SSMigrationOverview.doc

Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business

Solutions

April 2003

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Introduction

Site Server was the platform for thousands of companies’ critical online business applications. Microsoft invested in the building out the features and performance of that early e-business platform to arrive at the current Microsoft e-business platform solution. Customers who migrated to Commerce Server and Content Management Server have seen tremendous improvements in their site performance, flexibility, and in their ability to manage their online presence with fewer resources.

As part of your migration planning process you should consider an evaluation of the effectiveness of your online business in supporting the overall business strategy. Are you able to respond to changes in your market as quickly as you would like? Can your site communicate globally with your customers and partners in their own languages? Does your content creation and management create bottlenecks with your developers and business users?

The functionalities of Site Server were almost all included in Microsoft Commerce Server. Some features were enhanced upon and included in other Microsoft server products. See the Features Migration Paths for more information. The migration to Commerce Server 2002 is a decision that enables you to position your critical online business applications on a highly scalable and reliable architecture. In addition, Commerce Server provides powerful business capabilities such as multi-lingual and multi-currency sites, and robust business analytics. Moreover, the migration of your site to Commerce Server 2002 positions your business for long-term growth on flexible and scalable infrastructure.

Technologies to Benefit Your BusinessThe current generation of Microsoft e-business technologies includes advances in areas such as directory services, administration, authentication, and user interfaces. Below are brief descriptions of current Microsoft technologies and the value they bring to your platform.

Windows 2000Although Site Server 3.0 and SSCE provide excellent deployment platforms, neither can take advantage of Microsoft Windows® 2000 technology, which includes advances in directory services, clustering, and administration. By using Commerce Server, you can leverage the advantages of Windows 2000 Server. These advantages include a comprehensive set of Web and Internet services that are compatible with the latest Web technologies, from simple site hosting to advanced Web applications and streaming media services.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

IIS 5.0Commerce Server works with Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 to provide robust and powerful e-commerce services. IIS 5.0 provides your Web site with an interface for interacting with the authentication engine of Windows 2000. IIS also provides an interface to the networking protocol layer and the front end for servicing client requests. This seamless interface allows IIS to interact with Commerce Server as a collection of Active Server Pages (ASP), HTML, dynamic HTML, and other objects.Active Directory®Instead of maintaining a separate membership directory as you did with your Site Server 3.0 or SSCE site, Commerce Server uses the Windows® 2000 Active Directory directory service to provide membership services. Active Directory® provides a hierarchical view, increased extensibility and scalability, and distributed security that large organizations require. When you use Active Directory®, you don’t have to implement and manage additional directory services, so you can save on administrative and hardware costs. Active Directory® integration provides single sign-in per-user authentication, instead of tying security to a certain incoming Internet Protocol (IP) address and requiring users to log on again to provide their names.You can scale Active Directory® from a small installation with a few hundred objects to a very large installation with millions of objects. Active Directory® also provides an extensible schema, which contains a definition for every object that can exist in a directory service.

Commerce Server 2002 Technologies

Commerce Server Site PackagerCommerce Server includes a new deployment tool called Commerce Server Site Packager, which you use to package all of the contents of a Commerce Server site and install the same site on another Web server. Site Packager packages all the content, scripts, configuration information, and all other relevant data about a site into a binary file, which can then be transported to other servers for unpacking. This facilitates the installation of your site across an entire server farm. Site Packager can be run from a command line interface so you can easily incorporate it into scripts for building new servers.

Commerce Server Business DeskCommerce Server Business Desk is a Web-based site management tool that hosts business management modules. You can use these modules to perform tasks, such as the following:

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Make changes to a site, such as changing content, updating a catalog, or targeting new ads to users.

Run robust reports to measure site effectiveness and online business performance.

