Architecture & DesignGetting Started with Shareplex on Windows on AWS, Part 1

Getting Started with Shareplex on Windows on AWS, Part 1

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Shareplex is a database replication and data integration service. Database replication is the process of copying or migrating a database, and data integration is the process of transforming data from a source database to one of several supported output data sources. Shareplex supports Oracle and SQL Server as source databases. Shareplex supports Oracle database’s different versions (10g, 11g, 12c) and editions (Standard and Enterprise) in different set-ups (single-instance, cluster, remote, Cloud) and environments (ASM, RAC, Exadata). Similarly, SQL Server’s different versions (2008, 2012, 2014, and 2016) and editions (Standard, Enterprise) are supported. Shareplex supports several data sources as targets if the source is an Oracle database, including Oracle database, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, EDB (EnterpriseDB) Postgres Advanced server, SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE), Teradata, JMS queues, SQL and XML file, and Apache Kafka. For SQL Server as the source, supported target data sources are SQL Server and Oracle database.

Because databases are increasingly being migrated to managed services on the Cloud, it has become necessary to use Shareplex on the Cloud as well. The benefits of using Shareplex are:

  • Zero-downtime database replication from the most commonly used commercial relational databases—Oracle database and SQL Server database
  • Real-time data integration
  • Support for several target data sources for replication and data integration if the source database is an Oracle database
  • Scalability
  • High Availability
  • Continuous replication with change data capture (CDC)
  • No scheduling required
  • Based on a streaming process that runs outside the database instance for negligible impact on database performance and network capacity
  • Data accuracy and integrity in replicated data
  • Migration failback in Oracle-to-Oracle replication

In two tutorials, we shall discuss installing Shareplex on one of the most commonly used Cloud providers, the Amazon Web Services (AWS). This tutorial has the following sections:

  • Setting the Environment
  • Launching an EC2 Instance
  • Connecting to the EC2 Instance
  • Conclusion

Setting the Environment

Shareplex 9.0 (latest version) is available for several OS distributions (64-bit), including AIX (5.3, 6.1, and 7.1), Linux (CentOS 6.5 & 5.10, Red Hat 4,5,6 & 7, Oracle Linux 4,5 & 6, SuSE 9,10 & 11), HP-UX (11.23 and 11.31), Solaris (9, 10, 11), and Windows OS (2003, 2008, 2012, 2012R2). We shall use a Windows OS 2012 instance on AWS in this tutorial.

The following software (plug-in) is required to be installed on a local machine in Chrome browser.

Chrome RDP

The Chrome RDP (Remote Desktop) is used to access a remote Windows instance running on EC2 from a local Chrome browser. To install Chrome RDP, search for “Chrome RDP” in the Chrome Web Store. Click Add To Chrome, as shown in Figure 1.

Installing Chrome RDP
Figure 1: Installing Chrome RDP

In the Add “Chrome RDP” dialog, click Add app, as shown in Figure 2.

Adding Chrome RDP App
Figure 2: Adding Chrome RDP App

The Chrome RDP extension gets added to Chrome, as shown in Figure 3.

Chrome RDP Extension added to Chrome
Figure 3: Chrome RDP Extension added to Chrome

The following software is required to be installed on the Windows 2012 instance on AWS: Shareplex 9.0 for Windows 2003, 2008, 2012, 2012R2 (Oracle 10gR2 to 12c and SQL Server 2008R2, 2012).

We shall discuss installing Shareplex after we have launched an EC2 instance FOR Windows 2012 on AWS and connected to Windows 2012 on AWS. An AWS account is required to install Shareplex on AWS; an account may be created at https://aws.amazon.com/resources/create-account/.

Launching an EC2 Instance

Selecting a suitable AWS AMI for and EC2 instance is important. The AWS instance has to support the following:

  • A supported Windows OS (one of 2003, 2008, 2012, 2012R2)
  • A pre-installed browser

Not all AMIs that run a supported Windows OS include a browser, which is required to download Shareplex 9.0. The following Windows 2012-based AMI does not include a browser pre-installed: Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Core.

The following Windows 2012-based AMIs include a Chrome browser:

  • WordPress With MySQL on Windows Server 2012 R2
  • 1-Click Secured Windows File Server On Windows 2012 R2

Select the 1-Click Secured Windows File Server On Windows 2012 R2 AMI, as shown in Figure 4, to launch an EC2 instance.

