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ACT Architecture and Supported Topologies

  • Article

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Vista

The following sections describe the architecture and the supported topologies that are used by Microsoft® Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.6.

ACT 5.6 Architecture

The following diagram illustrates the interaction among the various ACT components.

As shown in the diagram, the ACT 5.6 architecture consists of the following major components:

  • Application Compatibility Manager (ACM): A tool that enables you to configure, collect, and analyze your data, so you can fix any issues before deploying a new operating system or deploying a Windows® update in your organization.

  • Data Collection Package (DCP): A Windows Installer (.msi) file created by the ACM for deployment to each of your client computers. Each DCP can include one or more compatibility evaluators, depending on what you are trying to evaluate.

  • ACT Log Processing Service: A service used to process the ACT log files uploaded from your client computers. It adds the information to your ACT database.

  • ACT Log Processing Share: A file share, accessed by the ACT Log Processing Service, to store the log files that will be processed and added to the ACT database.

  • ACT Database: A Microsoft® SQL Server database that stores the collected application, computer, device, and compatibility data. You can view the information stored in the ACT database as reports from the ACM.

  • Microsoft Compatibility Exchange: A Web service that propagates application-compatibility issues from the server to the client and enables the client computers to connect to Microsoft via the Internet to check for updated compatibility information.

Note

For more information about the ACT components, see the associated Application Compatibility Toolkit Technical Reference topics.

ACT 5.6 Supported Topologies

The following diagram illustrates the supported deployment topologies for an ACT 5.6 installation.

The diagram shows the supported topologies for ACT 5.6 in their recommended usage order. For example, we highly recommend using the distributed ACT Log Processing Service, ACT Log Processing share, and ACT Database topology, and least recommend using a Consolidated Server.

Important

If you choose to employ a topology based on distributed logging with a rollup to your central share, you must move the files to the ACT Log Processing Share before actual processing can occur. You can move the files manually or use a technology like Distributed File-System Replication (DFSR) or any other similar technology already employed in your organization.

See Also

Concepts

Configuring the Application Compatibility Toolkit
Application Compatibility Toolkit Technical Reference