WAS v8.5 > Administer applications and their environment > Welcome to administering Data access resources

Administer data access applications

These administrative tasks consist primarily of configuring the objects, or resources, through which applications connect with a backend, and tuning those resources to handle the volume of connection requests.

1. If the application contains web modules or EJB modules that require access to a backend, configure resources according to your type of enterprise information system (EIS):

   • For a relational database, follow the steps outlined in the topic, Configuring a JDBC provider and data source. If we are using a DB2 database, the topic, Configuring an application to use pureQuery is another option. IBM Optim PureQuery Runtime provides an alternative to JDBC as a way to access the DB2 database.

   • For a non-relational database, or another type of EIS such as the Customer Information Control System (CICS ), configure a resource adapter and connection factories. The topic, Accessing data using Java EE Connector Architecture connectors, provides information on setting up these objects.

   When we specify the JNDI name for resources, adhere to the following requirements:

   • Do not assign duplicate JNDI names across different resource types (such as data sources versus J2C connection factories or JMS connection factories).
   • Do not assign duplicate JNDI names for multiple resources of the same type in the same scope.

2. Configure an authentication alias for the new web module resource or EJB module resource only if the application code, rather than WebSphere Application Server, authenticates connections with the backend. This security configuration is called component-managed authorization, and is indicated in the application deployment descriptor as res-auth = Application.

   Container-managed authorization, which is designated as res-auth = Container, indicates that Application Server performs signon for backend connections. The container-managed authentication alias must be specified on the application resource reference. This task can be done during application assembly or deployment, along with mapping the resource reference to a data source or connection factory resource. After application deployment, however, we can alter the container-managed authentication alias using the dmgr console. Click Applications > Websphere enterprise applications > application_name, and select the link to the appropriate mapping page. For example, to alter the alias of an EJB module resource, you might click Map data sources for all 2.x CMP beans. For a web module resource, click Resource References.

   Read the J2EE connector security topic for detailed reference on resource authentication.

3. If the application contains a client module that requires data access, see the topic, Configuring data access for application clients. In this single configuration process, we can define authentication data for either component-managed or container-managed signon.

4. Specify connection pool settings.
5. Test a connection to the new data source. See the article, Test connection service, for information on the available methods for testing connections. This article also addresses important data source settings that can affect the accuracy of your test connection results.

6. Set the JDBC trace service. The JDBC trace.log information augments the JVM log data for data source failures.

   To activate the trace using the dmgr console, read the topic, Enabling trace at server startup.. Specify WAS.database as the trace group and select com.ibm.ws.db2.logwriter as the trace string.

7. Gather connection pool statistics by activating the JDBC connection pool counters or the J2C connection pool counters. Alternatively, we can use PMI method calls to gather connection statistics; see the topic, Connection and connection pool statistics.

