Understand the Salesforce Architecture Flashcards
What does trust have to do with it?
At Salesforce, trust is our top priority. Not only are you keeping your sensitive data in your org, you’re also building functionality vital to your company’s success on our platform. Our responsibility to keep your data and functionality safe is not something we take lightly, which is why we’re always transparent about our services.
Our trust site, trust.salesforce.com, is a vital resource. You can use it to view performance data and get more information about how we secure your data. It also shows you any planned maintenance we’ll be performing that might impact your access to Salesforce.
What is multitenancy?
it means is that you’re sharing resources. Salesforce provides a core set of services to all our customers in the multitenant cloud. No matter the size of your business, you get access to the same computing power, data storage, and core features.
Trust and multitenancy go hand in hand. Despite the fact that you’re sharing space with other companies, you can trust Salesforce to keep your data secure. You can also trust that you’re getting the latest and greatest features with automatic, seamless upgrades three times a year. Since Salesforce is a cloud service, you never have to install new features or worry about your hardware.
What is metadata?
Data about data.
Let’s think about an object like Property. When our friends at DreamHouse use Salesforce, they input and view data about properties. For example, a property can be located in Boston, cost $500,000, and have 3 bedrooms.
Now, imagine you stripped away all that specific data. What are you left with? You are left with the Property object along with all its fields, like address, price, and number of bedrooms. You can also have page layouts, security settings, and any other customizations you’ve made.
All of these standard and custom configurations, functionality, and code in your org are metadata. Part of the reason you can move so fast on the platform is that Salesforce knows how to store and serve you that metadata immediately after you create it.
What is an API?
APIs allow different pieces of software to connect to each other and exchange information.
If that sounds kind of abstract, take a quick look at the computer you’re working on right now. You can probably find a series of ports of various shapes and sizes that support different kinds of connections. These are like the hardware version of APIs. You don’t have to know how the USB port works. All you have to understand is that when you plug your phone into a USB port, it passes information to your computer.
APIs are similar. Without knowing the details, you can connect your apps with other apps or software systems. The underlying technology takes care of the specifics of how information passes throughout the system.
What is the Object Manager?
Object Manager is where you can view and customize standard and custom objects in your org. (e.g. “prequalified for loan” checkbox).
Where are the user permission sets located?
Users menu under Administration, just open that menu and click Permission Sets.
Setup Menu: Administration
The Administration category is where you manage your users and data. You can do things like add users, change permissions, import and export data, and create email templates.
Setup Menu: Platform Tools.
You do most of your customization in You can view and manage your data model, create apps, modify the user interface, and deploy new features to your users. If you decide to try your hand at programmatic development, Platform Tools is where you manage your code as well.
What can you do in Settings in Setup Menu?
where you manage your company information and org security. You can do things like add business hours, change your locale, and view your org’s history.
Setup Page: Company Information is where you can…..?
At-a-glance view of your org
Find your org ID
See your licensing information
Monitor important limits like data and file usage
What is View Setup Audit Trail menu in setup menu useful for?
See 6 months of change history in your org
Find out who made changes and when
Tool for troubleshooting org configuration issues
What is a good “AppExchange strategy”?
Identify departments that use or plan to use Salesforce. These are your primary stakeholders.
Research what’s available on AppExchange that best meets your stakeholder requirements. Discuss business cases with department heads to determine exact needs. Here are some good questions to ask:
What business problem are you trying to solve?
What are your main pain points right now?
How many users need this app?
What’s your budget?
What’s your timeline?
These questions help you identify apps that are the best fit for each department or business case.
When you find an app that you think meets your needs, download the app in a test environment (like a free Developer Edition or sandbox). Ensure that the app you’re installing doesn’t interfere with any other apps you’ve installed or customizations you’ve made. Sandboxes are copies of your organization in a separate environment. They’re used for development and testing. See Sandbox Overview.
If you’re choosing between multiple apps, take some time to evaluate what you’ve tested. Determine whether there are feature gaps or unwanted functionality. If necessary, invite your stakeholders to demo the apps and provide feedback.
You’re ready to go! You’ll install and deploy your app in your production environment. Make sure you keep your users in the loop about what’s changing, and provide training and documentation as necessary.
What are two key questions you need to answer during the installation process of a new app?
- Where do I install the app, production or sandbox? In general, it’s a best practice to first install apps in a nonproduction environment. Try installing in a sandbox for your production org or in a Developer Edition org. Testing the app first helps you avoid conflicts in production with things like object names.
- Should I give app permissions to admins only, all users, or specific profiles? That depends on who the app is for. If you want to limit access to a particular set of users, plan to modify those user profiles before you install the app.
Where’d My App Go?
Apps are installed using something called a package. To find the package:
From Setup, search and select Installed Packages in the Quick Find box. Click the name of the package you installed. It will be the same name from the AppExchange download page. Click View Components to see more information about the package. The Package Details page shows you all the components, including custom fields, custom objects, and Apex classes in the package. This information helps you determine whether you have any conflicts in your own customizations.
