Introducing SOA and Oracle SOA Suite 11g for Database Professionals

IntroducingSOA and Oracle SOA Suite 11g to Oracle Database Professionals
WebLogic Server 11g
Oracle Open World 2009
Monday, 12th October
Lucas Jellema
AMIS, The Netherlands
SOA Suite 11g

Agenda
Introducing SOA – what, why, how
Quick overview of SOA Suite 11g
Leveraging the SOA Suite from the database
Accessing the database from the SOA Suite
Applying SOA principles to database development
Wrap up

SOA = BAD

Business
Agility through
Decoupling
SOA =

Decoupling≈Managing Dependencies
minimize impact of change while maximizing reusability

Types of decoupling
Functional
Interface - Encapsulation of implementation
Design by Contract, Implement by Design
Technical
No proprietary technology, protocol, message format
Standards based (XML, HTTP, RSS, WSDL…)
Temporal
Asynchronous communication (separate response)
Development
Separate teams working in parallel based on mutually agreed interface definitions

Objectives
Business Agility
(Faster) responses to market demands
Creating new business from existing resources
IT Flexibility
Optimize locally without impact ‘globally’
Prepare for future developments
Lower costs
Through reuse, better integration, decoupling

Objectives
(longer term) Higher Quality and Faster (traceable) Process execution
Automated data exchange cross boundaries
Workflow and task orientation
integrated, cross department, in a controlled way based on sound understanding of the business processes
Business Event driven interaction
Manage risks and fear

Common Characteristics in SOA
Cross Boundaries
Cross Technology - .Net, Uniface, Java, Tibco
Cross Channel – Back Office, Web, PDA, API
Cross User Group – Internal, Agents, Self Service
Cross Domain – Multiple departments & systems
Cross Enterprise – Interact with external partners
Data synchronization or consolidation
Management whim Vision
From Database angle: providing services

What is a service?
Standards based callable, reusable functionality according to an interaction contract
In terms of functionality (WSDL – compare Package Specification)
What are the input parameters
What are the output parameters (if any)
What are the exceptions
How (when, where) is the response delivered
Implementation is hidden!

What is a service (2)?
In terms of operational QoS (Quality of Service) define in a Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Availability
Stability & Release schedule
Response Time
Peak load capacity
Price
Reliability, Confidentiality
Address, protocol

Services in various shapes
Library (dll, jar)
Java Class (public methods) or an EJB (interface)
URL
RSS feed
Portlet (UI Service)
SOAP WebService
Database View or Package Specification
….
If it exposes a clear, standardized interface

Example of a service call?
Browser makes sendshttp request to a URL
Text based message with headers and body

What is a service call?
Server returns a response
Another text based message with headers and body

Calling a Web Service
Send an XML document to a URL via HTTP
Request message contains headers and body
Service (server) returns another XML document
Response message contains headers and body
Response can be a fault (a WebService exception)
Headers are used for meta-data
Sender (identity, address), Return address
Encryption, digitally signed,
Type of content, type of compression

The SOA Suite 11g
The engine that runs applications that implement the WebServices
Inside the WebLogic Server application server
WebLogic Server 11g
WebServices
SOA Suite 11g

SOA Suite 11g Composite Applications
SOA Composite Applications consist of special components that process XML messages:
Decision Logic (go left or right, discount is X)
Human Workflow (end user must act)
BPEL (service orchestration)
Mediator (filter, transform and route messages)

SOA Suite 11g – calling out to external service and adapters
SOA Composite Applications can call out to external WebServices and Adapters
Adapters connect to various technologies
Database (SQL & PL/SQL)
Advanced Queuing
File & FTP
JMS, MQ Series, EBSTCP/IP Sockets
Adapters can triggerapplication execution

Leveraging SOA Suite 11g from the database
The database can call out to the SOA Suite 11g
With UTL_HTTP or Stored Java (2-way, synchronous)
Through Advanced Queuing or Database Adapter polling (one way)
WebLogic Server 11g
SOA Suite 11g
AQ
AQ

Call the “getOilPrice Service”
We need to know the oil price for some calculations…
But that price is not constant, we need the current price
We do not want the exact market price, we have our own contracts
Let’s define a constant in a package
Oh, well, let’s call a WebService – Yahoo?
Ah, the Purchasing department publishes a WebService for such data

