Informatica 7.X Architecture

Informatica 7.X Architecture consists of mainly 3 components
   1. PowerCenter Client Tools
   2. Repository Server and Database
   3. PowerCenter Servers (pmserver)


PowerCenter Client Tools

The PowerCenter Client Applications are used
   1. to manage the repository
   2. to design mappings, mapplets,
   3. to create sessions to load the data
   4. to run and monitor workflows running on PowerCenter Server

A. Repository Server Administration Console.
A Repository Server can manage multiple repositories. So Administration Console is used to administer the Repository Servers and repositories.
Main tasks performed by Administration Console are
      a. Add, edit, and remove repository configurations
      b. Create/backup/copy/delete a repository
      c. Start, stop, enable, and disable repositories
      d. Upgrade Repository

B. Repository Manager.
Repository Manager is used to administer the metadata repository. Using Repository manager, user can manage repository users and groups, assign privileges and permissions, and manage folders and locks.

C. Designer.
Designer is used to create mappings that contain transformation instructions for the PowerCenter Server. User can import or create source and target definitions, create mapplets and mappings with appropriate business logic.

D. Workflow Manager.
Workflow Manager is used to create, schedule, and run workflows. A workflow is a set of instructions that describes how and when to run tasks related to extracting, transforming, and loading data. The PowerCenter Server runs workflow tasks according to the links connecting the tasks.

E. Workflow Monitor.
Workflow Monitor used to monitor scheduled and running workflows for each PowerCenter Server.

PowerCenter Repository and Repository Server

A. Repository
The PowerCenter Repository is the heart of Informatica tools. The PowerCenter repository is a relational database managed by the Repository Server and used by the PowerCenter Server and Client tools.
The repository uses database tables to store metadata. Metadata describes different types of objects, such as mappings or transformations, that you can create or modify using the PowerCenter Client tools.
All repository client applications access the repository database tables through the Repository Server.

B. Repository Server
The Repository Server protects metadata in the repository by managing repository connections and using object locking to ensure object consistency. The Repository Server also notifies you when objects you are working with are modified or deleted by another user.
The Repository Server uses multiple Repository Agent processes to manage multiple repositories on different machines on the network.
The Repository Server uses native drivers to communicate with the repository database. PowerCenter Client tools and the PowerCenter Server communicate with the Repository Server over TCP/IP. When a client application connects to the repository, the Repository Server connects the client application directly to the Repository Agent process.

PowerCenter Server

The PowerCenter Server is a repository client application. It connects to the Repository Server and Repository Agent to retrieve workflow and mapping metadata from the repository database. When the PowerCenter Server requests a repository connection from the Repository Server, the Repository Server starts and manages the Repository Agent. The Repository Server then re-directs the PowerCenter Server to connect directly to the Repository Agent.

Below diagram represents the communication channel between client, server and repository.

Every time when user executes workflow, Workflow Manager communicates with PowerCenter Server using TCP/IP connection.

The PowerCenter Server connects to the source or target database using ODBC or native drivers. It uses TCP/IP to connect to the Repository Server.

The PowerCenter Server maintains a database connection pool for stored procedures or lookup databases in a workflow. The PowerCenter Server allows an unlimited number of connections to lookup or stored procedure databases.