Why does Reporting Services in SharePoint integration mode require a minimal install of SharePoint?

Question

I have a two machine set-up, with MOSS 2007 installed on one server (Machine A), and SQL Server 2008 installed on the other (Machine B).

In order to run SS Reporting Services in SharePoint integration mode on Machine B, I've read that I need to perform a minimal install of SharePoint on Machine B, and am wondering why.

From a couple of error messages I see that it seems like Reporting Services in integration mode makes use of the SharePoint Object Model, but I haven't explored any further.

So, purely just out of interest, why is it that I need to have a minimal SP install if my report server is on a separate machine from main SP install?

Answer 1

Reports that are deployed to the Report Server are actually stored in Sharepoint document libraries in integrated mode, and SSRS uses the Sharepoint object model to access those libraries.