8 Configuring a ECE Signaling Server Unit

This chapter describes how to configure an Oracle Communications Service Broker Elastic Charging Engine (ECE) Signaling Server Unit (SSU) using the Administration Console.

About the ECE SSU

Service Broker acts as a client application using the ECE SSU to communicate with the ECE client API. The ECE SSU relays charging requests from internal Service Broker components, such as IM-OFCF ECE and IM-OCF ECE, and routes these request to ECE using the API.

The ECE SSU distributes messages among different network entities that share the same alias using the weighted load strategy. This strategy determines a network entity that receives a message based on the weight that you assign to the entity. The weight determines a relative share of the traffic that the network entity should receive.

For example, you defined two entities whose weight is 100 and 200 correspondingly. The network entity with the weight of 100 receives 1/3 of the traffic, while the network entity with the weight of 200 receives the remaining 2/3 of the traffic. If a network entity fails, the ECE SSU redistributes the traffic among remaining networking entities according to their weight.

You can define a network entity that receives traffic if other network entities whose weight is greater than zero, fail. This entity is known as secondary network entity, and its weight is always zero. If in the example above, you add one more entity whose weight is set to zero, the ECE SSU sends messages to this network entity only if the network entities whose weight is set to 100 and 200 correspondingly, fail.

If you define multiple network entities with secondary priority, the ECE SSU distributes traffic equally among them.

The weighted load strategy enables you to control the traffic distribution depending on capabilities of network entities. For example, if a network entity runs a more powerful server, this entity can serve more traffic, then you would set its load weight relatively higher.

The ECE SSU implements a heartbeat mechanism, regularly sending requests to ECE network entities to check their availability. Not receiving a response within a configured time interval denotes that the ECE network entity is inactive. The ECE SSU stops sending requests to inactive network entities, but continues checking their availability every few seconds. You configure the heartbeat mechanism for each ECE network entity separately, when you define the network entity.

Configuring ECE Transactions

To connect Service Broker to ECE:

1. In the Administration Console:

   1. In the navigation tree, expand the OCSB node, and then the Signaling Tier node.

   2. Select the SSU ECE node.

   3. In the ECE tab, select the Coherence tab.

2. Populate the ECE Protocol Adapter values listed in Table 8-1 used to connect to the ECE OCS:

   Table 8-1 ECE OCS Configuration Parameters

   Name	Type	Description
   Coherence Cluster Name	String	Specifies the name for the ECE cluster to join.
   JMX Management read-only	Boolean	Specifies whether the MBeans exposed by this cluster node allow operations that modify run-time attributes.
   Coherence Log File Name	String	Specifies the name of the Coherence log file.
   Coherence Log Level	Integer	Specifies which logged messages will be output to the log destination.
   Use ECE Well Known Address	Boolean	Specifies whether to use the ECE OCS Well Known Address.
   Well Known Address 1 (ip:port)	String	Specifies the first Well Known Address of the ECE cluster if Multicast networking is not in use.
   Well Known Address 2 (ip:port)	String	Specifies the second Well Known Address of the ECE cluster if Multicast networking is not in use.
   Multicast Address (ip:port)	String	The multicast address and port of the ECE OCS.
   Multicast TTL	Integer	Specifies the time to live for multicast packets.

   
   

   For information about the ECE Coherence configuration values, see Oracle Communications Elastic Charging Engine Administrator's Guide.

   For information about Oracle Coherence, see the Oracle Coherence Knowledge Base Home at:

   http://coherence.oracle.com/display/COH/Oracle+Coherence+Knowledge+Base+Home

3. Select the General tab to set the general parameters listed inTable 8-2:

   Table 8-2 ECE OCS General Parameters

   Name	Type	Description
   Request Default Timeout	Integer	Specifies the default request timeout in milliseconds when no value is supplied by the outbound request. The default value is 2000 milliseconds.
   ECE Request Batch Size	Integer	Specifies the number of ECE requests to send per request. The default value is 1.
   ECE Request Batch Timeout	Integer	Specifies the ECE batch request timeout in milliseconds.
   ECE Thread Pool Size	Integer	Specifies the number of ECE threads to use in the connection pool.
   ECE Request Specification Override File	String	Specifies the path and file name of an override ECE request specification File. If the value is set, the specified file will be loaded instead of the default ECE request specification.

