Having established how to develop attractive and engaging applications with Qlik Sense, it's time to turn our attention from authors and business users. Instead, we will consider the requirements of administrators. In this chapter, we will move away from data and analysis to what's needed to run a Qlik Sense installation.
In this chapter, you will find information about the following topics:
Architecture
Clustering and nodes
Licenses and tokens
Streams and security concepts
Qlik Sense has an architecture that is different from the QlikView Server architecture. Some components are very similar; others are very different. Hence, even if you know the QlikView architecture, you need to look at the following sections. In them, you will find an overview of some of the concepts in Qlik Sense.
When you install the Qlik Sense server, you will install seven services. These are the cornerstones of the architecture. They can be deployed in different ways to suit different deployment purposes.
The Qlik Sense services are as follows:
Qlik Sense Engine Service (The QIX engine): This is the application service, which handles all application calculations and logic. Everything that concerns the data analysis is handled by this service.
Qlik Sense Printing Service: This manages the Qlik Sense exports, reporting, and printing. This is new for Qlik Sense Version 2.
Qlik Sense Proxy Service (QPS): This manages the Qlik Sense authentication, session...
Deploying a Qlik Sense server is usually straightforward, but there are still a couple of things to think of. The first question is about clustering.
Normally, you should just install the Qlik Sense server, making sure that it is set as a central node during the installation. Then, you will get a single node installation. However, sooner or later you need to ask yourself a question about clustering, "How many servers do you want in your cluster?" This book is not a comprehensive guide to clustering issues; it will only point out the basics and the questions you need to ask.
In a standard installation, all seven services run on the same computer, and this works fine as long as the load on the server doesn't become too heavy. However, as soon as your installation starts to grow, you may need more computers to handle the load. If so, you can set up a cluster so that you have additional computers running only some of the services and still manage...
So far, this chapter has dealt with managing the installation and the licenses, but very little has been mentioned about the real purpose of the Qlik Sense administration, which is, How to handle data and the analysis of data? How to handle the applications, the users, the data connections, the distribution, and so on? This section will cover these areas.
Once the Qlik Sense server is deployed, you might want to import an app that you have created in Qlik Sense Desktop. This is something that you can do in the Apps sheet. Look for the Import button at the bottom of the screen.
Importing an app created in Qlik Sense Desktop in the Apps screen
Once imported, you can set the owner of the app. Then, it will appear in the My work area in the hub of the owner. However, the app is still not published, which means other users cannot see it.
When you publish it, you move the app from My work to another stream, and once it is published, its layout is...
The security in Qlik Sense consists of many parts. In the QMC, there is a system with security rules for almost everything you can do, not only data access. There are also rules to change the setup or rights to publish apps or sheets. This implies protection of the platform, that is, how the Qlik Sense platform itself is protected and how it communicates and operates.
However, security as a concept goes beyond that. So let's start from the beginning.
The two most basic concepts in security are authentication and authorization. Authentication answers the question, "Who is the user and how can the user prove it?" Authorization answers the question, "What does this specific user have access to, and what are they allowed to do?"
In Qlik Sense, authentication and authorization are two distinct, unconnected actions. In addition, the sources of information used for authentication do not have to be the same as for authorization, and vice versa.
Qlik Sense uses...
In this chapter, we have seen that with the QMC, you can manage a Qlik Sense installation very efficiently. It includes a wide range of functions that allow you to configure your system the way you want it, and it allows you to set access rights on not only apps but also on streams, licenses, and data connectors.
Since QMC is based on standard web technology, you can, in principle, use any browser to run it, and it integrates well with other systems used to manage software and hardware components. In addition, you can use APIs to create custom management utilities.
To end this book, we'll be looking at putting Qlik Sense into practice for active data discovery as we spend the last chapters analyzing the examples of sales, HR, travel expenses, and demographics.
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