Enterprise Unified Metadata Architecture

The Enterprise Unified Metadata architecture consists of applications, services, and databases. The applications layer consists of client applications, such as Enterprise Data Catalog. The services layer has application services, such as the Catalog Service, Data Integration Service, and Model Repository Service. Enterprise Unified Metadata requires the Catalog Service to extract metadata from data sources and manage the administrative tasks. The databases layer consists of the Model repository and the Informatica cluster for metadata storage and analysis. Data sources and metadata sources include source data repositories such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PowerCenter repository, and SAP Business Objects.

Component	Description
External Application	An application, such as the Enterprise Data Catalog, that you use to discover, explore, and relate different types of metadata from disparate sources in the enterprise.
Scanner Framework	A framework that runs scanners and manages a registry of available scanners. A scanner is a pluggable component that extracts specific metadata from external data sources.
Model Repository Service	An application service that manages the Model repository.
Content Management Service	An application service that manages reference data. It provides reference data information to the Data Integration Service and Informatica Developer. You can use Informatica Developer to import data domains into Model repository.
Data Integration Service	An application service that performs data integration tasks for Enterprise Data Catalog and external applications.
Catalog Service	An application service that runs Enterprise Unified Metadata and manages connections between service components and external applications.
Model repository	A relational database that stores the resource configuration and data domain information.
Metadata Persistence Store	A staging database that stores extracted metadata for further analysis.
Search Index	Apache Solr-based search index information. The search index is based on the Model repository assets and assets in the metadata persistence store. Enterprise Unified Metadata uses the indexed information to display search results based on the appropriate asset metadata and relationships.
Data sources and metadata sources	The source databases or metadata sources that Enterprise Unified Metadata scans to extract relevant metadata for further use.