What is Oracle Integration Cloud?
Oracle ICS is a cloud-based integration platform from Oracle. It offers a user-friendly web-based interface enabling ‘citizen grators’ to quickly perform some basic mapping and integration between (cloud) applications. Imagine, registering for ICS on the Oracle site, and getting access to an environment immediately. Within a few clicks, and use of a credit card, one can gain access to a cloud integration platform.
With a growing number of available cloud applications (not only from Oracle), but customers also face the challenge of keeping these solutions in sync. A challenge in which Oracle ICS can help us out!
What is the Application in OIC?
OIC Offer three applications:
- Integration cloud service (ICS)
- Process Cloud service (PCS)
- Visual Builder Cloud Service (VBCS)
Oracle Integration cloud comes under which category of the cloud?
Oracle Integration Cloud is a platform as a service (Paas)
What is Integration in Oracle Integration Cloud?
Integration is the main ingredient of Oracle Integration; An Integration includes trigger (source) connection and invoke (target) connection and the field mapping between those two connections.
What is an adaptor in Oracle Integration Cloud?
Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) Adaptor is an abstract way to connect to any application with the help of a box adapter. There is 50+ adapters available in OIC, below are the categories
- Oracle Adapter (Oracle Sales Cloud, Oracle EBS, Oracle ERP adapter, etc.)
- Non-Oracle Adapter (Salesforce, Ariba, Concur, etc.)
- Technology Adapter (REST, SOAP, FTP, etc.)
How many design patterns are available in OIC and what are those?
There are total of Six Patterns in Oracle Integration Cloud
- App Driven Orchestration
- Scheduled Orchestration
- File Transfer
- Basic Routing
- Publish To OIC
- Subscribe To OIC
What is App Driven Orchestration pattern?
App Driven Orchestration pattern is the multi-step pattern, allows invoking multiple applications in a single flow, doing a for-each loop, if-else logic, apply complex logic, etc.
What is Scheduled Orchestration Pattern?
Scheduled Orchestration pattern allows you to develop an integration that can run on the pre-defined frequency and can be executed on an Adhoc basis.
What is a File Transfer Pattern?
File Transfer pattern allows to move files across network seamlessly and securely. This is again a scheduled type of pattern.
What is a Basic Routing Pattern?
Basic Routing pattern can connect only two applications with no logic
What is publish to OIC and Subscribe to OIC pattern?
Publish to OIC pattern allows publishing messages to OIC internal messaging queues. For example, an event is subscribed from Oracle Sales Cloud and Publish the same into Oracle Integration Cloud messaging queue.
Subscribe to OIC pattern subscribe messages from Oracle Integration Cloud messaging queue and sends the same to different applications
These queues are managed by OIC itself and you don’t have access of them
What is a file Transfer pattern?
File Transfer pattern allows to move files across network seamlessly and securely. This is again a scheduled type of pattern.
What is a basic Routing Pattern?
Basic Routing pattern can connect only two applications with no logic
What is a lookup in Oracle Integration Cloud?
Lookups are associate values used by one application for a specific field to the values used by other applications for the same field. This provides the capability to map values across vocabularies or system.
For example, the source application uses country code to represent the country however target application uses the country name to represent the country. These mapping can be maintained using Lookup and will be referred by Integration during runtime.
What is a mapper?
A visual mapper is provided that enables you to map fields between applications with different data structures by dragging source fields
What is the package in Oracle Integration Cloud?
Package is used to group one or more integration into a single structure. The package can be exported from the source instance and imported into the target instance. All integration that is part of the package will be imported automatically.
Difference between ICS and OIC?
Integration Cloud Service (ICS):
Simplify how you build integration in the cloud. This product lets you connect securely to applications and services both in the cloud and on-premises. The infrastructure (cloud management, patching, backup, and restore) is managed by Oracle.
Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC):
Process Cloud Service (PCS)- A process automation tool used to design, automate and manage business processes in the cloud.
Visual Builder Cloud Service (VBCS)- Allows you to rapidly create and deploy web and mobile applications directly from the browser with minimal coding required.
How to handle exceptions in Oracle Integration Cloud?
