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Overview of Cisco TMS Structures and
Communications
Cisco TMS Server Architecture
Cisco TMS functionality is achieved through the combination of several elements. Users only interact
with Cisco TMS through the website, but the complete Cisco TMS product is actually constructed from
three different logical components:
Cisco TMS Web-Server: The web server used by Cisco TMS is Microsoft's Internet Information
Server (IIS). This provides an interactive interface for users and external systems to interact with
Cisco TMS.
Cisco TMS Windows Services: Cisco TMS has a set of Windows services running on the server in
the background that handles all background tasks, call set-up, monitoring and application logic. These
services are not directly interfaced by users of Cisco TMS.
Cisco TMS Database: The database engine used by Cisco TMS is a Microsoft SQL Server. The
database stores most information used by Cisco TMS and is designed to be used simultaneously by
multiple agents. The Cisco TMS Website and Cisco TMS Windows Services interact directly with the
Cisco TMS database. The database may run on the same server as the rest of Cisco TMS or on a
separate server. For most redundancy scenarios the database must run on a separate server.
The Cisco TMS Web server and Cisco TMS Windows Services are installed together on a server
when installing Cisco TMS and cannot be installed separately by the installer. The Cisco TMS
installation software allows the administrator to selectively choose to install the Cisco TMS database
and SQL server locally, or point to an existing remote SQL server.
Communication with Cisco TMS
Users Communicating with Cisco TMS
Users only interface directly to the Cisco TMS website. Best practices dictate that users should access
Cisco TMS via a simple DNS name.
Cisco TMS and Devices
Cisco TMS's Windows services and website communicate directly to managed devices through a
variety of protocols (HTTP, Telnet, FTP, etc) depending on the device type. In addition, for event
reporting and accessing services from Cisco TMS managed devices themselves will initiate
connections to Cisco TMS on their own. As such, managed devices are configured with an IP address
or DNS hostname on where to access Cisco TMS. This requires the managed devices always have
the specific IP address or hostname where Cisco TMS will be reachable.
IP Addresses vs. DNS hostnames
Starting with Cisco TMS v11.5, Cisco TMS specifically is told it's
local IP address (including IPv6 if IPv6 is configured)
what local DNS hostname is used to reach the server
a public DNS hostname used to reach the server
Systems directly reachable by Cisco TMS may configured to use the local Cisco TMS server IP
address or local DNS hostname but Cisco TMS will automatically configure device types it knows to
support DNS hostnames to use the DNS hostname over IP addresses. For systems that are defined to
be 'behind firewall' or 'reachable on public internet' the Cisco TMS Server DNS Hostname (Public) is
required and used for those systems. Cisco TMS must explicitly be told which value to use for each of
these settings.
Cisco TMS redundancy configuration and overview
Cisco Overview of Cisco TMS Structures and Communications
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