Overview of Multitier Deployment
JD Edwards EnterpriseOne software is normally distributed to workstations from a centralized location. In many cases, you can minimize the affect on the performance of a single deployment server by using systematic scheduling for software installations. For example, if your site has more than 50 workstations that require a package installation but you release software only four times a year, you can mitigate performance problems by scheduling the installations over a weekend, at night, or during off-peak hours.
While this distribution method is the simplest approach for software deployment, network capacity constrains configurations that have either multiple remote sites or large numbers of users at a single site. For example, software installations to workstations that are connected to the centralized deployment location by a 56 KB circuit can take 4 to 6 hours to run.
Multitier deployment provides sites the flexibility of installing packages on workstations and servers from more than one deployment location and more than one deployment server. These additional deployment locations and servers are called deployment tiers. Specifically, instead of installing multiple workstations across a wide area network (WAN) circuit, multitier deployment enables you to transfer a compressed package from the centralized location to the remote workgroup server, which acts as a second deployment tier. Multitier deployment means deploying from more than one deployment tier.
For example, you might have one deployment server at the main location and a second deployment server for a remote location. Because the server at the remote location is responsible for deploying to workstations and servers at that location, you do not need to deploy packages from the main deployment server across a WAN, as you would in a single-tier deployment configuration.
Workgroup servers can also be used as second-tier deployment locations in a local area network (LAN) environment, where large numbers of workstations need to install software concurrently. It is recommended that you implement multitier deployment if your site has more than 50 workstations receiving multiple installations per day.
The primary function of multitier deployment is to reduce network traffic (and the delays that result from heavy traffic) by enabling enterprises with more than one geographic location to deploy from a secondary deployment server at the remote site. Instead of installing packages across the WAN from the deployment server to workstations at a remote location, you can copy the package and the package.inf file from the deployment server at the primary location to the deployment server at the remote location. The server at the remote location can then deploy the package to the workstations and servers at that location.
Consider implementing a multitier deployment configuration when either of these situations applies:
Too many workstations are installing packages from the same location, causing server and network performance to suffer.
Workstations are remotely connected to the deployment server over a WAN, which requires unacceptably long installation times.
Normally, you decide whether to implement multitier deployment during Configurable Network Computing (CNC) implementation. Although you can enable this function at any time, you typically set it up after you have installed the software and are preparing the production sites to go live.
To set up multitier deployment, you must define the machines (and their associated path codes) that are used for deployment. In addition, you can use a scheduler function to define when software should be pushed to the tiered deployment location.
You must also define individual user characteristics for multitier deployment. Normally, you do this by modifying the user profiles to indicate the deployment location from which a user pulls a package.