MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS 2-USING FIREWORKS, Use Manual

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5
Using Edge and Origin
Servers
This chapter describes the various strategies for deploying Flash Media Server with edge and
origin servers.
Introducing edge servers
Until this release of Flash Media Server, clients always connected directly to the computer
where the application was running. These applications were running locally, since their
execution occurred on the same computer that the clients were connected to. This release of
Flash Media Server introduces the concept of remote execution of applications. Flash Media
Server can now run applications locally as an origin server or remotely as edge servers. Edge
servers are not a different kind of Flash Media Server, rather, they are configured to run
applications remotely.
Deploying edge servers in your organization offers significant benefits. Enhanced security is
one benefit. Applications running on the origin server are no longer directly exposed to the
Internet. All requests for Flash Media Server services are routed through known and secure
connection points. These connectors are called edge, or proxy, servers; the terms are
interchangeable. Administrators can monitor the traffic on edge servers. The access log files
for each edge server lets administrators verify that the connections are authorized. The log files
also identify unauthorized requests for connections.
The edge server-origin server deployment is flexible. Edge servers let administrators scale up
or redistribute access to Flash Media Server without dismantling their current deployment.
Administrators can add edge servers. Administrators can reallocate edge servers to match
realignments of users and sites within an organization, or changes in the flow of traffic among
the sites.