Installing the Repository

The PowerDesigner repository can be used to store your PowerDesigner models and other files relating to your design projects.

An administrator must set up the repository, which is stored in a database on a server. The repository can be created with any of the following DBMSs:

Oracle 8 and higher (including via native connection)
IBM DB2 Common Server and DB2 for OS/390
Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise
Sybase SQL Anywhere (authenticated copy provided with PowerDesigner, see Installing SQL Anywhere)
Informix 2000
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and higher (including via native connection)

The following repository components can be installed:

Database server – [required] Select a server to host the repository database and create a database on it. The server need not necessarily be reserved exclusively for hosting the repository, but performance will be improved if this is the case (see Setting up the Repository Database Server).
Repository proxy – [optional] The proxy acts as a bridge between client machines and the repository database, and can provide considerable performance improvements (particularly over a WAN) (see Installing the Repository Proxy).
PowerDesigner Portal – [optional] The PowerDesigner Portal allows users to connect to and browse the repository in their standard web browser (see Installing the PowerDesigner Portal Server).
Client machines – Can connect either directly to the repository or via the proxy, from PowerDesigner, or from a web browser via the PowerDesigner Portal server (see Installing PowerDesigner®).

The following diagram shows the various ways of connecting to the repository:

Setting up the Repository Database Server
The repository administrator must set up the repository on a database server running one of the supported DBMSs.
Installing SQL Anywhere
The PowerDesigner repository is delivered with an authenticated version of Sybase SQL Anywhere, which can only be used to store your PowerDesigner model repository. Note that the trial version of PowerDesigner is supplied with a lighter version of SQL Anywhere, for which the setup may be slightly different.
Installing the Repository Proxy
The PowerDesigner repository proxy is an optional program that receives requests from client workstations and translates them into a more efficient proprietary format for communication with the repository server. The proxy can considerably improve performance, particularly if clients will be connecting over a WAN or complicated LAN environment or when dealing regularly with larger (15MB+) models, due to its client request pooling and sophisticated caching.
Installing the PowerDesigner Portal Server
The PowerDesigner Portal allows you to view the contents of your repository in your standard web browser. Before beginning the installation, you should already have created your repository database and have the DBMS user name and password to hand.