K2 Blackpearl Deployment Planning

K2 provides the platform that enables developers and business users to assemble dynamic business applications from reusable items.

To meet the needs of multiple industries and situations, K2 is built on the Microsoft platform and gives customers and partners the ability to work together and build applications in a familiar environment.

This page describes the various deployment scenarios of the K2 blackpearl software and discusses how to choose the scenario that best fits an organization’s needs. For more details on deployment, download/view a pdf file at the bottom of the page.

K2 ARCHITECTURE
K2 [BLACKPEARL] COMPONENTS OVERVIEW
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
CHOOSING A DEPLOYMENT SCENARIO

OVERVIEW

Before discussing the deployment scenarios, it is important to understand the various K2 blackpearl components that are involved in a deployment.

K2 ARCHITECTURE

The overall K2 architecture includes Microsoft components and K2 blackpearl-hosted server components. Depending on the role a server plays in the deployment, all or some of these components will be installed. At a high level, the K2 blackpearl Server uses common Microsoft components, such as the .NET 3.0 Framework, which includes Windows Workflow Foundations (WF) and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). These components are shown logically in Figure 1 for server components and in Figure 2 for client components. The K2 blackpearl components are discussed in further detail in the following two sections.

Server architectural components, Microsoft server components (black), the K2 blackpearl-hosted servers (green, horizontal) and optional server components for integration (green, vertical)

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Client architectural components, Microsoft client components (black), the K2 blackpearl design environments (green, horizontal), and the optional components (green, vertical)

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K2 [BLACKPEARL] COMPONENTS OVERVIEW

The K2 blackpearl components are divided into two categories, namely server components and client components. In addition to the server components, all data is stored in the K2 databases on a SQL Server instance.

• A server component is installed on a server either sharing the resources or functioning independently.
• A client component refers to the designer tools installed on a client machine, such as the K2 Designer for Visual Studio and K2 Designer for Visio.
• Databases are installed on a SQL Server either locally or remotely.

The component name implies the role the component plays, but the install location may differ depending on the type of installation. For example, in the Single Server Install scenario, all of the components are installed on a single server. When installing in a distributed configuration the components are installed according to the resources they require to function.

REQUIREMENTS

There are several hardware and software requirements regardless of the deployment scenario you choose. These are detailed in the below sections.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

The following guidelines should be followed for hardware selection.

Note: If you are installing a single server environment, it is recommended that you have more RAM and a larger processor in order to have acceptable performance. If you are separating out the components onto multiple tiers, those tiers should be sized appropriately based on usage and performance requirements.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

The following guidelines should be followed for software selection.

CHOOSING A DEPLOYMENT SCENARIO

The preceding sections have enabled the installer to identify various K2 components and to familiarize themselves with installation and architectural requirements. The following section assists the installer to decide which scenario to pursue with regards to installing K2 blackpearl. K2 is a robust n-tiered enterprise application which can be configured by the installer to integrate with their existing environment.

This deployment planning guide offers guidance for determining the type of installation best suited to specific environments.

To decide which scenario will work for an organization, the person installing K2 blackpearl must be familiar with the network and requirements. It is important that once reviewed, the installer uses the content within this document to determine which scenario is the most suitable and how it will impact the network. A decision chart follows this section, use the chart as a guide to make the appropriate decision.

This flowchart should help in deciding which of the following types of installation is appropriate:

• Simple Installation Scenarios: Small scale installations, with little or no redundancy
  • Standalone Install
  • Small Scale Install
  • Scaling for Data Availability
  • Scaling for Better Performance

• Medium Installation Scenarios: Medium scale installations, with some redundancy
  • Scaling for Page Rendering
  • Scaling for Data and Performance
  • Medium Scale Install
  • Maximum Redundancy on Six Servers

• Large Installation Scenarios: Fully redundant installations
  • Large Scale Install

Note: The following diagram assumes that SharePoint is already installed and configured in the environment. The initial installation of K2 blackpearl can be performed without SharePoint components. After SharePoint is introduced to the environment, the SharePoint components (either MOSS or WSS) can be installed on those servers. However, this document assumes that SharePoint is already configured and used by the organization.

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Download/View a more detail K2 Blackpearl Deployment Planning PDF file