The Application Server
- Emma Paton (Unlicensed)
Remote Sampler features several Windows services that run on the application server to handle communications and to interface with LIMS. All of these services are installed as one and are generally started and stopped as a single unit using the scripts present in the program folder. This is covered in more detail later in this document.
Remote Sampler runs on two application servers; duplicates of all services run on both to provide two interchangeable setups. Only the services on one of the application servers are running at any one time and activity can be failed-over from one to the other as necessary.
All services that form part of the Remote Sampler system are installed in a single program folder. Each of the services is contained within its own subdirectory. There are several copies of some of the components on the system. Each set of services (Adaptor, LUI and Mediator) corresponds to a single physical site at which Remote Sampler is used. In the case below, there are 3 physical sites using the application and hence 3 corresponding sets of services. The term ‘physical site’ in this context refers to a location where the Remote Sampler Hub desktop application is used to manage device users and their daily work. A typical physical site would be somewhere like a sample reception where sample collection meets the laboratory.
The diagram below shows how information from a given hub site flows through the system of CSols services right through to LIMS.
A screenshot of the program folder following a typical installation is shown below. You can see a subfolder present for each of the services from the diagram above as well as a selection of other files.
The other files that are present in the installation folder are reasonable self-evident in function, but for the sake of completion are described below.
- EnvironmentConfig.ini – This file holds various items of configuration (e.g. connection strings) that the service installer uses to generate the correct configuration files for each service on installation.
- ServiceStartStop.exe – A small utility that starts or stops all the services on the application server as a single unit.
- Setup.exe – This is the service installer. When run initially, it installs all services on the application server in one process using the configuration provided in the EnvironmentConfig.ini.
- StartServices.lnk – This is a shortcut file that uses the ServiceStartStop utility to activate all services on the application server as one unit.
- StopServices.lnk – This is a shortcut file that uses the ServiceStartStop utility to deactivate all services on the application server as one unit.
- Unins000.dat – A data file used by the uninstaller
- Unins000.exe – The service uninstaller. Uninstalls all services as a single unit.