Oracle7 Server Distributed Systems Volume I: Distributed Data
Oracle's Network Products
Oracle's Network Products provide all the tools necessary and an ideal architecture with which to implement client-server, server-to-server, and distributed systems. This section describes the Oracle's Network Products and how they work together to provide the basis for distributed systems.
Oracle's Network Products Architecture
Oracle's Network Products architecture enables integration with most network services, including the transport, naming, and security services provided at the network level. User applications are insulated from these encapsulated services so programmers need not write special code to take advantage of them.
This architecture insures that user code developed in one network environment can be redeployed in a different network environment, without the need for changes. This flexibility provides you with the freedom to adopt any type of new computing or networking platform (or integrate existing systems) without regard to connectivity issues at the user or application level.
SQL*Net
SQL*Net uses the communication protocols or application program interfaces (APIs) supported by a wide range of networks to provide for a distributed Oracle7 system. A communications protocol is a set of standards, implemented in software, that govern the transmission of data across a network. An API is a set of program functions or calls that allow an application to make use of, or communicate with, an underlying program or system. In the case of networks, the API provides the means to establish remote process-to-process communication over a communication protocol
SQL*Net's networking products transparently integrate disparate clients, servers, and gateways into a unified information resource, using any combination of industry-standard or proprietary network protocols.
Additional Information: See Understanding SQL*Net for more detailed conceptual information about SQL*Net.
MultiProtocol Interchange
A MultiProtocol Interchange is a node that acts as a translator of communication protocols using protocol adaptors. SQL*Net version 2 works with the MultiProtocol Interchange to allow clients and servers to communicate transparently across networks running dissimilar protocols. A single node anywhere on the network that is loaded with two or more protocol stacks and a MultiProtocol Interchange enables all nodes on the attached networks to transparently connect to services on the other side of the Interchange. The MultiProtocol Interchange is discussed in more detail ![[*]](jump.gif)
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SQL*Net's layered architecture, shown in Figure 2 - 1, allows standard applications to run transparently over any type of network by simply using the appropriate Oracle Protocol Adapter.
Figure 2 - 1. Oracle's Network Products Architecture
Other Services
Oracle's Network Products include several services that are critical for managing large-scale distributed environments, such as an enterprise-wide distributed naming service--Oracle Names.
Also provided are Native Naming Adapters for use with existing name services such as NIS (Network Information Services), DCE's CDS (Distributed Computing Environment's Cell Directory Service), Novell's NDS (NetWare Directory Services), and Banyan's StreetTalk.
These naming adapters enable customers to integrate Oracle into their existing naming environment, while preserving their existing
network infrastructure.
A centralized configuration management facility--Oracle Network Manager--provides both a topological and hierarchical view of the network, enabling administrators to easily configure services, such as databases and name servers in the network.
Where network security is required, the optional Secure Network Services product adds full data-stream encryption and integrity checking to SQL*Net. Included with Secure Network Services version 2.0 are authentication adapters such as Kerberos V5, which allow users who have the appropriate credentials to automatically and securely access any Oracle application or server without specifying a user name or password.