aveva vprmsupport.aveva.com/.../products/vprm/ag100147.pdf · aveva solutions ltd, high cross,...

AVEVA VPRM

Operating Environment Guide

VPRM Release 9.8 Issue 25

AVEVA Solutions Ltd, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HB, UK

Disclaimer

1.1 AVEVA does not warrant that the use of the AVEVA software will be uninterrupted, error-free or free from

viruses.

1.2 AVEVA shall not be liable for: loss of profits; loss of business; depletion of goodwill and/or similar losses; loss

of anticipated savings; loss of goods; loss of contract; loss of use; loss or corruption of data or information; any

special, indirect, consequential or pure economic loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses which may be

suffered by the user, including any loss suffered by the user resulting from the inaccuracy or invalidity of any data

created by the AVEVA software, irrespective of whether such losses are suffered directly or indirectly, or arise in

contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise.

1.3 AVEVA's total liability in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, arising in connection with the

performance of the AVEVA software shall be limited to 100% of the licence fees paid in the year in which the

user's claim is brought.

1.4 Clauses 1.1 to 1.3 shall apply to the fullest extent permissible at law.

1.5 In the event of any conflict between the above clauses and the analogous clauses in the software licence

under which the AVEVA software was purchased, the clauses in the software licence shall take precedence.

Copyright

Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in this manual and the associated software, and every part of it

(including source code, object code, any data contained in it, the manual and any other documentation supplied

with it) belongs to, or is validly licensed by, AVEVA Solutions Limited or its subsidiaries.

All rights are reserved to AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries. The information contained in this

document is commercially sensitive, and shall not be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted without the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited. Where such permission is granted, it

expressly requires that this copyright notice, and the above disclaimer, is prominently displayed at the beginning

of every copy that is made.

The manual and associated documentation may not be adapted, reproduced, or copied, in any material or

electronic form, without the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited. The user may not reverse

engineer, decompile, copy, or adapt the software. Neither the whole, nor part of the software described in this

publication may be incorporated into any third-party software, product, machine, or system without the prior

written permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited, save as permitted by law. Any such unauthorised action is strictly

prohibited, and may give rise to civil liabilities and criminal prosecution.

The AVEVA software described in this guide is to be installed and operated strictly in accordance with the terms

and conditions of the respective software licences, and in accordance with the relevant User Documentation.

Unauthorised or unlicensed use of the software is strictly prohibited.

Copyright 1994 to current year. AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. AVEVA shall

not be liable for any breach or infringement of a third party's intellectual property rights where such breach results

from a user's modification of the AVEVA software or associated documentation.

AVEVA Solutions Limited, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HB, United Kingdom.

AVEVA Solutions Ltd, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HB, UK

Trademarks

AVEVA and Tribon are registered trademarks of AVEVA Solutions Limited or its subsidiaries. Unauthorised use

of the AVEVA or Tribon trademarks is strictly forbidden.

AVEVA product/software names are trademarks or registered trademarks of AVEVA Solutions Limited or its

subsidiaries, registered in the UK, Europe and other countries (worldwide).

The copyright, trademark rights, or other intellectual property rights in any other product or software, its name or

logo belongs to its respective owner.

VPRM Operating Environment Guide Contents

Issue 25 i

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 1

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE ..................................................................................................................................... 2

ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAM ................................................................................................................................................ 2 Oracle Database Server ............................................................................................................................................... 2 Oracle Application Server............................................................................................................................................ 2 Client (PC) tier ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Flexman Server ............................................................................................................................................................ 3

ARCHITECTURE CONSIDERATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 4 Flexman ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Achieving flexibility when running VPE and VPRM .................................................................................................... 4 Location of webdata folder .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Static IP Address .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ..................................................................................................................................... 6

INTERNATIONAL OPERATING SYSTEM SUPPORT ............................................................................................................... 6 CHARACTER SET SUPPORT ................................................................................................................................................ 7 ORACLE DATABASE SERVER ............................................................................................................................................. 8

Hardware and Operating system ................................................................................................................................. 8 Software ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Disk Space .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Configuration ............................................................................................................................................................... 9

ORACLE APPLICATION SERVER ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Hardware and Operating system ............................................................................................................................... 10 Software ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Disk space .................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Configuration ............................................................................................................................................................. 11

CLIENT PC ...................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Hardware ................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Display ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Disk space .................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Operating System ...................................................................................................................................................... 12 Browser ...................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Browser Plugin .......................................................................................................................................................... 12 Software ..................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Optional Software ...................................................................................................................................................... 13

INTEGRATION AND INTERFACES ........................................................................................................................... 14

COMMUNICATIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 15

SINGLE DATABASE SERVER ............................................................................................................................................ 15 MULTIPLE DATABASE SERVERS ...................................................................................................................................... 15 CLIENT CONNECTION ...................................................................................................................................................... 16

Bandwidth and Delay ................................................................................................................................................. 16 Connection Type ........................................................................................................................................................ 16 VPRM@site ................................................................................................................................................................ 16 IT skills in remote office ............................................................................................................................................. 17

VPRM Operating Environment Guide Introduction

Issue 25 1

Introduction

This guide is intended for IT managers and support staff who are planning to implement VPRM.

Technical Architecture gives an overview of the major hardware, software and network components

Hardware & Software gives detailed requirements of the hardware, operating system, software packages & version numbers

Communications identifies the network requirements

This issue of the Guide identifies the platforms which AVEVA is planning to support for VPRM 9.8. Where AVEVA has current reservations about specific component releases these are highlighted in the text. AVEVA reserves the right to modify this document to reflect any additional findings during final testing of the VPRM 9.8 release.

VPRM Operating Environment Guide Technical Architecture

Issue 25 2

Technical Architecture

This section gives an overview of the major hardware, software and network components required to implement VPRM.

Architecture Diagram

VPRM is implemented using the Oracle three-tier architecture, which consists of the following components:

Oracle Database Server

The database server runs either Oracle 10gR2 (32- or 64-bit), Oracle 11gR1 (64-bit) or Oracle11gR2 (64-bit) database software, which contains the data and a portion of the application logic.

Oracle Application Server

The Application Server contains the bulk of the application logic, and runs the Oracle Application Server product, which consists of the following key components:

Web Cache, which improves server performance and hands-over requests to the Oracle HTTP Server.

Oracle HTTP Server, which provides a listening service using the Apache web server technology. This hands-over requests to the Forms Server

Forms Server, which deploys Forms applications with database access to Java running in a web browser. Once request has been passed to the Forms Server all communication is then direct to the web browser The Forms Server Runtime process executes the application logic.

The Reports Server, which provides an easy to use and administer solution for reporting. VPRM reports run by initiating a request to the Oracle Reports Server process. The report output is returned to the client, normally in PDF format for viewing/printing using Acrobat

Dial-up Locationeg Material Inspector

Extranet or Internet VPN

Laptop / PC

client

Main Locationeg Design Office

LAN

Oracle Net

traffic

Application

Server

Application software

Software executionDatabase

Server

Database

PC clients – minimal local software

Linked Locationeg Design Sub-Contractor, Construction Site, Client Office

Intranet (WAN) or Internet VPN

PC clients

HTTP

traffic



Laptop / PC

client



Laptop / PC

client

Laptop / PC

client


LAN

Oracle Net

traffic

Application

Server


Software executionDatabase

Server

Database




PC clients



PC clientsPC clients

HTTP

traffic


Issue 25 3

Reader.

The Application Server communicates with the database server via the Oracle Net protocol.

Client (PC) tier

The client runs a web browser and downloads the Java-based Forms client (Java applet) on demand. These forms are rendered and controlled in the browser using the SUN Java Runtime Environment (JRE). This simply presents the user interface for the server-side application. It communicates with the Application Server using a HTTP connection.

Flexman Server

VPRM licensing is managed by the Flexman Server using the Flexlm product. Prior to running VPRM the Flexman 5 software should be installed and license keys obtained. This is described in the document flexman.pdf on your product CD.


Issue 25 4

Architecture Considerations

This section gives general recommendations for common architecture questions.

Flexman

Where Flexman is already implemented it is recommended that the existing license file is extended to include the VPRM licenses.

For customers new to AVEVA products, Flexman can be installed on any robust server within the LAN – the Oracle Application Server is recommended where VPRM is the only application present.

Achieving flexibility when running VPE and VPRM

VPE and VPRM are web-enabled products, making use of the Oracle 3-tier architecture. Both products require an Oracle Application Server and an Oracle Database Server.

AVEVA Product development roadmaps are planned in order that compatible versions of VPE and VPRM are available at around the same time, in order that customers can install both products on the same servers, minimising the hardware and Oracle costs.

