How to: Configure Generic Logical Servers on Logical Datacenter Diagrams
Generic logical servers enable you to document aspects of your datacenter not modeled by Distributed System Designers. For example, using a generic server you can model an AS400 mainframe. The generic server only contains file and directory settings by default; however, you can further extend the logical server settings with custom settings or by adding additional resources built using the SDM SDK. For more information about modeling using the SDK, see System Definition Model (SDM) SDK Workshop.
In general, generic logical servers can serve two purposes:
Documentation Only - Generic logical servers (and generic applications) can be simple placeholders on the design surface. They have no structure, no rich semantics, and there is no implied connection to Visual Studio projects or solutions. However, they can be connected graphically in Logical Datacenter Designer and communication pathways to these servers can be validated on the deployment diagram. They can also be extended using custom settings.
Documentation, Structure, and Some Behavior - These generic logical servers have additional behavior enabled through new resources authored using the SDM SDK. These resources more fully describe the logical server (or application) type. These, in addition to file and directory resources available by default, are listed in the deployment report and so can be scripted to facilitate deployment.
To add custom settings to a generic logical server
Select the generic logical server and choose Settings and Constraints from the Diagram menu.
In the Settings and Constraints Editor, select Custom, right-click and choose Add Custom Settings.
For more information, see How to: Create Custom Settings for Applications, Servers, Endpoints, and Zones.