Concepts: FileNet P8 Domain
The FileNet P8 domain represents a logical grouping of physical resources (object store databases, full text index areas, file storage areas, and content cache areas) and Content Engine servers providing access to those resources. Each resource, and each Content Engine server, belongs to one and only one domain. A Content Engine server can access any resource in its domain, but cannot access any resource that lies outside of its domain.
The FileNet P8 domain is associated with one or more Java™ 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) security realms (typically one) used to authenticate callers and establish their group memberships. The identity and group membership information obtained from the realm is used by the Content Engine server to determine which domain objects the caller may access.
A FileNet P8 domain has the following characteristics:
- The servers in a FileNet P8 domain are platform-independent servers and may reside in separate J2EE domains. Content Engine's Enterprise Manager
must be installed on the Windows operating system, but does not have to reside in the same network domain as the FileNet P8 domain servers.
See About FileNet
P8 Platform documentation for requirements information, and the FileNet P8 Platform Installation
and Upgrade Guide for full installation requirements.
- FileNet P8 domain database servers running Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, or DB2 may be in a separate domain from the P8 domain.
- The server on which a FileNet P8 domain is first created initializes or creates the Global Configuration Data (GCD),
the heart of the FileNet P8 domain. The GCD, a hierarchical representation of the P8 domain, is stored in a database and contains information
about all the Content Engine components installed into the
FileNet P8 domain. When you create the GCD, define enough connection pools for the GCD data source. Each GCD data source needs approximately 25 connection pools defined. See the FileNet P8 Platform Installation and Upgrade Guide for more information.
- Content Engine services are bound to the FileNet P8 domain in which they were originally created and cannot service other FileNet P8 domains.
- The users and groups that log on to a client application and gain access
to the FileNet P8 domain are provided by one of the supported application server authentication
providers. The initial users and groups given administrative and non-administrative rights are chosen each time you create an object store for a given
FileNet P8 domain and can later be updated. See Help
for Security for more information.
- Enterprise Manager is the FileNet P8 administrator's interface to the GCD
and its configuration data about the FileNet P8 domain. Enterprise Manager
displays the domain hierarchy, object stores, and associated file and content cache stores for
a single FileNet P8 domain, based on the information it finds in the GCD. See Administering
multiple FileNet P8 domains for more information.
Global Configuration Data
The heart of a FileNet P8 domain is its Global Configuration Data, or GCD,
which defines Content Engine servers and resources that reside within the domain. Specifically, the GCD
contains descriptive and location information for:
- Sites: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Domain node. A site represents a geographical location where resources are well-connected via a fast, reliable LAN. Object stores, storage areas, content cache areas, index areas, and virtual servers are all associated with an individual site. There is no functional limit to the number of sites a single FileNet P8 domain can contain.
- Virtual Servers: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Sites node. A virtual server is the logical service point that Content Engine clients interact with. A virtual server may map to a single independent server instance, or to a set of server instances. When a virtual server contains multiple server instances, client requests are load-balanced across the set of server instances through the J2EE application server's clustering capabilities, or by using a hardware load balancer, providing scalability and high availability. In either case, applications accessing the virtual server are unaware of the number or type of server instances that reside behind it. There is no functional limit to the number of virtual servers a single FileNet P8 domain can contain. Refer to Delete a virtual server or server instance for information on deleting a virtual server.
- Server Instance: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Virtual Servers node. A server instance is an individual J2EE application server instance. Multiple server instances, each running in their own Java™ Virtual Machine (JVM), can be hosted on a single physical server (this is common when large multi-processor servers are used). Content Engine clients do not interact directly with a server instance; logically, they always go through a virtual server. There is no functional limit to the number of server instances a single FileNet P8 domain can contain. Virtual servers and server instances are created in the GCD when you deploy the CE software on an application server, but are not removed from the GCD when the Content Engine software is undeployed from an application server—users must delete them manually from Enterprise Manager. Refer to Delete a virtual server or server instance for information on deleting a server instance.
WARNING Deleting an active Content Engine Server Instance can cause unexpected behavior. Do so only after the Content Engine application is undeployed from application server. Otherwise, the Content Engine software tries to block requests to delete itself, but fails if the delete request is routed to a separate JVM from the active Server Instance.
- Object Stores: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Object
Stores node. There is no functional limit to the number of object stores that
a single FileNet P8 domain can contain. See Object stores for more information.
- Index Areas: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Sites node. An index area contains one or more indexes, which perform full text searches against documents in an object store. There is no functional limit to the number of index areas that
a single FileNet P8 domain can contain. See About indexes for more information.
- Storage Areas: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Sites node.
Storage areas are containers for content storage, and can be configured for file storage, fixed storage, or database storage. There is no functional limit to the number of storage areas that a single FileNet P8 domain can contain.
See File
stores and database stores for more information.
- Content Cache Areas: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Sites node. A content cache is a disk area that contains copies of content recently accessed through a Content Engine server. Typically used in a geographically distributed environment, it enhances response time when retrieving content. There is no functional limit to the number of content cache areas that a single FileNet P8 domain can contain. See About content cache areas for more information.
- AddOns: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Domain node. After creating a new P8 domain, AddOns can be loaded into the GCD, making them available to any object store in
the domain. See Feature
AddOns for more information about the classes and properties added to
the object store during this process.
- Marking Sets: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Domain node. Using markings, access to objects can be controlled based
on specific property values. See Markings for more information.
- Fixed Content Devices: Displayed in Enterprise Manager's Domain node. A fixed storage area is a file storage area with
a connection to a third-party fixed content device providing additional storage
capacity and security. The Fixed Content Device is an GCD entry representing the third-party fixed content device. One or more fixed storage areas can share a single fixed content device. See About
fixed file stores for more information on fixed content devices.
Creating a FileNet P8 domain
You create a FileNet P8 domain by using Enterprise Manager; a GCD is created automatically if one does not already exist. Thereafter, you
can add additional servers to an existing FileNet
P8 domain by running the installation program again on a server that is a member of
the J2EE domain in which the FileNet P8 domain resides. See FileNet P8 Platform Installation
and Upgrade for instructions on installing Content Engine.
GCD Security
The GCD is stored in a database, and contains a security descriptor which controls access to specific GCD objects. Access to the GCD table is a function of how access to the database is controlled.
See Help
for Security for more information on the FileNet P8 domain's association with its authentication provider.
Backup and restore considerations
If the database server hosting the GCD database is totally lost, the
system administrator cannot reach the P8 domain; therefore, it is important to back up the GCD database. See Back up Content Engine for more information.