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• C++ application using the App Wizard to see whether I could access the database from a basic C++ environment (if I get a table list when selecting the data source in App Wizard, it is a good sign that ODBC is set up correctly).
  As you can see, you might have to use a number of products to see where your problem lies. Here, you are trying to find a simple tool that tests each of the interfaces in the network stack one at a time, starting at the bottom.

• Become familiar with the various vendor bulletin board systems, Web sites, FTP sites, and so on. Having a PC with a reasonably fast modem and an Internet connection can save you an enormous amount of time. In a few minutes' time, I have downloaded drivers from the U.K. that got the developers going ”products that might have taken a week or more to get through the mail. Your problem could be as simple as needing a special patch from a specific vendor if you have a certain old model of PC.
• When possible, have help lined up in advance. This help can take a number of forms. Perhaps you can have a local vendor or contractor who has done this before come in to help you set up things. You also should have support from the product vendors ”at least during installation. It is very useful to keep all those books and purchase order copies in a file so that when you have problems, you quickly can get the answers you need.
• Bring in all your local experts from the start. This list of people might include network administrators, system administrators, database administrators, and others. If they participate in the process when you are ordering and setting up the configuration, they often can save you a fair amount of time and money. They can tell you little things such as, "We are on Novell 3 now, but we will be upgrading to Novell 4 next week, so you'd better be ready for it." Most information systems shops are so busy that it often is impossible for any one person to be aware of all the things going on. Get input from the individual experts early and often.
• Start with simple applications when moving to a new environment. You could try to make your first client/server application the mission-critical executive information system that the CEO and all the vice presidents use every day. If so, you have a lot more guts than I do. One example of a good first system to develop in a new environment is the system that tracks the time spent on various projects in the information systems group . This has several advantages. First, it is relatively simple, so you don't have to spend a lot of time on it. Second, your fellow information systems staff probably will be a lot kinder if there are performance problems or bugs than your company executives would be. Finally, if the system has a lot of problems, you are not affecting the company's bottom line while you work out all the bugs . It is a good place to learn some of the how-tos and work with issues such as performance.
• Always leave yourself time for problem resolution with the environment itself. I have seen setup take only one day with simple environments that have been done before with only a few vendors involved, and I've also seen setup take weeks or months for

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• cutting-edge technology. An assurance from your sales representative that everything will work is not something I would bet the project on. That sales representative might be completely truthful about never having had a problem setting up the software, but he might not have tried it in an environment like yours.

• Go through the database stack model and spec sheets when planning your system. You have to get down to the detail level of things ”such as Windows NT 3.51 on the server with the NT 3.51 TCP/IP stack interfacing to SQL*Net 2.2, and so on.
  Whenever possible, get evaluation copies of the software and hardware to test before purchasing the products. Another alternative might be to contact others who have the same environment as you to figure out what worked and did not work for them. It is tempting to move quickly through the planning steps to get a project going, but it can cost you a lot of troubleshooting time later if you miss some things.

These basic suggestions should get you through most of the hurdles. Do not take this as the voice of doom. I always have been able to get the database network environments I work with operational. Sometimes, it was a challenge to get things set up, especially in leading-edge environments; however, things usually worked well once the process was finished.

Summary

This chapter takes on an ambitious project; trying to describe the wide range of networking options available in Oracle in the space of a single chapter is somewhat like trying to summarize War and Peace in a single paragraph. The technical details of the various Oracle products fill up many Oracle manuals with detailed configuration options and installation instructions. Obviously, with the wide range of products Oracle provides and the number of environments it supports, this chapter could not even begin to look at all the options here. Instead, it focuses on providing an overview of database networking. You should have a feel for all the products that have to work together for that seemingly simple connection from your desktop to the database.

Along the way, you've seen some examples and heard about others' experiences. This is a tough chapter in which to come up with detailed examples (the list of configuration options to set on just one configuration probably would fill a chapter in itself). Consider giving yourself an adequate amount of time when setting up a networked database environment. It is easy to think that because everything is vendor-provided, all you have to do is open the boxes, load the software, and begin working. It often takes days to get the settings of new drivers right and to get all the kinks worked out of the architecture. Of course, if you already have dozens of similar installations and you simply are copying a working configuration, you might be able to get working right away. On the other hand, if you have a slightly (and I mean slightly) different configuration, you should leave yourself some time for testing and problem solving.

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