Installation guide

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Deploying Oracle Application Server 10g
Deploying Oracle Application Server10g isn’t quite as simple as picking a server and
placing a CD in the media tray. Rather, a number of decisions have to be made up front
that will influence how OracleAS is deployed. The first decision is to choose the
architectural model. This can include the choice of one-tier, two-tier, three-tier, or multi-
tier options. Of course, the success of the implementation will also depend on the choice
of servers. Dell PowerEdge servers offer flexible options for OracleAS deployment,
whether you choose to deploy a few powerful servers or a distributed architecture over
several smaller (but fast) servers. The performance of the OracleAS implementation is
largely determined by the decisions made in the planning stage, so planning the OracleAS
deployment should not be taken lightly.
Choosing the Number of Tiers
By design, Oracle Application Server 10g offers a large variety of deployment options.
At the simplest level, it is possible to install all OracleAS components on a single server.
This is often done for small installations or test servers. In this scenario, the J2EE, Web
Cache, Infrastructure, and Portal/Business Intelligence/Forms applications are all
installed on the same server. This is essentially a “two-tier” installation, since all
OracleAS components are installed in a single server-side tier (in fact, on a single
machine), and the client web browsers and applets are the client-side tier.
It should be noted that this does not necessarily include the corporate database, which is
frequently accessed by Oracle Applications. The only OracleAS-specific database
component is the Metadata Repository. By default, this is installed in a small stand-alone
database on the OracleAS server, along with the rest of the Infrastructure components.
The actual corporate data accessed by applications (i.e. financial data, transaction
histories, etc.) is stored in a pre-existing database, which is usually located on a separate
server, and is accessed remotely via the network. For performance reasons, it is
recommended to separate OracleAS components from the production corporate database.
An example of a basic two-tier implementation is illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Basic Two-Tier OracleAS Deployment Topology