Service Manager

The Service Manager is a service that manages all domain operations. It runs within Informatica Services. It runs as a service on Windows and as a daemon on UNIX. When you start Informatica Services, you start the Service Manager. The Service Manager runs on each node. If the Service Manager is not running, the node is not available.

The Service Manager runs on all nodes in the domain to support the application services and the domain:

  Application service support. The Service Manager on each node starts application services configured to run on that node. It starts and stops services and service processes based on requests from clients. It also directs service requests to application services. The Service Manager uses TCP/IP to communicate with the application services.

  Domain support. The Service Manager performs functions on each node to support the domain. The functions that the Service Manager performs on a node depend on the type of node. For example, the Service Manager running on the master gateway node performs all domain functions on that node. The Service Manager running on any other node performs some domain functions on that node.

Table 1-1 describes the domain functions that the Service Manager performs:

Table 1-1. Domain Functions Performed by the Service Manager

Nodes

When you install PowerCenter Services on a machine, you add the machine to the domain as a node. You can add multiple nodes to a domain. Each node in the domain runs a Service Manager that manages domain operations on that node. The operations that the Service Manager performs depend on the type of node. A node can be a gateway node or a worker node. You can subscribe to alerts to receive notification about node events such as node failure or a master gateway election.

Gateway Nodes
A gateway node is any node you configure to serve as a gateway for the domain. One node acts as the gateway at any given time. That node is called the master gateway. A gateway node can run application services, and it can serve as a master gateway node. The master gateway node is the entry point to the domain.

The Service Manager on the master gateway node performs all domain operations on the master gateway node. The Service Manager running on other gateway nodes performs limited domain operations on those nodes.

You can configure more than one node to serve as a gateway. If the master gateway node becomes unavailable, the Service Manager on other gateway nodes elect another master gateway node. If you configure one node to serve as the gateway and the node becomes unavailable, the domain cannot accept service requests.

Worker Nodes
A worker node is any node not configured to serve as a gateway. A worker node can run application services, but it cannot serve as a gateway. The Service Manager performs limited domain operations on a worker node.

Understanding Domains Overview

PowerCenter has a service-oriented architecture that provides the ability to scale services and share resources across multiple machines. High availability functionality helps minimize service downtime due to unexpected failures or scheduled maintenance in the PowerCenter environment.

The PowerCenter domain is the fundamental administrative unit in PowerCenter. The domain supports the administration of the distributed services. A domain is a collection of nodes and services that you can group in folders based on administration ownership.

A node is the logical representation of a machine in a domain. One node in the domain acts as a gateway to receive service requests from clients and route them to the appropriate service and node. Services and processes run on nodes in a domain. The availability of a service or process on a node depends on how you configure the service and the node. For more information, see Nodes.

Services for the domain include the Service Manager and a set of application services:

  Service Manager. A service that manages all domain operations. It runs the application services and performs domain functions on each node in the domain. Some domain functions include authentication, authorization, and logging. For more information, see Service Manager.

  Application services. Services that represent PowerCenter server-based functionality, such as the Repository Service and the Integration Service. The application services that runs on a node depend on the way you configure the services. For more information, see Application Services.

The Service Manager and application services control PowerCenter security. The Service Manager manages users and groups that can log in to PowerCenter applications and authenticates the users who log in to PowerCenter applications. The Service Manager and application services authorize user requests from PowerCenter applications. For more information, see Security.

The PowerCenter Administration Console consolidates the administrative tasks for domain objects such as services, nodes, licenses, and grids and for users, groups, and roles. You manage the domain and the security of the domain through the Administration Console.

To use the SSL protocol to transfer data securely between the Administration Console and the Service Manager, configure HTTPS for all nodes on the domain. You can configure HTTPS when you install PowerCenter or using infasetup commands. The Administration Console uses the HTTPS port to communicate with the Service Manager. The gateway and worker node port numbers you configure for communication with the Service Manager remain the same. Application services and PowerCenter Client applications communicate with the Service Manager using the gateway or worker node port.

If you have the high availability option, you can scale services and eliminate single points of failure for services. Services can continue running despite temporary network or hardware failures.

Informatica Resources

Informatica Customer Portal
As an Informatica customer, you can access the Informatica Customer Portal site at http://my.informatica.com. The site contains product information, user group information, newsletters, access to the Informatica customer support case management system (ATLAS), the Informatica Knowledge Base, Informatica Documentation Center, and access to the Informatica user community.

Informatica Documentation
The Informatica Documentation team takes every effort to create accurate, usable documentation. If you have questions, comments, or ideas about this documentation, contact the Informatica Documentation team through email at infa_documentation@informatica.com. We will use your feedback to improve our documentation. Let us know if we can contact you regarding your comments.

Informatica Web Site
You can access the Informatica corporate web site at http://www.informatica.com. The site contains information about Informatica, its background, upcoming events, and sales offices. You will also find product and partner information. The services area of the site includes important information about technical support, training and education, and implementation services.

Informatica Knowledge Base
As an Informatica customer, you can access the Informatica Knowledge Base at http://my.informatica.com. Use the Knowledge Base to search for documented solutions to known technical issues about Informatica products. You can also find answers to frequently asked questions, technical white papers, and technical tips.

Informatica Global Customer Support
There are many ways to access Informatica Global Customer Support. You can contact a Customer Support Center through telephone, email, or the WebSupport Service.

Use the following email addresses to contact Informatica Global Customer Support:

  support@informatica.com for technical inquiries

  support_admin@informatica.com for general customer service requests

WebSupport requires a user name and password. You can request a user name and password at http://my.informatica.com.

Use the following telephone numbers to contact Informatica Global Customer Support: