Oracle Discoverer Runtime Considerations

Configuring High Availability for Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports, and Discoverer 14-23

14.5.1 Oracle Discoverer Single-Instance Characteristics

When you install Discoverer, you create a Discoverer topology within a single instance, as shown in Figure 14–5 . After installation, you can configure other types of topologies for Discoverer. Figure 14–5 Discoverer Topology for a Single Instance

14.5.1.1 Oracle Discoverer Runtime Considerations

Figure 14–6 illustrates the runtime interaction between Discoverer components. Figure 14–6 Runtime Interaction Between Discoverer Components The Discoverer Servlet is a Java EE application that is deployed on a managed server, which can be started and shutdown through the Oracle WebLogic Server administration console and by using the Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control. The Discoverer Servlet is a stateless process. The Discoverer Session Server is an OPMN-managed CORBA component that performs Discoverer operations such as connecting to the database or opening a workbook. The Session Server provides the link between the Discoverer Servlet and the database. There is one Session Server component per active user login session. The Discoverer Session Server is a stateful process; the state is stored only in memory. The Discoverer Preference Server is an OPMN-managed component that provides preference settings both default and user-defined for all Discoverer users. These preferences control the Discoverer behavior. For information about starting and stopping the Preference Server, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuration Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer. The Discoverer Services Status is a dummy process managed by OPMN. This process must be running for the Session Server to be spawned. Note: The Discoverer Servlet and Session Server must run on the same machine. 14-24 Oracle Fusion Middleware High Availability Guide Oracle Discoverer External Dependencies Discoverer requires an Oracle HTTP Server and Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control. The database schema for Discoverer and the portlet schema must be loaded before installing Discoverer by using the Repository Creation Utility RCU. Discoverer interacts with customer databases that contain Discoverer workbooks and the Discoverer End User Layer and other data sources. For more information, see the About the Discoverer database tier section in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuration Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer. Oracle Web Cache can be used to configure load balancing for Discoverer. The Portlet Provider component of Discoverer can provide portlets to Oracle Portal and Oracle Web Center. The Web Services component of Discoverer can be used by external clients such as Oracle BI Publisher and Oracle BI Enterprise Edition to obtain Discoverer connections and workbooks. It is recommended but not mandatory to restrict access to Oracle Discoverer by using Oracle Single Sign-On SSO. Discoverer Process Flow See the How does Discoverer work? section in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuration Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer. Connection Protocols Client browsers send HTTP requests to the Discoverer Java EE application. The Discoverer Java EE application accesses the database schema by using WebLogic Server data sources. The Discoverer Session Server non-Java EE component uses the OCI layer to connect to data sources. The Discoverer Java EE application and the Discoverer Session Server processes communicate by using CORBA.

14.5.1.2 Oracle Discoverer Viewer and Web Cache