- Exception can be handle using Scope activity and Global Fault handler in Oracle Integration Cloud.
- Fault Handler is provided at the scope level to handle errors that arise during invoke actions within those scopes.
- Global Fault Handler that is available at the overall integration flow level which acts as a super catch block.
What is the business identifier in Oracle Integration Cloud?
A business identifier enables you to track payload fields in messages during runtime. You can specify up to three business identifier fields for tracking during design time. One of these fields must be selected as the primary business identifier field.
What mapper function can you use to get the lookup value in Mapping Builder?
LookupValue
How many types of certificates can be imported from the settings menu and what are those?
Three types of certificates can be imported into OIC. Certificates are used to validate outbound SSL connections and those are
- Identity Certificate
- Trust Certificate
- Message Protection Certificate
Which expression can you use to schedule integration runs?
iCal expression is used to defined scheduled runs into OIC.
For Example:
FREQ=DAILY; BYHOUR=17; BYMINUTE=30,40,50; BYSECOND=0; &
FREQ=DAILY; BYHOUR=18; BYMINUTE=0,10,20,30,40,50; BYSECOND=0; &
FREQ=DAILY; BYHOUR=19; BYMINUTE=0,10,20,30; BYSECOND=0; &
Can we store data into OIC?
OIC doesn’t allow you to store data for future use. However, OIC is having Stage activity that can be used to store data for temporary use. The data stored into OIC has flushed automatically as soon as the instance is completed.
What is a trigger and invoke role?
Trigger: Inbound for OIC. If something triggers an OIC that will be considered as inbound.
Invoke Outbound to OIC. If an application is invoked by OIC, that will be considered as Outbound to OIC.
What is a connectivity agent?
- Connectivity agent is the agent that helps you create integrations between on-premises applications and SaaS application.
- Connectivity Agent acts as a Gateway from On-Premise to OIC.
- This Agent is installed and run on an on-premise environment on the same network as internal systems such as Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Siebel, Oracle Database, and others
What are the pre-requisites to install a connectivity agent?
Satisfy the system requirements before installing the connectivity agent.
1. the Agent is certified with Oracle JDK Version 8.
2. The agent is certified on the following operating systems
– Oracle Enterprise Linus 6.x, 7.2 and 7.5
– RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.6, 7.2 and 7.5
– Suse Linux Enterprise Edition 12 SP2
– Windows Standard Edition 2016
3. 8GB Memory with 4GB of heap size dedicated for the agent JVM
What is the timeout limit of the connectivity agent?
This is 240 seconds. If request and response don’t complete with 240 seconds then the transaction will get timeout and integration will get fail and throw the error:
oracle.cloud.cpi.agent.transport.aq.CpiAQException: Message not received within 240 seconds of wait interval.
What is the payload limit of the connectivity agent?
10 MB is the message payload limit on the Agent side. This means if the message payload is more than 10MB of a single request the transaction will get fail.
Can we install an OIC connectivity agent in High Availability (HA) mode?
Yes, the OIC connectivity agent can be installed in HA mode. Agent HA provides an option to run multiple OIC Agents in Active-Active mode.
What is the difference between FTP and File adapter?
- FTP adapter can read/write the file from FTP/SFTP which are accessible over the internet however File adapter allow read/write file form FTP/SFTP which is behind the firewall.
- FTP adapter can’t poll files from FTP server however File adapter has polling capability
What are the limitations of the FTP adapter?
- ‘Read a File’ operation of FTP adapter allows reading file which is less than 10MB only. To read files greater than 10MB use the ‘Download File’ operation of the FTP adapter.
- FTP adapter doesn’t allow to poll new files from FTP server.
What are the types of data that you can use in the Cloud Fusion Application including cloud? Which one is more critical among them?
With respect to the rise in cloud technology since the last few years, a significant change has been seen in the data types. Presently, three types of data are common in the Oracle Fusion Cloud and they are:
1. Structured
2. Unstructured
3. Semi-structured
Among all these three, the unstructured data is considered critical data. This is because it is not classified in any manner and is generally a combination of different types of files, videos, images, as well as text.
