z2-Environment

h1. How to use the Hub Component Repository (beta)

(See also "Z2V2.1 is out – working on v2.2":http://www.z2-environment.net/blog/2012/12/z2v2-1-is-out-working-on-v2-2/)

By default, a Z2 installation (a z2 Home) accesses the version controlled storage that holds the system definition directly to download and prepare (and compile) modules as needed. This is the underpinnings of the system centric, pull-deployment based approach. In some situations however, it is not desirable to have source code on production servers at any time. This may be for compliance reasons or for fear of risking theft of intellectual property.

This is where the HubCR comes in. As a principle, all modules, all component resources, essentially anything the Z2 runtime knows about is served by component repository implementations.  There are implementations for Subversion, Git, file system folders, development workspaces and now, the latest addition, for another Z2 server that provides a consolidated, source-code free and pre-compiled view onto production resources (the HubCR provider).

So, instead of having production systems read and process source code directly, an intermediate node provides a semantically equivalent but pre-processed view onto the system definition:

!hubcr2.png!