Server management overview

This section provides information on a range of server tasks that allow you to customize the behavior of Crystal Enterprise. It also includes information on the server settings that you can alter to accommodate the needs of your organization. The default values for these settings have been chosen to maximize the reliability, predictability, and consistency of operation of a typical Crystal Enterprise installation. The default settings guarantee the highest degree of data accuracy and timeliness. For example, by default, data sharing between reports is disabled. When running reports on demand, disabling data sharing means that every user can always assume that they will receive the latest data.

If you prefer to place more emphasis on the efficiency, economy, and scalability of Crystal Enterprise, you can tune server settings to set your own balance between system reliability and performance. For example, enabling data sharing between reports markedly increases system performance when user loads are heavy. To take advantage of this feature while ensuring that every user receives data that meets your criteria for timeliness, you can also specify how long data will be shared between users.

Crystal Enterprise includes two key administrative tools that allow you to view and to modify a variety of server settings. These two tools are the Crystal Management Console and the Crystal Configuration Manager:

• Crystal Management Console (CMC)

  The CMC is the web-based administration tool that allows you to view and to modify server settings while Crystal Enterprise is running. For instance, you will use the CMC when you need to change the status of a server, change server settings, access server metrics, or create server groups. Because the CMC is a web-based interface, you are able to configure your Crystal Enterprise servers remotely over the Internet or through your corporate intranet.

• Crystal Configuration Manager (CCM)

  The CCM is a program that allows you to view and to modify server settings while Crystal Enterprise is offline. It also allows you to accomplish tasks that require you to take Crystal Enterprise offline. For instance, you use the CCM to stop the Web Component Server (WCS) or the Crystal Management Server (CMS), to start Crystal Enterprise after you have stopped the system completely, and to change the default server port numbers. This tool also allows you to configure Crystal Enterprise remotely over your corporate network.

You can accomplish some configuration tasks with both tools, while other tasks must be performed with a specific tool. This section takes a task-oriented approach to server management by first explaining the server settings that are available to you, and then by showing how to accomplish each task with whichever tool(s) are appropriate.

Click the appropriate link to jump to that section:

• Viewing current metrics
• Viewing and changing the current status of servers
• Configuring the application tier
• Configuring the intelligence tier
• Configuring the processing tier
• Logging server activity
• Advanced server configuration options

Related topics

• For an overview of the multi-tier architecture and the Crystal Enterprise server components, see Crystal Enterprise Architecture.
• For information about creating groups of servers, see Server group overview.
• With the Crystal Enterprise Software Development Kit (SDK), you can now access and modify server metrics and settings from your own web applications. For more information, see the developer documentation available on your product CD.