Chapter 1. Introducing the Siebel Web Architecture
Installing and managing a complex enterprise application such as Oracle's Siebel CRM can be challenging. Whether you consider yourself a seasoned IT professional or a beginner: once we add concepts such as load balancing or multiple language deployment, it is easy to get lost.
The reason why you are reading this book might have been stated above. In this book, we are going to follow a typical Siebel CRM installation procedure. Additionally, we will look under the hood and learn how to manage all those different pieces of software.
Understanding the building blocks of Oracle's Siebel CRM applications as well as knowing how to avoid general pitfalls during installation and system management are of course great benefits. We can then execute our Siebel CRM projects more quickly and subsequently with less cost and risk.
When you finish this book, you will not only be able to successfully master the installation and system management procedures, you will also have the advantage of a deep understanding of the intricacies of Siebel CRM.
Instead of starting the setup program in a rush to see what happens, we should first understand what we are going to install. It is therefore strongly recommended to follow the course of this book. The topics in this book are arranged so that each chapter builds upon the previous one. The following is a list of what we will learn:
- Understanding the Siebel web architecture
- Planning and preparing a Siebel CRM installation
- Installing the Siebel CRM server and client software on different operating systems
- Installing ancillary server software
- Configuring load balancing and installing language packs
- Managing Siebel Servers
- Provisioning external authentication
- Understanding and managing data security
- Supporting developer teams and mobile users
- Deploying configuration changes
- Measuring application performance
This chapter sets the stage with an overview of the Siebel Web Architecture. We will describe the building blocks of the latter in order to be able to lay out a concise planning document and use a structured approach during the installation and configuration procedures.