Commerce Server Profiling SystemSSCE used various types of records to store user attributes. Commerce Server provides a Profiling System that stores user attributes. You can use Active Directory® and the Profiling System to create a virtual map of all attributes, thus making it appear to applications as though all user information is located in one physical database. Applications no longer have to ensure that a particular type of user data is sent to the correct database.For example, an application requesting all user information receives all available data, including user name, password, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. In addition, the Profiling System can access the personalization store to retrieve a specific user’s favorite color, stock symbols, or similar preferences.It is important to note that the Profiling System does not create a new database. It manages the location of data stored in existing databases and provides an interface to the data for applications. The Profiling System also caches recently or frequently used records.With Commerce Server, you can store user attributes by using either Active Directory® or a Microsoft® SQL Server™ database. If your site requires authorization and a security context for each user, you can store security attributes should be stored in Active Directory®. If your site tracks personalization information for a user, that information can be stored in a SQL Server™ database. Commerce Server can locate and provide requested user data from either location.If you require both authentication and personalization, the Profiling System can aggregate data between Active Directory® and the SQL Server™ database. User authentication information, such as user name and password, can be stored in Active Directory®, whereas the personalization attributes, such as favorite color and last time visited, are stored in a SQL Server™ database.

Migrating to Commerce Server 2002 allows you to take advantage of the CommerceServer .NET Application Framework, which brings the Microsoft .NET Frameworkdeveloper experience to Commerce Server. It allows developers to create CommerceServer applications using the new features of the .NET Framework. These new features allow ASP.NET code to run core COM-based Commerce Server services and systems.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Commerce Server 2002 features and tools are available in the Microsoft Visual Studio.NET environment, which simplify and expedite the creation of .NET-based Commerce Server applications. You can also use Microsoft Visual Studio .NET to create Commerce Web applications in a team development environment. For more information about the .NET Application Framework, see "Commerce Server .NET Application Framework" in Commerce Server 2002 documentation/help file.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Executive SummaryThe migration process is a nontrivial task that requires a team of people with specialized skills. It is highly recommended that you consider a Microsoft Partner in your area who has been trained in the migration of Site Server sites. Deploying a migrated Microsoft Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) site to a Microsoft® Commerce Server 2002 site is similar in many ways to creating a new Commerce Server 2002 site. In both cases, you must plan, develop, and test your site.

Your deployment plan should include not only the steps required to migrate the site to the new platform but also a roll-back plan in the event that the migration is not as smooth as expected. To accomplish your site deployment, you will most likely want to automate as many of the migration steps as possible, including file copying, data migration, and integration with other packages such as Microsoft® Application Center. Microsoft Certified Partners or Microsoft Consulting Services can work with you to identify methods to migrate your site more efficiently. Lastly, testing is critical to a successful migration.When migrating your site from Site Server to Commerce Server, you can perform many activities in parallel, as shown in the following migration timeline figure.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Features Migration PathsAs part of the solution development, an initial step is to analyze how your site uses each Site Server feature to determine its migration path. Most SSCE features have corresponding features in Commerce Server, but some Site Server 3.0 features have a migration path to other products.

To analyze the functionality of your site, you need to evaluate the following:

Which features of your site are currently provided by SSCE? Which features of your site will be provided by Commerce Server 2002? Optional: Which new features provided by Commerce Server 2002 do you

want to incorporate into your site? For information about Commerce Server 2002 features and how they function together, see "Commerce Server Features at a Glance" in the Commerce Server 2002 product documentation/Help file.

This section contains:

Current Site Feature Analysis Platform Feature Comparison (Site Server capabilities and current

products)

Current Site Feature AnalysisYou can organize your current site features according to the categories shown in the following table. If you have documentation such as business requirements or a functional specification for the current site, it will provide excellent information to help you with the analysis.

Item ConsiderData User profiles, receipts, orders, shopper records, product catalog, and so

on.

Static site content HTML, GIFs, and so on.

Application logic ASP pages; pipeline, Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and middleware components.

Site Management Procedures for deploying and managing content Procedures for administering user accounts

Content deployment You can use Microsoft® Application Center 2000 for content replication.

Search Product searches File System searches Web searches

Data Analysis Diagnostics, such as site usage Business reporting, such as product sales

Platform software Commerce Server requires Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft® SQL Server™ 7.0 or Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000.

Integration with existing Software for:

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

third-party software Processing credit cards and orders Calculating taxes Managing inventory Shipping and fulfillment Managing other information that flows between your site and

existing systems, such as order status

Platform Feature ComparisonAfter you have documented the features used in your Microsoft Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) site, compare them to the functionality features provided by Commerce Server 2002. The following table shows how SSCE features map to Commerce Server 2002 features.

