Classify the Exalytics Application Requirements and Cloud Offerings

This is Part II in a series of articles discussing private cloud options on Exalytics:

Part I - Exalytics - The Promise of BI on Private Cloud

Part III - Elastic Cloud vs. Not-So-Elastic Cloud

 If you are involved in the architecture team of a big organization taking care of BI arena, you know that BI implementations are very fragmented. Everyone needs to be able to make sense of the data that they are collecting and the different ways they can get around to doing that.

 Implementation varies by the business group: accounting, planning, or finance. Some rely on Excel while others gravitate towards a combination of Excel and Access. Some even have custom applications that are painstakingly built using .NET/ASP.NET, JSP, Oracle XE and others, depending on the level of IT resources available to the business and their core skills.

 Once you start designing an enterprise solution and start collecting feedback from these groups, they tend to gravitate towards these 3 bins:

• Enterprise BI applications

• Custom, high-value BI applications requiring independent control

• Smaller datamarts

The classification is easier said than done. The first bin is pretty simple and normally revolves around the enterprise ERP solutions. One builds a data warehouse connected to the ERP and provides a set of analytics on that.

The distinction between the second and the third bins can lead to a fierce battle. Everyone wants their application to be autonomous. 

Ideally, the private cloud should be able to do metering and chargeback, with an internal cross-charge to “cost centers” based on how the system resources were being used. Once this is in place and a cost is associated with the different modes of operating the Analytics Solution, one can negotiate the applications category by adjusting the "cost" associated with each model.

There are several ways to host applications on a central Exalytics system. We can present a  few options  for the agencies to choose from: 

1. Exalytics running bare metal implementation

• Single BI instance

• Multiple BI Instances

2. Virtualized Exalytics (OVM) 

• Single-Instance VMs, one for each application

• Multiple BI Instances on one shared VM

• Single-Instance VMs, shared for multiple applications

I will discuss the pros and cons of these in the next blog.

Sachin

BuzzClan LLC

Architect - Oracle Engineered Systems

Exalytics/Exalogic/Exadata

BuzzClan is a business consulting company collaborating to provide Oracle software advisory services & implementation services. BuzzClan LLC is committed to providing substantive business value on each and every client engagement. We do this through a combination of industry-specific business expertise, technical skills, proven project management methods and our “onsite - off site - offshore” delivery model. We strive to work in partnership with our customers to build high-performance teams and create business solutions that will last.

OBIEE 11g - Demystifying the directory structure

Sachin
BuzzClan LLC

Unlike 10g installation, which contained everything within the OracleBI and OracleBIData
directories, the 11g installation's footprint is rather complex. This is due to
the fact that the installation also includes Weblogic, EM and other components.
These are the main directories created on a typical installation:

• wlserver_10.3: The WebLogic Server home, which contains Java components, one Administration
  Server, and one or more Managed Servers.
• user_projects: The User Projects directory, which contains product domains, including
• one or more Oracle Business Intelligence domains.
• Oracle_BI1: The Oracle home, which contains all the binary files (read-only) that
  are specific to Oracle Business Intelligence.

Figure shows a typical Oracle Business Intelligence directory structure in a Fusion Middleware home. At the top of the directory structure is the Middleware home, which contains at least three subdirectories: the WebLogic Server home subdirectory, the User Projects subdirectory, and the Oracle BI home subdirectory. If you remember the installation, you provided the location for the MiddleWare directory at this screen. Recollect this and lets walk to the other locations.

• MW_HOME -- MiddleWare directory
• WL_HOME -- MW_HOME/wlserver_10.3/
• DOMAIN_HOME -- MW_HOME/user_projects/domains/bifoundation_domain/
• ORACLE_INSTANCE -- MW_HOME/instance/instance1

This link lists the names and locations of configuration files for each Oracle Business Intelligence system component. You are advised to use Fusion Middleware Control to update Oracle Business Intelligence configuration settings and ensure that changes are correctly propagated.

