Company: Link Technologies
Case No: L12472
Logged By: Sanjay (Link Technologies) on 16 May 2013 03:58PM
Priority: Not Applicable
Product: Other
Group: To be assigned
Time Taken: 0.00
Assigned To: Sanjay (Link Technologies)
Circulation: Sanjay
Resolve By: Thursday, 16 May 2013 03:58 PM [3998 days since logged date]
Status: Closed
Subject: How to configure StandAlone mode and/or Replication for Point of Sales
Summary:    
Below are the instructions on how you can configure Point of Sales for Stand Alone Mode (Fail Safe) and/or Replication between branches.

Important Notes:
  1. All Branch and Head Office servers must have time synchronised
  2. All Standalone servers must have time synchronised
  3. The system uses UTC time for replication so the time zone does not matter, however the local time must be correct. Synchronise with Internet Time.
  4. If you decide to setup REPLICATION between servers, the server specifications and interconnection bandwidth must be correctly chosen in order for data to flow smoothly. Line stability is also an important factor.
  5. When setting up STAND ALONE mode, the stations should connect to the Branch server under normal operation. The stations will switch to Fail Save mode automatically if there is a problem with the main server
  6. An administrator should check replication logs to resolve any conflicts
It is important to note the steps required when setting up replication:

New Setup before Transaction Processing Starts:
Follow steps 1 to 6 below:
  1. Install the LinkSOFT Application
  2. Using DB Update utility, setup new database for Servers and Stations
  3. Configure Head Office with Parent Links (To Stand Alone stations and Branch Servers)
  4. Configure Stand-Alone stations with for Stand-Alone mode
  5. Configure Branch Servers with child links to Parent Server.
  6. You are now ready to start processing
Fail Safe Configuration for Point of Sale:
  1. Configure Stand Alone Primary and Secondary Server Details
  2. Set he Default Locations on Stand Alone Configuration
  3. Enable Connection Switching for Fail-over
DO not create CHILD Links for Stand Alone stations

After transaction processing starts:
Follow these steps to:
Add a Stand-Alone station to a Parent (Branch or Head Office server)
  1. Configure the Parent server (Branch server or Head Office server) with the parent link. This is required so that the parent server can queue any transactions between backup and restore.
  2. Backup the parent database
  3. Restore the parent database on the Stand Alone station.
  4. Setup Stand-Alone Link as explained in STEP 2 below
  5. You are ready to Start processing on this station
Add a Branch server
  1. Configure the Parent server (Head Office server) with the parent link. This is required so that the parent server can queue any transactions between backup and restore.
  2. Backup the parent database
  3. Restore the parent database on the Branch Server and remove the parent link created in 1. above
  4. Setup Child Link as explained in STEP 2 below
  5. You are ready to Start processing on this station

In this example we use the network diagram shown in Figure 1:

There are two stations in Suva Office and two stations in Sydney Office.
Each station will be configured to run on Stand Alone (Fail-safe) mode. Suva and Sydney servers will be configured to replicate data.
Sydney Server SQL Database needs to be accessible from Suva server. Therefore you need a Static IP address. Suva Server does not need a Static IP address.

 This will achieve two results:
  1. The Stations will be able to run on Stand Alone mode in an event of network failure. Stand Alone means that all processing will be performed locally until the servers are available.
  2. Sydney and Suva servers will be configured to replicate data.

Figure 1: Network diagram showing two branches (Suva and Sydney) and 2 stations per branch

Definitions:

Stand-Alone Mode
This mode is usually used for Point of Sales Stations (SYDNEY-ST1, SYDNEY-ST2, SUVA-ST1 and SUVA-ST2). In the event of a network failure, the station will switch to local database and all transactions will be saved on the local station. When the network recovers, the Stand Alone station will automatically detect its sever (SYDNEY-AU, SUVA-FJ) and connect to the server. Data will be transferred to the server automatically.

Child Server Link
This is when a branch server needs to connect and replicate to head office server.
Note: Stand Alone stations do not need CHILD Links.

In the above network diagram, the following are child server links:
SUVA-FJ server links to SYDNEY-AU server using the child-server-link.

Parent Server Link
This is when a server connects to Stations or to a branch Servers

In the above network diagram, the following are parent server links:
SUVA-FJ server connects to SUVA-ST1 Station using the parent-server-link
 SUVA-FJ server connects to SUVA-ST2 Station using the parent-server-link
SYDNEY-AU server connects to SUVA-FJ Server using the parent-server-link
SYDNEY-AU server connects to SYDNEY-ST1 Station using the parent-server-link
SYDNEY-AU server connects to SYDNEY-ST2 Station using the parent-server-link

Important Notes:

  1. It is important that you use the Unique name for Station. (SUVA-ST1, SUVA-ST2, SYDNEY-ST1, SUDNEY-ST2, SUVA-FJ, SYDNEY-AU)
  2. Transaction ID needs to be unique in Stand-Alone Mode and between branches. Please make sure that you use a unique two digit identifier for each database server. Examples are: A0, A1, A2... B0, B1, B2 ... Z0, Z1, Z2...
Below is a summary of steps on how to configure the systems to achieve the following:
  1. The Stations will be able to run in an event of network failure. All processing will be performed locally until the servers are available.
  2. Sydney and Suva servers will replicate data
Step 1:
Install LinkSOFT on all stations and servers (SUVA-ST1, SUVA-ST2, SUVA-FJ, SYDNEY-ST1, SYDNEY-ST2, SYDNEY-AU)
Instructions on how to install link software is available at this link.

