Network terms and concepts

Introduction	In this section, some important network terms and concepts are explained.

Administrator categories and duties

The administrator duties can be divided into two categories with different responsibilities:

Network administrator: Responsible for network setup, software installation and software maintenance.
UNICORN administrator (or system administrator): Responsible for the use of UNICORN to control chromatography systems.

The network administrator and the UNICORN administrator can be the same person, but the tasks can also be carried out by two different persons.

Administrator security responsibilities

The different security responsibilities of the network administrator and the UNICORN (system) administrator are listed below.

Area	Network administrator responsibilities	UNICORN administrator responsibilities
Data storage security (back-up routines)	Back-up routines for server and local disks.	Control user access to home and shared folders, for example to place all home folders on a shared disk to prevent data from being scattered through the network.
Network access security	Maintenance of user passwords and access rights to shared resources.	-
UNICORN security	-	Maintenance of user profiles.

Local and remote stations

In a UNICORN network, the workstations can be categorized as either local stations or remote stations.

Workstation type	Description
Local station	A PC to which a chromatography system is physically connected.
Remote station	A PC to which no chromatography system is physically connected but which can control systems over a network link. On a remote station, the UNICORN software is installed with the option Remote Only.

Network terms

In the table below are explanations for some terms which are important to understand when working with UNICORN in a network.

Term	Explanation
Storage of data	Methods and log files are stored in a folder shared between the local and the remote UNICORN.
Communication	The local and the remote UNICORN use either named pipes or sockets to send commands and data between them.
Log files in a network setup	While running, the local UNICORN system writes logs on the local hard drive. When the run is over, it copies them to the network drive where log files are stored.
Named pipes communication	From the remote UNICORN, commands are sent, e.g. “run method foo.met”. From the local UNICORN, messages and trend data are sent to the remote UNICORN.
Network failure in the middle of a run	The local UNICORN will continue the run and store log file on the local hard drive when the run is over.
Access to the network drive while running	When a method is started it is copied from the network drive to a local directory. During the run the method is read from the local directory.
Server in a UNICORN network setup	UNICORN requires a directory for log files and method templates to be accessible by both the local and the remote UNICORN. It is generally a good idea to use a directory on a Windows server for easy backup.

2005-06-15