements of the RDBMS. page 8/15
COMMUNICATION Between Web Client and Web server (Web Application Server or Web Server Cluster) Protocol Port Network bandwidth HTTP by default 80 by default 512 Kbit/s or higher recommended Between Application Server (MEGA Application Services) and Database Server (Oracle) Protocol Port Network bandwidth Oracle Native protocol TCP 1521 (Oracle Remote Database) 100 Mbit/s or 1 Gbit/s recommended Between Application Server (MEGA Application Services) and Database Server (SQL Server) Protocol Port Network bandwidth SQL Server native protocol UDP/TCP 1433 (Microsoft-SQL-Server) 100 Mbit/s or 1 Gbit/s recommended Between Web Server Cluster (MEGA Application Services) and File Server Protocol Port Network bandwidth Server Message Block Protocol (SMB Protocol) SMB Ports: NETBIOS Datagram Service (UDP/TCP 138). NETBIOS Name Service (UDP/TCP 137). NETBIOS session service (UDP/TCP 139) Simple Network Paging Protocol (UDP/TCP 445) 100 Mbit/s or 1 Gbit/s recommended page 9/15
SECURITY AND ADMINISTRATION Making Architecture Secure Firewalls and DMZ To configure firewall ports, see the table above. The Web Cluster Server, Application Web Server and File Server must be located inside the DMZ. Making Communication Secure You can configure the HTTPS to improve the security of flows between the Web Client and the Web Server. High load and Scalability The advanced deployment architecture is recommended for high load and scalability requirements. Data Protection Data Integrity The MEGA Web Application platform benefits from the proven MEGA Repository storage solutions. Note also that, by default, all updates are performed in transactions. Data Access and Visibility It is possible to configure the MEGA repositories to which a user has access. It is possible to configure the type of information to which a user has access by configuring metamodel filters on the MEGA Profile. See document 'MEGA Administration - Supervisor', section 'Filtering the Metamodel'. It is also possible to configure the data to which a user has access by implementing data confidentiality management. See the document 'MEGA Administration - Supervisor', section 'Data Confidentiality'. page 10/15
Securing Access to Solutions Licensing MEGA Web Application only supports MEGA Must Licences. An installation will require: At least one Data Access Product E.g.: Repository Storage (ORACLE) or Repository Storage (SQL Server). At least one Web Platform Product E.g.: MEGA Architecture Anywhere Storage (ORACLE) See also the 'Must License Installation Guide MEGA ' document. Authentication Policy Connection to the MEGA Web Application is controlled to enable access to authorized MEGA Environments, MEGA Users and MEGA Repositories. The connection window enables the web user to select: A MEGA Environment. A user (login) for the selected MEGA Environment. A database for the selected MEGA Environment and MEGA User. A password for the selected MEGA User. The user and password are checked according to the authentication mode. Anonymous connections are not authorized. Several authentication modes are available and must be specified: MEGA authentication: authentication is managed by MEGA in a specific MEGA directory. Windows authentication: authentication is made using MS Active Directory. LDAP authentication: authentication is made using an external LDAP directory. Configuration can be done at the MEGA user level but it is recommended to adopt a homogeneous policy. Users must be identified as MEGA users in the MEGA data (systemdb repository). The list can be initialized (one shot) from an access to a MS Active Directory. MEGA does not propose a permanent synchronization feature. Connection to the administration page should be protected by configuring the IIS server. User configuration is made by the administrator using MEGA Administration Console. See the 'MEGA Administration - Supervisor' document, the 'Authentication in MEGA' section. Password Protection and Storage Password check depends on the chosen authentication mode: MEGA authentication: user passwords are stored within a MEGA directory (systemdb repository, value encrypted with the AES algorithm). Windows authentication: user passwords are stored in the MS Active Directory. LDAP authentication: user passwords are stored in an LDAP directory. page 11/15
Login and Password Management Rule The MEGA Administration Console enables to Manage MEGA Users (create, delete, disable, change and configure authentication). Reset MEGA User passwords (only for MEGA authentication mode). LDAP Integration MEGA enables the LDAP authentication. A LDAP server must be configured for the MEGA environment. LDAP Authentication must be activated at the user level. See the 'MEGA Administration - Supervisor' document, the 'Authentication in MEGA' section. Service Administration Process and Session Monitoring Process monitoring is carried out using the: MEGA Administration Page. Web Server standard monitoring tools (IIS Manager ) Application server standard monitoring tools (Task manager ). The MEGA Administration Page enables monitoring various elements including: Web user connections to the MEGA Web Application. Active MEGA processes. MEGA Connection Profiles. Administration and diagnosis report generation. Besides, the administration of MEGA Environments and MEGA Users is carried out on the MEGA Administration Console. See the 'MEGA Administration - Supervisor' document, the 'Managing users' section. Activity Tracking Elements (Logs) The MEGA Application Services enable managing: An Embedded logging of data updates (active by default). This has an impact of data size on application performances. An external logging of data updates (not active by default) Log configuration and consultation of activity tracking for an object is carried out using the MEGA Administration Console. page 12/15
