User`s guide

86 Chapter 7: Configuration
With Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) there will be different service names
for each database instance.
Service name specifies one or more names for the database service to which this
instance connects. It is possible to specify multiple service names in order to
distinguish among different uses of the same database. It is also possible to use
service names to identify a single service that is available from two different
databases through the use of replication.
So, SID is a unique database system identifier while service name is an alias.
If VCP is running without a tnsnames.ora file all database connection parameters
must be specified in the initialization (INI) file. Database configuration can be
done during the Viz Content Pilot Installation.
Note that the Newsroom Component (NrC) does not use an INI file, hence the
database connection parameters must be applied during installation or by editing
registry settings (the latter is not recommended).
• Local database: <SID>
• Remote database: <hostname>/<SID>
• Remote database: <hostname>/Service name
See Also
• Database Configuration
• Database TNS Alias
• Database Registry Settings
• Database Service Names and SID
• Database Initialization File Configuration
7.10.7 Database TNS Alias
A Transparent Network Substrate (TNS) alias is useful if more than one machine
connects to the same database. A tnsnames.ora file can contain one or more TNS
name aliases, and can be placed on a server for ease of use and maintainability.
The file itself contains client side network configuration parameters, and defines
incoming database requests. It contains all service names. This file also describes
each domain name, with protocol, host, and port information.
A tnsnames.ora file maps TNS names to connect descriptors (usually ADDRESS
and CONNECT_DATA). The TNS name becomes a, most likely shorter and more
readable, alias for the somewhat cumbersome service name.
Note: A tnsnames.ora file can contain more than one TNS name.
Note that when using an Oracle Instant Client a tnsnames.ora file needs to be
created manually. Place the file in a directory with read access. For other Oracle
clients, the default tnsnames.ora
file can be found in the Oracle client folder.
Example: C:\Oracle\product\10.1.0\Client_1\NETWORK\ADMIN \