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Last Modified
09-May-2023
Added to KB
09-May-2023
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Concepts
Product
  • ICM 7.10
  • ICM 11
  • Intershop Commerce Platform
  • IOM 4.5
  • ICM 12
Concept Multi-system Setup

Introduction

The Intershop Commerce Platform natively supports multiple organizations, countries, brands, and business models on one platform. However, considering network latencies, amount of data, data processes, traffic, and the number of development teams, different options are available.

Options

One Central System

One system is serving multiple regions and/or multiple organizations, brands, and business models.

This is the standard included in the Intershop base subscription. The Azure region for the central system can be selected.

Latencies

Network latencies may affect the end user experience. Especially latencies between continents can matter (see examples below). Therefore the central system is typically located where the main user base is located.

A CDN is recommended to reduce loading times especially for images, etc.

Example First Page Load Times

Page load times from different locations can be measured using tools like https://tools.pingdom.com.

An overview about latencies between Azure data centers can be found here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/networking/azure-network-latency. This does not reflect one-to-one in end user response times, but still gives a good impression.

Test results for Demo PWA SSR located in Azure region West Europe

Test from

Load Time

Europe - Germany - Frankfurt

1,17 s

North America - USA - Washington D.C.

1,68 s

North America - USA - San Francisco

2,69 s

Pacific - Australia - Sydney

4,28 s

South America - Brazil - Sao Paulo

3,62 s

Code Base/ DevOps Processes

The central system uses one code base for ICM, one code base for IOM, and one code base for PWA.

Different ICM channels can still use different cartridge sets.

Deployments can be made independently for ICM, IOM, and PWA. However, an ICM deployment, for example, will affect all channels (countries, brands, etc.)

Mass Data Tasks

All data is stored in one database for ICM and one for IOM. Mass data processes are running only on one system. There can be side effects between the mass data processes of different channels, e.g., long running replication times or high load caused by imports of large amounts of product data.

Multiple Systems

The platform is separated into two or more systems.

Generally, to have multiple hosting infrastructures is suitable if eCommerce generates high revenue in all regions to cover running costs for double or triple hosting architectures. The higher costs are not only because of more infrastructure, but also because of higher license and application management costs.

Latencies

Systems are located in two or more regions to reduce latencies:

  • latencies to end customers (e.g., trans-Atlantic requests)

  • latencies to backend services (systems of record, e.g., ERP systems, Order Management Systems)

Code Base/ DevOps Processes

Separation of code bases and release cycles to reduce dependencies between multiple development teams:

  • independent deployments

  • independent maintenance windows (e.g., at night)

  • working with multiple implementation partners or multiple teams

  • code sharing (ICM cartridges, Java libraries, etc.)

Mass Data Tasks

Separation of data of different organizations to reduce data processing times for large amounts of data:

  • imports

  • search index build

  • staging

  • jobs

Additional Options

Additional options are not included in the standard base subscription and must be booked separately.

CDN

As an additional option a CDN can be used to reduce loading times, especially for images.

CDN is service provided by a third party which caches in multiple regions the static eCommerce resources like images, CSS or JavaScript files.

Using CDN is the “best practice” to cover multiple regions using only one central system. Usually Intershop integrates CDN service providers Akamai or Cloudflare, but also other CDN service providers can also be used.

CDN integration advantages are:

  • Low latency for static resources -> faster load times

  • Reduced infrastructure load caused by static resources traffic

  • No developement needed on the platform side

  • Saving costs by avoiding double infrastructure

  • Could be a benefit for other markets too (Russia, Brasil, USA)

  • Other CDN services like mobile image optimization or DDoS protection are possible depending on selected CDN provider

CDN has the following disadvantages:

  • Open issue with Great Firewall of China

  • Performance for dynamic content not improved, because dynamic content is not cached by CDN

  • CDN service generates additional costs

Additional Job Servers

Dedicated job servers can be added to improve performance of jobs.

Additional PWA SSR Instances

It is possible to run multiple PWA code bases in order to separate the development and release cycle for separate front ends.

Disclaimer
The information provided in the Knowledge Base may not be applicable to all systems and situations. Intershop Communications will not be liable to any party for any direct or indirect damages resulting from the use of the Customer Support section of the Intershop Corporate Web site, including, without limitation, any lost profits, business interruption, loss of programs or other data on your information handling system.
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