Application Integration Framework topology
Important
This content is archived and is not being updated. For the latest documentation, see Microsoft Dynamics 365 product documentation. For the latest release plans, see Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform release plans.
Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
This topic describes factors to consider when you plan the topology of services and Application Integration Framework (AIF).
Factors that affect the AIF topology
Application Object Server (AOS), which is the application server for the Microsoft Dynamics AX application, is the key component of the infrastructure. Which additional components and infrastructure are required depends on the types of adapters that you choose to use. The types of adapters that are required depend on your integration requirements.
HTTP adapter – This adapter enables synchronous exchanges through web services on Internet Information Services (IIS), which can expose services on a network or the Internet. Web services on IIS require IIS 7.0. You can deploy AIF web services on a dedicated IIS server or a dedicated IIS farm. Alternatively, you can share an IIS server or IIS farm with other Microsoft Dynamics AX components, such as Workflow, Enterprise Portal for Microsoft Dynamics AX, and report server. We recommend that you deploy AIF web services on a dedicated IIS server or a dedicated IIS farm. For current hardware and software requirements for Microsoft Dynamics AX, see the system requirements web page. For more information about web services, see Install web services on IIS.
NetTCP adapter – This adapter enables synchronous exchanges by using support for WS-* standards over the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) transport. You can use this adapter to expose services on a network.
MSMQ adapter – This adapter enables asynchronous exchanges through message queues. To use this adapter, you must install Message Queuing, which is also known as MSMQ, on a computer on the network. You must also create at least one public queue to configure the MSMQ Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics AX. For more information, see Deploy Message Queuing for AIF.
File System adapter – This adapter enables asynchronous exchanges through file system directories. You must enable and configure at least one file system directory, or folder, for messages. Inbound messages and outbound messages require separate folders. For more information, see Walkthrough: Exchanging documents by using the file system adapter.
Note
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 no longer includes a BizTalk adapter. Earlier versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX required a BizTalk adapter for integration with Microsoft BizTalk Server. However, BizTalk Server can now connect to AIF through standards-based adapters. For more information, see Exchanging documents between BizTalk Server and AIF.
Consider the following points when you calculate your expected workload for AIF:
You must estimate the workload that services generate. You must consider the effect that service traffic has on your network, and plan for services when you plan your network capacity. You must consider the availability requirements of services that you deploy, and make sure that your network can provide the availability that the services require.
Make sure that your calculations include the workload that is generated by external applications that use services and AIF.
If you expect high data volume through asynchronous message processing, consider scaling out by using parallel processing of service requests on multiple AOS instances. Parallel processing lets you scale asynchronous message processing across AOS instances that are configured as batch servers. See Sequential and parallel processing in services and AIF.
If you use parallel processing, carefully consider the load that incoming messages generate on the batch servers. Plan the clusters and the number of AOS instances in each cluster accordingly. For more information about batch servers, see Batch server overview.
For high availability of services, consider the options for load balancing service traffic. For information about load balancing for services, see Configuring network load balancing for services.
For more information about services and AIF, see Services and Application Integration Framework (AIF).