Connections

A connection is the means by which a CSM application connects to another tier of the CSM suite.

A client is a tier, a Cherwell Server is a tier, and the database is a tier.

CSM has two different types of connections that are used in different ways and from different places. Both types of connections are configured through the Connection Wizard:

  • Direct-to-Database connection (2-tier): A direct-to-database connection is a connection between one or more CSM applications and a CSM database. Typically, only CSM Servers (example: Cherwell Application Server) use this type of connection, although Client applications can use direct-to-database connections under special circumstances, bypassing the Cherwell Application Server.
    • A direct-to-database connection is also referred to as a "2-tier connection" because only two tiers are involved: The Cherwell Server (Tier 2) connects to the database (Tier 1).
    • Since a direct-to-database connection does not use the Cherwell Application Server, it does not use compression or encryption.
    • Most CSM Services use a direct-to-database connection, but end users generally should connect via an App Server connection when using the CSM clients.
    • Although end users should usually avoid using a direct-to-database connection, it can be helpful in troubleshooting. In some situations, users are able to see more detailed error messages when using a direct-to-database connection, and by bypassing the Cherwell Application Server it can help to isolate the source of a problem.
    • Direct-to-database connections for end users are not available for Cherwell SaaS customers.
  • App Server connection (3-tier): An App Server connection is a connection between one or more CSM applications (example: CSM Desktop Client) and the Cherwell Application Server.
    • An App Server connection is also referred to as a "3-tier connection" because three tiers are involved: The CSM application (Tier 3) connects to the CSM database (Tier 1) through the Cherwell Application Server (Tier 2).

For a new installation, configure the following three connections:

  • Server connection: The Server connection is a configured direct-to-database (2-tier) connection between any Cherwell Server (primarily the Cherwell Application Server and the Cherwell Service Host.) and a CSM database. During the Server installation, you are prompted to create this connection which, by default, is named Cherwell.
  • Browser connection: The Browser connection is a configured direct-to-database (2-tier) connection between the CSM Browser Applications and a CSM database. CSM Browser Applications use a different connection than the desktop clients because they run inside IIS, and the connection needs to work with the IIS security options. During the Portal and Browser Applications installation, you are prompted to create this connection which, by default, is (and should remain) named "Cherwell Browser."
  • Client connection: A Client connection is a configured App Server connection (3-tier) that allows a user to connect to the CSM database through the Cherwell Application Server. Although users can manually configure this connection, we recommend that the system administrator configure the client connection as part of the Auto-Deploy configuration, and then push the client connection out to all users using the Auto-Deploy process. A client connection pushed out by Auto-Deploy is also referred to as an "Auto-Deployed Client connection."

The configuration steps vary by the type of connection. Typically, a system administrator configures all three connections during the installation process. To help with the configurations, CSM provides the Connection Wizard, which is launched automatically by the Installation Wizard during the Server and Browser/Portal Apps installations, and manually by the system administrator during the Auto-Deploy configuration.