Overview

DreamFactory Enterprise™, or **DFE** for short, is a virtual hosting system that manages multiple instances of [DreamFactory](https://github.com/dreamfactorysoftware/dreamfactory).

1. 1. Physical Components

DFE consists of three main physical components. These are the Console, the Dashboard, and the Data Collection System. A rudimentary diagram is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Physical Components

1. 1. Logical Components

In order to deploy shared-resource instances, DFE maintains a logical representation of your physical topology. There are three main *logical* components:

1. **Mount**: represents a physical storage device, or mount point, where instance data is stored.
1. **Server**: represents a physical/virtual computer where various components operate. Each **server** requires a **mount**.
1. **Cluster**: represents a grouping of **servers**

1. 1. 1. Mount
      2. Server
      3. Cluster