Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Data Management:
DataServer for ODBC

Configuring distributed DataServer applications using the Progress Explorer

The Progress Explorer tool is a graphical user interface that provides an easy way for you to manage OpenEdge servers. Progress Explorer is one of the primary components of the OpenEdge administration framework.

The Progress Explorer tool runs as a Windows client and works with another administration component, the OpenEdge AdminServer, to provide a client/server framework for managing the following OpenEdge servers:

AppServer™.
OpenEdge Database.
OpenEdge DataServer for ODBC.
OpenEdge DataServer for ORACLE®.
NameServer.
WebSpeed® Messenger.
WebSpeed® Server.
OpenEdge DataServer for Microsoft® SQL Server.

Using the Progress Explorer tool, you can:

Create new instances of OpenEdge servers and configure their property settings.
Modify property settings of existing OpenEdge server instances.
Start and stop OpenEdge servers.
Monitor the status of OpenEdge servers.

For more information about working with the Progress Explorer tool, see the Progress Explorer online Help.

The OpenEdge client runs on a client machine (either Windows or UNIX) and accesses a remote server on any supported OpenEdge DataServer for ODBC platform. Multiple NameServers and/or brokers may be running simultaneously on one server machine. The DataServer client connects to a broker for the Progress Explorer either directly or through a controlling NameServer. (See the important caution that follows.) It is then automatically reconnected to a DataServer established for it by the broker. Each executing broker may spawn a multitude of DataServer processes. A spawned DataServer process uses ODBC drivers to locate and connect to a data source. Depending on the ODBC and data-source software implementation, the actual target database might be either local or remote to the host machine. Note that in this example, the schema holder also runs on the Windows client; however, you can optionally locate it on any host that is accessible on your network. Each spawned DataServer can service database requests for the same database or for a different database than those of other spawned servers.

In remote DataServer configurations, OpenEdge handles the communication between the client and the server. The Progress Explorer supports only the TCP/IP network configuration.

Caution: In a run-time configuration, all DataServer clients should attach consistently either to a set of NameServers or to a set of brokers. Do not run brokers under controlling NameServers for one client while another client simultaneously attaches directly to a broker.

For more information about configuring and connecting the DataServer, see the "Configuring with the Progress Explorer" section and the "Starting and stopping a broker process from the Progress Explorer and connecting a client" section.