Multi-site enables a CounterPoint Hub (the main office) and one or more Remotes (other stores) to operate independently during the day and periodically exchange information.

Each site may "subscribe" to a user-defined set of data (a "work set") so that it receives just the inventory, store, and customer information that it needs.

Information is exchanged (replicated) through a dial-up, WAN, or Internet connection. Replication can be scheduled to take place periodically during the day or as an overnight process.

Benefits

Multi-Site operation of multiple stores offers many benefits, including:

• Reliable, independent operations across multiple sites

• Automatic, unattended, remote-site updating

• Cost-effective exchange of information across multiple sites

• Multi-location data integrity

• Data remains synchronized across multiple sites

Exchanging Information

The CounterPoint Hub and each remote site operate independently and periodically exchange (or replicate) information using PDRE (PeerDirect Replication Engine) software included with Multi-Site.

The Hub contains a complete database (all data for all sites). Remotes can also contain complete databases, or they can contain site-specific work set databases.

During a replication session, PDRE gathers all changes made to a database since the last replication session and replicates those changes with the other site via TCP/IP. PDRE automatically initiates contact to ensure that each site gets all of the data it needs, based on the site's subscribed work set.

Replication can be scheduled to take place periodically during the day or as an overnight process. Data is replicated bi-directionally in a single session.

Log files for each session can be viewed using any text editor, or you can set up a Windows task to automatically email logs at a certain time every day to report the status of the replication.

Managing Multiple Sites

Manage all servers and workstations at each site from a central location. CounterPoint includes Altiris software that enables a single computer (the Notification Server) to control the installation of software updates, database changes, and file distribution. The Notification Server "talks to" the other computers in the Multi-Site environment and automatically keeps them all up-to-date.

Work Sets

Multi-Site uses work sets to manage the CounterPoint database for each site. Each site may subscribe to a user-defined set of data so that it receives just the inventory, store, and customer information that it wants. Work sets are established for each location and for each store.

For example, the MAIN location work set contains just the data that pertains to the MAIN location (inventory, transaction history, etc.), and the EAST store work set contains just the data that pertains to the EAST store (customers, ticket history, etc.).

Work sets offer many benefits, including:

• Speed—Replication for each site is fast. Each site only replicates the data that it needs.

• Size—Site-specific databases are smaller, thereby increasing CounterPoint's speed and reducing the server requirements.

• Convenience—Maintenance forms, LookUps, reports, etc., only display the data relevant to that site.

• Security—One site cannot alter another site's data if they are not subscribed to the same work set.

To further reduce data transmission and data storage requirements, a site can subscribe to the master data and not subscribe to the history data. For example, EAST may wish to see WEST's inventory, but not see (or update) WEST's inventory history.

Affected Applications

Virtually all of the CounterPoint applications are involved in Multi-Site. When an item is added at one site, it is automatically added at all sites. When a customer's address is changed, that change is reflected at all sites that have that customer on file. All appropriate database changes are updated throughout CounterPoint.