   
   

4. Click Apply to save the configuration.

Defining ECE Network Entities

To define a ECE network entity:

1. In the navigation tree in the domain navigation pane, expand OCSB.

2. Expand the Signaling Tier node.

3. Select the SSU ECE node.

   The SSU ECE configuration pane appears.

4. To define a new ECE network, at the bottom of the SSU ECE configuration tab, click the New button.

   The New dialog box appears.

5. Fill in the fields described in Table 8-3.

   Table 8-3 SSU PCP Configuration Parameters

   Field	Description
   Name	A unique identifier for the SSU ECE instance.
   Alias	Specifies a name that Service Broker uses to refer the ECE network entity. The alias is a simple string.
   ClusterName	The Oracle Coherence cluster name where ECE is hosted.
   Weight	Defines the relative amount of traffic sent to the SSU ECE destination. See the discussion on Weight in "About the ECE SSU".
   Heartbeat	Specifies whether to use a heartbeat mechanism over the connection with the ECE network entity to check the connection status.
   Response Timeout	Specifies the time interval, in seconds, during which the ECE SSU waits for a response from the ECE network entity. The heartbeat mechanism uses this field.
   Active Interval	Specifies the periodicity, in seconds, for sending heartbeat requests from the SSU ECE to the ECE network entity. This field is used if the previous heartbeat test results in an active ECE connection.
   Inactive Interval	Specifies the periodicity, in seconds, for sending heartbeat requests from the SSU ECE to the ECE network entity. This field is used if the previous heartbeat test results in a inactive ECE connection.

   
   

Securing the ECE Connection with SSL

In production environments, Oracle recommends that you secure the Service Broker connection to ECE. Service Broker supports SSL connections to the ECE Coherence cluster when both systems are configured for secure communications. Consult your ECE Administrator for additional assistance in configuring SSL including host IP address(es) and port number(s).

To configure the Service Broker SSL connection to ECE:

1. Enable SSL on ECE setting the following property in the ece.properties file located in ECE_Home/oceceserver/config on the ECE server host:

   tangosol.coherence.override=charging-coherence-override-secure-prod.xml

2. Oracle Coherence does not support the use of multicast addresses when using SSL for communication. A list of well known addresses (WKA) for ECE is configured during ECE installation.

   Add the Service Broker server host(s) IP address(es) to the list of well known addresses (WKA) in the charging-coherence-override-secure-prod.xml file within the appropriate authorized hosts lists section as shown:

   <!-- authorized hosts list -->
           <authorized-hosts>
               <host-address>192.168.0.111</host-address>
           </authorized-hosts>
   

3. Copy the server.jks file located in ECE_Home/oceceserver/config from the ECE server into the OCSB_Home/managed_server directory of your Service Broker server. This file contains the encrypted ECE credentials specified during ECE installation used by Service Broker to authenticate with the ECE Coherence cluster.

4. Rename the server.jks file to ece_server.jks on the Service Broker server.

5. Configure the Service Broker Protocol Adapter to use the SSL-enabled ECE host(s) and port(s). See "Configuring ECE Transactions", for more information.

6. Add the ECE store and key passwords to the ECE Protocol Adapter Credential Store. See "Configuring the SSU ECE Credential Store", for more information.

7. Restart the Service Broker managed server configured for SSL communications with ECE.

Configuring the SSU ECE Credential Store

The SSU ECE must be configured with the ECE Keystore and Certificate Store passwords. Service Broker uses these credentials to securely connect to ECE over SSL. The passwords are created during ECE installation. Obtain the necessary credentials by consulting your ECE administrator and configure the SSU ECE Credential Store using the following instructions:

1. In the navigation tree in the domain navigation pane, expand the OCSB node.

2. Expand the Signaling Tier node.

3. Select the SSU ECE node.

4. In the ECE tab, select the Credential Store tab.

5. Create password entries for both the ECE Keystore and Certificate Store in the Password area using the fields and values described in Table 8-4:

   Table 8-4 ECE Credential Store Passwords

   Field	Descriptions
   Key	Use the following Service Broker Key values: storepassword keypassword
   Password	Use the following Password values: Enter the ECE Certificate store password used during ECE installation for the storepassword credential. Enter the ECE Keystore Password used during ECE installation for the keypassword credential. Consult your ECE Administrator for password information.
   One-way	Always uncheck this box. The ECE SSU should be able retrieve the ECE passwords from the Credential Store and use it when sending requests to Oracle Communications ECE.

   
   

6. Click the Set Password button for each entry.