PurchasingPrices available via SOAP
PurchasingPrices Service is available as a (SOAP based) WebService (implemented using BPEL)
Service and WSDL are available (URLs are known)

SOAP call over HTTP can be made from PL/SQL
Using UTL_HTTP
Assemble SOAP message
Envelope
Payload
Name of product
Make HTTP Post request
Process Response
Retrieve and Return the product price
“re-Publish” service as PL/SQL function
WebLogic Server 11g
SOA Suite 11g

WebLogic Server 11g
SOA Suite 11g

The database can ask the middle tier for other services as well
Get information from (or to) services on the intranet or internet (‘please get us the NBA scores ’)
Publish/Send information to the internet (RSS, email, chat)
Can tell the middle tier
Interesting events and data changes
Trigger cache refresh!
Alert about (im)pending issues,attempted rule violations, …
The outcome of batch calculcations
WebLogic Server 11g
SOA Suite 11g
Web App
AQ

Happy Chatting – IM from the Database
WebLogic Server 11g
Service
Service
Database can call a middletier service using utl_http
Passing in the destinationand the message content
This Service sends it onwards to the Google Talk Server
CHAT_MGR

Database actively informs on events
WebLogic Server 11g
Service
Service
CHAT_MGR
EMP

Publish Services from the Database
Describe Services in WSDL and XSL
Specify operations, input and output parameters
Describe complex data structures ofparameters
Publish Database-based Services
Plain URL services through PL/SQL packages
based on MOD_PLSQL, XML DB or DBMS_EPG
Full blown SOAP WebServices
11g Native WebService (publish PL/SQL package), use UTL_DBWS, JPublisher for Java proxy class in AppServer
Leverage SOA Suite to expose Database functionality
Through the database adapter in SOA Suite/WLS

Oracle DB 11g NativeWebServices
Publish a PL/SQL Package as externally available WebService
WSDL is auto-generated
SOAP calls over http and https are supported

SOA: Loading file contents into table
SOA application can contain services that read from or write to the database
Database is passive – undergoing SQL or PL/SQL
Polling can also be against database

SOA: Loading file contents into table

Can you do SOA with only a …

Key SOA concepts and lessons
Functional interface, hiding implementation details
Package specification
Simple View API (possibly with IOT) – with complex joins, analytical functions, advanced SQL and PL/SQL integration
Reusable, standardized services as flexible building blocks
Aggregate and Combine into more valuable reusables
Governance: security, management of services, SLAs
Allow for configuration without development or deployment effort
Decoupling in every aspect!

Coupling & Decoupling in Oracle RDBMS
Decoupling
Coupling
Package Specification
Views (+ Instead of Trigger)
Triggers in general
DBMS_JOB
Advanced Queuing
Publish (intranet) XML & WebService
%TYPE instead of hardcoded data type
Centrally managed “parameter service”
instead of local constants
instead of hard coded values
Use generic (SOA) services
Database Link
SYSDATE and USER
Application performing SQL against tables
SQL all over the place
Access database from DMZ or even outside firewall
Publish WebService or Web Application on Internet
Too frequent use of dbms_output.put_line
Copy and paste of code
Poorly documented code
Use of exotic features

Decoupling Applications & Data
Application(User Interface)
Data
Data

Data

Application
(User Interface)
WorkflowEngine
CMS
Email
IM
Fax

Decoupling from Table to ESB+
http
WEBDAV
FTP
WSRP
coupled
http
WS/SOAP
WS*
WS*
WS*
complex

Increasingly decoupled
More hiding of the implementation
More Formal Interface Contract
Less (proprietary) technology & more standards for interacting
Less exposure of (legacy) data model
More support for asynchronous interaction
More reuse potential
Pervasive throughout enterprise
More suitable for external consumption

Comes at a cost…
More run time overhead
Additional tiers
XML serialization and deserialization
More infrastructure
Burden of Administration
License Costs
Hardware
Broader skills palette – more stuff to master
Harder to get started

Summary
SOA is about decoupling, integration & reuse
SOA Suite 11g runs service implementations
That can access database and other technologies through adapters – either inbound or outbound
Database can access services from utl_http
Or AQ, Database polling or File polling
SOA Suite hooks into database via SQL, PL/SQL, AQ or even XML DB file protocols
Many SOA concepts can be applied without the SOA Suite, using standard DB features

Resources
Presentation and demos are on our blog
http://technology.amis.nl/blog
Contact me at:
lucas.jellema@amis.nl