Site Server, Commerce Edition Feature

Commerce Server Feature or Other Resource

Active Channel Multicaster/ActiveChannel Server (ACM/ACS)

No equivalent functionality.

Ad Server Commerce Server 2002 Campaigns modules. These Commerce Server Business Desk modules include product discounts and more advanced ad display.

Analysis – import Commerce Server 2002 Data WarehouseAnalysis Report Writer Commerce Server 2002 Business

Analytics System and Business Desk Reports module

Products and Departments Commerce Server 2002 Product Catalog System

Commerce Interchange Pipeline (CIP)

Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2002

Content Analyzer No equivalent functionality; Microsoft FrontPage® provides similar features

Content Replication (deployment)

Microsoft® Application Server 2000; Microsoft® Commerce Server 2002 Site Packager

Cross Sell functionality Commerce Server 2002 Product Catalog System and Campaigns module

Direct Mail Commerce Server 2002 Direct MailerDynamic Directory Window 2000 Server Internet Locator

Server (ILS)—does not support dynamic replication. ILS is being replaced by Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft .NET Messenger Service

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Knowledge Manager Microsoft® Operations ManagerPersonalization and Membership Commerce Server 2002 Profiling systemOrder Processing Pipeline Commerce Server 2002 Business Process

Pipelines (pipeline components and Pipeline Editor)

Posting Acceptor Commerce Server Predictor resource, which includes added functionality to support the following applicationscenarios: Product area recommendations User cluster visualization User attribute prediction

Promotions Commerce Server 2002 Campaign modules

Publishing Wizard No equivalent functionalityRules Commerce Server 2002 Campaign

expressionsSearch Commerce Server 2002 provides search

capabilities for product catalog information. Windows IndexingService provides search capabilities for file system searches. Microsoft SharePoint™ Portal Server and non-Microsoft products provide Web searches

Site Vocabulary Commerce Server 2002 Site termsTag Tool Similar functionality is provided by

Commerce Server 2002 Campaigns modules

Transactions Commerce Server 2002Orders

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Migration Strategies

Planning QuestionsThe following is a list of questions to help you plan your migration strategy. Microsoft Certified Partners and Microsoft Consulting Services have the experience and knowledge to help you plan and execute a successful migration.

Subject Question

Site upgrade Are you planning to take this opportunity to upgrade your site in other ways? For example, is it time to upgrade your servers to take advantage of the newest technologies?

Are you going to add hardware or reconfigure networks?

Risk management What risks are involved in upgrading your site to Commerce Server? Do you expect to have periods of downtime? If not, what steps are you

going to take to guarantee that your site continues to function? What is your fallback plan?

Timing What is your window of opportunity? How long will it take to migrate to Commerce Server?

Resources How much effort will it take to perform the migration? How many people do you need to do the work? Who are the people?

Knowledge transfer Who knows the most about your current site? Are there additional people who need to have this information? If so, how

are you going to transfer and preserve that knowledge?

Deployment How do you plan to deploy your new site? Have you provided for each of the necessary environments (development,

test, staging, and production)? Have you planned how to implement operational procedures you need for

the new site?

Testing Who will test the functionality and behavior of the site in the development and test environments?

When you migrate your Microsoft Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) site to Microsoft Commerce Server 2002, there are three possible approaches to the migration:

1. Site Refactoring. Duplicate the existing functionality of the site on a new platform.

2. Site Enhancement. Add new features to the site during the migration to take advantage of the new platform.

3. Iterative Development. Duplicate the current functionality for the first release, and add additional functionality in subsequent releases.

HardwareYou should also evaluate your hardware and network configuration to ensure that they meet the performance needs of the new site. The hardware and

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network configurations required to satisfy the performance needs of the new site are based in part on the migration approach that you choose. For example, if you decide to add new features to your site, you must consider adding additional hardware resources, such as additional memory or faster processors, when planning your hardware requirements. For more information about Commerce Server 2002 performance, see "Monitoring Commerce Server Sites" in Commerce Server 2002 product documentation/Help file.

This section contains the three strategies and a comparison of them:

Site Refactoring Enhancing the Site Iterative Development Migration Strategies Comparison

Site RefactoringRefactoring a site means that you duplicate your existing site functionality on the new platform. This strategy provides the lowest risk, because the business requirements of the site are known at the beginning of the migration project. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are shown in the topic "Comparison of Migration Strategies."

