To provide extended reporting capabilities, IFS integrates with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). The integration level intentionally pretty low. It consists of some links and a presentation control in IFS Enterprise Explorer (IFS EE). This facilitates the use if MS BI tools once the relevant criteria in your installation and setup are fulfilled. Any issues you may find with SSRS or related products (SSAS and SQL Server) should be directed to Microsoft.
The integration with SSRS is mainly on a client level. Thus, IFS EE will communicate directly with SSRS and not via the applications server. So from a architectural point of view, SSRS should be installed in the same location as the application server. I.e. not necessarily on the same machine, but at least on the same network, behind the same firewalls and on the same local area network (LAN). It should be located close to to the database for performance reasons. which is the same arguments as for the placement of the application server. Also the clients will communicate with SSRS over HTTP using HTML or SOAP. Again same as the application server.
Note: It is recommended to install all Microsoft tools shown within the blue block in the above diagram. It is recommended to install them in a separate machine rather than a virtual due to performance reasons.
You can also open a port in your firewall to facilitate communication between IFS EE clients and SSRS. The port is 80, be default, but it can be configured if required. When processing a cube, it needs to query the Oracle database so the architecture must provide for this communications to take place. This will not be an issue if the SQL Server machine resides close to the application server. Both communications scenarios above are secured and must be set up correctly. Refer the Security section for further information >>.