However, recent experience has shown that for some customers a more flexible approach is needed, particularly when the customer wishes to benefit from new features provided in one product, but is unable to upgrade the other product. Examples of this are:

Upgrading both products at once is considered too large a change. The customer would prefer to stagger the upgrades to reduce risk and allow staff to absorb the changes.

A project is at a critical stage and the customer is unwilling to upgrade one product.

AVEVA is unable to synchronise release dates owing to commitments for other customers

AVEVA recommends that as a general rule, customers should implement VPE and VPRM on separate servers.

What are the options ?

A customer implementing both VPE and VPRM, or wishing to upgrade one or other product has the following options.

2 Application Servers, 2 Database Servers

o Complete flexibility

o Higher cost of hardware and Oracle licenses

2 Application Servers, 1 Database Server

o Reasonable flexibility

o Moderate cost of hardware and Oracle licenses

1 Application Server, 1 Database Server

o Inflexible – upgrading requires careful planning taking into account all projects. Unlikely to benefit from new product features immediately

o Minimise hardware and Oracle licenses

Location of webdata folder

When planning the VPRM 9.8 implementation IT staff will need to consider whether the “webdata” folder can be located in the standard configuration, on the Application Server under <VPRM Home>.

In a production environment, the webdata folder should have (at least) daily backups.


Issue 25 5

Static IP Address

It is recommended that the Database Server and Application Server are configured with a static ip address (as for any production server). For Oracle Application Server 10gR2 or Fusion Middleware11g this is now more critical than in the previous AS products. For Off-Network installations and support for DHCP please review the document Oracle documentation for details.

VPRM Operating Environment Guide Hardware and Software

Issue 25 6

Hardware and Software

This section gives detailed requirements of the hardware, operating system, software packages & version numbers required to implement VPRM.

International Operating System Support

Where the text identifies operating systems (e.g. Windows XP) or 3rd party packages (e.g. Office 2007) then VPRM has been comprehensively tested with the English versions. Support for other specific languages is identified in the specific VPRM Release Notes – „Statement on Internationalisation‟, and bulletins will be issued as new platforms become supported.


Issue 25 7

Character Set Support

Customers installing VPRM should consider:

What language(s) the database will need to support

Whether data will need to be imported using the Excel import feature

The following table identifies the options available for the languages tested by the VPRM team, and the configuration settings required.

Notes:

(A) UTF8 is recommended for all new databases, allows storage of all characters, single-byte and multi-byte. Note that for Oracle 11g, the default and recommended format for new databases is AL32UTF8.

(B) WE8ISO8859P1 is supported for existing databases, allows storage of Western European languages e.g. accented characters, “£”

(C) Configuring the Language and Territory for the NLS_LANG in the additional configuration will localise the VPRM session (i.e. the Date Format, Oracle Error messages) for the users who select this language as their preference

Native

Language Database

character set Font alias

req’d Additional configuration needed for User

Locale

1 English UTF8 / AL32UTF8

(Note A) No No

2 English WE8ISO8859P1

(Note B) No

Yes

e.g. AMERICAN_AMERICA. WE8ISO8859P1

3

Western European

(e.g. Spanish, German)

UTF8 / AL32UTF8

(Note A) No

Yes

e.g. SPANISH_SPAIN.UTF8

4

Western European

(e.g. Spanish, German)

WE8ISO8859P1

(Note B) No

Yes

e.g. SPANISH_SPAIN. WE8ISO8859P1

(Note C)

5

Other (e.g.

Japanese, Korean)

UTF8 / AL32UTF8

(Note A)

Yes Yes

e.g. JAPANESE_JAPAN.UTF8


Issue 25 8

Oracle Database Server

Hardware and Operating system

10gR2:

Dual Core Processor Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition SP2 32-bit or 64bit

- or - Sun Sparc or UltraSparc running Solaris 10

- or -

11gR1:

Dual Core Processor Windows Server 2008 64-bit

- or -

11gR2:

Dual Core Processor Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

Software

Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition Release 2 (10.2.0.1) 32-bit

+ Oracle Database 10g Release 2 10.2.0.3 32-bit Patch Set 2 (5337014)

+ Latest OPatch for 10.2.0 (6880880) 32-bit

+ October 2008 critical patch for 10.2.0.3 Patch set 27 (7353782 Windows Only)

or

Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition Release 2 (10.2.0.1) 64-bit

+ Oracle Database 10g Release 2 10.2.0.3 64-bit Patch Set 2 (5337014)

+ Latest OPatch for 10.2.0 64-bit (6880880)