Selecting an AMI
Figure 4: Selecting an AMI

In Choose an Instance Type, select the t2.micro type and click Next. In Configure Instance Details, the default Number of Instances is 1; only one instance is required. In Network, select a VPC (or create a new VPC). Select a Subnet (or create a new Subnet). In Auto-assign Public Ip, select Enable. Keep other options as the default and click Next. In Add Storage, the default storage setting of 127 GB should suffice. Click Next.

In Add Tags, click Next because no tags are required to be configured. In Configure Security Group, click Add Rule to add a rule with Type as All Traffic, Protocol as All, Port Range as 0-65535, Source as Anywhere, and click Review and Launch. In Review, click Launch. In Select an existing key pair or create a new key pair, click Create a new key pair and specify Key pair name (windows) and click Launch Instances. An EC2 instance gets launched, as shown in the EC2 dashboard in Figure 5.

EC2 Instance running Windows 2012
Figure 5: EC2 Instance running Windows 2012

Next, we need to configure the Security Group associated with the EC2 instance to allow All Inbound/Outbound traffic, if not already configured. Because the EC2 instance may need to connect with database instances running remotely the Inbound/Outbound, rules need to be configured. Click the link for the security group for the EC2 instance (see Figure 6).

EC2 Instance Security Group
Figure 6: EC2 Instance Security Group

In the Security group Inbound rules (for which you should select the Inbound tab), an inbound rule for All traffic should be listed, as shown in Figure 7. If not listed, click Edit to add an inbound rule to allow all traffic.

Inbound Rules to allow All traffic
Figure 7: Inbound Rules to allow All traffic

Similarly, the Outbound rules (for which you should select the Outbound tab) should list a rule to allow all traffic, as shown in Figure 8.

Outbound Rule to allow all traffic
Figure 8: Outbound Rule to allow all traffic

Connecting to the EC2 Instance

Next, we shall connect to the remote instance of Windows 2012 on EC2 from a local browser using the Chrome RDP extension that was installed. Launch the Chrome RDP from the Chrome Apps, as shown in Figure 9.

Launching the Chrome RDP
Figure 9: Launching the Chrome RDP

The Chrome RDP gets launched, as shown in Figure 10. We need to specify the Public IP Address or Public DNS of the EC2 instance to connect to the instance.

Chrome RDP
Figure 10: Chrome RDP

Obtain the Public DNS of the EC2 instance running Windows 2012 from the EC2 Console (refer to Figure 5). The Public DNS could be different each time the EC2 instance is re-started. Specify the Public DNS in the field provided, and click Connect, as shown in Figure 11.

Connecting to EC2 Instance with Public DNS
Figure 11: Connecting to EC2 Instance with Public DNS

In Enter your credentials, specify the Username and Password. Specify the Username as “Administrator”. To obtain the Password, select the EC2 instance in the EC2 dashboard and click Connect, as shown in Figure 12.

Connect
Figure 12: Connect

In Connect To Your Instance, the Public DNS and Username are displayed. Click Get Password, as shown in Figure 13.

Connect To Your Instance>Get Password
Figure 13: Connect To Your Instance>Get Password

To get the password, click Key Pair Path>Choose File to upload the key pair (windows.pem) that was used to launch the EC2 instance, as shown in Figure 14.

Uploading Key Pair File windows.pem
Figure 14: Uploading Key Pair File windows.pem

The key pair gets added. Click Decrypt Password, as shown in Figure 15.

Decrypting Password
Figure 15: Decrypting Password

The Password gets displayed. Copy the Username (Administrator) and the Password, and click Close (see Figure 16).

Obtaining the Login Credentials to connect to EC2 Instance
Figure 16: Obtaining the Login Credentials to connect to EC2 Instance

In Enter your credentials, specify the Username and Password and click OK, as shown in Figure 17.

Specifying Credentials to login into EC2 Instance
Figure 17: Specifying Credentials to login into EC2 Instance

If a dialog gets displayed that “The server certificate returned cannot be verified”, click Continue. The Remote Desktop for the Windows 2012 instance on EC2 gets launched, as shown in Figure 18.

Remote Desktop Launched
Figure 18: Remote Desktop Launched

The applications pre-installed should include the Chrome (or some other) browser, as shown in Figure 19; we shall need a browser to download and install Shareplex.

Desktop for Windows 2012 Instance on AWS
Figure 19: Desktop for Windows 2012 Instance on AWS

Click the Chrome icon to launch the browser as shown, in Figure 20.

Launching Chrome Browser
Figure 20: Launching Chrome Browser

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we discussed getting started with using Shareplex on Windows 2012 on AWS. We installed the pre-requisite software, launched an EC2 instance, and connected with the EC2 instance. In the second tutorial, we shall install Shareplex, start Shareplex service, and use some Shareplex commands.

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