Many products within the Oracle E-Business Suite have screens that are built with Oracle Forms. Oracle Forms can be run in either servlet mode or socket mode. Apps 11i is based on Forms 6i and is configured to run in socket mode by default. Apps 12 is based on Forms 10g and is configured to run in servlet mode by default. What are these modes, and which is better?
What is Forms Servlet Mode?
The Forms Listener Servlet is a Java servlet that delivers the ability to run Oracle Forms applications over HTTP and HTTPS connections. It manages the creation of a Forms Server Runtime process for each client, as well as network communications between the client and its associated Forms Server Runtime process.
The desktop client sends HTTP requests and receives HTTP responses from the web server. The HTTP Listener on the web server acts as the network endpoint for the client, keeping other servers and ports from being exposed at the firewall.
What is Forms Socket Mode?
Initial releases of the Oracle Forms Server product used a simple method for connecting the client to the server. The connection from the desktop client to the Forms Listener process was accomplished using a direct socket connection. The direct socket connection mode was suitable for companies providing thin client access to Forms applications within their corporate local area networks. For the direct socket connection mode, the client had to be able to see the server and had to have permission to establish a direct network connection.
Although the direct socket connection mode is perfectly suited for deployments within a company’s internal network, it's not the best choice for application deployment via unsecured network paths via the Internet. A company connected to the Internet typically employs a strict policy defining the types of network connections that can be made by Internet clients to secure corporate networks. Permitting a direct socket connection from an external client exposes the company to potential risk because the true identity of the client can be hard to determine.
Servlet Mode Advantages
- HTTP and HTTPS traffic is easily recognizable by routers, while socket mode communications is generally considered suspect and treated on an exception basis.
- Existing networking hardware can be used to support basic functions such as load-balancing and packet encryption for network transit.
- More resilient to network and firewall reconfigurations.
- More robust: servlet connections can be reestablished if network connections drop unexpectedly for Forms, Framework, and JSP-based pages.
- Is the only supported method for generic Oracle Forms customers, and therefore is more thoroughly tested by the Forms and E-Business Suite product groups.
- Performance traffic can be monitored via tools like Oracle Real User Experience Insight (RUEI).
- Socket mode is not supported on Windows-based server platforms.
Socket Mode Advantages
- Uses up to 40% less bandwidth than Forms servlet mode. This may be perceived by Wide Area Network (WAN) users as causing slower responsiveness, depending upon network latency.
- Uses fewer application-tier JVM resources than servlet mode, due to fewer TCP turns and lack of overhead associated with HTTP POST handling.
Switching Apps Deployments Between Modes
Due to its numerous advantages, Forms servlet mode is the preferred and recommended deployment model for Forms on the web.
There may be circumstances where you need to switch between the default Forms modes. You might wish to switch your Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 environment to socket mode to improve performance or reduce network load. You might wish to switch your Apps 11i environment to servlet mode as part of your rollout to external web-based end-users outside of your organization.
If you're running Apps 11i and would like to switch to servlet mode, see:
- Using Forms Listener Servlet with Oracle Applications 11i (Note 201340.1)
If you're running Apps 12 and would like to switch to socket mode, see:
- Using Forms Socket Mode in Oracle Applications Release 12 (Note 384241.1)
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Comments (10)
Will it be possible to have below conditions ?
ex.1 External Users on Socket Mode and Internal users on Servelet modes
ex.2. Based on URL (Some WAN users on box 1 with url 1 using socket mode) and other on box 2 with different url (with servelet Mode ?)
If combinations are permitted, what are all combinations allowed?
Regards,
Rohit
Posted by Rohit | June 21, 2009 9:02 PM
Posted on June 21, 2009 21:02
Hello, Rohit,
My understanding is that this is a site-level configuration -- everything runs in either socket or servlet mode. I'll ask whether there are plans to extend this to a server-level configuration. If yes, I'll provide an update here.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | June 23, 2009 11:44 AM
Posted on June 23, 2009 11:44
Rohit,
In 11i its possible to run Socket and Servlet side by side. Refer to Note 201340.1 (Step 6: Forms Listener Servlet and Forms Listener). I am not sure about Rel 12.
ex.1 External Users on Socket Mode and Internal users on Servelet modes
A: It should be the other way round. It is recommeded to run external users on servlet (https is preferred) and internal users on socket.
ex.2. Based on URL (Some WAN users on box 1 with url 1 using socket mode) and other on box 2 with different url (with servelet Mode ?)
A: Using the profile option "ICX: Forms Launcher" at different levels (Site, User, etc.), you can control how the Forms are launched.
Posted by Talib | June 24, 2009 6:26 AM
Posted on June 24, 2009 06:26
Hi,
I think this is a good approach especially when you have large EBS user base within the organisation (i.e. intranet users) and very small user accessing the system over the net (i.e. external interfaces).
Just by changing the profile option at Reponsibility level one can assign servlet (https) for the outside internet connections. And keep default 11i configuration intact using direct socket connections.
If EBS configuration has multiple application servers (load balanced) then one of the apps server can be configured out of DMZ to accept the https connections only.
Regards
Posted by Narendra Admane | July 7, 2009 1:14 AM
Posted on July 7, 2009 01:14
Hi,
From your experience, do you see a lot of R12 implementations still using Forms Listener (direct socket)?
Also, if you upgrade an 11i system to R12.x, will it automatically switch you to Servlet mode?
Thanks,
MA.
Posted by M.A. | August 26, 2009 10:55 PM
Posted on August 26, 2009 22:55
Hi, Moshe,
I don't have a lot of statistics about this at my disposal, but my impression is that the majority of R12 customers are running in servlet mode rather than socket mode.
And yes, if you upgrade to R12, your R12 environment will be configured for servlet mode by default.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan
|
August 27, 2009 3:12 PM
Posted on August 27, 2009 15:12
Hi Steven,
Could you please elaborate on usage of autoconfig variable s_frmConnectMode and whether we should change it to required values ( socket or servlet ) in addition to what is suggested in Note 201340.1
Regards,
Ajay
Posted by Ajay Deshpande | October 9, 2009 10:41 AM
Posted on October 9, 2009 10:41
Hi, Ajay,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm working through a daunting post-OpenWorld backlog of email.
Note 201340.1 is a comprehensive listing of steps required to enable Forms Servlet mode for EBS 11i. There should be no other "hidden" updates to other profile options required.
If you're having any trouble with your conversion to Forms Servlet, I'd like to get one of our ATG specialists engaged. Feel free to log a formal Service Request with Oracle Support. If that gets bogged down for some reason, drop me a line with your SR number.
Good luck with your cutover.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan
|
October 20, 2009 1:29 PM
Posted on October 20, 2009 13:29
Hi Steven. Is Riverbed a valid solution for R12 running forms in servlet mode? Or, it only makes sense if running in socket mode?
Thank you - Andrea.
Posted by Andrea Cobis | November 12, 2009 4:31 AM
Posted on November 12, 2009 04:31
Hi, Andrea,
Riverbed is a third-party technology. We haven't had any experience with it in EBS 12 environments, I'm afraid. You might wish to contact Riverbed Technology directly to see whether they have any guidance about the use of their product in E-Business Suite environments.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan
|
November 12, 2009 8:30 AM
Posted on November 12, 2009 08:30