[Zope] Zope on Linux, Oracle on another machine (Solaris) what to do?

[jan@haul.de]

Chris Beaumont wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Newbie question here...  Thank you for any and all help...
> 
> The subject line says it all..
> 
> What's the best way to connect an instance of Zope running on a Linux
> box to an instance of Oracle 7.3 running on a Solaris box in the same
> subnet...
> 

You have to set up the Oracle client library (OCI) on the Linux
box.

The (slightly) tricky part is setting up the file Oracle SQL*Net
uses
to know where the server(s) are. That file is
$ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora (I could be slightly
off-key
on the path, but is certainly named tnsnames.ora).

In there, you create an entry for each Oracle instance you want
to access 
(see the manual or use one of the examples provided - if you
cannot figure 
it out, mail me and I'll provide an example; I do not have Oracle
installed 
here at home).
Then you set up your database connection within Zope just as if
it were a
local database - Zope will not know, as the Oracle library (wit
SQL*Net)
hides this detail quite effectively.

I have such a set-up working on Oracle 7.3 server on Solaris
(Zope is on
a Sparcstation 5 running Solaris 7, the Oracle Server is an
Enterprise 4000
running Solaris 2.6 for now).

You probably do not want to use ODBC. It tends to be slower, and
generally
is another layer of software that can break without giving you
enough
benefit for the hassle, in my opinion.)
On a different key, I'll try out Interbase on my testbed system
and see how
that works. Looks like a viable alternative, for now. Much
smaller footprint
than Oracle, and significantly cheaper.

HTH,
Jan