On which servicing model Oracle Fusion cloud technology is based?
It is based on Saas which is also one of its biggest benefits
Tell me something about the Open-source cloud database platform you are familiar with?
The fact is Open source is something that enables the users to manage the cloud exactly in the way they want. Because scalability, reliability, efficiency, as well as speed, matters a lot, a document-oriented approach is very important and offer high storage abilities. Some open-source approaches which are common are CouchDB, MongoDB as well as LucidDB.
How secure data on the cloud is?
Well, organizations need not worry about the same and this is because the cloud is a safe approach. It comes with multiple benefits and users need not worry about security. This is because users are allowed to impose various security restrictions on their data such as log in with a user-name and a password, data encryption, and so on. However, there are certain factors that organizations must pay attention to before they consider any cloud service.
Is it possible to reconcile the data from output form to input form?
In Oracle Fusion Cloud, it is possible and can generally be done with the help of an approach known as Input Validation.
How can you say that Oracle Fusion cloud technology is beneficial for an organization?
- It always makes sure of security when it comes to data storage and backup
- Oracle Fusion cloud approach is highly agnostic to OS
- It enables users to keep up the pace simply because of its virtualization, as well as Sandboxing abilities
- Another good thing is it is cost-effective
- It always makes sure of better productivity
- Oracle Fusion Cloud comes as Saas
- Without hardware investment, users can simply take full benefit of server capabilities
- Scaling, as well as growth, can be managed simultaneously
Suppose you need to transfer the maximum amount of data very quickly in or out from the cloud what would you do?
Using “Performance Cloud” is a good option. It is actually used by a lot of professionals for getting the outcomes that are advanced and need fast data transmission.
What exactly do you mean by Eucalyptus?
It is actually a combination of the following terms
1. Elastic
2. Utility
3. Computing
4. Architecture
5. Linking
6. Programs
7. Usefulness
8. Systems
It is actually a third-party software that can be used for the implementation of the different clusters in the cloud. Basically, it can be considered to divide a cloud into a hybrid, community, private as well as in public domain. The entire data center can easily be transformed into a private cloud in case the need for the same is realized.
What are the security measures regarding the Oracle Fusion cloud you are familiar with?
The fact is there are certain levels of security that organizations must pay attention to. Oracle Fusion Cloud allows identity management which is a good security measure. It makes sure that the applications, hardware, as well as services are only used by those who are authorized for the same. Another measure is access control. It makes sure that users always remain in a position to control the entire access of the cloud if they are authorized. In addition to this, authentication and authorization are the other methods that users can deploy to keep up the pace simply.
What is the lowest level of cloud architecture in Oracle Fusion and what does it provide?
The lowest level is Node Controller and it is responsible for controlling the activities of Virtual Machines. It can also be employed for termination, execution, and managing the same.
Which platforms you will consider when it comes to cloud computing on a large scale?
Apache Hadoop is widely regarded as one of the finest options. It’s because this software platform can simply distribute and store data even if the same needs to be managed on a cluster. The reliability can also be assured when it comes to building the same from the commodity hardware. Another leading reason to consider the same is it always makes sure of data integrity, security, operations, governance as well as the processing of same.
Tell something about the deployment options you are familiar with which are common in cloud technology?
It is not always necessary that a deployment model that is good for one organization also offers the same pros for other organizations. Many internal factors related to organizations can impose a limit on them. The organizations which are large in size always prefer the private cloud while on the other hand, the public cloud is a good option for organizations with small size.
Why would one use the API in the Cloud?
Generally, writing fledged programs fully is something that wastes a lot of time. API makes sure that the need for the same gets eliminated up to a good extent. The application can be made to communicate with one another through the instructions provided by the API. Also, the cloud can easily be linked to other systems outside the link.
How private cloud and community cloud infrastructure are different from one another?
A private cloud is actually an option for single organizations that can have multiple branches and units. Organizations are free to enable third-party businesses to operate their cloud. In other words, they can outsource their cloud operations to other organizations provided all the security policies defined by them are met. The private cloud can be in a remote data center.
