About Administration Services

Administration Services is the cross-platform administration tool for Essbase. Administration Services consists of a Java middle-tier server, called Essbase Administration Server, and a Java client console, called Administration Services Console.

Administration Services Console is the graphical user interface (GUI) that enables administrators to manage the Essbase environment from one navigation tree, called Enterprise View. The console provides wizards, editors, and other tools to help administrators view, manage, and maintain a unique set of Essbase Servers. The console includes a data preview grid that enables you to preview data without having to switch from the console to another program.

Administration Services works with Essbase Servers in a three-tiered system consisting of a client user interface (UI), a middle-tier server, and one or more Essbase Servers. The middle tier coordinates interactions and resources between the UI and Essbase Servers. The tiers, which may or may not be on the same computer or platform, include the following components, as illustrated below:

Figure 36. Administration Services Architecture

Administration Services can be deployed in a variety of scenarios. For example, you can install Essbase Server on a computer running UNIX and install Essbase Administration Server and Administration Services Console on a computer running Windows, or you can install Essbase Administration Server and Administration Services Console on separate computers and platforms. The middle tier Essbase Administration Server also supports the substitution of certain third-party products within the existing framework (for example, application servers and relational databases).

See the Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Guide.

To start Administration Services, start Essbase Administration Server, and then start Administration Services Console. See “Starting Administration Services” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

Existing Essbase users cannot use Administration Services until they have also been created as users on Essbase Administration Server. You can use the User Setup Wizard to step you through the process of creating Essbase Administration Server users and associating them with the appropriate Essbase Servers. You do not need to create Excel spreadsheet users on Essbase Administration Server.

In Administration Services, connections to individual Essbase Servers are handled by the middle tier Essbase Administration Server. When you start Administration Services, if Essbase Server is started, you are automatically connected to each Essbase Server you added to Enterprise View. See “About Essbase Connections and Ports” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

You can connect to different instances of Essbase Server simultaneously from Administration Services Console.

Your Administration Services user name and password may be different than your Essbase Server user name and password. If you do not know your Administration Services user name and password, see your Administration Services administrator.

After your initial connection to Administration Services, you can use the User Setup Wizard to create Administration Services users and add Essbase Servers to each user’s Enterprise View. See “Connecting to Administration Services” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

Each time you connect to Administration Services, the Essbase Administration Servers you have chosen are displayed in Enterprise View, which is the navigation tree in the left navigation pane. Each user can populate Enterprise View with a unique set of Essbase Administration Servers.

Each time you connect to Administration Services, the Essbase Servers you have chosen are displayed in Enterprise View, which is the navigation tree in the left navigation pane. Each user can populate Enterprise View with a unique set of Essbase Servers. You can use the following methods to add Essbase Servers to Enterprise View:

You can also create custom views of the Enterprise View tree in separate tabs in the navigation pane. See “About Custom Views” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

The number of ports available for an Essbase Server represents the number of licensed concurrent connections. Essbase provides one reserve port for the system administrator. A system administrator uses the reserve port to log out one or more users when all other ports are in use. See Running Essbase Servers, Applications, and Databases.

In Administration Services, a port is in use only when an Essbase Server connection is established. See “About Essbase Connections and Ports” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

The middle tier Essbase Administration Server provides business logic to support cross-server operations, persistence of user preferences, and access to Essbase Servers. A system administrator creates users on Essbase Administration Server, and then Essbase Administration Server manages their connections to Essbase.

In Enterprise View, the node name for Essbase Administration Server is the same as the server computer name.

Essbase Administration Server has several configurable communication ports, which are different from Essbase Server ports. If one of the default communication ports is in use by another application, you must specify another port value in order to run Essbase Administration Server.