Plan the application tier
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Topic Last Modified: 2016-11-14
The application tier includes the following components:
Office Project Server 2007
Project Server Interface
Office Project Server 2007 Eventing service
Office Project Server 2007 Queuing service
Other applications (described below)
Office Project Server 2007
Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 is the central component of a Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution. Office Project Server 2007 is a robust and highly scalable Web-based server application that is integrated with several client applications, the Microsoft Windows Server platform, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or 2005.
You can install Office Project Server 2007 on a single computer or in a load-balanced cluster to provide additional availability and scalability. Office Project Server 2007 is supported on a computer running Windows Server 2003 or later.
Project Server Interface
The Project Server Interface is the application programming interface (API) of Office Project Server 2007. The Project Server Interface object model exposes Office Project Server 2007 functionality to all external applications. Office Project Professional 2007, Microsoft Office Project Web Access, and line-of-business and other third-party applications use the Project Server Interface (PSI) to access Office Project Server 2007 data stored in the Draft, Published, and Archive databases. The Project Server Interface is available through Web service calls by back-end line-of-business applications, or through a Project Server Interface proxy for client applications having a user interface.
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Office Project Server 2007 Eventing service
The system-level Office Project Server 2007 Eventing service manages the Office Project Server 2007 events. Other applications can subscribe to Office Project Server 2007 pre-events and post-events, and register event handler methods through Office Project Web Access. Event handlers can check business rules and cancel an operation through a pre-event, or extend Office Project Server 2007 with additional processing such as workflow using a post-event (for example, ProjectPublished).
Office Project Server 2007 Queuing service
There are two Office Project Server 2007 queues that operate in the system-level Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Queuing service:
To manage heavy peak loads, the Timesheet queue handles submission and updates of timesheet and status reports.
The Save and Publish queue manages new and incremental saves of working projects to the Draft database and also manages publishing a project — that is, moving the project from the Draft to the Published database.
Other applications
Other applications can be used with Office Project Server 2007 in the application tier. This includes an e-mail server, such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, that is used to send task and assignment notification and reminder e-mail messages to the appropriate users. These e-mail messages can be sent by means of any mail server that is compatible with Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) or Post Office Protocol (POP). Exchange Server offers the most robust integration, along with Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Web Access, which enables users to use Windows Internet Explorer to access their Exchange mailbox.
Third-party and line-of-business applications can be used with Office Project Server 2007. Using the Project Server Interface, a number of project management needs can be addressed by using these applications. The following are some sample scenarios:
Project proposals Create placeholder projects during project initiation and use project custom fields to tag the project with information needed for the initiation and approval process. Add tasks to identify project phases for key milestones or deliverables. When approved, project proposals can evolve into full-scale projects that are managed by using Office Project Professional 2007.
Maintenance projects Create placeholder projects to use with resource plans. Reserve or book time against resources for maintenance work or base business. Maintenance projects generally do not have tasks.
Financial projects Create projects for time capture through the timesheet for integration with a financial system. Create tasks for a hierarchy of financial codes that reflect the cost breakdown structure of the financial system. These projects do not require scheduling or status updates.
Integration with project accounting systems Capture the resource costs and expenses associated with projects to feed financial and billing systems and for budget comparison purposes. Synchronize tasks, resources, and assignments between the systems. Capture timesheet data in one system to feed the other (which timesheet is used depends on the needs of the organization or of individual projects).
Integration with work or task management systems Synchronize tasks and assignments between Office Project Server 2007 and systems such as Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2005. Microsoft Visual Studio Team System is integrated with Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007 and Office Project Professional 2007, but integration with Office Project Server 2007 requires developing components by using the PSI.
Process updates from team members For projects that are not actively managed, automatically update projects on the server by using information from team members about progress and other changes. Projects can be updated and republished without a project manager reviewing the results or making adjustments to the plan.
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