2. Servers in AX Environment

2. Servers in AX Environment

                           Let us look at the servers in a Dynamics AX 2009 production environment with all these additions. We could divide the servers into three categories; base servers, extension servers and infrastructure support servers.

Base Servers

The base installation consists of the traditional components which include the Database, Application files, Application Object Server (AOS) and the Windows client. There are three servers under this category.

Database server

As the name suggests, this is where Dynamics AX data is stored. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 could work with Microsoft SQL Server database as well as Oracle database. Although Oracle database server supports various editions of UNIX, Linux and Windows, supports for Oracle database is limited to issues that could be reproduced with Oracle under Windows environment.

File server

The Microsoft Dynamics AX application files are installed here. The application files installed here will be accessed by all Application Object Servers (AOS) in the environment. Access rights should be configured accordingly.

Application Object Server (AOS)

This server hosts the AOS Windows service. The AOS service coordinate communications among database, application files and the Microsoft Dynamics AX clients. AOS could be installed on a single computer or a server cluster for load balancing.

Extension Servers

Servers under this category add functionalities to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Role Centers and Enterprise Portal

This server hosts a Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services site. This server exposes the role center and enterprise portal functionalities to relevant users. You may run Windows Sharepoint Services or Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server to enable these functionalities.

Workflow server

A workflow server runs the Windows Workflow Foundation. It enables the creation of individual workflows as well as business processes in Microsoft Dynamics AX. It controls how a document flows through the system for processing and approval.

Reporting server

A reporting server uses Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services to add reporting functionality to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

OLAP server

An OLAP server uses Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services to provide multi-dimensional reporting functionality to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Application integration server

An application integration server runs the Application Integration Framework (AIF). It allows the sharing of electronic business documents between Microsoft Dynamics AX and external parties.

Infrastructure Support

The servers mentioned earlier are either the integral part of Microsoft Dynamics AX or add specific functionalities to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Those under this category provide supports. The compulsory server under this category is the domain controller. We could have SMTP server to provide email abilities to alert, mass mailing, etc.