Revelation Windows 2000 Service (NT Service) Overview (Network Compatibility)
Created at 28 OCT 1997 02:30PM
The Revelation Windows 2000 Service (formerly called NT Service) introduces client/server architecture to Revelation files on the Windows 2000/NT Server. This architecture enables the Windows 2000 Service to reduce network traffic and provide substantial performance increases. The Revelation Windows 2000 Service also provides a layer of protection to Revelation files virtually eliminating data corruption appearing as Group Format Errors (GFEs).
Components of the Revelation Windows 2000 Service
The Revelation NT Service consists of two components; the "Linear Hash" Service which is installed on the Windows 2000/NT Server, and the 'All Networks Driver' which is installed into OpenInsight or Advanced Revelation. The Linear Hash service supports multiple processors (SMP) and runs on any Intel based NT Server (version 3.51+)
The two components of the Windows 2000 Service distribute the workload to enable very efficient file activity. Without the Windows 2000 Service, all workstations running Advanced Revelation and/or OpenInsight are responsible for requesting records and record locks, and performing file maintenance such as setting record and group locks, bundling records, and file resizing. The architecture provided by the Revelation Windows 2000 Service allow the file server to handle all of the file maintenance, while the workstations simply make requests. Because the logic is placed on the optimal platform (rather than all in one place), there is a dramatic reduction in network traffic. The significant reduction of traffic (in many cases by orders of magnitude) provides the performance increases and virtually eliminates data corruption that may be caused by workstations, network, or cabling failures. The Windows 2000 Service further minimizes data corruption by ensuring that a complete transaction is received before attempting write the data if the transmission is incorrect or incomplete, the user is informed and the transaction is 'rolled back' to protect against the Group Format Error. In addition, since the Windows 2000 Service decreases the amount of traffic on the network, performance of all applications on the network may improve.
Communication Protocols
The All Networks Driver uses named pipes to communicate to the Windows 2000 Service. Named Pipes can use any protocol (TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, NETBEUI, etc). In terms of performance, NETBEUI will be the fastest protocol, then TCP/IP, then IPX/SPX (if you need to run IPX/SPX when communicating to an NT Server, only the Microsoft drivers are supported). You can run multiple protocols on your workstation, but understand that this may have a negative impact on performance. You can see the effect by installing or removing protocols. (In Windows 95, right click on Network Neighborhood and gauge the relative performance of the application.)
Windows 2000 Service Required for Forward Compatibility of Advanced Revelation
Windows 95/NT/2000 introduce new features such as write behind caching and opportunistic locking that Advanced Revelation does not support without the installation of one of the Revelation Networking Products. If you run Advanced Revelation on a Win95/WinNT/Win2000 workstation on a Windows 2000/NT Server, the Windows 2000 Service is required. If you do not install the Windows 2000 Service, you will get data corruption (Group Format Errors).