Step 2:
Log on to each Station that requires Stand-Alone setup and configure Stand-Alone mode. This should be done on all Point of Sale Stations. Do not setup branch servers or head office servers in Stand-Alone mode.

In this example you would perform the following:

Configure SUVA-ST1.
2.1 Log on to Link Tools connecting to SUVA-ST1 (Figure 2.1 below)
Figure 2.1 - Link Tools login for Replication Setup

2.2 Select Replication Setup and enter details as shown in figure 2.2 below. This figure shows settings for SUVA-ST1 StandAlone setup:


Figure 2.2 - Replication Setup options

The numbers in figure 2.2 above explain the following:
  1. After you login to Link Tools, Select Replication -> Replication Setup from the Menu. Then select the Setup Failsafe button on the replication screen.
  2. Connection type - Refer to connection type definition above
  3. Current Server details
    1. Unique Child Server Name: This is a unique name to identify this station. It is important that this name is unique across the entire network
    2. Linked Server Name: This is the name of the server you are setting up replication to. The name provided here should be accessible from the current station.
    3. Linked Server Username and Password: User credentials for creating the linked server.
    4. Linked Server Database name: Database name to connect to on the Linked Server. Default is LINKSOFT
    5. Local Database Number Mask: A 2 digit character that uniquely identifies transactions created by this station. Must be unique across the network.
Figure 2.3 below shows the Stand Alone setup for Suva Station 2.


Figure 2.3 Stand Alone setup for Suva Station 2.

Figure 2.4 below shows the Stand Alone setup for SYDNEY Station 1.


Figure 2.4 Stand Alone setup for SYDNEY Station 1.

Figure 2.5 below shows the Stand Alone setup for SYDNEY Station 2.


Figure 2.5 Stand Alone setup for Sydney Station 2

Once you have applied the above configuration, you should find that the system has created 4 SQL Jobs for replication as shown in figure 2.6 below:


Figure 2.6 - View of Replication tasks setup on SQL Server

Step 3: Log on to the Branch Servers (SUVA-FJ) and configure replication
The following steps needs to be performed for Branch Servers:
  1. Configure PARENT links to Standalone stations (SUVA-ST1 and SUVA-ST2)
  2. Configure CHILD link to SYDNEY-AU Server
Figure 3.1 below shows the Parent Link setup for Branch Server SUVA-FJ to SUVA Station 1 (Suva-ST1)


Figure 3.1 Parent Link setup for Branch Server SUVA-FJ to SUVA Station 1 (Suva-ST1)

Figure 3.2 below shows the Parent Link setup for Branch Server SUVA-FJ to SUVA Station 2 (Suva-ST2)


Figure 3.2 Parent Link setup for Branch Server SUVA-FJ to SUVA Station 2 (Suva-ST2)

Figure 3.3 below shows the Child Link setup for Branch Server SUVA-FJ to Sydney Server (SYDNEY-AU)


Figure 3.3 Child Link setup for Branch Server SUVA-FJ to Sydney Server (SYDNEY-AU)

Step 4: Log on to the Head Office Server (SYDNEY-AU), and configure replication

The following steps needs to be performed for head office (SYDNEY-AU server):
  1. Configure Parent Links to each station connected to SYDNEY-AU server. i.e. SYDNEY-ST1, SYDNEY-ST2 and SUVA-FJ.
Figure 4.1 below shows the Parent Link setup for Head Office Server (SYDNEY-AU) to Sydney Station 1 (SYDNEY-ST1)
Figure 4.1 Parent Link setup for Head Office Server (SYDNEY-AU) to Sydney Station 1 (SYDNEY-ST1)

Figure 4.2 below shows the Parent Link setup for Head Office Server (SYDNEY-AU) to Sydney Station 2 (SYDNEY-ST2)


Figure 4.2 Parent Link setup for Head Office Server (SYDNEY-AU) to Sydney Station 2 (SYDNEY-ST2)

Figure 4.3 below shows the Parent Link setup for Head Office Server (SYDNEY-AU) to Suva Server (SUVA-FJ)


Figure 4.3 Parent Link setup for Head Office Server (SYDNEY-AU) to Suva Server (SUVA-FJ)


Your replication and Stand Alone system is now configured based on the Network Diagram (Figure 1) above.

Fail Safe Configuration for Point of Sale:
  1. Configure Stand Alone Primary and Secondary Server Details
  2. Set he Default Locations on Stand Alone Configuration
  3. Enable Connection Switching for Fail-over
The primary server is the server the station should connect to when all systems are up and running. This is usually the Branch Server (if you are in a Branch) or Head Office Server (If the station is in the Head Office)


Figure 5.0 - Configure Primary Server Connection

The Secondary server is the server that the system connects to in the event of network Failure. This is the LOCAL Server


Figure 5.1 - Configure Secondary Server Connection

For All POS Stations, define the available processing locations.
  1. Available Locations - this is the list of locations the current station can sell products from. Station names needs to be in single quotes, separated by commas. e.g. 'SYDNEY','SUVA','NADS1'
  2. Default Location - This is the location the system will default to when the POS screen starts.


Figure 5.2 - Configure Locations for ALL POS Stations

For stations to switch automatically between Primary and Secondary servers, you need to enable the option shown below:


Figure 5.3 - Configure Automatic Connection Switching

You can now start transaction processing.

--- End of Document ---






Audit Notes:
If you have any queries regarding this support incident, please email admin@linktechnologies.com.au and include the Case No: L12472 in the subject line of all emails regarding this issue.

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