Sybase Unwired Platform and Administration ArchitectureThis module gives you an introduction to Sybase Unwired Platform. It also explains the administration architecture of Sybase Unwired Platform.

The Sybase Unwired Platform is...

Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) is a mobility-enablement platform that allows you to create end-to-end mobile applications. It provides a server environment for hosting mobile business objects. SUP consists of a cache, also referred to as Cache Database (CDB), for storing mobile application data. SUP can handle data synchronization between clients and back-end data systems. It provides an integrated development environment (IDE) to create rich native applications or quick hybrid web container applications. SUP supports client APIs to create native mobile applications for BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Mobile, and Android devices.

What is an EIS?

Enterprise Information System (EIS) is a back-end system that serves as the source of data for Sybase Unwired Platform. Sybase Unwired Platform allows connectivity to many types of EISs, such as:

Relational databases using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC); Simple Object Access Protocol or SOAP-based Web Services; REpresentational State Transfer or REST-based Web Services; SAP BAPIs and RFCs.

To connect to a non-Sybase database, you need to download JDBC from the website.

Sources of Unwired Platform Data.

Administrator Types

SUP has two types of administrators, namely, Unwired Platform Administrator and Domain Administrator. The Unwired Platform Administrator has cluster-wide administration rights, so he or she has full control of SUP. The Unwired Platform Administrator is the super user of the platform. The Unwired Platform Administrator can perform domain management, Server configuration, Device Registration, Monitoring, and Package Deployment and Management. The administrator is the domain owner and has all the domain administrator rights.

The Domain Administrator has the rights to perform Domain manager tasks. The Domain Administrator can perform package deployment and management, server connections, security configuration, and role mapping. The Domain Administrator can only access the domains that the platform administrator grants.

Administrator Tasks

The key tasks of an administrator are

..Mobile application deployment; ..Mobile application configuration and management; ..Mobile application user and device registration; ..Server configuration, maintenance, monitoring, and tuning.

To perform these tasks, you need to understand certain requirements such as

..System design required for the environment ..Security plan including level of security to be implemented ..Synchronization model to be used ..Back-end systems that applications must be integrated with ..Types of devices that need to be supported.

Sybase Unwired Platform Architecture: First View

The slide represents the architecture of Sybase Unwired Platform. The left part of the architecture depicts the EISs supported by SUP. SUP supports Databases, SAP, and SOAP- and REST-based Web Services. On the subject of the architecture, a user uses the Unwired WorkSpace. The Unwired WorkSpace is a Development IDE that allows you to create Mobile Business Objects (MBOs). Regardless of the type of application you create, you need to develop MBOs which act as the heart of the mobile application. MBOs contain Attributes and Operations. Attributes define what data is shown on the device, and Operations define how the data can be manipulated. By using the Unwired WorkSpace, you can create Native and Workflow applications and deploy them on Unwired Server. The Workflows are a fast and simple way to build applications that support simple business workflows such as expense approvals or vacation requests. Native applications allow the developer to write custom code using the language understood by the target device.

The Management Console is another component of the SUP architecture. The Sybase Control Console (SCC) is where an administrator can perform administrative tasks. For example, deployment of Workflows, creating a domain, security implementation, monitoring, and registration of user and devices. The SUP architecture supports heterogeneous mobile devices such as BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, and Windows mobile.

Sybase Control Center (SCC)

The Sybase Control Center (SCC) is the key component of SUP where the administrator performs the tasks to manage the platform.

Generally, administrators use the SCC to

Configure the environment such as users, security, etc.; Manage application components; Monitor the health of the server.

The SCC is a browser-based utility where you can deploy and administer SUP. To access the SCC, you need to enter the valid URL. After navigating to SCC, you need to provide the user credentials. The user credentials are case-sensitive

Two Primary Components of a Mobile Application

Mobile Business Objects (MBOs) and the User Interface are the two main components of a mobile application. MBOs act as a back end, that contains attributes and operations. The attributes define the data to be displayed or modified on a mobile device. It is designed using Sybase Unwired WorkSpace and deployed on the Unwired Server. MBOs are mandatory for Mobile Workflows and Native applications.