This figure illustrates the various components Under ORACLE_INSTANCE directory.
Logs, configuration files, cache, catalog, repository are now stored under this directory as per the schema shown. The general structure is

• MW_HOME\ORACLE_INSTANCE\config\COMPONENT\bi_component_name\
• MW_HOME\ORACLE_INSTANCE\logs\COMPONENT\bi_component_name\

The different components are :

• OPMN –
• OracleBIClusterControllerComponent    -- ClusterController
• OracleBIJavaHostComponent             -- Javahost
• OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent -- Presentation Services 
• OracleBISchedulerComponent -- Oracle BI Scheduler
  
• OracleBIServerComponent               -- Oracle BI Server
• ORACLE_HOME\upgrade\logs              -- logs for upgrade related activities.

Oracle BI content changes from 10g to 11g

Directory or Files	10g Location	11g Location
AdminTool.sh equalizerpds.sh/equalizerpds.exe JobManager.sh MigrateEUL.sh NQClient.sh nqcmd.sh/nqcmd.exe	BI_ORACLE_HOME/server/Bin	BI_ORACLE_HOME/bifoundation/server/bin
DBFeatures.INI NQSConfig.INI	BI_ORACLE_HOME/server/Config	ORACLE_INSTANCE /config/OracleBIServerComponent/coreapplication_obisn
NQClusterConfig.INI	BI_ORACLE_HOME/server/Config	ORACLE_INSTANCE /config/OracleBIApplication/coreapplication
NQQuery.log NQSAdminTool.log NQServer.log	BI_ORACLE_HOME/server/Log	ORACLE_INSTANCE /diagnostics/logs/OracleBIServerComponent/coreapplication_obis1
Oracle BI Server repository directory: SampleAppLite.rpd paint.rpd	BI_ORACLE_HOME /server/Repository	ORACLE_INSTANCE/bifoundation/OracleBIServerComponent/ coreapplication_obisn/repository
Samples: order.xml Product.xml samplesales.udml	BI_ORACLE_HOME /server/Sample/samplesales	ORACLE_INSTANCE /bifoundation/OracleBIServerComponent/coreapplication_obisn /sample/SampleAppFiles
Usage Tracking: SQL_Server_Time UsageTracking.rpd UsageTracking.zip	BI_ORACLE_HOME /server/Sample/usagetracking	ORACLE_INSTANCE /bifoundation/OracleBIServerComponent/coreapplication_obisn/ sample/usagetracking
Other Schemas (for example): Oracle_alter_nq_acct.sql SAACCT.DB2.sql SAACCT.MSSQL.sql SAACCT.Oracle.sql Note: Use the Repository Creation Utility to install the Oracle BI Schema	BI_ORACLE_HOME /server/Sample/Schema	ORACLE_INSTANCE /bifoundation/OracleBIServerComponent/coreapplication_obisn/schema
credentialstore.xml instanceconfig.xml (for Presentation Services) userpref_currencies.xml	OracleBIData/web/config	ORACLE_INSTANCE/config/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/ coreapplication_obipsn
javahost sawlog0.log	OracleBIData/web/log	ORACLE_INSTANCE /diagnostics/logs/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/ coreapplication_obipsn
catalogmanager.exe	BI_ORACLE_HOME \web\catalogmanager	ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\ coreapplication_obipsn\catalogmanager\runcat.cmd
instanceconfig.xml (for Oracle BI Scheduler)	OracleBIData\eb\config	ORACLE_INSTANCE\config\OracleBISchedulerComponent\ coreapplication_obischn
odbc.in user.sh	BI_ORACLE_HOME/setup	ORACLE_INSTANCE /bifoundation/OracleBIApplication/coreapplication/setup

Sachin
Architect - Oracle Engineered Systems
Exalytics/Exalogic/Exadata
BuzzClan LLC

BuzzClan is a business consulting company collaborating to provide Oracle software advisory services & implementation services. BuzzClan LLC is committed to providing substantive business value on each and every client engagement. We do this through a combination of industry-specific business expertise, technical skills, proven project management methods and our “onsite - off site - offshore” delivery model. We strive to work in partnership with our customers to build high-performance teams and create business solutions that will last.