System Architecture AX 2012 

If you understand the internal architecture of Microsoft Dynamics AX, you can more effectively make decisions when you plan, customize, and deploy a system. This topic provides a high-level overview of the system architecture of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Microsoft Dynamics AX system architecture

The following diagram provides a high-level overview of the system architecture of Microsoft Dynamics AX. This diagram does not depict the system topology or physical infrastructure that are required for the deployment. Your infrastructure can consist of many Microsoft Dynamics AX components, and these components can be installed on either a single physical server or multiple physical servers. For factors that you must consider when you plan a deployment infrastructure, For detailed information about Microsoft Dynamics AX components, For the current hardware and software requirements for Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Authentication and authorization

Microsoft Dynamics AX uses integrated Windows authentication to authenticate Active Directory Domain Services users. If you configure Microsoft Dynamics AX to use a different authentication provider, users are authenticated by that provider. Authorization for access to data, business functionality, and presentation elements, such as forms, menus, fields, and reports, is governed by Microsoft Dynamics AX security. Anonymous web users can access Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX. However, only limited functionality is available to these users.

 

Presentation tier (clients and external applications)

A client provides an interface to Microsoft Dynamics AX data and functionality. An external application is integrated with Microsoft Dynamics AX to programmatically integrate functionality or exchange data.

·         The Windows client for Microsoft Dynamics AX is a native 32-bit program that provides a rich user interface.

·         Supported web browsers provide access to Microsoft Dynamics AX functionality and data through Enterprise Portal.

·         External applications interact with Microsoft Dynamics AX via services and Application Integration Framework (AIF). Services and AIF provide an extensible framework for XML-based scenarios for enterprise application integration (EAI), business-to-business (B2B), and service-oriented architecture (SOA).

For more information about the architecture of the presentation tier, see the following topics:

·         Client architecture

·         Enterprise Portal architecture

·         Services and AIF architecture

Application tier

The application tier consists of one or more of the following Microsoft Dynamics AX components or computer roles.

 

Active Directory domain controller

A domain controller for AD DS is a prerequisite for installing Microsoft Dynamics AX.

 

Application Object Server

Application Object Server (AOS) controls communication among Microsoft Dynamics AX clients, databases, and applications. AOS also hosts Microsoft Dynamics AX services and the workflow system. You can deploy AOS on a single computer or create a load-balanced cluster of multiple AOS instances. AOS is a Windows service that requires a Windows Server operating system. For the current hardware and software requirements for Microsoft Dynamics AX, see the system requirements document that is available from the Microsoft Download Center.

AOS uses libraries from the Microsoft .NET Framework version 4, such as Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation.

Enterprise Portal

Microsoft Dynamics AX provides a set of websites that give you access to data. On these sites, you can also participate in business processes by using web-based forms. These sites are collectively called Enterprise Portal.

Reporting

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services is the primary reporting platform for Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Workflow

Workflow is a system that is installed together with Microsoft Dynamics AX, and that runs on AOS. The workflow system provides functionality that you can use to create individual workflows, or business processes.

 

Data tier

Microsoft Dynamics AX requires several database components.

The Microsoft Dynamics AX database

The business database is a Microsoft SQL Server database that stores transaction and reference data. This database is functionally equivalent to the principal database in Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

 

Other databases

Enterprise Portal requires content and configuration databases for SharePoint 2010 products. Reporting Services requires a Reporting Services database. Support for OLAP cubes requires an Analysis Services database. Support for Enterprise Search requires a SharePoint Search Administration database, crawl database, and property database.