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Mapping Siebel Deployment Elements to Platforms

This topic is a step in Process of Infrastructure Planning.

This infrastructure planning step maps the elements of the Siebel deployment to server platforms.

Criteria

Mapping Siebel deployment elements to platforms must meet the following criteria:

• Guarantees adequate performance and scalability under both average and peak workloads
• Meets high-availability and resiliency goals
• Accommodates infrastructure security requirements

Prerequisites

Review the following information, developed in previous steps:

• Database requirements. See Determining Database Requirements.
• Required Siebel Server components. See Mapping Business Requirements to Siebel Server Components.
• High-availability policies. See Defining High Availability Policies.

To determine server platform requirements

1. Determine the amount of hardware required for Siebel Server components. Consider both average and peak workloads. Also consider background processing workloads.

   On two- or four-CPU platforms, customers typically deploy one Application Object Manager (AOM) on each Siebel Server. Deploying AOMs in this manner is a common practice, but not a requirement. Depending on the number of concurrent users, the amount and complexity of customization and the components used, the distribution of components can vary.

   For detailed information about calculating the settings for MaxTasks, MaxMTServers, and MinMTServers, see Siebel Performance Tuning Guide.

   For additional help with sizing Siebel Servers, contact your Oracle sales representative for Oracle Advanced Customer Services to request assistance from Oracle's Application Expert Services.

2. Identify which Siebel Server components you can collocate. Distribute these across platforms in a way that evenly distributes workload.

   When deciding which server components to collocate, observe the following best practices:

   • Install the document server on a dedicated server. The document server uses Microsoft Word to create documents. Since Word is a single-threaded process, the document server could block other processes running on the same server.
   • Consider what time of day a component will be used. For example, a typical scenario is to run EIM batch jobs during off-peak hours. Doing this means EIM can be collocated with a server that is busy during peak hours. You can collocate components running off-peak with on-peak components for server consolidation purposes.
   • Collocation architecture decisions are driven by the load placed on each component and the overall size of the deployment. Consider this scenario: an implementation plan involves having 1000 connected users with light Assignment Manager usage, light Workflow usage, heavy off-peak EIM batch jobs, and a moderate Communications Server load. This implementation also requires some degree of high-availability and resiliency. One possible architecture solution would be as follows:
     • Clustered Gateway Name Server. Collocated Siebel File System, Assignment Manager, Workflow Monitor Agent and Communications Server.
     • Multiple, load-balanced Siebel AOMs. The number of servers required depends on the level of configuration and scripting complexity.
   • You may choose to engage Oracle's Application Expert Services to perform an architecture and sizing review early in the implementation process. Once key metrics are known (user count, data volume, transaction volume, interfaces, and so on), you can determine the architecture and size the system. Contact your Oracle sales representative for Oracle Advanced Customer Services to request assistance from Oracle's Application Expert Services.
   • Some components are complex to size (for example, Configurator) and require expertise to determine an appropriate architecture and distribution of components. It is always necessary to have a thorough understanding of your customizable products and how they will be used.
   • It is common practice in a large implementation (with thousands of users) to dedicate a server (usually a set of servers) to one function. Doing this makes it easier to monitor the performance of each segment of the implementation and makes it easier to scale each subset of the architecture. In a large implementation, AOMs, Workflow, EAI, Assignment Manager and Configurator would all run on dedicated servers. The Siebel Gateway Name Server and the Web servers would also run on dedicated hardware.
   • When there are more than a relatively small number of remote users (100 or so), run Siebel Remote on a dedicated server. Planning considerations should include the total number of remote users, the expected data volume transferred between the enterprise database and the remote client, and the quantity of visibility events. Visibility events include adding or removing a position to an account team, adding or removing a user to a position, and so on. When a visibility event occurs, it can cause a lot of Siebel Remote activity.

     It is important to identify those processes with the potential for spikes of resource consumption and to spread the load accordingly.

3. Determine how many additional hardware platforms are needed to comply with high-availability policies.

   For clustered servers, define a failover strategy for components (active-active, active-passive).

   NOTE:  In active-active clustering, a process is only active on one node of the cluster and is not active on the other node; that is, two physical servers are running a different clustered process.

4. Identify additional hardware required to comply with security policies. For example, do you need to install additional firewalls or a proxy server? Do you need to install LDAP servers?
5. Use average and peak workload information to determine how many Web servers are needed.
6. Create a diagram of the Siebel deployment that shows all the platforms and the distribution of Siebel Servers. Use the diagram to do the following:
   1. Verify that all needed server components are enabled and correctly set up on each platform.
   2. Run component and platform failure scenarios. Verify that there are no single points of failure that will cause unacceptable impacts.

      For example, assume you have one Web server. All your inbound customer orders must go through it and then to one HTTP inbound adapter. If the Web server or the inbound adapter fails, customers cannot place orders.

7. Use server naming conventions to identify groups of servers that provide similar functions.

   For example, in an enterprise, Application Object Managers (AOMs) run on one group of machines, workflows run on a second group of machines, and remote user synchronization runs on a third group. Give the AOM servers names starting with APP, the workflow servers names starting with WF, and the Siebel Remote servers names starting with REM.

   Each group will display together in Server Manager, which simplifies server administration.

   NOTE:  Additional considerations for server naming are provided in the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.

Topology Planning Guidelines

Consider the following guidelines for topology planning:

• A single Siebel Gateway Name Server can manage multiple Siebel Enterprise Servers.
• A Siebel Enterprise Server can belong to one and only one Siebel Gateway Name Server.
• A single Siebel Enterprise Server can manage multiple Siebel Servers.
• A Siebel Server can belong to one and only one Siebel Enterprise Server.
• A Siebel Server can manage multiple instances of a single server component or of multiple server components. Components may include multiple Application Object Manager types, each with its own SRF.
• The Siebel Servers in a Siebel Enterprise Server can connect to only one Siebel Database.

Table 4 describes possible deployment schemes for Siebel Business Applications.