Installation Scenarios
SEI supports multiple deployment architectures to meet diverse organizational needs. The scenarios below show recommended ways to install and distribute core SEI components, databases, and services across one or more servers.
Deployment options include both self-hosted solutions on your own infrastructure and fully managed cloud services. The scenario overview below will help you select the approach that best fits your environment.
Scenario overview
| Scenario | Servers | Description | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single server | 1 | All components and databases on a single server | Small teams, test environments |
| Dual server | 2 | ERP and databases on one server; SEI on another | Basic segregation for performance |
| Triple server | 3 | ERP, database, and SEI each on dedicated servers | Small to medium production |
| Four server (Dist.) | 4 | Distribution tasks moved to a dedicated server | Reporting/automation-heavy setups |
| Five server (OLAP) | 5 | Adds a separate OLAP server for analytics | Intensive OLAP workloads |
| Fully distributed | 6+ | Each core role has a dedicated server | Enterprises, maximum scalability |
Scenario 1: Single-server deployment
All SEI and ERP components run on a single server. This setup is ideal for small organizations or evaluation use, but may not scale well for large or high-availability environments.
Server architecture:
| Server | Component installed |
|---|---|
| Single | ERP Application, ERP Database, SEI Database, BI License Database, OLAP Cube Database, DataSync Database (optional), SEI Application (single tenant), Central Point, Web Configurator, DataSync (optional), Excel Add-in (optional) |
Scenario 2: Two-server deployment
This layout places the ERP application and all databases on one server, while SEI runs on another. Separating transactional processing from analytics and reporting helps improve overall performance, simplifies management, and strengthens data security. This approach increases scalability and reduces resource contention, but requires more setup and infrastructure compared to a single-server deployment.
Server architecture:
| Server | Component installed |
|---|---|
| ERP/Database | ERP Application, ERP Database, SEI Database, BI License Database, OLAP Cube Database, DataSync Database (optional) |
| SEI | SEI Application (single tenant), Central Point, Web Configurator, DataSync (optional), Excel Add-in (optional) |
Scenario 3: Three-server deployment
Dedicated servers are assigned for the ERP application, databases, and SEI. This structure allows each area to scale independently, optimizes performance, and enhances system isolation. Organizations seeking improved reliability or security often select this option, though it requires added infrastructure and a more complex setup than simpler deployments.
Server architecture:
| Server | Component installed |
|---|---|
| ERP | ERP Application |
| Database | ERP Database, SEI Database, BI License Database, OLAP Cube Database, DataSync Database (optional) |
| SEI | SEI Application (single tenant), Central Point, Web Central Point Configurator, DataSync (optional), Excel Add-in (optional) |
Scenario 4: Four-server deployment
ERP, databases, application, and distribution roles are each hosted on separate servers. Adding a dedicated distribution server is especially useful in environments with frequent or large-scale report distribution needs, maintaining high performance for both transactional and analytical workloads. This configuration increases reliability and resource management flexibility, but also adds to infrastructure and deployment complexity.
Server architecture:
| Server | Component installed |
|---|---|
| ERP | ERP Application |
| Database | ERP Database, SEI Database, BI License Database, OLAP Cube Database, DataSync Database (optional) |
| SEI | SEI Application (multi-tenant with Application, Scheduler, OLAP Worker), Central Point, Web Central Point Configurator, DataSync (optional) |
| Distrribution | SEI (Distribution Worker), Excel Add-in (optional, for distribution use) |
Scenario 5: Five-server deployment
Each server is dedicated to core functions: ERP processing, databases, application services, OLAP workloads, and distribution. Isolating OLAP and distribution servers optimizes analytics and reporting performance for high data volumes or complex requirements. This scenario is suited for organizations with demanding BI workloads, but it introduces higher infrastructure costs and demands advanced setup and administration.
Server architecture:
| Server | Component installed |
|---|---|
| ERP | ERP Application |
| Database | ERP Database, SEI Database, BI License Database, OLAP Cube Database, DataSync Database (optional) |
| SEI | SEI Application (multi-tenant with Application, Scheduler), Central Point, Web Central Point Configurator, DataSync (optional) |
| OLAP | SEI (OLAP Worker) |
| Distribution | SEI (Distribution Worker), Excel Add-in (optional, for distribution use) |
Scenario 6: Fully distributed
A separate server is dedicated to each core function, including ERP, databases, application, configuration, distribution, OLAP processing, and scheduling. This structure delivers maximum scalability, reliability, and performance for large enterprises or organizations with the highest requirements for security and availability. Full distribution minimizes resource contention but involves the greatest complexity in both deployment and ongoing management.
Server architecture:
| Server | Component installed |
|---|---|
| ERP and Database | ERP Application, ERP Database, SEI Database, BI License Database, OLAP Cube Database, DataSync Database (optional) |
| SEI 1 | SEI Application (multi-tenant with Application), Central Point, DataSync (optional) |
| SEI 2 | SEI Application (multi-tenant with Application) |
| Central Point Configurator | Web Central Point Configurator |
| Distribution | SEI (Distribution Worker), Excel Add-in (optional, for distribution use) |
| OLAP | SEI (OLAP Worker) |
| Scheduler | SEI (Scheduler) |
SEI cloud deployments
SEI can be deployed as a fully managed Cloud service or as a self-hosted solution on your infrastructure. Cloud deployments offer managed availability, automated maintenance, hassle-free scaling, built-in backup/restore, and included SQL licensing. DataSync supports cloud-to-cloud, hybrid, or local-to-cloud synchronization options.
Key advantages
- No infrastructure to manage
- Built-in SQL licensing
- Automated updates, monitoring, and high-availability
- Automatic backups, disaster recovery, and point-in-time restore
Key limitations
- No direct network folder distribution
- Data sources must sync through the cloud data warehouse using DataSync
- No Active Directory authentication (OAuth2/SAML2/standard users only)
- Some connectors (e.g., Excel, Access, ODBC) are not available within Cloud DataSync
- No Remote Desktop or direct server access