Chapter 3: The Surrounding Environment

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Overview

Oracle E-Business Suite is a large and unwieldy piece of software. The database, with very little data, requires 30 gigabytes of disk space and will grow from there depending on the size and complexity of your installation, your organization, and the modules that you install. The application tier can comprise 10 gigabytes or more of disk space, depending on how your installation is configured. An upgrade patch can easily be over 1 gigabyte to download and over 7 gigabytes unzipped. But Oracle E-Business Suite is only part of the story.

While the Apps installation itself comprises a significant amount of time, space, and other resources, there are several other pieces that are involved. Some pieces of software need to be installed regardless of where you are installing, others are OS dependent, and (in the case of the UNIXes) some are provider dependent.

One piece of software that you need to have installed on your system, regardless of what OS you are running, is Sun's JDK™ (Java Development Kit) Version 1.3.x. JDK, also known as Java 2 SDK (standard development kit) Standard edition, is required by Apps 11i to be installed on all tiers. It can be obtained from several download sites, depending on the OS or systems that you are running on:

• Windows http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download.html

• Solaris (SPARC) http://java.sun.com/products/archive/

• HP-UX http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/java/java2/sdkrte1_3/downloads/index.html

• Tru 64 http://h18012.www1.hp.com/java/download/index.html

• Linux http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download.html

• AIX http://www.ibm.com/java/jdk/aix/index.html

Oracle recommends that you always download the latest maintenance release of the JDK version that you are installing. The third digit in the number string denotes maintenance releases and patch releases are signified by the fourth set of numbers. That means that 1.3.1_02 would be Version 1.3, Maintenance Pack 1, and Patch Release 02.

For AIX, you will have to go to the Developer kit downloads section: in the available downloads section, pick the AIX platform, register, and download the correct version.

You want to size your environments with at least the minimum hardware requirements that Oracle suggests. Keep in mind, though, that 11i installations take approximately 30 percent more space than 10 or 11 installations did. They take approximately 10 percent more bandwidth on the network (they are bringing virtually everything over the network to your browser). Never forget the axiom that more is better. It is true when it comes to the Oracle E-Business Suite installation. More RAM, more disk space, and more bandwidth over which to travel, all of these will improve your performance and the satisfaction of your end user with the end product.

There are also specific things that are particular to an implementation on any individual OS. Some are things just to keep in mind, things to do differently with one over another, things that may or may not add cost to your implementation.

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