Application Configuration Scenarios
The following topics explain engine configuration settings for some common environment scenarios:
Terminal Services
Microsoft Terminal Services is a multi session environment that provides remote computers access to Windows-based programs running on a server.
Disabling Administrative Functions
In prior releases, the ability to perform administrative functions was prohibited from the client. In the current release, Zen clients running within Terminal Services client sessions can perform Zen administrative functions by default. For example, a user with such a client can change configuration settings for Zen, create DSNs, and use the Monitor utility.
If you want to restrict this capability, intervention is necessary from a system administrator.
To disable remote administrative functions for Terminal Services clients
1. From ZenCC, open the properties for the MicroKernel Router under Local Client.
2. On the Properties dialog, check Restrict Administrative Functions from a WTS Client.
3. Click OK, then exit ZenCC and start it again for the setting to take effect.
Note: Zen server engines are supported for use with Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix XenApp running within an Active Directory environment.
Terminal Server as Network Server
You may use your terminal server as your main network server and database server. However, if you have high usage of the server as a file server as well as many terminal sessions running at the same time, you may find the performance less than satisfactory.
Another concern is having all of your mission critical services on the same machine. If it goes down, all of your services go down at once.
For these reasons, you may wish to consider distributing your mission critical services on two or more computers.
Workgroup Engine Running as a Service
By default, Workgroup Engine is installed to run as a service for a fresh installation. This allows the engine to start automatically when the operating system starts. A user is not required to log in to start the engine.
During a custom installation you can select to run the Workgroup Engine as a console application. Or, if you upgraded your Workgroup installation and you had the previous version installed to run as an application, the upgrade installation is also set to run as an application. In either case, if you decide that you would rather run the Workgroup Engine as a service, you change how it is run. See
Running the Workgroup Engine as a Service.
Active Directory Service
Active Directory is a central component of the network architecture on certain Windows operating systems. Active Directory provides a directory service specifically designed for distributed networking environments.
This section describes the conceptual steps to configure Zen in an environment that has Microsoft Active Directory service installed and functioning correctly.
Ensure that Active Directory service is installed and functioning correctly before you install Zen into the environment.
Server and Client Support
Zen servers run on supported Windows Servers within an Active Directory environment. Zen clients runs on all supported Windows platforms in Active Directory.
Directory and File Permissions
The database engines enforce directory and file permissions set at the operating system level. An Active Directory environment does not change this behavior. For example, if you set read-only permission on a Zen table file, you will be unable to write to it.
Microsoft Terminal Services Support
Zen server engines are supported for use with Microsoft Terminal Server running within an Active Directory environment. For more information about Terminal Services, see
Terminal Services.
Zen Administrative Authority
Active Directory service manages the security of the network. You must grant the correct access authority at the operating system level to users who need Zen administrative privileges.
See
Active Directory Tasks for the general steps to set access authority. Users must have the following authority on the machine running the database engine:
• Privilege to log on locally
• Administrator privileges or membership in the Zen_Admin group
You can grant a user the privilege to log on locally or add the user to the Zen_Admin group.
You can create the Zen_Admin group on the machine running the database engine (the local machine), on the domain controller for the local machine, or on both. The database engine checks privileges first on the domain controller for the local machine then on the local machine.
An example helps illustrate this. Suppose you have two servers in your domain that run the Zen database engine, Server A and Server B. You could create a Zen_Admin group on each server and on the domain controller. You then add User 1 to the group on Server A, User 2 to the group on Server B, and User 3 to the group on the domain controller. User 1 has administrative privileges for the database engine only on Server A. Similarly, User 2 has administrative privileges only on Server B. User 3, however, has administrative privileges for the database engines on both Server A and Server B.
If you create the Zen_Admin group on a domain controller, then the group must be a domain local group. If you create the Zen_Admin group on a machine that is not a domain controller, then the Zen_Admin group must be a local group.
Active Directory Tasks
Use the following steps to create a Zen_Admin group in Active Directory to grant users Zen administrative privileges in a Windows environment. The steps assume that you are setting privileges on the domain controller for the machine running the database engine.
To add the Zen_Admin group as a default group policy
1. Create the Zen_Admin group on the domain controller for the domain of the machine running the database engine.
2. Specify Zen_Admin for the group name.
3. Set the group scope to Domain local. Do not use Global or Universal.
4. Add users to the Zen_Admin group.
5. Confirm that the users appear as members of the group.
6. Add the Zen_Admin group to the Log on locally privileges for the domain.
Note: If the
Log on locally option is grayed out, skip step
6 and use the next task to continue administrative group setup as a local policy.
