Siebel Deployment Planning Guide > Siebel Architecture Overview >

About Siebel Enterprise Server and Siebel Server

This topic describes the Siebel Enterprise Server and Siebel Server, and also Application Object Manager components of Siebel Server.

For information on applicable installation and configuration tasks, see the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.

Siebel Enterprise Server

The Siebel Enterprise Server is a logical grouping of one or more Siebel Servers that connect to one Siebel Database. You can configure some server parameters at the Enterprise level. Such parameters are inherited by individual Siebel Servers and applicable components. Some parameters may be overridden at the server level or component level.

After initial configuration of the Siebel Enterprise and each Siebel Server using wizards, some subsequent configuration and administration tasks may be performed by one or more administrators using Siebel Server Manager. Server Manager supports both a command-line UI and a GUI.

You use the Siebel Enterprise Server installer for installing Siebel Gateway Name Server, Siebel Server, Siebel Database Configuration Utilities, and Siebel EAI Connectors.

Siebel Server

Each Siebel Server functions as an application server and is composed of server components. Each server component performs a defined function.

Server components or groups of components determine what applications and services a Siebel Server supports. Components run in one of several modes:

• Interactive mode. Interactive mode components start tasks automatically in response to user requests. Interactive tasks run until the user ends the session. Examples of interactive components include the Application Object Managers (AOMs) and the Synchronization Manager.
• Background mode. Background mode components handle background processing tasks. Typically, background tasks are called by interactive tasks. Background tasks run until they are explicitly shut down. Examples of background components include Transaction Router and Workflow Monitor Agent.
• Batch mode. Batch mode components handle processing of asynchronous work requests. When the task is complete, the component exits. Examples of batch components are Database Extract and Enterprise Integration Manager (EIM).

Many of the Siebel Server components can operate on multiple Siebel Servers simultaneously, allowing Siebel applications to scale across many server machines to support large numbers of users.

Other Siebel Server components provide additional functionality, including the following:

• Siebel Mobile Web Client synchronization
• Integration with legacy or third-party data
• Automatic assignment of new accounts, opportunities, service requests, and other records
• Workflow management
• Document generation

Siebel Connection Broker (SCBroker)

The Siebel Connection Broker component provides load balancing of connection requests to multiple Application Object Manager (AOM) threads or processes running on the same Siebel Server.

Siebel Server Implementation

The Siebel Server runs as a system service under Windows and as a process under UNIX. This system service or process monitors and controls the state of all server components on that Siebel Server. Each Siebel Server is one instantiation of the Siebel Server system service or process within the current Siebel Enterprise Server.

Interactive and batch components can be configured to run as multiple processes or in some cases as multithreaded processes. Application Object Manager (AOM) components (which are interactive) can run as both multiple processes and multiple threads for each process. Background mode components can run as multiple processes only.

For information on administering the Siebel Server system service or process, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Language Pack Installation

It is strongly recommended to install the same set of languages on each physical server in your Siebel Enterprise. However, in the Siebel Server Configuration Wizard you can deploy different languages on different Siebel Servers, as needed. For details, see the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using. See also Siebel Global Deployment Guide.

Application Object Manager

One of the most important types of server components is the Application Object Manager (AOM). These server components always run in interactive mode. They process user requests and are application- or service-specific. For example, the Siebel Call Center component group contains the Call Center Object Manager, one for each language deployed on the Siebel Server. This AOM provides the session environment in which this application runs.

Internally, each AOM also contains a data manager and the Siebel Web Engine. When an AOM receives a user request to start an application, the AOM follows this procedure:

• The business object layer starts an application user session, processes any required business logic, and sends a data request to the data manager.
• The data manager creates an SQL query and forwards it the Siebel Database.
• The data manager receives the data from the database and forwards it to the business object layer for additional processing.
• The business object layer forwards the result to the Siebel Web Engine, which helps create the UI for the data. The Siebel Web Engine then forwards the Web pages to the Siebel Web Server Extension on the Web server.

Application Object Manager Implementation

An Application Object Manager (AOM) server component is implemented as a multithreaded process on the Siebel Server. At run time, a parent process starts one or more AOMs as multithreaded processes, according to the AOM configuration. The terms multithreaded server or MT server are alternative terms for the multithreaded process, which may also be called an AOM process.

Each thread in an AOM hosts tasks that are typically linked to one user session. These threads may be dedicated to particular user sessions, or they may serve as a pool that can be shared by user sessions. For each AOM, a few threads are dedicated to housekeeping functions.

Each AOM task communicates with the Siebel Database, the Web server (through the SWSE), or other components, as follows:

• Communication with the Siebel Database uses ODBC database connections. You can manage and tune database connections for optimal performance. You can optionally configure connection sharing for database connections.
• Communication with the Siebel Web Server Extension uses SISNAPI (Siebel Internet Session API), a Siebel messaging format that runs on top of the TCP/IP protocol. You can configure SISNAPI connections to use encryption and authentication based on Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
• Communication with other Siebel Enterprise Server components (including other Siebel Servers) also uses SISNAPI.
• The Siebel Connection Broker (SCBroker) on each Siebel Server listens on a static, configurable TCP port for requests coming from the Web server. SCBroker forwards these requests to AOM processes.

For more information about the operation of multithreaded processes for AOM components, see Siebel System Administration Guide and Siebel Performance Tuning Guide.