After the MBOs are created and deployed, developers create the User Interface. The User Interface is the front end that contains the screens, controls, and menus. The Workflow User Interface is created using the Mobile Workflow Forms Editor in Sybase Unwired WorkSpace. The Native User Interface is created in IDEs like Xcode, Eclipse, or Visual Studio.

Types of Sybase Unwired Platform Applications

By using Sybase Unwired Platform, you can build two types of mobile applications. They are Workflow applications and Native applications.

The Workflow application is a simple request-response type application. For example, the employee requests vacation, and the manager approves or denies the application. Sybase Unwired Platform Workflow applications are not the same as SAP Workflow applications.

The Native application allows access to more complex features on the device platform. It requires more coding, knowledge, and time. The developer can have more control of application development.

Mobile Workflow Development Model

In the Mobile Workflow Development Model, the first step is to create and deploy MBOs and Workflow on the Production Unwired Server. Next, you need to assign a workflow to the registered user. These two steps are common administrative tasks.

Native Application Development Model

In the Native Application Development Model, administrators deploy the MBOs on the Production Unwired server. Next, the developer generates the code to create the native application.

Caching Mobile Data

When using the mobile application developed using Sybase Unwired Platform, the devices do not communicate directly with the EIS. Therefore, the mobile device data is cached. Caching is controlled by the Data Tier. The Data Tier manages the cache database, also referred to as CDB or the Consolidated Database.

When installing SUP, you will be prompted to either install the Unwired Server (Server Tier) and the Data Tier on the same or different machines. Install these tiers based on the client requirements.

Data Synchronization Approaches

One of the challenges in building mobile applications is to keep the data in sync between the backend data source and the device. SUP supports two types of data synchronization, namely replication-based synchronization (RBS) and message-based synchronization (MBS).

Replication-based Synchronization (RBS)

Replication-based Synchronization (RBS) synchronizes data between a device’s database and the server’s cache database (CDB). RBS can be used for occasionally-connected devices that need access to data when offline. When offline, you can view, add, modify, and delete data from the source. RBS is optimal when you need to store large amount of data on the device. RBS requires the device to initiate the synchronization. The changes are sent to the data source in bulk. RBS is used by Windows, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry platforms.

Message-based Synchronization (MBS)

RBS initiates a session to perform the synchronization for a bulk transform of changes. Whereas, Message Based Synchronization sends individual messages between SUP and the mobile device. If the device is offline, the messages are stored in a queue in the Data Tier and Advantage DB. When the device connects to SUP, the cached data is transferred to SUP. iOS Native applications and Workflow applications use MBS.

Supported Device Types

You can build mobile applications by using Sybase Unwired Platform for various devices such as

Android which is limited to Mobile Workflow applications; BlackBerry; iOS devices; Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Mobile (laptops and tablets), which are limited

to RBS Native applications.

Device and Replication Support

RBS supports only these application types:

BlackBerry Native applications Windows Mobile Native applications Windows Native applications

MBS supports these application types:

iOS Native applications All Mobile Workflow applications

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Sybase Unwired Platform EditionsWhen downloading SUP, the software provides two components, namely Sybase Unwired Platform Runtime and Sybase Mobile SDK.

The Sybase Unwired Platform Runtime contains

Unwired Platform Server components; Sybase Control Center (SCC); Components that support Online Data Proxy for SAP NetWeaver Gateway.

Sybase Mobile SDK is an installable component that provides an interface to develop mobile applications. SDK is used by developers to build the applications. Sybase Mobile SDK contains three components, namely

Sybase Unwired WorkSpace; Native Object API and additional OData SDK; Hybrid Web Container.

SAP NW Gateway OData Support

The Online Data Proxy contains the Unwired Platform Server components that support mobile applications consuming Open Data (OData) Protocol.

The Online Data Proxy installs SCC for OData applications and supports a nonclustered environment.

The Sybase Unwired Platform OData SDK contains all the required APIs to develop applications using the SAP NW Gateway OData middleware model.

