In some cases, a firewall or router between the IBM Sterling B2B Integrator server and the Oracle server may stop the connections between the two servers if they are idle for a period of time. The connections may not drop, but just become unusable.
If you experience this situation, it can be prevented by simulating traffic between the servers even when they are not being used. The simulated traffic will prevent the connection from being stopped due to idleness.
To prevent stale connections between IBM Sterling B2B Integrator and the Oracle database, perform the following steps:
On the Oracle server, change to the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory.
- Open the sqlnet.ora file in a text editor.
- Add, or change, the sqlnet.expire_time parameter as shown in the following line:
sqlnet.expire_time = 10
This sends a probe through the connection every 10 minutes. This probe verifies that the client/server connection is active.
- Save and close the sqlnet.ora file.
- Restart the listener on the Oracle server.
- Restart IBM Sterling B2B Integrator .
Although very small, a probe packet generates additional network traffic that could affect the performance of the network, depending on the number of connections. If network performance is adversely affected, try using a different expiration time. For example, try 15 or 30 minutes instead of 10.
Important:
Please note, that Firewalls and routers should not filter the SQL connections between the application server and the Database. This can be configured in your network appliance.
Further reading:
Script to count the number of Database connections to investigate a possible connection leak.
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