If you refactor the existing Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) site, you must document the business requirements of the site, and prepare a functional specification and any other documentation needed to create the site. Do not rely on browsing the existing site to determine the requirements and functionality. If documentation for the current SSCE site already exists, you can use it as a starting point for creating your functional specification.

You should also consider the administrative and management requirements for the site. The management procedures may change with the new site, because existing functionality may be provided in a different way or by a different product. For example, you might have managed products in SSCE using the Site Builder or a custom interface, whereas in Commerce Server 2002 you use Business Desk to manage them. The Business Desk is an application that is provided with Commerce Server 2002. It is recommended that you use Business Desk whenever possible for managing your site because it is less risky than developing your own administrative tools.

Enhancing the SiteCommerce Server 2002 provides advanced functionality that is not available in Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE). These advanced capabilities can lead to increased revenue opportunities and more efficient on-line

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business management. Providing enhancements can be beneficial because the users of your site see immediate improvements. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are shown in the topic Comparison of Migration Strategies.

Iterative DevelopmentDeveloping the new site iteratively provides a good balance between the previous two strategies. In the first iteration of your site migration, you focus on replacing the existing functionality while adding very little new functionality. Then in later iterations, you can begin to add new features and take advantage of more of the advanced Commerce Server 2002 features.

This iterative strategy differs from the simple refactoring approach in which you analyze the site functionality and determine what new functionality will be added before you begin the migration. Using the iterative approach, you do not add the new functionality to your site in the first iteration of your deployment. By performing the complete analysis in advance, you can better plan for adding the new functionality. If replacing a piece of Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) functionality with identical functionality in the new platform is difficult or requires a significant amount of effort, this approach allows you to re-evaluate the functionality and either remove it in the first iteration, or replace it with similar functionality that is easier to implement.

Comparison of Migration StrategiesEach of the migration strategies described earlier in this chapter is appropriate for certain situations, depending on the complexity of the current site, the goals for the new site, and the level of risk you are willing to accept. The following table compares the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy.

Strategy Advantages DisadvantagesRefactor Low Risk

Minimal analysis of business requirements

Fast Implementation

Few improvements are made to the site from a users’ perspective

Does not take advantage of new Commerce Server 2002 features

If you add new functionality after the migration, you may need to revise the migrated code.

Enhance during Migration

Takes advantage of new Commerce Server 2002 features.

Site users see

Higher risk. Longer implementation

timeframe. High probability that the scope of

the migration project may

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

immediate improvements to site.

change as the migration is performed.

Iteration (Add enhancements in Iterations)

Low risk. Allows planned

approach to adding enhancements.

Fast implementation.

Requires more up-front planning time than the site refactoring strategy.

Enhancements to the site are delayed compared to the “enhance during migration” strategy.

May require more total development time than the “enhance during migration” strategy.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Planning a Migration

Assembling the Migration TeamFor a successful migration you must assemble the appropriate resources to perform the migration. You need a team of people with specific abilities to perform different migration tasks. In addition to determining what resources you need, you must also decide the resource quantity based upon the level of effort and the timeframe for the project. The following table defines the types of team roles you will need and how they will serve on the migration project.

Task Resource RoleMigrating the Code: Development

Architect Create architecture for the Commerce Server 2002 site, and document the site design.

Developer Develop the Commerce Server 2002 site

Database Administrator

Manage and maintain the database, including tasks such as indexing of the database and backing up the database.

User Education Train resources to manage the new site.

Migrating the data and content:Development

Developer(Microsoft Certified Partners can make this step more efficient with their migration tools and skills)

Develop plan/tools for migrating data and content to Commerce Server 2002 site

Database Administrator

Provide access to legacy databases.

Domain administrator

Provide access to legacy LDAP stores and target Active Directory® domains.

Migrating the Data and Content: Testing

Quality assurance (QA)

Test functionality and behavior of the site.

Developer Resolve issues found by your quality assurance team.

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Migrating the Data and Content: Execution

Developer Execute migration of data.

Deploying Your Site: All tasks

Developer, DBA, domainAdministrator

Coordinate the following tasks: Move the new Commerce

Server 2002 site into production.

Convert the old production environment to Commerce Server 2002 to become the test environment.