Supported Operating Systems

The Unwired Platform Runtime supports the Enterprise Server (Production) Edition that runs on 64-bit Windows 2003 Server or Windows 2008 Server. Sybase Mobile SDK supports

Windows XP Professional with SP2 and SP3 Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate Edition; Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate Edition versions for 32-bit and 64-bit.

Platform Environment Options

Sybase Unwired Platform supports different environment types, such as

Development Test; Single server installation; Clustered installation; Multitenant environments.

Platform Editions

The Unwired Platform Runtime has two editions. They are Enterprise Development Server and Enterprise Server. The Sybase download site provides links to download these two editions. Before you begin downloading, you need to decide which edition best suits your need.

The Enterprise Development Server components can be deployed to one or more server hosts. It supports clustering in a multinode environment. The Enterprise Development Server supports multitenant environments by allowing domains to be created in the server. Typically, the Enterprise Development Server is used in the test environment.

The Enterprise Server is similar to Enterprise Development Server. The only difference is, the Enterprise server is used for a production environment. In addition, you need to purchase the number of client software licenses based on the need.

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Sybase Unwired Platform ArchitectureSybase Unwired Platform Components

Sybase Unwired Platform contains five core distinct components. They are

Relay Server; Unwired Server; Data Tier; Unwired WorkSpace and Mobile Application Development SDKs; Sybase Control Center (SCC).

Component 1: Relay Server

The first component in Sybase Unwired Platform is the Relay Server. The Relay Server acts like a reverse proxy that allows devices to communicate with the platform through the firewall that has common opened ports. The Relay Server is a set of extensions that runs on Microsoft IIS or Apache Web server. The Relay Server supports two-way communication. Devices send inbound communications through the Relay Server to the Unwired Server. Similarly, the Outbound traffic from the Unwired Server flows through the Relay Server.

Component 2: Unwired Server

The second component in Sybase Unwired Platform is the Unwired Server. The Unwired Server is an application server that acts as a container for MBOs. MBOs are packaged and deployed on the Unwired Server. The Unwired Server is a container for Workflow applications also. A production environment may have several Unwired Servers running in a clustered environment.

Note:

Workflows App se deployan directamente en Unwired ServerNative Apps se deployan en el device

Component 3: Data Tier

The third component in Sybase Unwired Platform is the Data Tier. The Sybase Unwired Platform mobile applications do not talk to the EIS directly. Therefore, the Data Tier acts like a mediator between the device and EIS. The Data Tier is a cache for mobile application data. In addition, the Data Tier manages clustering and monitoring databases. The Data Tier manages the CDB and Advantage Databases. A single Data Tier can serve multiple Unwired Servers in a clustered environment. To do this, you need to have the Data Tier run on Microsoft Failover Cluster .

Data Tier Databases 1

The Data Tier supports five databases. The first two databases are the Consolidated Database (CDB) and the Messaging Database. The CDB caches runtime MBO data. CDB supports only the Sybase SQL Anywhere database.

The Messaging Database is used in MBS applications. It is a temporary storage location for storing individual messages, when the device is offline. The Messaging Database supports only the Sybase Advantage database.

Data Tier Databases 2

The Cluster, Monitoring, and Logging databases are Data Tier databases. The Cluster Database is located in the server tier that contains configuration information about the cluster. It supports only the Sybase SQL Anywhere database.

The Monitoring Database is used to collect server runtime metrics for analysis or troubleshooting, when enabled. Monitoring Database is a Sybase SQL Anywhere database.

The Logging Database is used to collect application run-time metrics used for analysis or troubleshooting, when enabled. Logging Database is a Sybase SQL Anywhere database.

Sybase Unwired Platform Clusters

When installing Sybase Unwired Platform, a cluster is automatically created. You can cluster both the Server and Data tiers in a server. A server can be a member of only one cluster. Clusters serve two common purposes. They provide high-availability / failover and allow Load Balancing. Load balancing is implemented using O/S or third-party hardware and/or software solutions. Primitive (round-robin) load balancing can be achieved using the Relay Server.

Cluster Strategies

Clustering in a single machine provides a nonredundant environment. It is used by a developer where the Data and Server tiers reside on the same machine.

