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WebAlliance Architecture

The WebAlliance system uses an advanced system architecture.  This architecture allows the system to operate independently of the ERP business system and allows for significant optimization and performance gains.

The WebAlliance architecture is made up of three layers:

1)Web Server Layer

2)WebAlliance Gateway Layer

3)Customer ERP Layer

Web Server Layer

The web server layer includes both the customer-facing web server and the supporting Microsoft SQL based database.  This layer serves customer requests for data and accepts orders.  This layer holds an optimized copy of data needed for standard web operations.  The web layer is responsible to serve both standard HTTP and secure HTTPS pages to the customer.  Website files, graphics, HTML, and code are located at the web layer.  The web server layer uses web services over a secure Internet VPN to communicate with the gateway machine.  

WebAlliance Gateway Layer

The Gateway layer is different for each business system with which it interfaces.  Utilizing the gateway layer, the WebAlliance system can accommodate a wide variety of customer business systems.  The gateway layer is solely responsible for communicating with the customer ERP system.  This means that the less secure web layer is not allowed to “talk” to the most secure layer (the Customer ERP layer).  Instead, any information that is needed from the customer business system is requested of the gateway, and if necessary, the gateway will request the information from the ERP layer.

The gateway layer is responsible for customer specific pricing.  Using asp.Net web services, the gateway layer communicates with the web server and provides prices for specific customers and items (including price breaks).  Prices are generated via a proprietary process that produces prices which match the customer specific prices generated natively by the ERP system.  The gateway allows for testing of pricing prior to go-live to ensure pricing accuracy.

The gateway is further responsible for gathering data from the ERP layer and optimizing it for use on the web.  The optimized data is then securely transferred to the Web Server layer where the data is used to provide information to the customer.

The gateway is responsible for retrieving real-time information that is needed from the ERP layer.  The need for real-time data is kept to a minimum so that the system may survive even without the existence of the ERP layer.  This allows a WebAlliance website to function, even when the ERP system is down for maintenance.

The gateway is also responsible for picture pre-processing.  This allows the WebAlliance system to properly format images for the web without putting that burden on the website Admin.  This automated process saves significant amounts of time and hassle for website Admins.  When a new image is found, it is processed, resized and transferred to the web layer for display.

The gateway layer is commonly used to facilitate data imports into the ERP layer.  The gateway ONLY imports data via vendor-supplied import methods.  NO SQL Updates or Inserts are EVER done to the ERP layer.  The gateway will generate order import files for use in the import process.

Search indexes are also generated at the gateway layer.  This allows for an optimized “true” search engine experience for the customer without hampering website performance.

The gateway is a critical piece of the WebAlliance architecture and as such, it is recommended that the gateway is backed up using a disk imaging product.  This allows for the fastest recovery time in the event of hardware failure.

The gateway machine hardware minimum requirements are available in the project estimate.

The gateway software will be Windows Server OS. Software recommendations are made based on transaction volume; please contact us for more information.

The Gateway layer functionality is covered under the support and maintenance contract.  This includes, but is not limited to, data retrieval, pricing, data processing, etc.  Changes needed to comply with business system changes ARE also covered under support and maintenance.

Customer ERP Layer

The customer ERP Layer is where the customer’s business system exists.  This layer is treated as the most secure.  This layer is only accessible via the Gateway layer and is not accessible via the Web layer.  Data for the website is retrieved from this layer for processing by the gateway and forwarded to the web layer for display.