The new IRM application is implemented as a web application.
At the highest level, it can be viewed as a system with three major tiers:
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SERVER: which contains the IRM data
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CLIENT: the user interface used to present and manage the data stored on the SERVER.
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REST API: which is the method of communication between CLIENT & SERVER.
There can be different types of clients; while IRM is initially available with a general-purpose web client (HTML+JavaScript running in a web browser), in the future it is possible to have clients running on different platforms e.g.native desktop client, and/or a native mobile app (Android and/or iOS).
However, there is only one server implementation, which can be deployed in a Planet Controlled SaaS environment or within a customer's private cloud. In both cases, the servers are expected to be part of a VM-based server farm (such as Amazon Web Services - AWS). The server suite has multiple components, including at least the Global Console server and one or more Site Master servers, where most of the data is stored and most of the client transactions are handled.
The IRM web client application (or simply "the client") is designed as a part of Planet IRM system covering operations on individual sites. This includes wide range of actions that can be performed on a site and its objects. The Client is designed as single page application and uses AJAX for communication with server.
Main client modules
Design World
Utilizes an HTML canvas to displays a Site’s primary drawing information using a top-down or "footprint" view to represent Floorplans, Site Plans, or geo-spatial mapping data.
Other, more specialized visualizations can be accessed from within the Design World or from the object grid such as:
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Rack / Cabinet / Wallboard Elevation,
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Maintenance Hole Butterfly View,
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The Design World contains three main types of objects:
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Geometry (either Imported from CAD/GIS formats or drawn using IRM drawing tools):
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polylines (connected sequence of line segments created as a single object),
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Managed Objects (
overlaid on top of the Geometry to represent As configured or As Proposed managed infrastructure)
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Auxiliary objects: (
not directly visible, they are still present and affect Design World rendering )
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Object Grid
This provides a spreadsheet-like interface that shows a selectable set of fields for any of the Managed Objects. The Object Grid has many features designed to make it easy to find and manipulate any desired objects and includes a powerful filtering mechanism. Some filtering is done on the client while other filtering is done on the server via the REST API, which enhances the performance and flexibility of the system.
Filtering through the REST API is additionally useful for integrations with 3rd party software and customizations of the IRM system. The Object Grid allows entry to other more specialized aspects of the IRM user interface, especially those like Data import/export and reporting.
The Category and Types Tree provides a hierarchically-structured organization of all the data in the system including a large library of equipment, cable, and other Categories and Types, and works closely with the Object Grid to help the user find and filter the desired data.
Both the Design World and Object Grid use a host of advanced technical techniques and tools to give the user a desktop-app-like performance and capability with the added ability to work with large numbers of objects, within the very limited confines of a web browser tab.
Note: both the Design World and Object Grid support a convenient undo feature for most operations.
These and other IRM web client components and features are covered in more detail in the following sub-topics.
