Oracle Database Lite 10g extends the power of grid computing to a mobile workforce with a complete, integrated, secure database for building, deploying, and managing mobile applications for a broad range of mobile devices. Oracle Database Lite 10g enables persistent access to critical information and applications without requiring continuous connectivity to back-end enterprise systems. As a result, users increase the efficiency, productivity, and responsiveness of mobile workforces while reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction.
Oracle Database Lite 10g is a complete, integrated, and secure infrastructure to build, manage, and provision mobile database application to a broad range of wireless devices. It is the leading platform to develop, deploy and manage mobile applications that store data locally on mobile devices (Smartphones, PDAs, Handheld Computers, and traditional Laptops) and synchronize data with central servers. Oracle Database Lite includes: scalable data synchronization architecture to thousands of mobile users; centralized management through easy-to-use graphical user interface; utilizes Oracle Real Application Clusters for maximum high-availability and failover; and revolutionary new mobile database development tools increases developer productivity. With Oracle Lite, your business cost-effectively extends enterprise data to occasionally connected mobile users. Oracle Lite is a complementary product optimized to work with Oracle Database Standard or Enterprise Edition.
Usability
Employees are working away from their desks and require access to corporate data normally found only on desktop devices connected to enterprise networks. Wireless connections for mobile users offer the promise of remote access of enterprise data but persistent wireless connections are not always possible, practical or desirable.
Wireless connections are not always possible because mobile workers may be in an environment that does not have wireless coverage. Often it is not practical to use a persistent wireless connection because applications do not have a real time data access requirement to justify the costs of communications. There are situations where a wireless connection is not desirable because the very presence of a wireless connection could compromise an application or a user’s security.
Developers require an infrastructure with application services that enable the development, delivery and operation of secure, personalized applications to mobile or embedded devices.
Database Lite Components
Oracle Database Lite 10g is a part of Oracle’s Database that extends the grid environment
and it makes your applications mobile. Oracle Database Lite describes a group of components that includes the Lite Database, the Mobile Server for Data Synchronization, Life Cycle Management and a Rapid Application Development environment.
Oracle Database Lite is a complete solution and includes more than a small database. The Oracle Lite database included in this solution is not an abbreviated version of the Oracle database but was designed from the ground up to be used with mobile applications in small and embedded devices.
Prerequisite Software for Lite
Since Oracle Database Lite stores and retrieves your information from an Oracle database, you must have a back-end Oracle database to run Lite. The Oracle database can be either Standard or Enterprise Edition, running a minimum version of 8.1.7 or higher.
Middle-Tier Option for Mobile Server
Oracle Database Lite uses a middle-tier to communicate between the clients and the back-end database. You must use one of the following as the middle-tier:
Stand alone OC4J – for development environments
Oracle Application Server – for production environments
Stand Alone OC4J
Stand Alone OC4J is automatically installed with Oracle Database Lite and this provides a standalone Mode for development environments.
Mobile Server in standalone mode uses the standalone version of Oracle Containers for J2EE (OC4J). This is the preferred configuration for development and testing but it will
support only a limited number of concurrent users.
Oracle Application Server
Production environments require either Oracle Application Server 10g. The application server is not installed with Oracle Database Lite and must be installed before installing Oracle Database Lite Mobile Server.
The Oracle Application Server production environment will support large numbers of users, provides caching, load balancing, centralized management, security, and Single Sign On support.
Oracle Lite Database
The Oracle Lite Database is a small footprint, Java enabled, secure, relational database
management system created specifically for laptop computers, handheld computers, PDAs, and information appliances. Oracle Lite Database runs on Windows 2000/XP, Windows CE/Pocket PC, Symbian OS, and Embedded Linux.
Oracle Lite Database provides JDBC, ODBC, ADO.NET and Simple Object Data Access (SODA) APIs, for an easy-to-use C++ interface that is optimized for the object-oriented and SQL functionality of Oracle Database Lite.
Installation of the Mobile Development Kit (MDK) installs the Oracle Lite Database and all its utilities on your development machine.
Data Synchronization
A user’s data is synchronized between Oracle Lite Database and an Oracle database server.
Synchronization is accomplished by invoking the Mobile sync client, mSync, which interacts with the Mobile Server. The Mobile Server uses synchronization objects such as users, publications, publication items, and subscriptions to process client and server data changes. This technique is referred to as a publish/subscribe model.
Synchronization Process
Oracle Database Lite contains a subset of data stored in the Oracle database. This subset is stored in snapshots in the Oracle Lite database. Unlike a base table, a snapshot keeps track of changes made to it in a change log. Users can make changes in the Oracle Lite database while the device is disconnected, and can synchronize with the Oracle database
server.
There are basically three types of publication items that can be used to define synchronization; fast refresh, complete refresh, and queue based. The most common method of synchronization is a fast refresh publication item where changes are uploaded by the client, and changes for the client are downloaded.
Meanwhile, a background process called the Message Generator and Processor (MGP) periodically collects the changes uploaded by all clients and applies them to database tables. It then composes new data, ready to be downloaded to each client during the next
synchronization, based on predefined subscriptions.
Oracle Lite Sync is a two step asynchronous process:
Sync moves updated rows from the client database to the In Queue and from the Out Queue to the client database.
MGP (Message Generator Processor) applies In Queue changes to base tables and Composes the changes to the base tables to client Out Queues.
Until recently, most business applications have only been accessible from network tethered PCs in offices, away from where a business’ productive assets and employees are at work, its customers are serviced, and its operations performed. A new generation of lightweight and powerful mobile devices combined with inexpensive, widely available wireless data connections promise to redefine the reach of Enterprise applications. Oracle is committed to servicing the mobile computing needs of businesses worldwide with solutions and software platforms that offer the depth of feature, scalability, reliability and performance.
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