Decommission the migration test environment and return to its original use.

Microsoft Certified Partners and Microsoft Consulting have the expertise and tools to execute a successful migration. Consider hiring one of them to help you migrate with less time and effort.

Defining the Migration TimelineYour code migration timeline can follow any standard development methodology. You can migrate your code using defined milestones at the end of each phase, or use a more iterative approach where multiple phases might occur concurrently. You can perform data migration activities in parallel with code migration with the exception of the final data migration.

This section describes a typical migration task timeline and describes the issues concerning migrating user data from a live site. The following figure shows a high-level timeline for migration:

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Your specific timeline for migrating the live data will depend on how long your site can be offline. The following figure shows the recommended approach if you are able to take your site offline for a few hours or even up to a full day.

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The following steps correspond to the timeline shown in the previous figure and are provided as an overview. These steps are explained in detail in later in this document.

Step 1. Migrate the products and departments while the old site is still live. If your catalog changes infrequently, you can complete this migration several days in advance. Migrating the product catalog as early as possible is recommended, because your catalog is typically the most important part of a commerce site.

Step 2. Migrate the site vocabulary.

Step 3. Take your old site offline and verify that the code migration was successful.

Step 4. Migrate the ads. You must perform this step after the site is down in order to get accurate numbers of requests for live ads.

Step 5. Migrate the users. This step can take a long time if your user database is large. For example, if you have a large site with a database of a million users and your migration process moves ten users per second, it will require more than one day to migrate the users.

Step 6. Migrate the distribution lists.

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Step 7. Bring the new site online.

Step 8. Migrate the transactions. The transaction history will not be immediately available when your new site is launched. If you want the transaction history available when the site is launched, do not bring the new site online until you have completed the transactions migration.

If you cannot take your old site offline until the new one is live, you can follow the same approach for all the data except ads and users. Migrate the ads while your old site is still live and immediately after you switch to the new site.

Migrating User Data from a Live SiteUser data migration is a difficult step because while the site is live, users can browse to the site and edit their profiles at any time. If you migrate the data while users are still browsing on your site, you will lose any changes that occur between data migration and the new site switch-over. The following options address this issue:

Run “live” migrations of users. You do not migrate any users in a live migration until they browse the new site. Whenever a user attempts to login, check for a profile in Commerce Server 2002. If you do not find the user profile, connect to your old site user data store and retrieve the profile information. You can then create a new profile in Commerce Server 2002 and sign the user in.

In addition to ensuring that users cannot lose profile changes during site roll-over, this method also has the advantage of removing inactive users from your database. The disadvantage is that you must maintain the old data store until you are comfortable that all former users have signed in to the new site. This method also adds a significant load to your new site, since most user authentication events initially must access the external system and copy the profile.

Maintain a timestamp on user profiles indicating their last update date and time. Perform an initial migration while the old site is live, switch to the new site, and then quickly migrate any changes that were made in the interim. This method may require you to change the functionality on your old site to maintain the timestamp field. If you store user information in a database, you might be able to accomplish this task with a trigger on the user table so that you can avoid making changes to the Web site functionality.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

Preparing a Migration Project PlanYou must develop a detailed project plan to successfully migrate your Microsoft ® Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) site to a Microsoft® Commerce Server 2002 site. This section lists the tasks in the project plan, describes the resources you will need to perform the migration, and outlines a timeline for the migration. The detailed instructions for each of these tasks are provided later in this document. This section contains the following sections:

Defining the Tasks Assembling the Migration Team Defining the Migration Timeline

Defining the TasksYou migrate your Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) site to a Commerce Server 2002 site using tasks that you define during the planning stage of your project. Use the following tasks as guidelines to address the main areas of your migration.This section contains a list of tasks for the following:

Migrating and Redeveloping the Code Migrating the Data and Content Configuring and Testing Deploying Your Site

Migrating and Redeveloping the CodeWhen you migrate your applications from Microsoft® Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) to Microsoft® Commerce Server 2002, you must redevelop most or all of your site code. This is because the Commerce Server 2002 APIs are significantly different than the SSCE APIs. In addition to redeveloping your code to run on Commerce Server 2002, you can redevelop your code to run on the .NET Application Framework to take advantage of the advanced languages, powerful caching, and tight integration with Commerce Server 2002.

