1
Introduction

This chapter describes key concepts and requirements associated with deploying Oracle Enterprise Manager and its separately licensable Management Packs:

• Product Architecture

• Deployment Options

• Certifications

• System and Hardware Requirements

Product Architecture

Oracle Enterprise Manager is Oracle's single, integrated solution for administering and monitoring global enterprises. Enterprise Manager is based upon a lightweight, three-tier architecture that offers flexible deployment options, round-the-clock reliability, and unparalleled scalability. The product's three-tier architecture is comprised of the following:

• Consoles, integrated applications and Management Packs

• Management Server(s) and database repository

• Intelligent Agents

This architecture, which underlies the Enterprise Manager framework, is described in more detail below.

Figure 1-1 Three-Tier Architecture

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First Tier: Centralized Consoles

The primary responsibility of first-tier Enterprise Manager clients is to present the user interface to administrators for all their management tasks. Depending on what has been installed and licensed, first tier clients could consist of the following components:

• Consoles

Note: Beginning with Release 9.0, Oracle DBA Studio functionality has been fully integrated within the Console.

• Integrated management applications including:
  • Oracle Forms Server Manager

  • Oracle Policy Manager

  • OLAP Services

  • Oracle Cube Viewer

  • Oracle Directory Manager

  • Oracle Net Manager

  • Oracle Spatial Index Advisor

  • Oracle Data Guard Manager

  • Oracle LogMiner Viewer

  • SQL*Plus Worksheet

  • Oracle Text Manager

• Applications from the following Management Packs:
  • Oracle Diagnostics Pack
    • Oracle Performance Manager

    • Oracle Capacity Planner

    • Oracle TopSessions

    • Oracle Trace

  • Oracle Tuning Pack
    • Oracle Expert

    • Oracle Index Tuning Wizard

    • Oracle SQL Analyze

    • Oracle Tablespace Map

    • Reorg Wizard

    • Outline Editor (New in Oracle 9i)

    • Outline Management (New in Oracle 9i)

  • Oracle Change Management Pack
    • Oracle Change Manager

  • Oracle Standard Management Pack
    • Oracle Performance Manager

    • Oracle Index Tuning Wizard

    • Oracle Create Baseline

    • Oracle Compare Database Objects

    • Oracle Advanced Database and Node Events

  • Oracle Management Pack for Oracle Applications
    • Oracle Performance Manager

    • Oracle Capacity Planner

    • Concurrent Processing Tuning Assistant

    • Oracle Applications Advanced Events

  • Oracle Management Pack for SAP R/3
    • Oracle Performance Manager

    • Oracle Capacity Planner

    • Oracle Advanced Events

Note: Oracle Management Pack for SAP R/3 is available on its own CD-ROM in your CD Pack; Pack for SAP R/3 is not installed with the database.

Because these first-tier Consoles and applications depend upon the second-tier Management Server(s) for the bulk of their application logic, these clients are able to run without the overhead and processing burden of housing critical management services.

Second Tier: Central, Scalable and Reliable Oracle Management Servers

The second-tier component of Oracle Enterprise Manager, the Management Server, is the framework engine. The Management Server maintains centralized intelligence and distributed control between clients and managed nodes. It is responsible for all back-end application logic and critical services (i.e. event system, paging and e-mail notifications, reporting, job system, etc.) for maintaining an enterprise.

This middle tier processes requests from first-tier clients, stores the information in a database repository, and distributes tasks for third-tier Intelligent Agents to perform.

The repository also serves as a persistent back-end store where it maintains system data, application data, and the state of managed targets distributed throughout the environment. Data stored in the repository can be shared between any number of administrators accessing one or more Management Servers connected to a single repository.

