2 Shared Services

Simphony relies on shared services to operate property level functions that require high availability. These services run at the property instead of in the cloud, due to the business’ dependency upon their functionality.

Losing connectivity to these features can have a severe, negative affect on operations. For example, if the Kitchen Display System controller becomes unavailable, orders stop appearing on the kitchen displays.

Deploying these services on-premise eliminates the greatest potential communication failure source, the Wide Area Network or Internet.

The following table provides a summary of each shared service and a brief explanation of its primary functionality.

Table 2-1 Shared Services On-premise

Shared Service	Key Functions
Backup Check and Posting	Stores a redundant copy of the POS transaction posting messages sent to CAPS
Backup Kitchen Display System Controller	Takes over Kitchen Display System client management if the KDS controller service fails
Check and Posting	Posts transaction to enterprise Property reporting Check sharing
Distributed Client Application Loader	Stores CAL packages locally Upgrades Simphony clients
Kitchen Display System Controller	Manges communication with the Kitchen Display System clients
Oracle Payment Interface	Manages communication between POS clients and Payment Service Provider middleware
Print Controller	Manages print jobs and queues for local and network connected printers
Property Management System Interface	Standard interface typically used to connect Simphony with Property Management System
Transaction Services	Web service based POS client Create new and update existing transactions Provides configuration information

The Oracle Payment Interface is not technically a “shared service” because it sits outside of the Simphony service host. It can be installed through a CAL package, but it is not configured or managed through the Enterprise Management Console (EMC). This Shared Services section contains information regarding this service because it contributes to the property hardware requirements.

Transaction Services is also not technically a shared service. It is a Simphony POS client that receives input from third party systems instead of a graphical user interface. It is listed here because of the similar characteristics it shares with the other services.

• It runs in the background (no user interface)

• It can run on the same service host as the POS Client

• It uses data stored in the POS client database

For hardware configuration purposes, think of Transaction Services in the same manner as shared services.

The following items are commonly referred to as shared services, but they always run as a part of the CAPS. There is no ability to assign them to a different service host. These features affect the system’s performance, and configurations must take into account the additional load they place on the CAPS hardware.

Table 2-2 Features Running with CAPS

Feature	Key Functions
Cash Management	Tracks cash totals Deposit/safe totals
Labor Management	Clock in/out Schedule management Enterprise time punch posting
Table Management	Manages reservations Manages wishlist Updates table status on POS clients

• Services Overview