You perform the code migration and redevelopment like any other development project. Your code migration tasks include the following:

Plan the site. During the planning phase your team defines how to build the new Commerce Server 2002 site. During this step, you identify the code from your SSCE site that can be migrated and plan the code that you must redevelop to run on Commerce Server 2002. As part of the planning

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

phase, it is recommended that you document how to manage the new site, and conduct any necessary training for users who will be responsible for managing the site.

Develop the site. During the developing phase your team builds and tests the new site. Your create your new site by reusing the reusable SSCE code and by redeveloping new code that provides the functionality you want on Commerce Server 2002. After testing the new site, your team tests the technology and stabilizes it in preparation for release.

Migrating the Data and ContentYou migrate your Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) data and content so that current and historical data will appear in your new Commerce Server 2002 site. Your site data may include departments, products, users, historical transactions, ads, and other data. Your site content includes images and other assets.

Your data migration tasks include the following:

1. Analyze the data that you must migrate2. Develop your migration tools/methods3. Test the migration tools4. Migrate the production data and content.

If you have the available resources, you can perform the first three tasks in parallel with the code migration. However, you must perform the final task, migrating the production data and content, after you have completed the code migration.Depending on the data you migrate, you may also perform several data migration subtasks.

Your data migration subtasks may include the following:

a. Migrating departments and productsb. Migrating users and groupsc. Migrating distribution listsd. Migrating adse. Migrating transactionsf. Migrating vocabulary (lookup values)

Configuring and TestingAfter you migrate your site to Commerce Server 2002, you must perform any necessary environment configurations and test all functionality of the migrated site before you place it into production. It is recommended that you

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develop a written test plan to ensure that you have verified all functionality of your migrated site.

Deploying Your SiteWhen you have successfully migrated the data and code, you are ready to deploy the new site to production. Your site deployment tasks and procedures will depend on the hardware you have available. If your hardware is limited, you may need to reuse environments for several tasks.

Before you can deploy your new migrated site, you must have successfully completed the following:

1. Created the new Commerce Server 2002 environment2. Migrated and redeveloped the code3. Migrated the data and content4. Configured and tested the migrated site

Once you have accomplished these tasks, you can then move your new Commerce Server 2002 site into production.

In a best case scenario, you will have allocated all new hardware for your new Commerce Server 2002 production environment. This allows for fewer steps in the migration process and allows you to roll-back to the Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition (SSCE) site more quickly, if problems occur.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Additional ResourcesIn addition to this document, you can find information from the following sources:

Commerce Server 2002 Help is installed with Commerce Server 2002 in a compiled HTML file (it has a .chm extension). On a regular basis, Microsoft updates this file with new information based on customer feedback and questions, replacing the previous version installed with the product

Book: Building Solutions with Microsoft® Commerce Server 2002 , Peddy, Clayton C; Armentrout, Derek. This book highlights the features of Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 and demonstrates through example how to leverage these features to build a high-impact, high-performance commerce site.

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MSDN : Online resource for developers. Aggregation of content and resources.

TechNet : Central information and community resource for IT professionals.

Software Development Kit (SDK), located in the Program Files\Microsoft Commerce Server\SDK folder on your Commerce Server 2002 computer.

Commerce Server 2000 Resource Kit , available online and as a printed book from Microsoft Press. Previous version of Commerce Server but lots of relevant information related to developing and deploying a secure Web site.

Commerce Server Web Site

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Appendix 2: Commerce Server 2002 Reports

Dynamic Reports that Access OLAP Cubes (no static reports access the cubes)

Dynamic Reports that Access the SQL Server™ Database

Static Reports that Access the SQL Server™ Database

Usage Trends *Registered Users by Date Registered

Query Strings (multi value)

User Trends *User Days to Register

Query Strings (single value)

Activity by Browser *User Registration Rate

Entry Path Analysis

Distinct Users by Time   *Registered User Properties

Usage Summary by Week of Year   *Customer SalesUsage Summary by Day of Week   *New Registered

UsersUsage Summary by Hour of Day    General Activity Statistics    Entry Pages    Exit Pages    Bandwidth Summary    Bandwidth Trends    Product Sales    Hits by HTTP Status    Hits by Win32 Status    Directories    Top Referring Domains by Requests    Top Requested Pages    *User Visit Trends    *Campaign Item Summary    *Ad Reach and Frequency by Date    *Ad Reach and Frequency per Advertiser

*Buyer Browse to Purchase    *Campaign Event Summary    *Shopping Basket Events    *Order Events

* Available only in the Enterprise Edition.

