Global Data Server

The Global Data Server implements in-house data serving to your employees and applications.

• Runs as a central service
• Can optionally connect to your production databases to provide business specific detail
• Designed for high performance and query loads
• Serves Excel addin users, web pages, direct coded applications
• Can connect to remote servers to access and dynamically download more information

Conceptual Architecture

Internal Architecture

Query and Lookup Flow

Inbound queries from remote applications arrive over TCP links using either the HTTP/XML protocol families, or the lightweight binary protocol, GNAP.

As requests are received they are validated, security checked, velocity controlled and other controls. At this stage, the query cache is checked to see if the query is in cache. Most applications are structured around pinboards, which are similar in concept to an SQL stored procedure. Using pinboards rather than raw SQL allows logical data abstraction, but also permits greater cache hit rates.

If the query needs to be processed, the system selects between a direct to client database or to the internal SQL engine. When a direct query is used, the system rewrites the SQL to support the underlying database engine and queues the SQL for execution. This ensures that SQL load is serialised over a small number of production connections.

In the cases where the query can be resolved from the inbuilt engine, it is executed directly. This uses the highly optimised internal SQL engine. This engine is designed solely to support high performance read only queries and can achieve high rates of performance as many of the requirements in read/write SQL databases do not need to be considered.

Microsoft Excel Add-In

The Global Data addin for Microsoft Excel permits Excel users to directly access Global Data via easy to use formulas and menu options.

• Directly plot values to maps ("mashups")
• Access Global Data via the Pinboard function
• Free