Why Use the Profiles Schema Manager?
Use the Profiles Schema Manager to collect information that you specify for any business-related item. For example, you can collect profile information for anonymous users, a context—such as the date and time of a visit—or an organization. The following list highlights the features and capabilities provided by Commerce Server 2009.
Large User Communities
Increased scalability to support the largest Internet commerce sites and large-scale aggregator sites. Commerce Server 2009 supports up to 25 million SQL Server-authenticated users and 10 million Active Directory directory service-authenticated users. Large-scale sites require data stores that can perform at greater concurrent loads. Memory management fixes and performance counter support are included.
Improved group management capabilities. Manage groups on sites that deploy more than 5000 members within a group.
Profiles System Interfaces
- Support for a generic and customizable profile editor. In sites that have large user populations and types of profile objects support for generic or customized editing of profiles this feature reduces user interface complexity and improves operations.
Profiles Security
Tools and properties enabling implementation of more detailed security. Implementing a security framework improves the security policy deployment for large sites by providing precise control over who may create/modify different profile user attributes.
Use Windows Server Authorization Manager for data store connections. This makes the use of native Windows security objects and audit logging easier.
Support for rolling key encryption for profile tickets. Providing support for rolling key encryption makes continuity of the Data Warehouse and analysis easier by allowing migration of profile tickets encrypted with old keys. This improves security operations and management of a site.
Support for encryption of profile data. Providing support for data encryption helps provide secure storage of sensitive data. Commerce Server provides two encryption methods: one-way hash for storage of password secrets, and asymmetric encryption for storage of credit cards and other data that requires separate decryption. This helps to improve security of user profile information.
Profile Schema Management
Extended data types: Views, embedded profiles, and multi-valued site terms.
Use of views: Views accommodate scenarios where the join key for an existing data store is comprised as a composite key aggregated from several different columns. This is required for Enterprise integration. This is supported for Microsoft SQL Server databases only.
Multi-valued embedded profiles: In sites that have large user populations the profile objects support in-place editing, up to four levels of embedded profiles reduces user interface complexity and improves operations.
Multi-valued site terms: A site term is a specific value pertinent to a site assigned to a profile property type. This feature improves site development. This feature has been previously supported, but a user interface has been added.
Scripted deployment of profile schemas: Commerce Server 2009 makes scripted deployment of profile schemas easier by providing a set of methods on the BDAO2 interface. These methods allow for import and export of profile schemas as XML files.
Schema export/import: Providing a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) module/task that allows for import and export of profile schemas improves deployment manageability.