Most of the components described below are installed separately. The transmitters are included in the StarTeam Server installation.
There are two types of transmitters that are installed with the server:
The MPX Event Transmitter receives events of interest to StarTeam clients. The MPX Event Transmitter formats the event information it receives into XML messages, encrypts them, and publishes them to a Message Broker. Messages are assigned topics so that they can be distributed to clients interested in the accompanying content (project/view, item type, event type, etc.).
The MPX File Transmitter broadcasts file contents and item properties to one or more remote MPX Cache Agents by way of a Message Broker.
The Message Broker is a publish/subscribe messaging engine that broadcasts messages to subscriber components on a topic basis. It is a stand-alone process that can run on a separate computer to off load network processing overhead in high-volume environments.
The Message Broker broadcasts messages to each of its recipients using TCP/IP messaging. It receives encrypted XML messages from the MPX Event Transmitter or encrypted data from the MPX File Transmitter, and forwards them to the appropriate clients. Information is sent from a Message Broker directly to clients that have subscribed to that Message Broker by way of a TCP/IP connection profile.
Each MPX-enabled server configuration has one or two root Message Brokers. One or more remote Message Brokers can be distributed throughout the enterprise.
A MPX Cache Agent adds persistent data caching. Each MPX-enabled server configuration can have one root MPX Cache Agent. One or more remote MPX Cache Agents can be distributed throughout the enterprise. Often remote Message Brokers and Remote MPX Cache Agents are paired. A root MPX Cache Agent operates directly on the server configuration’s vault and cache.
A Root MPX Cache Agent handles requests forwarded from remote MPX Cache Agents for missing files and provides “catch-up” assistance for remote MPX Cache Agents after network or process outages.
Cache Agent-aware StarTeam clients can fetch data from any available MPX Cache Agent. By using “network-near” MPX Cache Agents, clients can improve file check-out performance and reduce their demands on the server. This frees server resources for additional tasks and users.