Clustering on two nodes is a primitive architecture where the Data Tier is on one node, and the Server Tier is on another node.

Clustering on three nodes is an architecture with two Server Tier nodes and one Data Tier node. Clustering on N+2 nodes is a redundant architecture with multiple Server Tiers supported by a relay server(s) and two Data Tier nodes.

Optimal Clustered Production Environment

In the Clustered Production environment, the Data Tier is Active-Passive and controlled by a Microsoft Failover cluster. In this architecture, we have two Relay servers. If the Relay Server 1 is lost, the Relay Server 2 acts as a backup and therefore the data is not lost. The Relay Server Outbound Enabler (RSOE) balances the load between the Relay Servers, Unwired Server 1, and Unwired Server 2.

Component 4: Unwired WorkSpace

The fourth component in Sybase Unwired Platform is the Unwired WorkSpace. The Unwired WorkSpace is the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) where the developer builds the mobile application.

The Unwired WorkSpace allows developers to

manage Mobile Application Projects; design and deploy MBOs to development or test servers; design, deploy, and customize Workflow applications; generate the code to be used with the client API to create Native applications; manage the connections to EIS sources; explore EIS data. You can drill down into an SAP BAPI to view its operations, inputs, and

outputs.

Component 5: Sybase Control Center (SCC)

The fifth component of SUP is Sybase Control Center (SCC). SCC is an Adobe Flex application that runs on a browser. The requirements of SCC are Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Adobe Flash plug-ins.

Administration Module Architecture

Using the SCC, management features can be accessed through the browser. You can also access the management features using the SNMP client. Apart from the default admin tool, you can create a custom tool. The Custom Admin Java client allows you to write scripts to build your own custom-based java utility for managing the administrative tasks.

Administration Support in the Platform

Administrators perform the Cluster Wide administrative tasks only once on the built-in cluster in the Server tier. In the domain, domain administrators perform security configuration and role mappings; manage subscriptions, synchronization groups, and cache groups; and monitor package and client logging.

The Server Specific administrative tasks are performed on each server in the network. For example, to configure a secure port of the server, you use Server Communication Ports.

SCC Allows

The SCC allows access to Unwired Servers, Domains, Packages, and MBOs. Administrators deploy packages to domains within an Unwired Server. Packages contain Mobile Business Objects (MBOs). MBOs are the cornerstone of your mobile applications. MBOs can contain attributes and Create, Update, and Delete (CRUD) operations. The SCC allows you to drill down to each level to know more details.

SCC allows access to mobile workflow applications.

Device Management

Sybase Unwired Platform does not perform any device management tasks. Afaria is a tool that allows you to perform device management. Afaria is integrated with Sybase Unwired Platform. Device management involves provisioning and decommissioning of devices.

Afaria and the Device Lifecycle

The Afaria and Device lifecycle spans through three phases:

Provision Production Decommission

By using Afaria, you can configure the mobile phone to prompt a user with a power-on password. Native RBS applications have local database on the mobile device. Afaria can encrypt this data on these devices. All these tasks are part of the Provision phase.

In the Production phase, you can push the native applications, new versions or patches of applications to a device and monitor the device.

Afaria administrators can perform decommission tasks such as disabling the device and networking applications. In the event that a mobile device is lost, administrators can perform a remote kill of the device.

Example Architecture

Mobile devices connect to Relay Server only in the DMZ using only standard HTTP or HTTPS ports. Relay Server Outbound enablers (RSOE) can be used to open outbound connections from the Sybase Unwired Platform and Afaria server farms to the Relay servers. HTTP load balancers in the DMZ distribute mobile device connections between the Relay Server. Multiple Sybase Unwired Platform and Afaria servers can be run in a farm to provide high availability. Primary and Secondary Unwired servers share a common consolidated database.

iOS Architecture

This slide shows a connection from iPad to Relay Server using https 443. This is not part of standard install in SUP 2.0 and 2.1. This will be available as of SUP 2.1.1. In SUP 2.0 and 2.1, the payload is encrypted between iOS client and Unwired Server/Relay Server and communication occurs over port 80. Once available in SUP 2.1.1, you should deploy network layer encryption and the communication over port 443.

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