Cloud Services in a nutshell

[Paolo F Cantoni]

I just want to confirm that my understanding of the Sparx Cloud Service is correct - after reading the available documentation.

The Cloud Service is an additional component that uses IIS to establish connectivity between an existing Sparx Repository and Sparx EA clients "in the wild", so to speak.  The Cloud Service opens up a secure connection between an external (Internet) EA client and the repository initiated via the "Cloud Connection" dialogue on the Start Page.

Once the connection is made, the Service transparently interacts between the repository and the client as though the client were talking to a local (intranet) RDBMS repository.

When you download the Cloud Services installer, it will install the components for the connection, but you will need an IIS server and a repository to run it against.  These will NOT be set up by the installer.

Have I got it right?

TIA,
Paolo

[Guillaume]

Hi Paolo,

The Cloud Service can use IIS or run as a Windows Service (I've used the latter option).
Files are installed in Program files\Sparx Systems. You have a client application that lets you administer the EA projects that you need to access from the Cloud (via ODBC).

This admin part is pretty much the same as the WAN Optimizer (since the Cloud service includes the WAN from my understanding).

I have a question for Sparx: the documentation doesn't state the minimum requirements for the server it will run onto. Can you provide such information e.g. cpu, RAM, can it run on a VM...? Is there any limitation in deploying this solution e.g. max number of concurrent users or any other known bottlenecks?

Thanks

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Hi Paolo,

The Cloud Service can use IIS or run as a Windows Service (I've used the latter option).
Files are installed in Program files\Sparx Systems. You have a client application that lets you administer the EA projects that you need to access from the Cloud (via ODBC).

So my assertion that the database is created and maintained (in a DBA sense) is correct, yes?

This admin part is pretty much the same as the WAN Optimizer (since the Cloud service includes the WAN from my understanding).

That doesn't surprise me.

I have a question for Sparx: the documentation doesn't state the minimum requirements for the server it will run onto. Can you provide such information e.g. cpu, RAM, can it run on a VM...? Is there any limitation in deploying this solution e.g. max number of concurrent users or any other known bottlenecks?

Thanks

So for an evaluation environment, could I set it up on a laptop (as a windows service) and point it at a local repository (even a .eap file)?

Thanks Guillaume,  I may contact you off-line if that's OK for specific details if needed.

Paolo

[Eve]

The Cloud Service can use IIS or run as a Windows Service

Not quite true. There will always be a windows service running. The difference is configuring the service to accept http connections (which happens on port 803 on a default installation to prevent clash with an existing http server) or to configure IIS with the plugins to connect to the service.

I have a question for Sparx: the documentation doesn't state the minimum requirements for the server it will run onto. Can you provide such information e.g. cpu, RAM, can it run on a VM...? Is there any limitation in deploying this solution e.g. max number of concurrent users or any other known bottlenecks?

I'm not aware of any tests for minimum requirements. It doesn't require anything special from the CPU, but memory usage can spike when running a very large query. (Which I usually see when someone is writing custom queries).

So my assertion that the database is created and maintained (in a DBA sense) is correct, yes?

The only repositories that it can create are firebird repositories. Just type a <modelname>.fdb into the connection string dialog. All other repositories are created and maintained in the relevant dbms tools.

So for an evaluation environment, could I set it up on a laptop (as a windows service) and point it at a local repository (even a .eap file)?

Setting it up on a laptop will be fine. A eap file is the only repository type that can't be used. For the easiest trial, using a firebird model as described above will work. (You will need to run Update Index Statistics on the firebird model after it reaches a non-trivial size, neither firebird or EA do it automatically)

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Thanks Simon.

Helps heaps.

Paolo

[Guillaume]

I have a question for Sparx: the documentation doesn't state the minimum requirements for the server it will run onto. Can you provide such information e.g. cpu, RAM, can it run on a VM...? Is there any limitation in deploying this solution e.g. max number of concurrent users or any other known bottlenecks?

I'm not aware of any tests for minimum requirements. It doesn't require anything special from the CPU, but memory usage can spike when running a very large query. (Which I usually see when someone is writing custom queries).

