In a multi-site environment where there are many sites, large amounts
of data, and many users, you might want to set up one site as the master site
for an intranet. In that case, certain _all tables and user tables can reside
only on the master site database and are shared (read and written to through a
SQL view) by other sites on the same intranet. No replication needs to occur
for the shared _all and user tables, which can greatly improve system
performance.
Note: If you share _all tables or user tables, all sites in the same
database must be on the same intranet.
Prerequisite:
Caution: You must plan your multi-site structure carefully
before setting up the shared tables. This requires in-depth understanding of
the SQL databases and this application's replication capabilities.
You
must also understand your corporate financial reporting requirements.
See the
Multi-Site Planning and
Replication Reference documents on our support site for
more information.
To set up the master site and shared tables:
-
Prepare all sites on the intranet. These steps assume that you
have already used the Configuration Wizard during database server installation
to link your multi-site databases.
-
In the
Intranets form, specify all intranets to be
used in this multi-site system. If you will be sharing _all tables, define an
intranet that will include all the sites that share tables. This cannot be an
"External" intranet. All the sites on this intranet must use the same version
of this application.
Do not define the master site yet - that will be done later.
-
In each site, use the
Sites or
Sites/Entities form to specify information
about this site and the other sites that it relates to. Each site has a record
in this form. (This step also applies to entity sites.)
- On the
System Info tab,
specify information about the site. Make sure the
Intranet Name,
Database Name, and
Time Zone are set
correctly for each of the sites listed on this form.
- A list of linked sites displays automatically in the
Link Info tab. The
local site record shows links used in transactional replication between the
currently selected site database and other site databases. On site records
other than the local site, the
Link Info tab should
show only links to the local site.
-
Use the
Replication Categories form to specify
tables, stored procedures, and XML documents that should be replicated and to
group them into categories. The installation process creates some categories.
Do not delete these standard categories. These categories have been created and
tested to ensure that they handle the standard system processes. They should
meet most of your needs without requiring any changes.
-
On the
Replication Rules form, set up transactional
rules for the
Site Admin replication category between
this site and all the other sites in the intranet, including the site that will
be the master site. (Site Admin data includes tables
such as site, intranet, and IntranetSharedTable.) You might also want to write
other rules to replicate certain categories between certain sites. Even if a
category contains _all tables that you are sharing, you probably want to write
a replication rule for the category. (Any shared _all tables will not be
replicated in this case.) Categories may contain additional base tables or
stored procedures that are needed to perform certain functions. The rules you
need should be determined in the multi-site planning phase.
-
On the
Replication Management form, click
Regenerate Replication
Triggers. This ensures that site and intranet data is replicated to
all the linked sites.
-
Set up the master site:
-
Log in to the site that you want to make the master site where
the shared tables will exist for the intranet.
-
On the
Intranets form, select this site's intranet.
In the
Master Site field,
select this site to specify it as the master site for the intranet.
-
Share _All tables, user tables, or both, among the sites in the
intranet:
-
To add a new site to a existing shared tables intranet, see the
appendix in the
Multi-Site Planning Guide that describes how to add a
new site to an existing intranet with shared tables.
If there are other intranets with sites that must replicate (not
share) _all or user table data to or from sites in the sharing intranet,
replication categories must be set up:
- For tables that are shared, set up replication categories and rules
between the master site and the sites on the other intranets.
- For tables that are not shared, set up replication categorie and
/rules between any or all of the sites in the shared intranet and the sites on
the other intranets.
For example:
Intranet 1 has these sites:
- Site A (master site. Item_mst_all table is shared)
- Site B
Intranet 2 has these sites:
If Site B needs visibility into Site D's item data, replication rules
should be set up from Site D to Site A.
If Site D needs visibility into Site B's item data, replication rules
should be set up from Site A to Site D.
If Site C needs visibility into Site B's customer data (not a shared
table), replication rules should be set up from Site B to Site C.