Implementation of a new POS
XML interface to the POS
We chose XML (extensible markup language) as interface format for the data exchange. XML is a markup or description language where the data are embedded into markup elements, the so-called tags. Thereby the data sets can be described and structured hierarchically. Additionally the complete data set will be more transparent and clearly arranged, changes can be carried out easier and mistakes discovered much better.
Reliability and high availability
The POS server PCs must be available for the whole branch net constantly and reliably. In case of a system failure the upcoming costs might be much higher than for the deployment of a high available system. With the feature of high availability a system is able to run constantly with a nearly hundred percent guarantee even if one of its components fails. We realised this reliability with the application of redundancy using a cluster configuration running in the standby-server-concept mode. To synchronise the data and every other settings a server mirroring is executed at cyclic intervals.
