How to: Bind Applications to Logical Servers
After you create a deployment diagram, the next step in validating a system against a target logical datacenter is to bind the applications within the system to the appropriate logical servers in the datacenter. In general, the following logical servers host the noted applications:
| Logical Server | Application |
|---|---|
IIS Web Server |
ASP.NET Web service, ASP.NET Web application, External Web service, BizTalk Web service, Generic application |
Database Server |
External Database, Generic application |
Windows Client Server |
Windows application, Office application, Generic application |
Generic Server |
Can host any application |
When binding applications to logical servers, be aware of the following considerations:
Depending on the constraints that the person modeling the datacenter has applied to the logical datacenter diagram, specific types of applications might not be able to bind to the corresponding server listed above.
For example, a Web server could be constrained to only allow external Web services to be hosted on it. In cases where specific types of applications cannot be hosted, you cannot bind that type of application to the server. In such cases, a symbol and ToolTip are displayed, indicating that you cannot create the binding. For more information, see How to: Disallow Hosting Relationships.
Binding an external Web service only indicates that the external Web service exists on the logical server and makes it possible to validate the connections to that external Web service; it does not actually specify deployment for the Web service. For more information, see External Applications in Application Systems.
In many cases, external Web services represent Web services in other systems that are deployed or will be deployed within the datacenter. These external Web services should be bound to the appropriate logical servers within that datacenter on the deployment diagram. For example, if you want to bind an external Web service that is located on the Internet, bind the Web service to a logical server within a zone that represents the Internet.
An ASP.NET application can be deployed only to one Web site. Therefore, bind any and all Web content and Web service provider endpoints on an ASP.NET application to the same Web site endpoint. In Deployment Designer, binding all Web service provider endpoints to the same Web site endpoint is enforced; however, it is not enforced for Web content endpoints.
Use the following procedure to bind applications to servers.
To bind an application to a logical server
Open the deployment diagram.
Drag an application from System View and drop it on the appropriate server.
Tip
You can also right-click the application in the System View window and choose Bind Application. In the Bind <Application> to <Logical Server> dialog box, select the logical server to which you want to bind the application and click OK.
Continue dragging applications from System View and binding them to hosts until all applications in the system are bound.
You can also drag applications directly from System Designer by tiling that window with Deployment Designer. For more information, see How to: Rearrange Diagram Windows.
When binding an application, Deployment Designer automatically binds the endpoints on the application to the appropriate endpoints on the logical server. In instances where an application is bound to a server with more than one possible binding endpoint, the Binding Details dialog box appears. Use this dialog box to assign the application endpoint to the appropriate server endpoint, and also to assign Web applications to the appropriate application pool. For more information, see How to: Specify Binding Details on Deployment Diagrams.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Create Deployment Diagrams from Application Designer and System Designer
How to: Unbind Applications from Logical Servers
Walkthrough: Validating an Application System for Deployment