On the other side, community cloud infrastructure is considered by different businesses in a shared manner. All the tasks related to managing the same is the sole responsibility of their own. The community cloud infrastructure can also be in a remote data center that can be accessed easily.
In the hierarchy of cloud, which layer is at the top?
The controller is always at the top and it manages the network, server, API, as well as storage of data.
What do you understand with Paas, Iaas, and Saas? How they can be put differently from one another?
These are actually the different service models that are supported by the Oracle Fusion Cloud. Paas is an approach in which the OS and hardware, both are provided by the third-party organizations and is managed by the Fusion. In Iaas, either hardware or the OS is provided by a third-party organization and in Saas, all the programs, as well as the applications are managed by a third party. These models make cloud computing different from different organizations. There are certain factors related to them that are also not the same and this generally includes cost, as well as data security.
Which option one should choose among “Cloud infrastructure exists in the data center of the organization offering cloud service” or it exists in their own organization and why?
Well, it largely depends on the factors such as the budget/turnover of the organization. In addition to this, it depends on the overall quantity of data that an organization has to manage. Both have their own pros and cons.
According to you, what is the best available strategy that one should consider to secure data before moving it to the cloud, and why?
Probably the first step is to make sure that it is not possible for the others that the ones which are authorized to access data to be intercepted. Avoiding data leaks is very important. There are several options for securing keys that can be opted. Also, it is necessary to check that the data is not infected by any malware and virus.
Name two categories in which the datacenters can be put in the Cloud environment?
These are Low-Density Data Centers and Containerized Data Centers.
Are you familiar with the applications suite of Oracle Fusion Cloud presently?
Oracle has highly accelerated their Cloud offering which is now operated and accessed by organizations in the sector of Customer Relationship Management, Governance, Risk Management, Hospitality, Data Analysis organizations, defense, and lots more.
Name the four phases which are involved in the Oracle Fusion Cloud?
These are Monitor Phase, Cleanup Phase, Launch Phase, and Shut Down Phase.
Name the common layers which are present in cloud architecture?
These are:
1. Walrus
2. Storage
3. Cloud Controller
4. Node Controller
5. Storage Controller
Let us say you need to migrate to the cloud environment for the first time, what would be your essential considerations?
The very first thing is to address the compliance issues and the probability of its loss. The other factor to pay attention to is ensuring the availability, data integrity, storage types as well as overall downtime of the cloud.
Name the approach that makes sure that the data is processed in a recommended manner within an application in the cloud?
This approach is Process Controlling
Tell any two benefits of Cloud technology that you think is the best it can offer to organizations?
For organizations, it is possible to access the applications/software without installing them in the system. In addition to this, for large-scale applications, the cost related to support and maintenance can be eliminated up to a good extent. In addition to this, zero infrastructure investment is also possible for organizations in most cases.
What are the basic factors related to efficiency and scalability that matters while performing different tasks in a Cloud?
Speed of processor in the system, the complexity of services, Intra-cloud communication, and Cloud Ingress is the services that largely matter.
What do you understand from the term utility computing?
It is actually regarded as one of the cost-saving strategies by many businesses in need of cloud services. In Oracle Fusion, it is possible for the users to pay for the service they are taking on a per-use basis. All the organizations that consider growth and scale models can benefit from this. The best part services, as well as the applications, can simply be implemented as per the needs.
What can be considered as the building block in the cloud while you are performing any basic task related to the data?
Technical Architecture, Reference Architecture, Deployment Architecture, as well as Performance Architecture are the basic building blocks. It is not always necessary that all the building blocks are required in all the tasks.
Give one reason why MapReduce can be a good option for processing mass data?
Users can simply keep up the pace with the commodity hardware and without actually investing the money on a large scale. In addition to this, it always makes sure of transparent scalability, as well as huge fault tolerance ability. Moreover, the wide Google support ensures users can keep up the pace all the time without facing any issue.
Name one optimization strategy that is useful during a data disaster approach?
Oracle Fusion allows the concept of using a three-data approach which makes sure of data backup. Using the same is always a good option for the organizations as this can simply enable them to keep up the pace with data all the time.
