Understanding the Client–Server System Architecture
Windchill Workgroup Manager has a client-server architecture. The client consists of the following components that reside on a user's workstation.
• The CAD application. This communicates with the Workspace Local Directory (or Local Workspace, with the Windchill File System) and Windchill Workgroup Manager.
• The Workspace Local Directory — The local cache available to the authoring application and the workspace located on the Windchill server. (For users of the Windchill File System, the Local Workspace is the local cache for the workspace on the Windchill server.)
• The Windchill Workgroup Manager application, which communicates between the CAD application and the Windchill server.
The Windchill server is the computer that houses the Windchill database and the server-side workspace. The workspace consists of two components:
• Server-side workspace—A private folder on the server.
• Workspace Local Directory or WLD — Local cache on the client machine used to store the physical CAD files so they can be accessed both by the authoring application and the Windchill server; or
• Local Workspace (with the Windchill File System) exposes Windchill as part of the file system, enabling the CAD application to access files in Windchill as though they were in folders on the local file system.