+ March 2009 critical patch for 10.2.0.3 Patch set 31 64-bit (8288854 Windows Only)

or

Oracle Database 11g Standard Edition (11.1.0.7) 64-bit

or

Oracle Database 11gR2 Standard Edition (11.2.0.1) 64-bit

+ March 2011 bundle patch for 11.2.0.1 Patch set 11 64-bit (11731176)

+ Oracle Patch for DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL GENERATES WRONG KEYWORDS FOR COMPRESSED INDEXES

Recommended: Character Set UTF8 (for Oracle 11g, AL32UTF8)

- or –

WE8ISO8859P1


Issue 25 9

Disk Space

Oracle Database Software: 1GB approx

VPRM Training Database: 2GB approx

VPRM Production Database: (see Configuration below)

VPRM Database Server components: 30 MB approx.

Configuration

Sizing of the server is very dependent upon the number of concurrent VPRM users, the number of Oracle instances running and what, if any, other software and user communities are using the server. Recommended configurations are given below, for assistance in sizing a system please contact AVEVA support.

In a production environment, the database server should have archivelog enabled and (at least) daily backups.

Recommended Test/Demo Configuration

Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Standard Edition

Dual core processor 2GHz+

2GB RAM

SATA Disk 40GB

Recommended Minimum Production Configuration


Dual core processor 2GHz+,

4GB RAM

• approximately 50 concurrent end-users

Disks SAS RAID-0+1 recommended, 4 disk array (eg 4*72GB disks)


Issue 25 10

Oracle Application Server

Hardware and Operating system

10gR2 (32-bit)

Dual Core Processor Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition SP2 -or-

11g (64-bit)

Dual Core Processor Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition (Note A)

Note A. The 11g (64-bit) Weblogic Server is only supported against 11gR1 and 11gR2 RDBMS versions.

Software

Microsoft .NET framework 2.0

Oracle Application Server 10g (10.1.2.0.2) Forms and Reports

+ Oracle Application Server 10g (10.1.2.3.0) Patch set 3 (5983622)

+ Focus Patch (7351564)

+ Web Cache Bundle Patch (7438911) - Forms and Reports Services Install (Note B)

-or-

Oracle Weblogic Server 11gR1 (10.3.4.0)

+ Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports, and Discoverer 11gR1 (11.1.1.2.0)

+ Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports, and Discoverer 11gR1 (11.1.1.4.0) Patch Set 3 (11060983)

+ Oracle Database (11.1.0.7.0) Patch Set 38 (11741170)

Note B. VPRM is supported for use with the Oracle Application Server “Forms and Reports” install only. A complete Application Server Enterprise install could also include the “Infrastructure” component which makes for a more complex environment; in particular some of the configuration files are stored in the infrastructure environment and would not be updated using the VPRM Installation program.

Disk space

Oracle Application Server 10gR2: 900MB

Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g: 6GB

VPRM application software: 500MB

Webdata folder: This area contains all VPRM Project documents and report output files, size will be dependent on the number and size of Projects.


Issue 25 11

Configuration

Recommended configurations are given below, for assistance in sizing a system please contact AVEVA support.

In a production environment, the application server should be backed up after any configuration changes but a daily backup is not necessarily required. However also see topic Location of Webdata folder.

Recommended Test/Demo Configuration


Dual core processor 2GHz+

4GB RAM

SATA Disk 40GB

Recommended Minimum Production Configuration

Windows Server 2008/64 R2 Standard Edition

Dual core processor 2GHz+, 4GB RAM

• approximately 50 concurrent end-users

Disks SAS RAID 1 recommended, 2 disk array (eg 2*100 GB disks)


Issue 25 12

Client PC

Hardware

1 Dual Core with 2GB RAM (recommended)

Intel Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM or better (minimum)

Display

The recommended environment is a 19" monitor or better running in 1024 by 768 (XVGA) resolution or better using Normal size (96 dpi) fonts.

It is possible to configure VPRM to use large size (120 dpi) fonts which affects all users. This is described in the Installation Guide.

Disk space

SUN Java: 100MB

Client Jar Cache: 5MB

Operating System

Windows XP Professional (32 bit) SP2 or SP3 (recommended)

Windows 7 Professional (32 or 64 bit)

- Windows 7 64 bit operating system is supported with 32 bit browser only

Browser

Internet Explorer 8.0 (32-bit)

Internet Explorer 7.0 (32-bit)

as appropriate to the Windows operating system version

Browser Plugin

SUN Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 update 24 or later (32 bit)

Software

Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0.1 or higher (Windows XP)

Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.3.1 or higher (Windows 7)

Microsoft Office Excel & Word:

Microsoft Excel 2003 SP3 + compatibility pack

Microsoft Word 2003 SP3 + compatibility pack

--or--

Microsoft Excel 2007

Microsoft Word 2007

--or--

Microsoft Excel 2010

Microsoft Word 2010


Issue 25 13

Optional Software

Business Objects is the recommended report-writing tool for custom reports. VPRM is supplied with a comprehensive set of universes to support the writing of custom reports at customer sites.

