- Report Server Web and Windows Service
- Programmatic Interfaces
- Report Processor
- Command-Line Utilities
- Reporting Services Extensions
- Report Server Databases
- Scheduling and Delivery Processor
- Report Builder NEW in 2005
- Report Model Designer NEW in 2005
- Report Designer
- Report Manager
- SQL Server Management Studio NEW in 2005
- Reporting Services Configuration Tool NEW in 2005
- RSPrintClient Control NEW in 2005
- Performance Monitoring Objects
- Summary
- WMI Provider
Summary
This chapter discussed the SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) architecture. Table 3.3 presents the SSRS components summary.
Table 3.3. Reporting Services Components Summary
Component |
Brief Description |
Programmatic interfaces |
Provides access to SSRS functionality through SOAP and HTTP requests. |
Report Processor |
Facilitates a set of report generation operations from data retrieval to rendering. Report Processor invokes other components, such as data extensions to assist with report generation. |
Data-processing extensions |
Retrieves report's data from a data source. Developers can develop additional custom data-processing extensions. |
Command-line utilities |
Three utilities, designed to assist with scripting of administrative tasks, installed automatically during the Reporting Services install. |
Rendering extensions |
Transform the report's intermediate format (a combination of report's layout and data) into a device-specific format, such as HTML. Developers can create new rendering extensions. |
Report Server database |
Stores report definitions, report metadata, report history, cached reports, snapshots, resources, security settings, encrypted data, scheduling and delivery data, and more. |
Report Server temporary database |
Stores intermediate processing products, cache, and data. |
Scheduling and Delivery Processor |
Monitors for events (such as timed subscription), collaborates with Report Processor to render a report, and delivery extensions to deliver scheduled reports to a location specified in the subscription. |
Delivery extensions |
Deliver reports to specific devices, such as email or a file system. Developers can create new delivery extensions. |
Report Manager |
Provides web-based report access and management capabilities. Default URL that invokes Report Manager is http://<server>/reports. |
Report Model Designer |
Generates report models for use in Report Builder. |
Report Builder |
Provides drag-and-drop, easy-to-use report design functionality. Report Builder is an ad hoc end-user report authoring and publishing tool executed on a client computer. |
Report Designer |
Allows developers to develop complex reports. Report Designer is a comprehensive report authoring and publishing tool, hosted in Business Intelligence Development Studio or Visual Studio. |
Security extensions |
Enable authentication and authorization of users and groups. Developers can (excluding SQL Server Express edition) create new security extensions. |
SQL Server Management Studio |
Provides administrators with Windows form-based, integrated environment to manage SQL Server components including SSRS. From the report management perspective, Management Studio has similar functionality to Report Manager, but provides additional capabilities, such as consolidated web-farm management. |
Reporting Services Configuration Tool |
Provide administrators with functionality to start and stop Report Server Windows service and reconfigure report servers. This is a Windows forms application. |
WMI provider |
Provides a set of WMI interfaces to manage settings of a Report Server and assists with SSRS instance discovery on a network. |
Performance monitoring objects |
Provide a view of SSRS Windows and web service performance. |
In the next chapter, authors discuss various SSRS deployment scenarios and features of SSRS editions.