The MAINsuite Architecture
The MAINsuite product family shares a single, powerful architecture, which provides a scalable, reliable, and secure platform for content management solutions. It consists of four building blocks:
- the Level 7 Information Switch;
- the Data Server;
- the MAINgateway; and
- plug in applications and tools
Within this distributed architecture, the Level 7 Information Switches act as ‘intelligent content selectors', identifying the most appropriate source of the requested information managed by the object repository, and delivering it to one or more distributed Data Servers. Selection criteria used by the L7 Switch can include such things as the requestor's language, location, line speed, preferred density of graphic renditions and source data format.
Data Servers manage the actual "data bits" and special media handling capabilities such as optical jukeboxes as well as links to legacy systems, external data repositories and dynamic, distributed data caches.
The MAINgateway operates as the interface between a standard Web server, the applications, and the Level 7 Information Switches. Open developer interfaces are used by MAINSOURCE and third party vendors to create complete solutions and components used in all types of applications. Typical components include tools that help organize and structure data such as the MAINSOURCE's Navigator - a multi-page browser application optimized for eHealth information - was well as migration and content management tools.
Data managed by this architecture can be transparently stored on near-line devices such as optical disk jukeboxes or tape silos to support an unlimited volume of storage.
The MAINsuite architecture combines the power of Web technology with a database of logical identification ‘tags’. The database of MAINsuite tags identifies the location, type, security and access privileges of all data within a distributed environment. This unique solution, combined with our robust object-oriented repository technology enables the integration of information into a virtual multi-media record.
The advantage of this approach is that MAINsuite tag database can be maintained and replicated across distributed networks to provide access to the actual data. The data is not moved, but is simply referenced, cached and delivered efficiently. This means that organizations can continue with their legacy systems, but also have the capability to share their information across the network.
Secure browser-based viewers provide the ability to view the text, images, documents or complex data types according to the characteristics of the viewing station and bandwidth available to the user. This profiling of the user configuration is done dynamically. In addition, MAINsuite keeps track of the versions and renditions of all content. This approach represents a significant advance over conventional integration approaches.
The MAINsuite 20 character tag can reference a single object or a complete hierarchy. For example, in the healthcare sector, this tag could reference a lab result or a patient's entire electronic health record (EHR). Through the use of the MAINsuite tag added to the HIS Vendor database and a launch point added to the user interface, the capabilities of MAINsuite can be readily integrated into the total solution.
MAINsuite's capability to seamlessly integrate legacy applications is derived through an open Application Programming Interface (API). Functioning as a powerful hub for data interchange, MAINsuite appears to developers and integrators as a sophisticated object database. This approach allows organizations, as well as groups of organizations, to consolidate their data storage into an architecture that provides a single point of access between the existing best of breed systems without having to redesign their current infrastructure.
Additional information can be found in the Technical White Paper.
