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• Softrip's "SoftripNext" middle tier

• Installed as an http://ASPa .Net Core application hosted in IIS

• Used by Softrip's SoftripNext applications (back-office AppsNext applications and CMS ResWebNext)

• Listens on TCP 443 (https)

• Talks to the Softrip database (TCP 1433)

• Talks to the RServer application (TCP 443/https)

• Talks to the STServer application (TCP 8000)

• Writes Reads and writes files (attachments and logs) to the fileshare)

...

• The main Softrip database holding all records used by the Softrip platform

• Built as a MS SQL Database

• Listens on TCP 1433

• Note that certain automation tasks are built as SQL Server Agent scheduled jobs that send requests to the middle tiers. As such, the database may need to send requests to STServer (TCP 8000) and/or STServerWeb (TCP 443/https)

...

• Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

• Used by Softrip to generate reports and reservation documents

• Pulls report data directly from the main database, or from STServer (for more complex datasets – Example: Reservation Invoices)

  • Sends requests to the main database (TCP 1433) and to STServer/ STServerWeb (TCP 8000, TCP 443/https)

• Listens on TCP 443 (https)

• SSRS uses its own database to hold its report definitions

  • This database may be hosted on the same server as the Reporting Services host, or hosted on the main SQL database server

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For a complete release schedule calendar, see: https://www.softrip.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/KBPUB/calendarscom/events

Softrip releases new versions of its applications and components every three weeks (“Sprint”).
This three-week process is defined as follows:

• Two weeks of development

  • Build a “Release Candidate” at the end of the two weeks of development

• One week of Quality Assurance

  • Test and fix any gaps found in the Release Candidate

  • Promote the Release Candidate to Stable at the end of the QA week

  • New Stable version Release Candidate is available to be deployed to client Testing environments for User Acceptance Testing

• One week User Acceptance Testing

  , or to client Production environments if UAT passes

  • Once UAT passes, the Release Candidate is promoted to Stable

  • New Stable version is available for deployment to Production (or UAT) environments

• Start the next 3-week Sprint

...

• Mon 01 May - Fri 12 May

  • Softrip implements scheduled fixes and features

• Mon 15 May

  • Softrip builds a new Release Candidate for the new version

• Mon 15 May - Fri 19 May

  • Softrip deploys and tests the Release Candidate in QA environments (daily deployments)

  • Any bugs or incomplete implementations found are addressed during this week and updated in the Release Candidate

  Fri 19 May (EOD)

• • Softrip promotes the Release Candidate to Stable

  Mon 22 May

  • Softrip deploys the new Stable Release Candidate version to client testing/UAT environments

• Mon 22 May - Fri 26 May

  • Client tests the new Stable version in their Test environment and report any bugs found to Softrip

  • Softrip reviews reported bugs to be addressed as a hotfix (to be fixed in current version) or for a future Sprint/version

• Fri 26 May (EOD)

  • Softrip promotes the Release Candidate to Stable

• Mon 29 May

  • Softrip deploys the new Stable version to client Production environments

...

• Suggested domain: db.domain.com

• Hosts the Softrip database

• Installed software:

  • MS SQL Server 2016 Standard Edition+

  • Notepad++

  • SQL Server Management Studio

• Should be on Must use SQL collation "SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"

...

• STService

  • The account running the Softrip back-end applications

  • Scope: DOMAIN

  • Runs:

    • STServerWeb (IIS Application Pool)

  • Permissions:

    • Read/write for fileshare

    • Softrip recommends giving this account read/write access to the database (using SSPI)

      • Alternative is to use a SQL user, with account credentials in middle tier configuration files - Less secure

• STShare

  • The account reading from the file share to serve attachments to the web server

  • Scope: FileShare, WebServer

  • Should be created as a local Windows user account on the file share server and the web server

  • Runs:

    • www.domain.com/STNAttach (virtual directory on web server)

    • www.domain.com/STNView (virtual directory on web server)

    • www.domain.com/STNAuxAttach (virtual directory on web server)

  • Permissions:

    • Read permissions for fileshare

• STReports

  • The account running Softrip reports in SSRS

  • Scope: Reports Server

  • Permissions:

    • Full permissions (site and root folder level) in SSRS

• STAdmin

  • The account used by Softrip staff for maintenance, updates, and debugging

  • Scope: Domain, Web Server

  • Permissions:

    • Local administrator on each machine/server

    • RDP for each machine/server

• STAdmin

  • The SQL account used by Softrip for debugging and database maintenance

  • Scope: SQL Server (SQL user account - Not a Windows user)

  • Permissions:

    • Full permissions on the Softrip database

    • Permissions for building and updating SQL Server Agent scheduled jobs

Networking Diagram

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Notes on Load-Balancing

• SoftripNext applications (back-office, CMS Next, CRM) can be connected to a single load-balanced endpoint

  • No requirement for the application to know all STServerWeb instances

  • SoftripNext has no "session stickiness": Its user sessions are shared between all STServerWeb instances, and any STServerWeb instance can process a request for any user session

  • Uses Redis for session state persistence

  • Easier dynamic load-balancing if needed

  • If configured properly, NLB can route requests only to available/working STServerWeb instances (useful for maintenance/patching)

• Examples:

  • SoftripNext Back-Office Configuration:

    • Code Block
      "MyMiddleTier": "https://stsw.domain.com"

    • stsw.domain.com is a load-balanced NLB/ARR instance which will route requests to any available STServerWeb instance

...