Crystal Reports Server XI Installation

[Former Member]

We just purchased Crystal Reports Server XI for Crystal Reports Professional and I want to install it minimally as I think we may have "overbought"; that aside, the big question is where do I go from here to put this on our servers w/o impacting current applications?

TOPOLOGY:

- we have a Windows network with Windows 2003 Small Biz Server and a 2nd server with Windows 2003 Standard running Terminal Services.

- goal is to allow 1 main user to create reports from Quickbooks using Crystal Reports while they are on the Terminal Server

This breaks down into the following questions:

1) do I need to install the server portion at all? or can I just install Crystal Reports Pro via the CLIENT installation on the terminal server?

2) if I do have to, I'd rather use MSDE already installed but how should this be set up?

3) what impact will this make on the SBS web server which we are already using for OWA and Remote Web Workplace?

Any tech docs/manuals that you could link me to would be appreciated as well.

Thanks,

Doug

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Doug,

A 5 named user license of CRS comes with CR Pro. If you have 5 or fewer people accessing this there was no need to buy it at all. That said, if you only want one person to be able to run "on demand" reports then there is no real need to install it.

If on the other hand, you want to be able to schedule reports to run automatically or have other users access reports via the web interface you will need to install it.

If you want better specifics, close this post and re-post it in the BusinessObjects Enterprise Administration forum:

[;

Jason

[Former Member]

We just purchased Crystal Reports Server XI for Crystal Reports Professional and I want to install it minimally as I think we may have "overbought"; that aside, the big question is where do I go from here to put this on our servers w/o impacting current applications?

TOPOLOGY:

• we have a Windows network with Windows 2003 Small Biz Server and a 2nd server with Windows 2003 Standard running Terminal Services.

• goal is to allow 1 main user to create reports from Quickbooks using Crystal Reports while they are on the Terminal Server

This breaks down into the following questions:

1) do I need to install the server portion at all? or can I just install Crystal Reports Pro via the CLIENT installation on the terminal server?

2) if I do have to, I'd rather use MSDE already installed but how should this be set up?

3) what impact will this make on the SBS web server which we are already using for OWA and Remote Web Workplace?

Any tech docs/manuals that you could link me to would be appreciated as well.

Thanks,

Doug

-

---

Hi Doug,

With regards to your questions, they will be answered in the following ways:

1) do I need to install the server portion at all? or can I just install Crystal Reports Pro via the CLIENT installation on the terminal server?

This questions is better by your company's requirements. The Crystal Reports Server (CRS) piece is used by end-users who want to browse reports via the web. The CRS is just a central repository, analogous to a central storage box, which makes reports available over the web. Crystal Reports (CR) is simply the client that is used to report off your database. In this case, your 'database' is Quickbooks.

So in short, you will need to install Crystal Reports Pro for your user to make reports. And if the user needs to view report over the web, then you will need CRS as well. The user will create the report and save it to the CRS if he/she wants to view it over the web.

2) if I do have to, I'd rather use MSDE already installed but how should this be set up?

The question may need further clarification.

However, if you are using MSDE to write reports with (for CR), then you can use an ODBC connection to connect it. You can consult this external page as a guide: http://www.truthsolutions.com/sql/odbc/creating_a_new_odbc_dsn.htm. You will set the connection to your MSDE.

If you are asking about how to configure MSDE to be used as the CMS (Central Management Server) database for the CRS, then you will to consult our "BusinessObjects Enterprise Administration" forum. As a note, the CMS is just a backend security database that authenticate user(s) that sign into the CRS.

Your post is posted in the "Crystal Reports" forum.

3) what impact will this make on the SBS web server which we are already using for OWA and Remote Web Workplace?

If you are asking how CR would impact your web server, it should not have any effect. If you are inquiring about how CRS would affect them, you will also need to consult our "BusinessObjects Enterprise Administration" forum.