Deployment Modes for Reporting Services
New: 12 December 2006
SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services supports two modes of deployment for report server instances:
- Native mode, including native mode with SharePoint Web Parts.
- SharePoint integrated mode.
Note
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) introduces the concept of a mode of operation for a Reporting Services report server. Prior to this release, all report servers ran in what is now defined as native mode.
Native Mode
In native mode, a report server is a stand-alone application server that provides all viewing, management, processing, and delivery of reports and report models. This is the default mode for report server instances.
All report server instances are installed in native mode or in no mode at all. If you install a report server in the default configuration, the report server is fully operational in native mode. If you install a report server by using the files-only option (this is the Install but do not configure the server option in the Report Server Installation Options page), the report server is not configured; the database flag that you subsequently set for that instance determines which server mode it runs under.
Native Mode with SharePoint Web Parts
Reporting Services includes two Web Parts that you can install and register on an instance of Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 or 3.0. From a SharePoint site, you can use the Web Parts to find and view reports that are stored and processed on a report server that runs in native mode. These Web parts were introduced in earlier releases of Reporting Services. For more information about how the native mode Web Parts compare with SharePoint integrated mode features, see Comparing Levels of Integration Across Versions of Reporting Services and SharePoint Technologies.
SharePoint Integrated Mode
After you install Reporting Services, you can configure a report server to run in SharePoint integrated mode. In this mode, a report server becomes part of a SharePoint Web application deployment. Users of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Office SharePoint Server 2007 can store reports in SharePoint libraries and access them from the same SharePoint sites they use to access other business documents.
A report server is configured for SharePoint integrated mode if it has the following characteristics:
- The report server is running SQL Server 2005 SP 2, the target instance of the SharePoint technology is version 3.0, and both servers meet the requirements for running in this mode. For more information, see Requirements for Running Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrated Mode.
- The report server database is created with an option that flags it for integrated operations. When you connect a report server instance to a report server database that runs in SharePoint integrated mode, the report server property SharePointIntegrated is set to True automatically. In this mode, the report server switches to the custom security extension and SOAP endpoint that are used when a report server is set for SharePointIntegrated mode.
- When the report server database is created with SharePointIntegrated mode set, the site hierarchy in Windows SharePoint Services becomes the content hierarchy for the report server. The report server accepts only fully qualified SharePoint URLs as paths. No relative paths are allowed. File extensions for each item are required. For more information about the hierarchy and URL requirements, see Deploying Reports, Models, and Shared Data Sources to a SharePoint Site.
- Both the report server and the SharePoint Web application are configured for connections to and from each other, and the report server is granted permissions to the SharePoint databases.
Integrating a Report Server Scale-out Deployment with SharePoint Products and Technologies
If you want to integrate a report server scale-out deployment (that is, multiple report server instances that share a single report server database) with SharePoint products or technologies, consider the following points:
- The scale-out deployment must be load balanced and accessed through a virtual server URL that provides a single point of entry. Doing so allows you to specify a single URL to the report server instances when configuring server integration features in SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration.
You must use a separate hardware or software load balancing solution. Reporting Services does not provide load balancing functionality or the ability to configure a virtual server URL. - The scale-out deployment must be integrated with a single SharePoint farm. You cannot integrate individual report server nodes in a scale-out deployment with individual instances of a SharePoint product or technology. Doing so will eventually cause data corruption in the back-end report server database.
For more information about supported configurations, see Deployment Configurations for Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrated Mode.
Switching Modes
Report server modes are mutually exclusive. You can switch modes by repurposing an existing report server deployment, but there is no supported approach for migrating content between database types.
To switch modes, modify the report server connection to the report server database so that it points to a database that supports a specific mode of operation. For more information about how to configure an existing report server instance to run in SharePoint integrated mode, see Configuring Reporting Services for SharePoint 3.0 Integration.
Deploying a SharePoint Integrated Report Server in a Multi-Lingual Environment
Windows SharePoint Services and Office Server products are available in many more languages than SQL Server 2005. Currently, SQL Server 2005 is localized into these languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.
When you configure a report server to run within a deployment of a SharePoint product or technology, you might see a combination of languages. The user interface, documentation, and messages will appear in the following languages:
- All application pages, tools, errors, warnings, and messages that originate from Reporting Services will appear in the language used by the Reporting Services instance in one of the SQL Server languages.
- Application pages that you open on a SharePoint site, the Report Viewer Web Part, and Report Builder in one of the 22 supported languages for the Reporting Services Add-in. To view the list of supported languages, go to SQL Server Downloads and find the download page for the Reporting Services Add-in.
- SharePoint sites, SharePoint Central Administration, online help, and messages are available in the 39 languages supported by Office Server products.
If the language of your SharePoint product or technology differs from the report server language, Reporting Services will try to use a language from the same language family that provides the closest match. If a close substitute is not available, the report server uses English.
For more information about language support in Reporting Services, see International Considerations for Reporting Services on msdn.microsoft.com or International Considerations for Reporting Services in SQL Server Books Online.
Change History
| Release | History |
|---|---|
15 September 2007 |
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See Also
Tasks
How to: Create a Report Server Database for SharePoint Integrated Mode (Reporting Services Configuration)
How to: Switch Server Modes (Reporting Services Configuration)
Concepts
Requirements for Running Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrated Mode
Configuring Reporting Services for SharePoint 3.0 Integration
Configuring a Report Server Scale-Out Deployment
Security Overview for Reporting Services in SharePoint Integration Mode
Other Resources
Installing SQL Server Reporting Services