Third Tier: Managed Targets and Autonomous Intelligent Agents

The third tier in the Enterprise Manager framework consists of managed targets and Intelligent Agents. Managed targets (for example, nodes, databases, web servers, application servers, applications, and others) rely on Intelligent Agents to execute tasks given by the Management Server. Once tasks are assigned, autonomous Intelligent Agents will perform the work as scheduled regardless of the state of the managed targets, Management Server, or clients. Examples of such tasks include executing SQL scripts, monitoring available space in a tablespace, performing weekly database backups, monitoring the real-time database physical I/O rate, or monitoring the availability of the application server.

Architectural Extensibility

To offer vital framework functionality the Enterprise Manager architecture can be easily extended on each tier. The first tier allows any number of clients to access one or more second-tier Management Servers. Deploying additional Management Servers provides increased scalability and reliability as well as a choice between grouping the Management Servers together with one repository or dividing them into smaller sets, each set with its own repository. The former configuration allows all administrators to share data contained in the single repository, while the latter offers autonomous units which never interact with each other. Lastly, the number of third-tier managed services and Intelligent Agents can increase with business demands.

Figure 1-2 Architectural Extensibility

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Across all three-tiers, the Enterprise Manager architecture establishes the foundation for the robust Enterprise Manager framework.

Deployment Options

Enterprise Manager's three tier architecture enables the highest level of reliability and scalability. However, not all enterprises need to implement Enterprise Manager as a three tier system. That is, not all businesses need to deploy each of the three tiers, nor need all companies deploy each tier on a separate machine. Because of the flexibility of Enterprise Manager's architecture, many deployment options are available. Through analyzing your environment, determining your general administrative needs, and careful planning, you can effectively choose the deployment option best suited for your enterprise. Identified below are the available deployment options.

Client/Server Deployment

A client/server deployment is one where only the Console and management applications are deployed. Neither the middle tier Management Server nor the Intelligent Agent are installed and used. In this standalone configuration, the client connects directly to the managed target and performs administration tasks.

Note: With Enterprise Manager Release 9.0, this type of deployment is only supported against databases. No other target type is currently supported for client/server deployment.

You should use this type of deployment model if the following conditions apply:

• Only Oracle databases need to be administered.

• Sharing of administrative data across multiple administrators is not a requirement.

• Being proactively notified of potential problems is not a requirement.

• Automating repetitive administrative tasks is not a requirement.

• Running the client from within a web browser is not a requirement.

Three Tier Deployment

A three tier deployment involves the installation and configuration of the entire Enterprise Manager framework: Console, Management Server/Repository, and Intelligent Agent.

You should use this type of deployment model when you require the following features:

• Management of several different target types (for example, database, web server, application server, applications, and others)

• Sharing of administrative data across multiple administrators

• Proactive notification of potential problems

• Automation of repetitive administrative tasks

• Running the client from within a web browser

For optimal performance with a three tier deployment of Enterprise Manager, follow these guidelines:

• Avoid cases where the Management Server machine runs out of CPU or RAM for prolonged periods of time. A good strategy for protecting against such resource starvation is to run the Management Server on a machine that is dedicated solely to the Management Server and/or database repository. Thus, competition with other concurrently running applications is not a factor.

• Install the Management Server(s) in the same Local Area Network (LAN) as most of the Enterprise Manager administrators who will be connecting to it. Otherwise, excessive network traffic may occur which could have a significant impact on performance.

• Install a Management Server for every 70 managed nodes in your enterprise that combined contain up to 400 targets. This recommendation is applicable when the Management Server is on a machine which meets the recommended hardware requirements documented. The number of nodes and targets that a single Management Server can manage could change based upon the type of machine on which the Management Server runs. For instance, if the machine on which the Management Server is installed exceeds the specified hardware requirements, then the number of recommended managed nodes and targets could increase.

• Deploy at least two Management Servers in order to provide fault tolerance and load balancing among the Management Servers.

Define Management Regions for large, global deployments or deployments which span a series of WANs and LANs. Management Regions will ensure that cross regional or cross network communication does not occur. In addition, Management Regions allow for mapping nodes across firewall boundaries.

