Oracle Applications Architecture - R12

Architecture Overview:

Oracle Applications R12 is Three Tired,  consisting of

• Desktop Tier
• Application Tier
• Database Tiers

Following Picture Depicts how a three tier architecture is organized. In this model, various servers or services are distributed among three levels, or tiers.

Three Tier Architecture of Oracle Applications

Desktop Tier :

             This is usually any Desktop or a Browser enabled system, that an end user can use to navigate to Oracle applications. In general for accessing core oracle application forms, the Forms client applet must be run within a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on the desktop client. The Sun J2SE Plug-in component allows use of the Oracle JVM on web clients, instead of the browser’s own JVM. Generally the JVM is installed as a browser Plugin.

            Other the JVM, the access should appear seamless once the user is within the Client's network.

For information on all supported JVM versions with oracle applications Click Here. For information on supported Browser versions click Here.

Note: In 11i , Jinitiator is used instead of JVM.

Middle Tier/ Application Tier:

            For ease of understanding, we can say application tier comprises of one or more servers (Operating Systems), ontop of which Oracle applications software is installed. The software enables, Tech components for the application to run as well as application components that will enable user to access different applications.

 

The application tier has a dual role: hosting the various servers and service groups that process the business logic, and managing communication between the desktop tier and the database tier. This tier is often referred to as the middle tier.The application tier in R12, contains Oracle Application Server 10g (OAS10g). Three servers or service groups comprise the basic application tier :

• Web services: The Web services component of Oracle Application Server processes requests received over the network from the desktop clients.
• Forms services: Forms services in Oracle Applications Release 12 are provided by the Forms listener servlet or Form Socket mode, which facilitates the use of firewalls, load balancing, proxies, and other networking options.
• Concurrent Processing server: Processes that run on the Concurrent Processing server are called concurrent requests. When users submit such a request, either through HTML-based or Forms-based Applications, a row is inserted into a database table specifying the program to be run. A concurrent manager then reads the applicable requests in the table, and starts the associated concurrent program.

Application Tier Directory Structure:

There are two versions of Oracle Application servers/ Oracle Homes used in R12:

•  The Oracle Application Server 10.1.2 ORACLE_HOME is referred by Tools, C, or Developer Suite.
•  The Oracle Application Server 10.1.3 ORACLE_HOME is referred by Web or Java applications.

Database Tier:

       The database tier contains the Oracle database server, which stores all the data maintained by Oracle Applications. In other words, database tier is the place where all logical database objects like, tables, views, procedures, packages etc., are present along with the required applications data.

 In addition the physical data files are also maintaned.

      The database server communicates with the services and servers on the application tier, which mediate the communications between the database and the clients: there is no direct communication between the database and Clients.

I recommend this document to be referred by any one who is learning Oracle applications and thoroughly understand the concepts . For further information you can refer Oracle E-Business Suite Components.

Oracle Applications

           Oracle Corporation is a wide spread, one of the industries leading organization, providing Hardware and Software solutions to Businesses across the world.  With nearing 400K customer, including 100 of the fortune 100 companies, Oracle is well established and provides various product Lines, to support Small to Very large scale industries.

Products: 

• RDBMS:     35 Years providing Database Software, Real Application Clusters and cloud Computing.
• Oracle Fusion Middle-ware:       Identity Management, SOA, Business Analytics, Weblogic Server, etc.,
• Applications:           Oracle EBS, Peoplesoft, JD Edwards, Hyperion etc.,
• Server and Storage Systems:        Sun Server, Exadata, Exalogic Elastic Cloud etc.,

 Oracle Database:

                Every organization has information that it must store and manage to meet its requirements. Database is a software, installed on any server, which is in-turn used to store, manipulate and retrieve data. Oracle database is Relational, where each objects in the database is mostly referenced by other objects.

                                                                          



Evolution of Oracle Database

Oracle Tools:

              Oracle offers a complete and integrated set of application development and business intelligence tools that supports any development approach, any technology platform, and any operating system.

Traditional Oracle Tools  

•    Forms
•    Reports
•    Discoverer

Database Application Development 

•    Application Express
•    SQL Developer
•     XML Developer's Kit

Business Intelligence & Reporting  BI Publisher

•    Business Intelligence
•    Warehouse Builder    

.NET Development 

•    Developer Tools for Visual Studio

Oracle Applications:
            Oracle Applications provide complete choice and a secure path for customers to benefit from the latest technology advances. Oracle offers more than ten comprehensive product lines, including Oracle E-Business Suite, Siebel, Hyperion, JD Edwards, Primavera, PeopleSoft, GRC, and ATG. Each product line is designed to meet specific business needs in areas such as sales, business intelligence, enterprise resource planning etc.,
       
            Oracle EBS is the core product developed by oracle which works in integration with oracle database. However, other applications are integrated to oracle, and are primarily obtained through acquisitions of the company.

Oracle E-Business Suite:
            To facilitate big businesses, Oracle Corporation have created collection of software in the category of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) known as modules, that are integrated to talk to each other and known as Oracle Applications or E-Business Suite.
          

           Oracle E-Business Suite is the most comprehensive suite of integrated, global business applications.

The E-Business Suite contains several product lines, primarily classified as

• Oracle Financials
• Oracle CRM
• Oracle HRMS
• Oracle Manufacturing

Each product comprises several applications/modules, which are individually licensed as per client’s requirements.