What is the architecture of EP

The following shows the various components and applications that make up the Enterprise Portal Architecture. Each will be described in order. Web Browser - Users access Microsoft Dynamics AX information by viewing Enterprise Portal on a Web browser.  Microsoft Active Directory domain controller - All Microsoft Dynamics AX users must be listed in Active Directory on your domain controller. For Enterprise Portal, any user accessing an intranet or extranet site must be listed in Active Directory, or those users cannot access the site. Users who connect to Enterprise Portal Internet (public) sites use the Guest account, so they do not need to be listed in Active Directory.

Microsoft Dynamics AX Setup - Enterprise Portal is installed using the Microsoft Dynamics AX Setup program on your product DVD. Run Setup on the Internet Information Services (IIS) Web server that will host Enterprise Portal. Setup automates several processes, such as verifying that IIS and Windows SharePoint Services or Office SharePoint Server are installed on the server. If these applications are not installed, Setup installs them. Setup also does the following: Creates an Enterprise Portal intranet site Extends that site in Windows SharePoint Services or Office SharePoint Server Deploys all Enterprise Portal templates, Web pages, and Web parts to the Web server Internet Information Services 6.0 (IIS) - IIS is the platform that hosts the Enterprise Portal Web site. Depending on the needs and the expected number of Enterprise Portal users, IIS can be installed and configured on the Application Object Server (AOS) or on a separate server. If large numbers of simultaneous users are expected, consider installing and configuring multiple IIS servers (called a server farm). IIS is a component of Windows Server and can be installed using the Add/Remove Windows Components feature in the Add or Remove Programs Control Panel.

ASP.NET - ASP.NET is a component of IIS, and is the Web application framework for the Enterprise Portal Web site and associated applications. Programmers can use ASP.NET to build or enhance Enterprise Portal pages, applications, and Web parts. Windows SharePoint Services or Office SharePoint Server - Enterprise Portal requires either Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (a component of Windows Server) or Office SharePoint Server, which provides the framework for your Enterprise Portal sites, as well as the Web parts, tools, and other features for customizing the sites. Enterprise Portal Web sites - When Enterprise Portal is installed using Setup, the program creates an Enterprise Portal intranet Web site in IIS. Setup configures security and application pool settings for this site. Multiple sites can be created on a server using Setup, the Microsoft Dynamics AX client, or SharePoint Central Administration. Microsoft Dynamics AX Business Connector proxy - This proxy is a Windows domain user account that enables Business Connector to act on behalf of Microsoft Dynamics AX users when user accounts are authenticated with the AOS. A proxy account must be created in Active Directory on the domain controller before Business Connector can be used to authenticate Enterprise Portal users. If the proxy account does not exist in Active Directory, users cannot log on to Enterprise Portal.

Microsoft Dynamics AX Setup automates the process of configuring the proxy in various locations on the Enterprise Portal server. Setup prompts for the proxy credentials and then configures the proxy credentials in the following locations: Windows user groups IIS Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft Dynamics AX Application Object Server (AOS) - The AOS is a part of the core Microsoft Dynamics AX installation. For Enterprise Portal, the AOS: Authenticates requests received by the Business Connector proxy account Sends these requests to the database Performs business logic on the data This is all done before sending it back to the Enterprise Portal Web server. No additional configurations on the AOS for Enterprise Portal are needed. Microsoft Dynamics AX database - The database is a part of the core Microsoft Dynamics AX installation, and it stores the data that Enterprise Portal users access from their Web browsers. No additional configurations on the database for Enterprise Portal are needed.