To add the Zen_Admin group as a local policy
These steps continue from step
5 in the previous task when you cannot use the Log on locally option in a group policy.
1. Click Start, enter gpmc.msc, and press Enter.
2. Double-click the name of the forest to open it.
3. Open Domains.
4. Open the name of the domain to which you want to join a computer.
5. Right-click Default Domain Controllers Policy and select Edit.
6. In the console tree, expand Computer Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies, and then select User Rights Assignment.
7. In the details pane, open Allow Logon Locally.
8. Confirm that Define these policy settings is selected.
9. Click Add User or Group.
10. Do one of the following:
• Enter the user account to allow to log on locally.
• Click Browse to find the account with the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box.
11. Click OK in each dialog box until you have closed them all.
Multiple Client Applications
Sometimes, two or more client-server applications may use the same database engine. You will need to configure the database engine differently depending on whether the applications are used at the same time.
If your vendors supply configuration guidelines for engine configuration parameters, you will need to adjust your configuration based on these guidelines.
Settings Affected by Multiple Applications
Most engine settings are not affected when you are running multiple applications. This section explains the settings that may need to be adjusted for multiple applications.
Compatibility | Create File Version
Some applications may require that new files be created with version 7.x file format, while other applications may require the default version 9.5.
These applications can run concurrently only if new files are not created during run time. There is no way to toggle the setting back and forth for each application, unless you wish to do it by hand or write a program to do so using Distributed Tuning Objects.
If the applications do not create new files during run time, then this setting is not relevant for multiple applications.
Data Integrity | Transaction Durability
Some applications may require durable transactions, while others may not. If you have two application vendors recommending different values for this parameter, then you should set it to On. Generally, having transaction durability turned on does not affect applications that do not use transactions, but may slow performance.
Concurrent Local and Remote Applications
Zen Server engines allow both remote client requests as well as communications from applications running on the same computer as the server.
Note: To perform these steps, you must have full administrator rights on the machine where the database engine is running, or be a member of the Zen_Admin group defined on the machine where the database engine is running.
To configure database connections from both remote and local applications
Tip... When changing server engine settings, you must be at the Windows system where the database server runs.
1. Access Control Center (ZenCC) from the operating system Start menu or Apps screen.
2. In Explorer, expand Engines to display the engines registered with ZenCC.
3. Right-click the target engine and click Properties. Log in if prompted.
4. Click Access. In the right-hand pane, select the Accept Remote Requests check box.
If you wish to prevent the server from accepting client connections from other computers, clear the check box.
5. Click OK.
This configures the server to accept remote requests.
6. In Explorer, expand Local Client.
7. Right-click MicroKernel Router and select Properties. Log in if prompted.
8. Click Access. In the right-hand pane, select the following check boxes:
• Use Local MicroKernel Engine. Select this check box to configure the local engine for local file access.
• Use Remote MicroKernel Engine. Select this check box to access databases on other computers.
If you plan to only access data on this computer, clear this check box.
9. Click OK.
This configures the server to accept local requests.
10. Restart the server engine to implement the changes.
Using Server and Workgroup Engines Concurrently
The Workgroup engine can be configured to access files on a remote file server through a mapped drive on a Windows server.
The client software installed with Workgroup can be used to connect to other database engines on a remote machine.
If you want to use your local engine for local file access and a remote server for access to files being serviced by the remote Zen server, you must change the settings in your MicroKernel Router. Use the Zen Control Center to change MicroKernel Router settings.
To configure local and remote access for the MicroKernel Router
1. Access Control Center (ZenCC) from the operating system Start menu or Apps screen.
2. In Explorer, expand Local Client.
3. Right-click MicroKernel Router and select Properties. Log in if prompted.
4. Click Access. In the right-hand pane, select the following check boxes:
• Use Local MicroKernel Engine. Select this check box to configure the local engine for local file access.
• Use Remote MicroKernel Engine. Select this check box to configure the remote server for access to files being serviced by the remote Zen server.
5. Click OK.
Note: See Advanced Operations Guide for more information on changing settings using Zen Control Center.
Accessing Data on Other Computers
Workgroup Engine provides great flexibility for a variety of small networked environments. The table below explains the most common configurations and where to look for more information. In any of the following configurations, Workgroup Engine must be installed on every computer that is expected to access data.