Re: tnsnames.ora file

Hi Doug,

There are two ways to configure sqlnet: a flat design and a hierarchical design. The latter is necessary when you have databases in different locations, and all locations are on the internet. The hierarchical design would allow for
supdb.nl.oracle.com
and
supdb.us.oracle.com
Both domains have the same database, with the same name, and this is no problem, because the domain qualifies the database name. In flat design the pseudo domain world is used to fit in the hierarchical architecture of sqlnet.

Communities are only relevant when you have say one database on a node running TCP/IP and another database or other database on other nodes running SPX. In this case sqlnet needs to know which database is in which community because of the potential protocol conversion. Beware though: If you create the above setup using Oracle Network Manager (a windows 3.1 product), you will automatically get a community tcp.nl.oracle.com and a community tcp.us.oracle.com. This doesn't make sense, it should be one community.

Hth,

Sybrand Bakker, Oracle DBA

Doug Cowles wrote:

> I'm sure this in the documentation somewhere so I apologize ahead of
> time
> for what may be a dull posting, but can someone explain the different
> parts
> of an entry in the tnsnames.ora file? I understand SID, Protocol, Host,
> and Port,
> but I'm confused by ".world", what the difference is between that and
> "Community",
> as well as address_list and address. Any comments would be
> appreciated. If someone
> knows where in the documentation to look for a detailed explanation that
> would be nice as well. Oracle 7.3.3 or Oracle 8 documentation.
>
> Example1.world =
> (DESCRIPTION =
> (ADDRESS_LIST =
> (ADDRESS =
> (COMMUNITY = tcp.world)
> (PROTOCOL = TCP)
> (Host = Production1)
> (Port = 1521)
> )
> )
> (CONNECT_DATA = (SID = SID1)
> )
> )
>
> - Dc.

Received on Wed Nov 11 1998 - 16:32:55 CST