Managing SAS Application Servers

Defining Multiple Application Servers

Add an Additional SAS Application Server

When you deploy SAS, the SAS Deployment Wizard creates an initial SAS Application Server using the inputs that you supply. Later, you can re-run the SAS Deployment Wizard to create additional application servers on new machines. For more information, see "Adding SAS Products" in SAS Intelligence Platform: Installation and Configuration Guide.

Follow these guidelines when running the SAS Deployment Wizard to add a new SAS application server:

The machine on which you want to add the new logical server should have a network connection to your site's SAS Software Depot. If it does not, then you must find a way to get the depot to the machine on which you want to create the new SAS application server.

For more information, see "Overview: SAS Software Depots" in SAS Intelligence Platform: Installation and Configuration Guide.
Use your deployment plan that contains the SAS application server.

Note: There are standard deployment plans that contain a SAS application server machine. For more information, see About Deployment Plans in SAS Intelligence Platform: Installation and Configuration Guide.
If you are adding logical servers that require an object spawner (one of the workspace servers and the stored process server), then when you deploy your SAS application server, the wizard will also deploy an object spawner to start the servers. If the machine on which you are adding the SAS application server already contains an object spawner, then the wizard will update the pre-existing spawner definition for you to include the new servers that you want your spawner to manage.
Specify a new server context (for example, SASApp2).
Obtain the SAS Metadata Server connection information for the metadata server that you are currently using. The wizard will prompt you for this information.
Specify the correct machine name on which you are adding the SAS application server.

There are several reasons why you might want to create a second application server. A couple of these reasons are discussed in the following sections.

Scenario 1: Using SAS Data Integration Studio to Access Remote Data

Imagine that you are using SAS Data Integration Studio to process a large amount of data that resides on a machine different from the workspace server to which the application submits its code, as shown in the following figure.

Application Server and Data on Different Machines

[Application Server and Data on Different Machines]

One way to execute such a job efficiently is to define two application servers. One is the default application server for SAS Data Integration Studio and contains the workspace server to which the application will submit its generated code. The other application server contains a SAS/CONNECT server (which is collocated with the data), and the library of data to be processed is assigned to this application server. See the following figure.

Create an Application Server That Is Collocated with the Data

[Create an Application Server That Is Collocated with the Data]

If you choose for the transformations in the job to be executed on the remote host, then SAS Data Integration Studio generates the code that is necessary for the transformations to be executed by the SAS/CONNECT server. The overall job is submitted to the workspace server. However, the workspace server then submits the code for each transformation to the remote server.

The generation of this type of code is made possible by the definitions of the two application servers, one of which is the default application server for SAS Data Integration Studio and the other the application server to which the data library is assigned.

Note: For more information, see Setting Up Multi-Tier Environments in SAS Intelligence Platform: Desktop Application Administration Guide. [cautionend]

Scenario 2: Using Multiple Application Servers with SAS Web Report Studio

Suppose that you want to create an environment in which row-level security can be strictly enforced for a set of SAS Web Report Studio users. (For a detailed description of this feature, see BI Row-Level Permissions in SAS Intelligence Platform: Security Administration Guide.)

Part of the setup is to create a special workspace server for use by the report creators who need the secure environment. This special workspace server is a component of a new SAS Application Server. See the following figure.

Using a Second Application Server to Enable Row-Level Security

[Using a Second Application Server to Enable Row-Level Security]

The original workspace server can service users of other applications and users of SAS Web Report Studio whose access to data does not need to be so closely controlled.

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