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Create an Oracle RAC Data Source on Windows Systems

Oracle RAC 9.2.0.6 and 10.1.0.4 instances can be configured with the Policy Server as a single data source name similar to that of a single instance Oracle database. However, the data source name for Oracle RAC is different than a regular ODBC data source.

In an Oracle RAC system, in addition to the SID or ServiceName for each Oracle instance, there is also a ServiceName for the entire Oracle RAC system. When configuring a data source, configure the data source name to use this ServiceName when connecting to an Oracle RAC.

To configure an Oracle RAC data source

1. Select Programs, Administrative Tools, Data Sources (ODBC) to access the ODBC Data Source Administrator.
2. Click the System DSN tab, and then click Add.

   The Create New Data Source dialog box appears.

3. Scroll down and select SiteMinder Oracle Wire Protocol and click Finish.

   The ODBC Oracle Wire Protocol Driver Setup dialog appears.

4. Under the General tab, do the following:
   1. In the Data Source Name field, enter any name for the data source.

      Note: Take note of the data source name, as you will need it when configuring your ODBC database as a policy store.

   2. In the Host field, enter the IP address of the first node in the Oracle RAC system. For Oracle RAC 10g, specify the virtual IP address.
   3. In the Service Name field, enter the service name for the entire Oracle RAC system. For example, in the following tnsnames.ora file, the value SMDB is the service name for the entire Oracle RAC system (consisting of 3 nodes).

      SMDB =

                (DESCRIPTION =

      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = nete_servername1)(PORT = 1521))

      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = nete_servername2)(PORT = 1521))

      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = nete_servername3)(PORT = 1521))

      (LOAD_BALANCE = yes)

      (CONNECT_DATA =

      (SERVER = DEDICATED)

      (SERVICE_NAME = SMDB)

      )

5. Under the Failover Tab, do the following:
   1. In the Alternate Servers field, specify the host name (virtual IP address), port number, and service name for all the remaining Oracle RAC nodes in the environment. The ServiceName is service name for the entire Oracle RAC system.
   2. Specify the AlternateServers to provide connection failover to the other Oracle nodes if the primary server is not accepting connections. The entry should have the following format:

      (HostName=nete_servername2:PortNumber=1521:ServiceName=nete_servicename[, . . . ])

   3. Check the LoadBalancing option. This turns on the client load balancing to help distribute new connections to keep RAC nodes from being overwhelmed with connection requests. When client load balancing is enabled, the order in which primary and alternate database servers are accessed is random.
6. Click OK to save the selections and exit the ODBC Oracle Wire Protocol Driver Setup.

The configuration is complete. Now, configure SiteMinder to use the data source you created.

More Information:

Configure an ODBC Database as a Policy Store