GLOSSARY General terms Term Definition Availability A measure of a computer system's ability to maintain services despite hardware or software failures. A highly available system delivers services to clients a high percentage of the time. Cluster A group of independent computer systems, referred to as nodes, working together as a unified computing resource Database Server A database server is a machine providing database services to other machines. In this document the database server is a machine running relational database management systems. A database server can host one or several instances. Example: Server 'iba.company.com' Server '192.888.777.666' Server 'SQL02' Domain User User in MS Active Directory File Server Server used to share files. Hardware must include upper quality components for disk and disk-controller card. Configuration must be in favour of file access performances in read and write mode. IIS, Microsoft Internet Microsoft technology. Web Server Platform enabling the Information Services execution of web applications. Load The amount of work being done by a node. In Network Load Balancing, load is measured as a raw number of connections. Load Balancing A technique for scaling performance by distributing requests across multiple nodes. MEGA Administration Console Administration console that performs administration tasks including: Managing MEGA environments. Managing MEGA repositories. Managing MEGA users. Managing MEGA profiles. MEGA Administration Page Web page that enables the performance of basic administration tasks including: Managing web user connections. Managing caches. MEGA Advisor Web application enabling to consult a MEGA Repository. With MEGA 2009, it is designed for IIS. One server machine can host a maximum of one MEGA Advisor installation MEGA Application Services MEGA Application installed on a server and providing services to other applications such as the MEGA Web Application. MEGA Disk CD/DVD containing the installation program of the MEGA page 13/15
MEGA Environment MEGA Licence MEGA Profile MEGA Repository MEGA Storage Format MEGA User MEGA Web Application MEGA Web Application (IIS) Server Message Block Protocol (SMB Protocol) Web Application Server Web Server Cluster Web User Windows User for MEGA Web Application software. The content of this disk can be copied to a network folder and installed from the network. Data workspace for a group of MEGA users. A MEGA environment references a systemdb repository and one or several user repositories Licence used to run MEGA software (MEGA Product, MEGA Options or MEGA Bundles). Different technologies are available. The most common one is the MEGA Must license. Group of MEGA users in a MEGA environment (systemdb). It makes it easier to manage MEGA user configurations (options, permissions, license) A MEGA repository is a database that constitutes the workspace in which modelling data is stored. Several users can connect to the repository and work simultaneously. A repository therefore allows several users to work as a team on the same project. There are different storage formats for a MEGA repository: GBMS (MEGA DBMS, proprietary format). Oracle (RDBMS, Oracle). SQL Server (RDBMS, SQL Server). User account in a MEGA environment (systemdb) MEGA Platform for web environments. Note that the MEGA Products and Options available for the MEGA Desktop Application are different from those available for the MEGA Web Application..NET application installed on an IIS server using the MEGA Disk program. It communicates with MEGA Application Services to provide the MEGA Advisor Application. Protocol used by a client machine to request file and print services to a MS Windows file server. Previously called CIFS protocol. Server playing both web server and application server roles. Cluster of Web Servers A Web User is a user of a web application, for example of the MEGA Modeller or the MEGA Advisor application. This user may either be authenticated by the Web server (IIS, Apache ) or by the Web application (written in PHP, ASP, JSP, ASP.NET...). The authentication defines whether the user exists and if it can connect to the Web site. Domain user that owns the process of MEGA Web Application on the Web Application Server E.g.: web@domain1.com page 14/15
FAQS Is MS Internet Explorer 6.0 supported as an HTML client? Only versions 7.0 and 8.0 of MS Internet Explorer are supported. Why are Windows Server 2008 systems recommended? Our tests confirmed that the most recent Windows Server 2008 systems were superior to Windows Server 2003 systems. More robust. Easier installation and configuration. Additional features (clustering ). Is Google Chrome supported as an HTML client? Google Chrome has not been qualified for the MEGA Web Application. Can the MEGA Web Application run on a web server other than IIS? With MEGA, MEGA Web Application is designed for IIS only. MEGA is working on the deployment on other web servers (WebSphere). Can MEGA Web Application run on a mobile platform? MEGA Web Application is designed for a web client running on a desktop or laptop computer. It has not been designed for pads or smart phones. What are the JavaScript technologies used by MEGA Web Application? MEGA Web Application uses different JavaScript related technologies: Ajax. Extjs. Dojo. JSON. Flash. On the client side, nothing is required except Adobe Flash player and an HTML browser. On the server side, nothing is required except the.net Framework. All necessary execution layers are installed by MEGA. MEGA uses an embedded JRE (Java run-time environment SE version 6.0). page 15/15