If I look at EA system requirements, the CPU and RAM information aren't really precise. As we need to create a dedicated server from our client's IT department, any potential change in the RAM or CPU can be time consuming hence the reason why any indication on CPU, HD space and RAM would be helpful.
The server where Cloud Services will be set up will provide access to around 5 EA projects stored on a central DB. Some projects are quite big.

Can you provide any indication on a standard server's specs running smoothly the Cloud Services configured with large EA project?

Thanks

[Paolo F Cantoni]

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If I look at EA system requirements, the CPU and RAM information aren't really precise. As we need to create a dedicated server from our client's IT department, any potential change in the RAM or CPU can be time consuming hence the reason why any indication on CPU, HD space and RAM would be helpful.
The server where Cloud Services will be set up will provide access to around 5 EA projects stored on a central DB. Some projects are quite big.

Can you provide any indication on a standard server's specs running smoothly the Cloud Services configured with large EA project?

Thanks

and on the back of Guillaume's question, what about the size of the repository I mentioned in my EA "at scale" topic?  With perhaps hundreds of thousands of elements, connectors, and diagrams?

Paolo

[Eve]

I can't give either of you a concrete answer.

We have a reasonably large model (over 100k elements) that receives heavy use plus "several" smaller models being served by a standard desktop pc and I don't think we've hit a problem with cpu or memory.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

I can't give either of you a concrete answer.

We have a reasonably large model (over 100k elements) that receives heavy use plus "several" smaller models being served by a standard desktop pc and I don't think we've hit a problem with cpu or memory.

Thanks SImon,

That'll do me - I'm really just after "order of magnitude" answers for the present.  Are you able to give (even rough) figures for the desktop PC? i.e 4 core i7 2.5GhZ, 16G memory, SSD drive.  Just so we can get a "feel" for what you are indicating?  

For multicore machines, it seems that EA uses only one core (in the main) some of its system calls seem to invoke other cores.  Is that observation correct?

Paolo

[Eve]

Are you able to give (even rough) figures for the desktop PC? i.e 4 core i7 2.5GhZ, 16G memory, SSD drive.  Just so we can get a "feel" for what you are indicating?

Something like that. Think it has a traditional drive though.

For multicore machines, it seems that EA uses only one core (in the main) some of its system calls seem to invoke other cores.  Is that observation correct?

While that may apply to EA, the cloud server is a very different beast and would take advantage of multiple cores.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

Are you able to give (even rough) figures for the desktop PC? i.e 4 core i7 2.5GhZ, 16G memory, SSD drive.  Just so we can get a "feel" for what you are indicating?

Something like that. Think it has a traditional drive though.

For multicore machines, it seems that EA uses only one core (in the main) some of its system calls seem to invoke other cores.  Is that observation correct?

While that may apply to EA, the cloud server is a very different beast and would take advantage of multiple cores.

Excellent!   Thanks Simon.

Paolo

[Guillaume]

The information on the cpu & RAM is useful.
I noticed that System Requirements are displayed during the Cloud Services installation however it doesn't mention CPU/memory:

System Requirements
10 MB hard disk space
1074 * 768 resolution or greater
MDAC 2.7 or above
ODBC Drivers where needed

Operating Systems Supported:
Windows 8
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows 2008 Server
Windows 2003 Server
Windows XP SP2
Linux using WINE or Crossover
Mac OS X 10.5.x with Crossover 10.0.3 or better

Enterprise Architect Versions Supported
Enterprise Architect Corporate Version 11.0 (or later).

I found the document Cloud Services.rtf in C:\Program Files (x86)\Sparx Systems\Cloud Services\Client however it isn't complete ; the ToC mentions 23 pages whereas the doc is only 4 pages long. Could this file be published and properly packaged in the Cloud Service installation file ?

Thanks,

[RoyC]

In response to another post on July 16th, SimonM reported that:

(We have had reports of the document being corrupted. Support can give you a non-corrupt document)

So, ask Sparx Support for the document. I have not seen the corrupted document (yet!) so I don't know what is going on there.

[Guillaume]

Will do

Thanks Roy