What is a Server Role?

To understand the basics of server roles, read this section. The topics discussed include:

Server Role Overview

A managed server Server that is managed by the Enterprise Manager application. consists of a collection Group of back-office Contributions from one or more employees connected to a single customer or account captured by DPA. Collections are used for analyzing and improving back-office efficiency and quality. of server roles. The server roles the administrator activates on a server determine the functionality provided by the server, as discussed in What is a Server?.

The server role Entity that contains a logical, predefined set of components (system software or certified third-party software) deployed in the Data Center and Site Zones that provide specific functionality for the system. is the lowest configurable element in an enterprise. A server role is "atomic," meaning the server role always resides on a single server and cannot be divided across servers.

A server role contains separate components that are grouped to support a specific functionality. The primary purpose of a server role is to simplify the view and configuration of the system. Rather than configure several individual components to support a specific functionality, the administrator need only configure a single server role.

Some examples of server roles include:

You configure a server role by selecting the Server Role node in the Installations tree. Then you specify the settings for the server role in the right pane of the Enterprise Manager. The server roles, and their associated configuration settings, are described in Server Role Configuration and Administration.

Some server roles do not have any configuration settings. When you select these server roles in the Installations tree, the Settings tab in the right pane is blank.

As noted previously, server roles contain components. Components are collections of services and are the smallest software modules in the system. There are no configuration settings for the individual components. However, in some upgrade or troubleshooting scenarios, you need to be aware of the particular component that raised an alarm. You also need to be aware of the version levels of the components that are installed on a server.

In these cases In Risk Management, use cases to group interactionss according to the needs of the enterprise. Interactions can reside in multiple cases simultaneously., you can:

  • Find all alarms associated with a particular component by selecting the component in the Filter options of the Alarm Dashboard. For more information, see the Alarm Dashboard chapter in the System Monitoring, Logs, and Alarms Guide.

  • View server role component version information from the Version tab in Enterprise Manager, which is available from any node of the Installations tree. For more information, see View software version information.

Server Role Associations

Some server roles support associations to other server roles. An administrator creates a server role association Relationship between server roles, where one server role relies on the configuration and functionality of another server role to perform its tasks. when one server role relies on the configuration and functionality of another server role to perform its tasks. Enterprise Manager automatically creates some server role associations.

Some server role associations are mandatory (that is, one server role cannot operate unless it is associated with another type of server role).

Administrators create server role associations by selecting a Server Role node in the Enterprise Manager Installations tree. Then the administrator configures the association in an Associations tab in the right pane of Enterprise Manager.

Some server roles do not support any associations. When you select these server roles in the Installations tree, the Associations tab in the right pane is blank.

There are three types of server role associations:

  • One-to-One (1:1) - A server role can be associated to only one instance of a target role.

  • One-to-Many (1:N) - A server role can be associated to many instances of a target role.

  • One-to-All (1:All) - A server role can be associated to all instances of a target role.

Server role associations can be one-way or two-way. In a one-way association, one server role relies on the services provided by the other role. In a two-way association, each server role relies on the services provided by the other server role.

Although associations can be mutually beneficial (as in a two-way association), the association only exists for one of the server roles: the server role from which you create the association.

For example, when you select an Integration Service server role and associate it to a TDM Recorder server role, you create an association for the Integration Service. No association is created for the TDM Recorder server role. The Integration Service is associated to the TDM Recorder, but the TDM Recorder is not associated to the Integration Service.

To illustrate server role associations, consider a simple example of how an IP Recorder server role requires an association to an Integration Service server role. The Integration Service is an important server role in a recording environment. The Integration Service acts as an interface between the IP Recorder and a Data Source, such as a PBX switch. One of the many functions performed by the Integration Service is to control when the IP Recorder begins and stops recording incoming calls. The Integration Service receives information from the PBX indicating an incoming call. The Integration Services relays the appropriate event to the IP Recorder so that the recorder can begin recording the call. To interoperate with the IP Recorder in this way, the Integration Service server role must be associated with the IP Recorder server role. The IP Recorder server role does not operate properly unless it is associated with an Integration Service server role.

Another example of server role associations involves associating a Centralized Archive server role to a Screen Recorder server role. This association is mandatory to enable the Screen Recorder to store screen recordings in a centralized archive. Without this role association, screen recordings created by the Screen Recorder cannot be stored in the centralized archiving system.

Server Role Association Scope

Server role associations also have a scope. The four possible server role association scopes are enterprise-wide, site group-wide, site-wide, and server-wide. These server role association scopes are described here:

  • Enterprise-wide - A server role can be associated with another type of server role that is active anywhere in the enterprise.

  • Site Group-wide - A server role can be associated with another type of server role type that is active in the same site group.

  • Site-wide - A server role can be associated with another type of server role that is active in the same site.

  • Server-wide - A server role can be associated with another type of server role type that is active on the same server.

The possible server role associations that exist for a particular server role are pre-determined in the server role software. (Associations are defined in the server role metadata file, as discussed in How Server Roles are Managed by Enterprise Manager)

When you create a server role association, you select a Server Role node in the Installations tree and select the Associations tab in the right pane. The right pane displays the server roles with which the selected server role can be associated. The server role scope plays a part in determining which server roles appear in the right pane.

For administrators who have the Edit Advanced Settings privilege Permissions associated with each role that define the features of the application a user is able to view and the functionality in the application the user can access. in the user security privileges, a Show Associations Outside the Scope option exists in the Associations tab. To display server roles that are of the correct type for the association, but fall outside the association scope, select this option.

In some situations, you can create associations to server roles that are outside the pre-defined scope of the association. However, use this feature only under guidance from an authorized support representative.

Server Role Constraints

Some server roles have constraints. A server role constraint Particular condition or restriction under which a server role must operate. is a particular condition or restriction under which the server role must operate. Examples of server role constraints include:

  • A restriction on the number of server role instances that can exist within a particular site or within the enterprise.

    There are three levels of restrictions:

    • Lax - If you violate a lax server role constraint, a warning message displays in the Configuration Status tab. If you ignore the warning, the system continues to function.

    • Overrideable - If you violate an overrideable server role constraint, an error or warning message appears in the Configuration Status tab. You can ignore this message and the system continues to function, although the error indicates that your configuration is not optimal.

    • Strict - If you violate a strict server role constraint, an error message appears in the Configuration Status tab and you cannot ignore the error. The system does not function properly until the error is addressed.

      For example, there can be only one Framework Applications Server role in the Data Center that provides the system’s core applications. It is a mandatory server role in the system and required for all packages. server role active on all servers in the enterprise. If more than one Framework Applications server role is active, Enterprise Manager reports a server role constraint violation.

  • Server role association constraints determine whether a server role association is mandatory or optional.

    There are three kinds of server role association constraints

    • Required (or Mandatory)- A server role must be associated to another server role to operate properly. If the server role is not associated with the other server role, an error message appears in the Configuration Status tab. The system does not operate properly until the association is created. This constraint is enforced even if the required role is not installed or activated.

    • If Exists - A server role must be associated to another server role if the other server role is installed and is active. If the other server role is not installed, or is not active, the server role association is not mandatory. An error message displays in the Configuration Status tab for this kind of server role constraint violation.

    • Optional - If the server role association is not made, a server role association is optional. No errors are reported .

There are other types of server role constraints. If a server role violates one of its constraints, Enterprise Manager reports a server role constraint violation in the ConfigurationStatus tab.

Remedy any server role constraint violations reported by the Enterprise Manager.