Configuring the Session Manager

The Session Manager is a layer within the Siebel Application Interface and Application Object Manager that manages TCP/IP (SISNAPI) connections between clients and Application Object Managers. The Session Manager primarily manages Siebel Application Interface to Siebel Server communications. It is not a stand-alone component, but it is embedded in Siebel Application Interface and in an Object Manager component that is directly accessed through an external interface, such as Component Object Model (COM).

Note: SISNAPI is a proprietary messaging format used for communication into Siebel Servers, and between multiple Siebel Servers. The acronym stands for Siebel Internet Session API (Application Program Interface).

The Session Manager is primarily responsible for establishing and managing connections from the client to the Application Object Manager. A connection is established for each new session request, and is kept open or terminated based on connection multiplexing settings. The Session Manager allows multiple client sessions to share the same pool of connections, thereby minimizing resource usage and maximizing overall performance.

When a client requests a new session, the Siebel Application Interface receives the HTTP request, translates the request into SISNAPI messaging format, and invokes the Session Manager, which is embedded in the Siebel Application Interface, to obtain a physical connection to the Siebel Server. The Session Manager creates a new, temporary connection, which is load-balanced to an available Siebel Server.

After this temporary connection is made to a Siebel Server, Session Manager checks to see whether there are enough connections to the target process. If there are enough TCP connections, then the temporary connection is dropped and the existing connection is used for this new user session. If a connection is not available, then the temporary connection is retained. For more information about this process, see Siebel Performance Tuning Guide, which describes the use of the parameter Number of Sessions for each SISNAPI Connection (alias SessPerSisnConn).

After Session Manager opens a connection to the Siebel Server, it closes connections based on the time the connection remains idle. The parameter SISNAPI Connection Maximum Idle Time (alias ConnIdleTime) controls this feature. After reaching the configured idle period, the connection is disconnected by the Application Object Manager process.

A benefit of the ConnIdleTime parameter is to manage connections that pass through a firewall placed between the Siebel Application Interface and the Siebel Server. Because firewalls block idle connections, the ConnIdleTime parameter can be configured to disconnect idle connections before they are blocked by the firewall. This setting avoids future connection problems between the Siebel Application Interface and the Siebel Server.

Note: Only enable the ConnIdleTime parameter at the component level, specifically, for Application Object Manager components.

For more information about communication between the client and the Siebel application, see Siebel Performance Tuning Guide.

Parameters that modify Session Manager and SISNAPI connections are available for each component at the component level. For more information about these and other parameters, see "Siebel Enterprise, Server, and Component Parameters".