The universes are supported for use with the following Business Objects product versions:

Business Objects XI R2, R3 This is a 3-tier architecture product which accesses universes in a Business Objects repository.

Note : VPRM 9.8 universes are compatible with Business Objects 4.1.3 and above although this release is no longer supported, and future compatibility cannot be assumed.

Report Tables To create and/or run customised reports based on the Report Tables is possible with the following software components (this is not an exhaustive list). For further details see Report Tables User Guide.

An ODBC compatible application, such as MS Excel

MS Query (an optional component of MS Excel and other MS products)

Microsoft ODBC (installed with Windows or MS Query). Note that the standard driver Microsoft ODBC for Oracle has been trialled by the VPRM team.

Oracle 11gR2 client

VPRM Operating Environment Guide Integration and Interfaces

Issue 25 14

Integration and Interfaces

For up to date information on compatibility of AVEVA products refer to the Compatibility Matrix on the AVEVA Customer Support Web Site.

VPRM Operating Environment Guide Communications

Issue 25 15

Communications

This section identifies the network requirements

Single Database Server

The Oracle Database Server and Oracle Application Server must be in close proximity (in network terms) preferably on a common high-bandwidth backbone within the same computer room.

Multiple Database Servers

VPRM allows multiple projects to be located on different database servers, sharing a common material catalogue and vendor database, using the Oracle Snapshot feature. Where this architecture is used, the database servers must be connected either within a Local Area Network, or via a high bandwidth, low delay, Wide Area Network. Each database server will require an Oracle Application server on the same Local Area Network.


Issue 25 16

Client Connection

Bandwidth and Delay

VPRM has been tested satisfactorily using a delay simulator on line speeds down to 200ms and bandwidths down to 64kbps. AVEVA is confident that VPRM will run satisfactorily using a 56kbps USA dedicated link. When using slow lines it is recommended that the SUN Java component is pre-installed rather than being downloaded on demand when VPRM is first invoked.

During "real use" benchmarking, the following „per-user‟ transfer rates were observed:

Forms data entry and query Average of 8 kbps

Forms data entry and query with Word and Excel interactions Average of 20 kbps

SITE data entry and query, some Excel and reports Average of 12 kbps

Based on these trials AVEVA believes that a 128kbps dedicated line would support 5-8 highly active users, or 6-12 real users.

Further testing is ongoing. AVEVA‟s understanding is that there is wide, and reasonably satisfactory, experience of running similar applications in this architecture over dial-up lines.

Connection Type

VPRM requires that the Application Server is configured for HTTP connections.

This means that VPRM can be used in the following environments:

Local Area Network

Company Intranet/Wide Area Network

Via the internet using Virtual Private Network (VPN) - this is AVEVA‟s recommendation when connecting via the internet.

It is also possible to configure VPRM for use over the internet using HTTPS, however this setup requires strong Oracle Application Server/Apache skills and may have contractual implications. Please contact AVEVA support for further information.

VPRM@site

Inaccessible Location(or poor communication)

eg Construction Site

LAN

DB & App

servers


LAN

Oracle Net

traffic

Application

ServerDatabase

Server

Database


Regular updates

HTTP

traffic


Software execution



LAN

DB & App

servers



LAN

DB & App

servers


LAN

Oracle Net

traffic

Application

ServerDatabase

Server

Database


Regular updates

HTTP

traffic


Software execution


Issue 25 17

This option is available where the project is executed in two offices (home and remote) and there is no suitable communications available. The home office carries out design and procurement activities, and the remote office carries out site activities. The home office exports material requirement and purchase order information, which is transferred to site at regular intervals, e.g. by sending a CD via courier. A complete VPRM installation is required in both offices (Database Server, Application Server, PCs).

IT skills in remote office

The remote office will require local applications support and Oracle DBA/Application Server support during office hours, preferably based in the remote office.

aveva vprmsupport.aveva.com/.../products/vprm/ag100147.pdf · aveva solutions ltd, high cross,...

Documents