Starting a Server: A Fast-Track Approach

You might need to start a new server quickly if in the following situations:

You are installing SAS/SHARE for the first time.
A new application presents a sudden demand.
System resources become overloaded and require that the workload be shifted to a new server.

If you are a new user of SAS/SHARE, there are various issues to consider as you fine-tune your server environment, such as system options, predefined libraries, and automated start-up. However, you might want to defer some of these issues and start a server right away so that your applications developers can begin to create new applications or migrate old ones to the multi-user environment.

To get a server started and running with minimal effort, perform the following tasks in a SAS session on the server machine:

After the necessary configuration is completed for the communications access method, specify the access method to be used between a SAS/SHARE server and its clients by using the COMAMID= option in an OPTIONS statement at SAS invocation or in a SAS configuration file. For example:
```
options comamid=tcp;
```
Start the server and assign it the name that you just configured. For example, start a server named SHARE1 as follows:
```
proc server authenticate=optional id=share1;
run;
```
The following message appears in the server SAS log with a default time stamp:
```
30Apr2003:09:47:30.000 SAS server SHARE1 started.
```

The server SHARE1 can now be used by SAS clients and other clients that are not SAS applications.

CAUTION:

Here are two limitations to the fast-track approach to starting a server.

Server security is not set. It might be possible for a client that accesses the server to have the same permissions as the server to access data. Also, any SAS client that can access the server can manage the server by using PROC OPERATE statements. This means that a client can stop the server or stop access to any library through the server. For details about setting server and library security, see Server Security.
If you run a server SAS session interactively, the SAS session assumes that, by using a dialog box, you can resolve any problems that it encounters. While the SAS session waits for a response to its query, the server might not be able to continue to service client requests until the query is answered. However, you might not be aware that a response is required if the window in which the server is running is not visible or is not being monitored. Therefore, it is recommended that you specify the SAS system option NOTERMINAL so that SAS does not display dialog boxes and performs whatever is required without prompting.