Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Components

After all the excitements around the launch of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 RTM with an abundance of all round improvements penned in the roadmap. It is time to take a closer look at the new tool that we will use in the coming battles before we get our hands on it.

Apart from the improvements in term of functionalities, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 has incorporated numerous technologies under Microsoft to improve communication and visibility of the solution. In Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 and 4.0 implementations, I have configured quite some Analysis Services cubes and Reporting Services reports to provide visibility. Microsoft Dynamics AX powers the operation well in those releases but is lacking in term of business process monitoring and business analysis capability out-of-the-box.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 on the other hand has taken a different direction. A huge portion of the functionalities are taken out of Microsoft Dynamics AX. Dynamics AX 2009 comes with plenty of Analysis Services cubes and Reporting Services reports preconfigured. Then there is this dashboard that is hosted by Sharpoint Services. There is also integration with Microsoft Unified Communication, Microsoft Project Server, etc. The following figure shows the various components we may have in a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 installation.

Let us look at the servers in a Dynamics AX 2009 production environment with all these additions. We could divide the servers into three categories; base servers, extension servers and infrastructure support servers.

Base Servers

The base installation consists of the traditional components which include the Database, Application files, Application Object Server (AOS) and the Windows client. There are three servers under this category.

Database server

As the name suggests, this is where Dynamics AX data is stored. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 could work with Microsoft SQL Server database as well as Oracle database. Although Oracle database server supports various editions of UNIX, Linux and Windows, supports for Oracle database is limited to issues that could be reproduced with Oracle under Windows environment.

File server

The Microsoft Dynamics AX application files are installed here. The application files installed here will be accessed by all Application Object Servers (AOS) in the environment. Access rights should be configured accordingly.

Application Object Server (AOS)

This server hosts the AOS Windows service. The AOS service coordinate communications among database, application files and the Microsoft Dynamics AX clients. AOS could be installed on a single computer or a server cluster for load balancing.

Extension Servers

Servers under this category add functionalities to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Role Centers and Enterprise Portal

This server hosts a Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services site. This server exposes the role center and enterprise portal functionalities to relevant users. You may run Windows Sharepoint Services or Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server to enable these functionalities.

Workflow server

A workflow server runs the Windows Workflow Foundation. It enables the creation of individual workflows as well as business processes in Microsoft Dynamics AX. It controls how a document flows through the system for processing and approval.

Reporting server

A reporting server uses Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services to add reporting functionality to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

OLAP server

An OLAP server uses Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services to provide multidimensional reporting functionality to Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Application integration server

An application integration server runs the Application Integration Framework (AIF). It allows the sharing of electronic business documents between Microsoft Dynamics AX and external parties.

Infrastructure Support

The servers mentioned earlier are either the integral part of Microsoft Dynamics AX or add specific functionalities to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Those under this category provide supports. The compulsory server under this category is the domain controller. We could have SMTP server to provide email abilities to alert, mass mailing, etc.

Final Thoughts

With all these additions, you are unable to appreciate Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 with the traditional base installation where you configure the Database, Application, AOS and Dynamics AX client. At the very least, you need to have the Analysis Services, Reporting Services, and Sharepoint Services.

Download Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Release

A lot of us have been looking forward to the release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 since the release of CTP3 a couple of months back. Dynamics AX associate is glad to announce that it is finally here. You may download the installation DVD in ISO format from PartnerSource: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Release. Before you head over with excitement, please note that the file is 1.7 GB in size. Prepare enough hard disk space and time to download it. The page also provides plenty of important information that you could digest while you are waiting for the file to download.

The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Release available for download here is a full install. You may perform new installations or upgrades from previous versions with it. Upgrades are supported for Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 SP4 (or higher) as well as Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 SP1 (or higher).

Businesses interested in putting Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 into their business could do so very soon. The price list will be available for most of the regions by June 1, 2008. Those in Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Turkey however would have to wait a little longer or find ways with the operation center in their region. The price list for those regions is only planned to be available by September 1, 2008.

Download Demonstration Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Pre-Release

There has been much hype around the soon to be released Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Certain companies were given the privilege to get their hands on Microsoft Dynamics AX 5 Community Tech Preview 3 (CTP3). Do note that the name was the initially expected Microsoft Dynamics AX 5 instead of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 which it is currently called.

Demonstration Toolkit

It has been a common practice for Microsoft Dynamics to issue Demonstration Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics AX in the form of Virtual PC (VPC) image. The Demonstration Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 SP1 for example was distributed in the form of two DVDs. The package comes with marketing material and presentation decks for different industries, and VPC Images for Microsoft Virtual Server as well as Microsoft Virtual PC.

Microsoft Dynamics has done the same for the Pre-Release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. The Demonstration Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Pre-Release is available for download at Demonstration Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 Pre-Release (requires PartnerSource login).

You will need Microsoft Virtual PC to use this toolkit. The good news is it is a freeware available for download. Get your free copy of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 downloaded to run the Demonstration Toolkits.

Disk Space Requirement

Usually this toolkit is distributed in DVDs. Hence, do expect the download size to be huge. The files for this toolkit has been compressed and split into three archive files. The three files have a total size of 7 GB. The three files shall be downloaded into the same folder to be extracted. In other words, you will need an additional 7 GB or more to get the extracted files. So we are looking at no less than 14 GB of free hard disk space required to complete the task. Do note that the extracted files are all we need.

I have not the hard disk space to even download the files hence has not tried out. Those that have extracted the files could let us know how much space is required to extract the files.

Expiry Date

Another thing to take note is the expiry date of the VPC image. The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 CTP3 license in the VPC image will expire on August 31, 2008. The Windows of the VPC image on the other hand will expire on June 6, 2009.

What is in the VPC Image?

Apart from the Pre-Release version of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, there is a wealth of software installed and properly configured in the VPC image. Some of them are its pre-requisite whereas the rest are required to demonstrate the complete set of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 functionalities.

You will also find Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007, Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional just to name a few. The complete list is available on its user guide.

Recommended Laptop Requirement

This demonstration toolkit is designed to allow us to perform demo to prospects. We are expected to run it on our laptop. I would like to note the system requirement for the computer that host the VPC image. Companies purchasing laptops for their team members could take the following into consideration.

Processor	Pentium 4 with 1.2 GHz processor or higher
RAM	2 GB minimum, 4 GB recommended
Hard disk space	30 GB minimum

Final Thoughts

I guess it is good to get our hands on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 if we have the capacity. Those that has not the luxury of Microsoft Dynamics AX 5 CTP3 installer should really find ways to get this Demonstration Toolkit to work. Although it is intended for demonstration, it is a completely working package.

My experience performing demonstration with the VPC image from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 SP1 Toolkit has not been very pleasant. This should be due to my laptop not meeting the requirement stated above. It requires quite a bit of patience.