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The four layers of SDL LiveContent Architect platform

The system architecture consists of four layers: foundation layer, business layer, integration layer, and application layer.

Overview

The following diagram provides an overview of all major components in the physical system architecture:

SDL LiveContent Architect platform layers

The SDL LiveContent Architect platform consists of four main logical layers:
  • The Foundation Layer: a low-level API used to interact with different databases.
  • The Business layer: a COM+ API that is partially exposed through Web Services.
  • The Integration layer: a public Web Services API that can be used to integrate the SDL LiveContent Architect repository with another system, or to develop custom tools on top of the SDL LiveContent Architect repository.
  • The Application Layer: applications of SDL LiveContent Architect, and connectors to translation management systems such as SDL WorldServer and SDL TMS.

The first three layers run on a server environment. The architecture supports all major open standards, including XML, XSL, SOAP, WSDL, and W3C.

The foundation layer

SDL LiveContent Architect is built on top of TriDK. This layer interacts directly with either Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server, as well as with the full-text indexing engine. TriDK provides functionality to store and manage objects in the database.

TriDK supports an object-relational data model. This means that the table structure in the database remains the same even when clients define their custom metadata in the repository.

The business layer

The business layer contains the business logic to manage content in the repository, and to consume it from the repository.

This layer consists of two sub-layers:
  • The contributor business layer: this layer handles the logic responsible for content creation, review, translation, and publication. This layer provides also specific connectivity functionality to link the system to external translation management systems and publishing engines.
  • The consumer business layer: this layer is the foundation for end-user web sites. It is not possible to create new objects or modify existing objects through this layer.

The integration layer

The integration layer is a Web Services API that enables third-party systems integration, for example with authoring tools, PLM systems, publishing engines, and so on. Authoring Bridge, our standard desktop client tool, uses the Web Services API to access the repository.

The SDL LiveContent Architect Communication layer is developed in .NET technology.

The application layer

SDL LiveContent Architect provides the following applications off-the-shelf:
  • SDL LiveContent Architect web client: a web client to access the repository through an Internet web browser like Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome.
  • Authoring Bridge: an add-in for major XML authoring tools; it allows technical writers to access the repository through their XML authoring tool.
  • Condition Manager: a desktop client to define and manage conditions in the repository.
  • Publication Manager: a desktop client that allows technical writers and information architects to assemble modular content into deliverable publications.

All SDL LiveContent Architect components are developed according to the stateless component model. Following the stateless component model, a request made by a user is loaded into memory, fulfilled, and then unloaded. Subsequent requests by the same user are treated just like any request; the server makes no attempt to remember what the user has previously requested.

Stateless development brings two important advantages in terms of:

  • System availability and maintenance: the servers hosting the business and presentation logic can be swapped, provided their configurations are identical (for example, the database location should be the same on both servers). This means that servers can be brought down for system maintenance without any application downtime, since there is no single point of failure.
  • System performance: stateless components enable Network Load Balancing (NLB) and Component Load Balancing (CLB) to dispatch requests to the processor with the lightest workload.