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Glossaryad (Site Server 3.0 and Commerce Server 2002)

A piece of content to be delivered by Commerce Server based on a specific formula for delivery referred to as Need of Delivery (NOD).

advertising asset (Site Server 3.0 and Commerce Server 2002)A piece of content provided by an advertising customer (for example, text, a photograph, or a company logo) that is used in one or more advertisements run on your site, and which is owned and controlled by the originating advertiser. For example, if you download a .GIF image of a company logo, it remains the property of the company and you must display it with the exact resolution in which it was provided. You cannot change it without approval from the advertiser.

attribute (Site Server 3.0)A quality of the product or product family. Attributes may be single-valued or multivalued. Single valued attributes have a single value per product. For example, Product A has an attribute named “Manufacturer” with one value, the name of the manufacturer. All members of this product family share this attribute value. In Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition, you can specify whether product attributes are static or dynamic. Static attributes are created as individual fields in the product database table. Dynamic attributes are created as name/value pairs in a child table of the product table.

campaign (Commerce Server 2002)A marketing program that uses many communication vehicles (for example, ads and direct mail) to accomplish a specific result, such as increasing marketing share, introducing new products, or retaining customers.

campaign expression (Commerce Server 2002)Used to define the products or categories of products to which you want to apply a discount, and to specify the users to whom you want to target your ads and discounts.

campaign item (Site Server 3.0)A single ad, including the configuration information such as its delivery schedule.

catalog (Commerce Server 2002)A collection of categories and products. Each catalog has a unique name. Commerce Server supports two types of catalogs: base catalogs and virtual catalogs.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

catalog (Site Server 3.0)A collective term for an index and a property store that can be searched. Catalogs are stored on the search server of a host.

category definition (Commerce Server 2002)The properties that are available in a particular type of category. One category definition may be used for many categories. For example, the Department category definition could contain Description and Manager properties. Use the Catalog Definition Designer module to manage category definitions.

comma-separated value file (.csv)A text file that uses the comma character to separate, or delimit, columns or database fields. Most databases and other programs can export and import a CSV file, so that database files can be created in one program and used by another program.

Content Selection Framework (CSF) (Commerce Server 2002)A development framework for the targeted delivery of content. The Content Selection Framework (CSF) provides the components you use to build a business-specific messaging system. CSF provides a platform for making high-speed decisions to target content to users.

creativeThe content that is to be placed on an advertising schedule. In the advertising industry, creative denotes ownership of the content. You cannot change any aspect of the ad without approval from the company that owns the ad you are running.

cross sellA specific type of related sell that suggests to users a product related to the product(s) they already have in their baskets. Use the Commerce Server 2002 Software Development Kit (SDK) to add cross-sell functionality to your site. See also: related sell

customer (Commerce Server 2002)The company or individual for whom you run campaigns. A customer can be an agency, advertiser, or your own business.

Data Source Name (DSN)The name assigned to an open database connectivity (ODBC) data source. Applications can use DSNs to request a connection to a system ODBC data source, which specifies the computer name and (optionally) the database to which the DSN maps.

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

dynamic-link library (DLL)An operating system feature that allows executable routines (generally serving a specific function or set of functions) to be stored separately as files with .dll extensions. These routines are loaded only when needed by the program that calls them.

free-text searchable (Commerce Server 2002)A Yes/No flag in a property definition that indicates whether the property can be found through a free-text search. To set this flag to Yes, the property type must be string or enumerated. A free-text search locates exact matches and words that are inflectionally generated from the one(s) you specified. For example, the word "drive" would return matches for drives, drove, driving, and driven.

function stubA blank function where you can add code to customize functionality.

industry code (Commerce Server 2002)An identifier for a specific industry, for example, Automotive, Aviation, Beverage. You create industry codes using the Reference Tables module. The industry codes enable you to identify the associated industry for an ad, thus preventing two ads from competing advertisers in the same industry from appearing on the same page. Industry codes are associated with campaigns at the customer level; the industry code is used as the default for all the advertising campaigns for the customer. If you do not associate the industry code at the customer level, you must associate it at the advertising level.

multivalued attributes (Site Server 3.0)Multivalued attributes have more than one value per product. For example, Product A has an attribute named Size that has three values: Small, Medium, and Large. The same product may also have an attribute named Color that has four values: Red, Blue, Yellow and Green.

