Documentum

Documentum is an enterprise content management platform owned by EMC² corporation.

Databases are ubiquitous in modern technology solutions. This is a mature field and
well-known best practices are routinely used for deploying databases. Databases
provide standard means for accessing and manipulating structured data. Structured
means that the data components (fields) are of specific type (integer, string, etc.) and
this knowledge helps in querying and manipulating the data.

On the other hand, files stored on the file system are generally unstructured and
can contain information in any form. Such files and the unstructured information
contained therein are collectively referred to as content.

While databases provide standard means of managing structured data, content
management systems (CMS) are a relatively new phenomenon. Since the content
itself is unstructured, it is not possible to read and understand the content without
any prior knowledge about it. Therefore, some structured data is attached to each
content item, which describes the content item. This data that provides information
about the attached content item is called metadata.

Content management systems utilize metadata extensively to provide sophisticated
functionality. For example, metadata is essential for making documents searchable
in terms of their author, title, subject, or keywords. It is hard to imagine any
functionality of Documentum that does not utilize metadata in one form or another.

Docuemtnum Architecture

The Documentum platform provides a unified environment for capturing, storing, accessing, organizing, controlling, retrieving, delivering, and archiving any type of unstructured information within an enterprise.It also supports the resources for managing that content across an extended enterprise as well as for publishing content on the Internet.

The Documentum platform consists of four conceptual groups: 

• The kernel is a unified environment where content is stored, accessed, and secured. 
• The application services provide various application-level services for organizing, controlling, sequencing, and delivering content to, and from, the repository. 
• The tools provide capabilities for developing and deploying content applications enterprise scale applications that use content within the context of business processes. This group also provides the web services for integrating content-related objects with external enterprise applications. 
• The experiences provide the framework and interfaces enabling users to process and use content management functionality in desktop- or browser-based applications.

Content Server:

Content Server is a powerful, robust and scalable enterprise content management system that provides advanced content management and process management functions that let you organize, control and access all your information assets in your organization.Content server manages content stored in object-based repositories. A repository consists of two main components : a storage that stores native content files and a relational database management system that stores properties of these content files called metadata such as document owner, version and creation date. Metadata describes that content object and its relationship between other objects in repository and is used to manage and search for content.

content server and repository

Content Server is the core functionality of the documentum. It brings the stored content and metadata to life and manages its lifecycle. It exposes a known interface for using the content while hiding the details of how and where files and metadata are stored.

The Documentum repository stores content in a consistent manner, regardless of content type, file size or complexity, and file format. Content types include but are not limited to the following: 

  • Ordinary text documents 

  • Compound documents (containing interlinked and highly formatted text and graphics) 

  • Web pages 

  • XML files and XML-file hierarchies 

  • Scanned images 

  • Digitized photographs 

  • Multimedia digital assets (such as music, sounds, and full-motion video) 

  • Medical images 

  • Fixed documents (such as the outputs and reports from enterprise applications) 

  • E-mail and instant messages 

  • Collaborative content such as threaded discussions, chats, wikis, votes, and notes 

  • Computer-aided design (CAD) drawings 

  • Documents and data records from enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications 

  • Virtual reality environments 

Content Server available in different versions like 5.x to 7.x . In order to setup the documentum management system environment then we need to install the content server.

Content Server installation process can be broken down into two parts.

• The CS Installer to copy Content Server program files from the installation media into appropriate directories on the host. You then create connection brokers and repositories in the Content Server configuration program
• When Installer completes copying Content Server program files at the end of the first process, you can either proceed by having Installer launch the configuration automatically, or exit Installer and manually launch the configuration later to resume installation. If you choose the first option,the configuration program automatically creates a connection broker using the default ports (1489 and 1490) while in the second option, you will need to set up a connection broker first using the configuration program before creating a repository
•  Content server available in three modes.
• Native 
• Secure
• Native and Secure

Prerequisites for Installing content server:

• Java - It depends on the content server version which you are installing. please refer release notes for exact information.
• Dot Net framework
• Database server
• Establish ODBC driver for the database if required.

Please find the below services installed along with content server.

Documentum Docbroker.

Documentum Docbase.

Documentum Java Method Server.