How to: Create Deployment Diagrams from Application Designer and System Designer
Deployment diagrams are used to evaluate the deployment of an application system in a particular logical datacenter. There are two options for creating deployment diagrams. The first is to create one from Application Designer without first explicitly defining a system. Because a system is always required to describe a system deployment, Distributed System Designers create a default system from the application definitions on the application diagram. The second option for creating a deployment diagram is to create one from a system you have defined in the System Designer.
Note
Finalizing a deployment definition from deployment diagrams or deployment reports generated from default systems is not recommended. Default systems are useful for quickly evaluating the deployment of individual applications within the datacenter, but should not be used for final deployment. For more information, see Deployment Definitions Created from Application and System Diagrams.
The following procedures explain each approach.
To create a deployment diagram from Application Designer
In Application Designer, choose Define Deployment from the Diagram menu.
The Define Deployment dialog box appears. It automatically populates with the name of a logical datacenter diagram, if one is present in the solution.
Under Logical Datacenter Diagram, choose a diagram in the solution or click Browse to locate a diagram (.ldd file) outside the solution.
Click OK.
The deployment diagram opens in Deployment Designer.
To create a deployment diagram from System Designer
In System Designer, open the system diagram you want to evaluate for deployment.
System diagram files appear with the .sd file extension in Solution Explorer.
Choose Define Deployment from the Diagram menu.
The Define Deployment dialog box appears. It automatically populates with the name of a logical datacenter diagram, if one is present in the solution.
Under Logical Datacenter Diagram, choose a diagram in the solution or click Browse to locate a diagram (.ldd file) outside the solution
Click OK.
The deployment diagram opens in Deployment Designer.
In Solution Explorer, deployment diagrams appear with a .dd extension in the Solution Items folder. The System View window appears docked with the Toolbox and displays applications contained in the default system. Using the System View window, you can drag an application to a compatible logical server to bind it (that is, indicate that the application should be deployed on that logical server). For more information, see How to: Bind Applications to Logical Servers.
Note
Your distributed system solution can contain multiple logical datacenter diagrams. Once you create and configure an application system from System Designer or Application Designer, you can evaluate deploying that system in different logical datacenters. Create a new deployment diagram for each logical datacenter to which you want to compare your system.