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)A data access application programming interface (API) that supports access to any data source for which an ODBC driver is available. ODBC is aligned with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for a database Call Level Interface (CLI).

package (Commerce Server 2002)A file created by the Commerce Server Site Packager deployment tool that contains all the data necessary to deploy a site onto a different computer. This includes applications and resources, including the resource property settings stored in the Administration database. A

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

package does not contain those property settings that are specific to a computer (such as connection strings). Package files have a .pup extension.

page group (Commerce Server 2002)A set of associated Web pages that you create using the Reference Tables module in Business Desk. For example, if you are running a newspaper site, you might create a page group for Sports, one for the Top Story, and another for Local News. You can set advertising rates by page group, run reports to see the total number of hits for a page group, and target ads to run on specific page groups. A site developer must ad-enable a Web page before it can be assigned to a page group.

product definition (Commerce Server 2002)The properties that are available in a particular product type. Each product is associated with a product definition. For example, the Book product definition could contain the following properties: "Author," "Title," and "List Price." A product definition must have one product identifier, such as a stock-keeping unit (SKU), and always has a List Price property. Use the Catalog Definition Designer module in Business Desk to manage product definitions.

product family (Commerce Server 2002)A product that has product variants. For example, the product family "Women's Thermal Shirts" may include the following product variants: red shirt, blue shirt, and green shirt. A product family always has a unique identifier, such as the name of the product.

property definition (Commerce Server 2002)A specification of a property that is available for use in profile definitions, category definitions, or product definitions. For example, you might create a property definition named Description that is type "string." Or you might create a property definition named Gender that is type "enumerated" and it accepts only two values: "Male" or "Female." Use the Catalog Definition Designer module and the Profile Definition Designer module in Business Desk to manage property definitions.

product variant (Site Server 3.0)A particular combination of attributes that are available for a particular product. For example, a medium-sized, green T-shirt is one variant of the T-shirt product family. Each variant is given a unique SKU (stock-keeping unit). Note that all product variants have the same price. An item of a different price must be entered as a separate product.

product variant (Commerce Server 2002)

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

A specific item that is grouped with related variants that together form a product. Variants usually vary from each other in one or more properties. For example, a medium-sized, green shirt with a stock-keeping unit (SKU) of 14678 is one product variant of the Shirt product; together size, color, and SKU form one variant. A product variant always includes a unique identifier, such as an SKU, and a price. Each product variant is based on the same product definition.

related sellA class of promotions that help display additional merchandise to users by creating a relationship between the products that they are viewing or have in their basket, and other related products. Use the Commerce Server 2002 Software Development Kit to provide up-sell and cross-sell functionality to your site. Use the Predictor resource to add intelligent cross-sell functionality. See also: cross sell

tag (Site Server 3.0)A piece of code that denotes the functionality and/or style of specific elements such as text, graphics, and audio on an HTML page.

transactionA group of operations that are logged so that, if necessary, the operations can be undone in case of an error. Commerce Server 2002 provides pipeline objects that support transactions.

Transaction Config resource (Commerce Server 2002)A Commerce Server resource with site-level properties, managed through Commerce Server Manager. Use the Transaction Config resource to configure the connection string to the database containing transaction meta-data.

transaction data (Commerce Server 2002)The data that is generated when users purchase products from your site. Transaction data can include any user activity recorded from a product page, a basket page, or a checkout page. For example, it might include the name, shipping address, date and time, product purchased, and total order value.

up sellA specific type of related sell that suggests to users that they replace a product they are looking at or have in their basket with a better product. Use the Software Development Kit to add up-sell functionality to your site.

XML document

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Overview: Site Server, Commerce Edition Migration Path to Microsoft Internet Business Solutions

An extensible markup language (XML) document containing a document element and an optional XML declaration followed by an optional document type declaration.

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