Available BMC Remedy AR System features and configurations

Access to BMC Remedy AR System servers is available to all supported platforms through the BMC Remedy Email Engine (Email Engine).BMC Remedy AR System consists of server and client features that you combine to create the types of access you want to enable. Certain features are required for all BMC Remedy AR System installations, while other features are optional. Planning is the key to a successful installation.

BMC Remedy AR System has a flexible and scalable architecture, and can be configured depending on current and future needs.

BMC Remedy AR System requires several compatible features to function correctly. See  Compatibility matrix  in the BMC Remedy ITSM Deployment online documentation to check if your current features are compatible with the BMC Remedy AR System version you are using.

This topic discusses the available features and configurations for BMC Remedy AR System:

Features you can install

The following features can be installed with the BMC Remedy AR System installer.

BMC Remedy AR System server

The BMC Remedy AR System server can be installed on UNIX, Linux, or Microsoft Windows system.

The BMC Remedy AR System server is the primary feature that manages user interaction with the underlying database. The BMC Remedy AR System server interacts with the database and provides information to the user independent of the underlying database. For more information, see Understanding the AR System database.

BMC Remedy AR System can be installed with Microsoft SQL Server database or Oracle database. The database can be installed on any computer that is accessible to the BMC Remedy AR System server.

The BMC Remedy AR System installer creates an BMC Remedy AR System database with a series of tables that make up a data dictionary where form, filter, escalation, and other definitions are stored. The BMC Remedy AR System installer also creates the user of the BMC Remedy AR System database. The structure of the BMC Remedy AR System database varies depending on the underlying database. For more information, see Understanding the AR System database.

BMC Remedy Mid Tier

BMC Remedy Mid Tier can be installed on a UNIX, Linux, or Windows system.

Mid tier is middleware that enables BMC Remedy AR System access through a browser. A web server and the mid tier must be installed on the same computer. This computer can be networked to the BMC Remedy AR System server computer. One mid tier can permit access to multiple BMC Remedy AR System servers.

Client computers must have a supported browser installed. Users need BMC Remedy AR System permissions to submit BMC Remedy AR System requests and search the database through the web.

For more information, see BMC Remedy Mid Tier functional components.

BMC Remedy Email Engine

BMC Remedy Email Engine enables you to access BMC Remedy AR System through an email client and to receive email notifications.

The Email Engine is a process (on UNIX) or a service (on Windows) that transforms email messages into an interface to the BMC Remedy AR System server. The Email Engine enables users to instruct the BMC Remedy AR System server to perform queries, submissions, or modifications to entries, all using email. You can also view the results of such requests in email, formatted as plain text, RTF, HTML, or XML content. In addition, the Email Engine can process notifications by using workflow actions, such as filters and escalations.

The Email Engine can connect to mail servers by using protocols such as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP4), Post Office Protocol (POP3), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), MailBOX (MBOX), and Exchange Web Service (EWS).

For more information, see Enabling users to interact with Remedy AR System through email.

BMC Remedy Approval Server

The BMC Remedy Approval Server is a self-contained, shared module that can be attached to any BMC Remedy AR System application. It is a flexible solution for automating any approval or signature process across any organization. You can have only one Approval Server running in a server group environment.

Assignment Engine

The Assignment Engine enables you to use processes instead of workflow to automatically assign requests to individuals. When you install the Assignment Engine, the installer installs forms to help you set up the processes. See Assigning requests with the Assignment Engine.

Flashboards

Flashboards enable you to include dynamic, graphical representations of data in the BMC Remedy AR System forms. You can use flashboards to process, store, and display data in the form of graphs, charts, text boxes, and meters. You can summarize data for trend or historical analysis.

BMC Remedy Developer Studio

BMC Remedy Developer Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for BMC Remedy AR System applications. It provides all the application development functions needed to design an application.

BMC Remedy Developer Studio uses the Java-based Eclipse platform to provide a framework for its functions. Eclipse includes functions to organize the user interface (UI) and to work with UI components that the Developer Studio provides.

BMC Remedy Developer Studio can be installed on Microsoft Windows only.

BMC Remedy Data Import

BMC Remedy Data Import allows you to import data from a source file into a BMC Remedy AR System form.

BMC Atrium Integrator

BMC Atrium Integrator is an optional feature that is used for designing and executing the BMC Atrium Integrator Adaptor transformations and jobs. This is a stand alone application that can be installed with or without any other products or components. BMC Atrium Integrator can be installed on Microsoft Windows only.

Configuration Types

The following sections show the required and optional features in sample configurations. These sample configurations do not demonstrate all possibilities. BMC Remedy AR System is flexible, adaptable, and scalable, so you can mix and match features as needed.

Extending configuration to multiple servers

You can extend your system configuration to include two or more BMC Remedy AR System servers. For example, you can add another BMC Remedy AR System server exclusively for development or several BMC Remedy AR System servers for production.

Each BMC Remedy AR System server communicates with one database. Multiple BMC Remedy AR System servers can communicate with the same database.

You can install the mid tier and the required supporting features on a web server computer to allow users to access BMC Remedy AR System through a browser. The web server and mid tier must be installed on the same computer, and this computer can be networked to the BMC Remedy AR System server computer. All features can be installed on the same computer, but verify that the computer has adequate resources available (memory, disk space, processor power).
 
Client computers require a supported browser and Internet or intranet access for the mid tier computer to access BMC Remedy AR System.

Extending configuration to the Web

In addition to the required mid tier configuration, web configuration requires BMC Remedy Mid Tier that resides on a web server computer.  This is a supported web server, SDK (which includes the JRE), a supported JavaServer Pages (JSP) engine, and a supported browser are required. A single mid tier can access multiple BMC Remedy AR System servers.
For more information about Oracle Java products, go to https://www.oracle.com/java/index.html.

Extending configuration to include email access

To allow users to access BMC Remedy AR System through an email client and to receive email notifications, you must configure the Email Engine on each instance of the BMC Remedy AR System server.

The Email Engine configuration requires:

• A mail server that supports either SMTP (on UNIX or Windows) or MAPI (on Windows only) for outgoing mail, and POP3, IMAP4, MAPI, or MBOX for incoming mail. The mail server must be accessible by the Email Engine. 

  Note

  The MAPI protocol for incoming and outgoing mail is disabled for 64-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

• A compatible version of Java for your operating system. 

For more information, see Enabling users to interact with Remedy AR System through email.

Sizing factors and scalability

The information about the sizing factors and scalability for the BMC Remedy AR System environment is documented in the BMC Remedy IT Service Management documentation at Deployment architecture .