T he Oracle Application Server 10g is a large and complicated product that is hard times we find clients that are improperly using their application server because they don’t understand what each component does. More importantly, we find that the administration and support for the application server fall on the shoulders of to learn and sometimes confusing to use. With capability comes complexity. Many the company DBA because it is an Oracle product. Many DBAs know what Java is because it goes in the database (somewhere, somehow), but that is the extent of their knowledge. The Application Server documentation is thousands of pages long and must cover every possible configuration of a component. As such, it is a bit overwhelming when trying to find specific information. The goal of this book is to provide the bases for anyone, from a Java developer to an Oracle DBA, to install and administer the Oracle Application Server 10g. Key to meeting this goal, we cover some critical tasks such as installation, performance tuning, and backup and recovery. We also explain the capability of each component of the Application Server and how it is used.

Even though the focus is on administration, some development topics are briefly introduced in the discussion of some of the Application Server components. However, this book does not cover either J2EE or Portal development. Those tasks are covered in detail in other Oracle Press books. We tried to cover each component in a single chapter so that you could refer directly to that chapter for a needed component. Some chapters refer you to other chapters for additional information on specific topics. If you are new to Java and J2EE, you will need to read Chapter 6 to understand how the Application Server 10g supports J2EE components and APIs. Lastly, one of the most annoying habits of computer books is to tell you what to do, without explaining how to do it. We have made every effort to detail the “how” in Oracle Application Server 10g administration.