1 Overview

OracleAS Integration InterConnect Overview

This section explains terminology used in this guide:

Design Time The phase of integration development where you model the integration scenario. The modelled information is stored as metadata. The following components are required for modeling your integration:

• iStudio

• Repository

• Hub Database

• Oracle Workflow Builder (required only if your scenario has business process modeling)

Run Time  At run time, the metadata gathered at design time is used to carry out integration. The following components are required for run time:

• Adapters

• Repository

• Hub Database

• Oracle Workflow (required only if your scenario has business process modeling)

• Oracle Workflow Communication (required only if your scenario has business process modeling)

• Oracle InterConnect Manager

Hub and Spoke  The physical architectural approach for integration used by OracleAS Integration InterConnect is called the hub and spoke arrangement. In this approach, all applications (spokes) are connected through a central server (hub), as illustrated in Figure 1-1.

The OracleAS Integration InterConnect has the following components:

• iStudio

• Repository

• Hub Database

• Adapters

• Oracle Workflow Builder

• Oracle Workflow Communication

• Oracle Workflow

• Oracle InterConnect Manager

• OracleAS Integration InterConnect Development Kit

iStudio The tool used at design time to define the integration. iStudio is a design-time integration specification tool used to help business analysts specify the integration logic at a functional level, instead of a technical coding level. iStudio exposes the integration methodology using simple wizards and reduces or eliminates the need for writing code to specify the integration logic. This reduces the total time required to complete an integration.

Repository This is a middle tier repository server, java process, that communicates with the repository schema in the hub database to store and retrieve metadata. At design time, this server is used to store metadata in the hub database. At run time, adapters can access the metadata through the repository.

Hub Database The hub database has three uses:

• Store Metadata: The repository schema contains all the metadata modeled at design time through iStudio.

• Store and Forward Messages: At run time, all messages enter and leave the OracleAS Integration InterConnect hub AQ queues.

• Store Tracking and Error Information: At run time, all message tracking and error information is stored in the repository schema.

Adapters Adapters are the run time engines that carry out the integration based on the metadata modeled during design time.

Oracle Workflow Builder This component is used to model a business process at design time.

Oracle Workflow Communication This component is used to communicate between OracleAS Integration InterConnect hub and Oracle Workflow at run time.

Oracle Workflow The collection of Workflow design time (Oracle Workflow Builder) and run time components.

Oracle InterConnect Manager Oracle InterConnect Manager (IC Manager), this command-line tool is used for monitoring OracleAS Integration InterConnect at run time.

OracleAS Integration InterConnect Development Kit This contains iStudio and adapter SDKs that enable you to extend OracleAS Integration InterConnect.

OracleAS Integration InterConnect Installation Types

OracleAS Integration InterConnect installation types are presented in Table 1-1. You can choose the installation types on the Select Installation Type screen during installation.

Dependent Products

You can use an Oracle Database 10g as the hub database to run OracleAS Integration InterConnect. Alternatively, you can also use a OracleAS Infrastructure database or a Oracle Standalone 9.2.0.x database.

Deployment Topology

The commonly used deployment topologies are as follows:

• All OracleAS Integration InterConnect run time components on one computer and iStudio on a separate development computer, as illustrated in Figure 1-2.

• All hub components on one computer, all spoke components on separate computers, and iStudio on a separate development computer, as illustrated in Figure 1-3. In this case, there is a dedicated computer for the hub components. Adapters either have dedicated separate computers or are co-located with the applications they are connected to.

The OracleAS Integration InterConnect hub can exist on the same, or a different computer as the hub database.

OracleAS Integration InterConnect System Requirements

The following sections describe the OracleAS Integration InterConnect system requirements:

• Hardware Requirements

• Software Requirements