Note: For information on defining Management Regions, a feature introduced with Enterprise Manager release 9i, refer to the Oracle Enterprise Manager Administrator's Guide.

Certifications

Regardless of the deployment method selected, the following operating system certifications apply to the various components of Oracle Enterprise Manager Release 9.0:

Table 1-1 Operating System Support

	Windows NT 4.0, Service Pack 6a	Windows 2000	Windows 98	Sun SPARC Solaris 64 bit 2.6, 2.7, 2.8	HP-UX 64 bit 11.0	IBM AIX 64 bit 4.3.3	Compaq Tru64 5.0a, 5.1	Intel Linux 32 bit SuSe 7.1 Kernal 2.4 glib 2.2
Console	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Integrated Applications	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Packs: Tuning Pack, Diagnostics Pack, Change Management Pack, Standard Management Pack, Management Pack for Oracle Applications	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Management Pack for SAP R/3	x	x	x
Management Server	x	x		x	x	x	x	x
Oracle HTTP Server 1.3.12 automatically installed with middle-tier	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

Note: For platform-specific details, refer to the given platform's release notes.

The following components of the Packs listed are not available on any UNIX platform:

• SQL Analyze

• Expert

• Index Tuning Wizard

• Trace Data Viewer

If you choose to run Enterprise Manager from a browser, then the following certifications also apply.

Table 1-2 Operating System Support for Web-Enabled Enterprise Manager

	Windows NT 4.0, Service Pack 6a	Windows 2000	Windows 98	Sun SPARC Solaris 2.6, 2.7, 2.8
Thin Client (Oracle HTTP Server 1.3.12)	x	x	x
Apache 1.3.9 and higher	x	x		x
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 and higher	x	x
Netscape Navigator® 4.7 and higher	x	x	x
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher	x	x	x

Note: Thin Client in the above table refers to the Console, all integrated applications, and all Management Pack applications with the following exceptions: Oracle Management Pack for SAP R/3, Oracle Directory Manager, Oracle Net Manager, Oracle Expert, SQL Analyze, Oracle Index Tuning Wizard, Trace Data Viewer, and Oracle Capacity Planner. These components are not web enabled.

System and Hardware Requirements

After determining how to deploy Enterprise Manager and verifying certifications, ensure that the following system and hardware requirements are satisfied prior to installation and configuration.

Note: Hard disk space requirements for FAT Windows-based operating systems could be as much as four times those indicated below.

Component	Disk Space	Minimal Processor/RAM	Recommended Processor/RAM
Console	510 MB	Pentium 166 /64 MB SPARC 20/128 MB	Pentium 1 266/128 MB SPARC Ultra 1/128 MB
Oracle Diagnostics Pack	515 MB	Pentium 166 /64 MB SPARC 20/128 MB	Pentium 1 266/128 MB SPARC Ultra 1/128 MB
Oracle Tuning Pack	511 MB	Pentium 166 /64 MB SPARC 20/128 MB	Pentium 1 266/128 MB SPARC Ultra 1/128 MB
Oracle Change Management Pack	625 MB	Pentium 166 /64 MB SPARC 20/128 MB	Pentium 1 266/128 MB SPARC Ultra 1/128 MB
Oracle Management Pack for Oracle Applications	511 MB	Pentium 166 /64 MB SPARC 20/128 MB	Pentium 1 266/128 MB SPARC Ultra 1/128 MB
Oracle Standard Management Pack	625 MB	Pentium 166 /64 MB SPARC 20/128 MB	Pentium 1 266/128 MB SPARC Ultra 1/128 MB
Management Server	730 MB	Pentium 266/128 MB SPARC Ultra 1/128 MB	Pentium II 300/256 MB SPARC Ultra 1 / 256 MB
Enterprise Manager Web Site	820 MB	depends on web server	depends on web server

Note: The requirements outlined above assume that a database for the Enterprise Manager Repository already exists. If a database has not already been installed, you must install one. For recommended system and hardware requirements for an Oracle database, refer to the installation guide provided with that database release.