I've been working on new boxes for our 4.2 environment. We chose to go with a new install instead of upgrade in place because:
a) we are growing, and our landscape needs to support the growth, and
b) we are also upgrading to Win Server 2012 R2 from Win Server 2008 at the same time.
We are planning on a clustered 3 tier landscape:
1. Web (Application) Tier
2. CMS (Management) Tier
3. Processing Tier
The web tier will be in the DMZ as this will be a public facing application, with the other two tiers inside the LAN.
Other high level requirements:
-We will be using Design Studio
-We will be using Dashboards
-We will be using Crystal and WebI (but 90% WebI)
-We will be using SQL Server for the CMS Repo, not the SQL Anywhere system
-We would like to use Live Office, so I believe RESTful Web Services will need to be accessed via the public URL.
When I start the install for 4.2, one of the first screens asks you which feature you want to install on the tier (Feature Selection Screen).
I'm looking for advice/best practice for which feature should be installed on which tier to best utilize the resources:
Here are the list of features:
| Feature | Web (Application) Tier | CMS (Management) Tier | Processing Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java Web Applications | X | ||
| Mobile Services - Mobile Servers | X | ||
| Mobile Services - CMS plugin for Mobile | X | ||
| Tomcat 8.0 | X | ||
| Platform Services - Central Management Server | X | ||
| Platform Services - File Repository Services (FRS) | X | ||
| Platform Services - Sybase SQL Anywhere Database | -- | -- | -- |
| Platform Services - Event Service | X | ||
| Platform Services - Web Application Container Service | X | ||
| Platform Services - Platform Processing Services | X | ||
| Platform Services - Platform Scheduling Services | X | ||
| Platform Services - RESTful Web Service | X | ||
| Platform Services - Insight to Action Service | X? | X? | |
| Platform Services - Subversion | X | ||
| Connectivity Services - Connectivity Processing Services | X | ||
| Data Federator Service - Data Federator Query Service | X | ||
| Analysis Services - Multidimensional Analysis Services Server | X | ||
| Analysis Services - BEx Web Application Service | X | ||
| SAP Crystal Reports Services - SAP Crystal Reports Processing Services | X | ||
| SAP Crystal Reports Services - SAP Crystal Reports Scheduling Services | X | ||
| SAP Crystal Reports Services - SAP Crystal Reports 2016 Processing Services | X | ||
| SAP Crystal Reports Services - SAP Crystal Reports 2016 Scheduling Services | X | ||
| Web Intelligence Services - Web Intelligence Processing Server | X | ||
| Web Intelligence Services - Web Intelligence Scheduling Services | X | ||
| SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards Services | X | ||
| Integration Servers - BW Publisher Server | -- | -- | -- |
| Administrator Tools - Upgrade Management | -- | -- | -- |
| Administrator Tools - Multitenancy Manager | X | ||
| Developer Tools - 64bit BI platform server .NET SDK | X | ||
| Developer Tools - Semantic Layer Java SDK | X | ||
| Developer Tools - Semantic Layer Java SDK - Samples | X | ||
| Developer Tools - WebI RESful samples | X | ||
| Database Access - Drivers | X | ||
| Samples - Samples | X | ||
| Design Studio Add-on - Analysis Application Web Components | X | ? | ? |
| Design Studio Add-on - Analysis Application Service | ? | X | |
| Design Studio Add-on - Analysis Application support for Mobile Services | X |
I'm also referencing How to install Design studio add-on in a Distributed Landscape which advises which component to install on which tier, but the information in this post seems to conflict with the information in how-to-install-design-studio-add-on-in-a-distributed-landscape
I'm also referencing the 4.2 SP02 admin guide section 3.1.2 Architecture tiers, (page 36) that talks about the tiers and what the tier should be responsible for. Unfortunately, the tier descriptions do not do a good job mapping back to the features that are listed during the install.
Web tier
The web tier contains web applications deployed to a Java web application server. Web applications provide BI platform functionality to end users through a web browser. Examples of web applications include the Central Management Console (CMC) administrative web interface and BI launch pad. The web tier also contains Web Services. Web Services provides BI platform functionality to software tools via the web application server, such as session authentication, user privilege management, scheduling, search, administration, reporting, and query management. For example, Live Office is a product that uses Web Services to integrate BI platform reporting into some Microsoft Office products.
Management Tier
The management tier (also known as intelligence tier) coordinates and controls all of the components that make up the BI platform. It comprises the Central Management Server (CMS) and the Event Server and associated services. The CMS maintains security and configuration information, directs service requests to servers, manages auditing, and maintains the CMS system database. The Event Server manages file-based events, which occur in a defined storage tier.
Processing tier
The processing tier analyzes data, and produces reports and other output types. This is the only tier that accesses the databases that contain report data. This tier comprises the Adaptive Job Server, Connection Server (32- and 64-bit), and processing servers such as the Adaptive Processing Server or Crystal Reports Processing Server.
I believe I have most of the features mapped to the correct tier in our distributed landscape, but I would like feedback from others who have successfully implemented this type of distribution, with our similar requirements (Live Office, RESTful Web Services, Design Studio, Public URL, Web Tier in DMZ and firewalled from other tiers, etc).