8. Tune the resources to manage connection volume. See the topic, Data access tuning parameters.

Subtopics

• Configure Java EE Connector connection factories in the dmgr console
  To access an enterprise information system (EIS), configure connection factories, which instantiate resource adapter classes for establishing and maintaining resource connections.
• Install a resource adapter archive
  The application server uses the classes and other code that comprise a resource adapter archive (RAR) to support the resource adapters that you configure.
• Configure resource adapters
  We can view a list of installed and configured resource adapters in the dmgr console. Also, we can use the dmgr console to install new resource adapters, create additional configurations of installed resource adapters, or delete resource adapter configurations.
• Update a stand-alone resource adapter archive
  Use the resource adapter archive (RAR) update wizard to update the stand-alone RAR files to a newer version. The application server uses the classes and other code that comprise a resource adapter archive to support the resource adapters that you configure.
• Java EE connector security
  The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) connector architecture defines a standard architecture for connecting J2EE to heterogeneous enterprise information systems (EIS). Examples of EIS include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), mainframe transaction processing (TP) and database systems.
• Map resource manager connection factory references to resource factories
  We can use the dmgr console to bind the resource manager connection factory references to one of the configured resource factories.
• Manage messages with message endpoints
  Manage message delivery for message-driven beans (MDB) deployed as message endpoints. The message endpoints are managed beans (MBeans) for inbound resource adapters that are compliant with Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) v1.5.
• Configure a JDBC provider and data source
  For access to relational databases, applications use the JDBC drivers and data sources that you configure for the application server.
• Configure data access for application clients using the assembly tool and ACRCT
  Configuring data access for the Application Client involves specifying the resource reference and associated database information required for data access. This specification is done as part of the assembly and deployment steps for the Application Client.
• Resource references
  Use this page to designate how the resource references of application modules map to the actual resources configured for the application.
• Map-configuration alias
  This panel allows you to select a mapping configuration alias for the resource that you are configuring. This panel is only available when security domains are defined. Security domains allow us to isolate mapping configuration aliases between servers. The tree view is useful in determining the security domain to which an alias belongs, and the tree view can help you determine the servers that will be able to access each authentication alias. The tree view is tailored for each resource, so domains and aliases are hidden when we cannot use them. For example, a cell-scoped security domain will be hidden from the tree if all servers and clusters in the tree have defined their own security domain. If you are looking for an alias not visible in the tree, it is because the alias cannot be used by any servers that have visibility to this resource. In this case, you must define the alias at the global scope or in a different security domain that is visible to this resource.
• Select a J2C authentication alias
  Use this page to select a Java 2 Connector (J2C) authentication alias for the resource that you are configuring. This page is available only when at least one security domain is defined and assigned a scope that is applicable to the resource that is being edited. Additionally, that security domain must contain at least one JAAS J2C Authentication alias. Security domains isolate J2C authentication aliases between servers.
• Considerations for isolated resource providers
  There are some design considerations that you should be aware of when working with resource providers specified to be isolated in their own class loaders.
• Performing platform-specific tasks for JDBC access
  This article provides miscellaneous tips for platform-specific tasks for JDBC access.
• Passing client information to a database
  Using a WAS API or trace function, we can pass unique client information about every connection that originates from the same data source.
• About Apache Derby
  The Apache Derby package that is bundled with the application server is backed by full IBM Quality Assurance (QA).
• Verifying Apache Derby automatic migration
  v8.5 of the application server requires Apache Derby to run at a minimal version of v10.1.x. The migration tool upgrades databases that are accessed through the embedded framework by some internal components, such as the UDDI registry. The tool also upgrades Derby instances the applications access through the embedded framework. Verify the migration results for these backend databases.
• Upgrading Apache Derby manually
  During the upgrade of the application server, the migration tool attempts to upgrade instances of Apache Derby that are accessed through the embedded framework only. The automatic upgrade excludes Derby instances that transact with applications through the Network Server framework. This exclusion eliminates the risk of corrupting third party applications that access the same database instances as the application server. You must manually upgrade database instances that are accessed through the Network Server framework. Do the same for databases that fail the automatic migration.
• Database performance tuning
  Database performance tuning can dramatically affect the throughput of the application. For example, if the application requires high concurrency (multiple, simultaneous interactions with backend data), an improperly tuned database can result in a bottleneck. Database access threads accumulate in a backlog when the database is not configured to accept a sufficient number of incoming requests.
• Data access tuning parameters
  For better application performance, we can tune some data access resources through the WAS dmgr console.
• Manage resources through JCA lifecycle management operations
  We can manage the run-time status of your data source and connection factory resources to perform some data access administrative tasks without restarting the application server. This topic outlines the process for managing those resources through the dmgr console.
• Configure connection validation timeout
  We can configure a timeout for connection validation by the JDBC driver through a data source custom property in the data source configuration panels.
• Configure Java EE Connector connection factories in the dmgr console
  To access an enterprise information system (EIS), configure connection factories, which instantiate resource adapter classes for establishing and maintaining resource connections.
• Establish custom finder SQL dynamic enhancement server-wide
  Enable support for dynamic SQL enhancement of all custom finders, defined in all beans, by modifying the custom properties of the application server in the dmgr console.
• Establish custom finder SQL dynamic enhancement on a set of beans
  We can enable support for all custom finders defined on beans by modifying the application server's custom properties through the dmgr console.
• CMP connection factories page
  Use this page to view existing container managed persistence (CMP) connection factories settings.
• Configure resource adapters
  We can view a list of installed and configured resource adapters in the dmgr console. Also, we can use the dmgr console to install new resource adapters, create additional configurations of installed resource adapters, or delete resource adapter configurations.
• Update a stand-alone resource adapter archive
  Use the resource adapter archive (RAR) update wizard to update the stand-alone RAR files to a newer version. The application server uses the classes and other code that comprise a resource adapter archive to support the resource adapters that you configure.
• Map resource manager connection factory references to resource factories
  We can use the dmgr console to bind the resource manager connection factory references to one of the configured resource factories.
• Manage messages with message endpoints
  Manage message delivery for message-driven beans (MDB) deployed as message endpoints. The message endpoints are managed beans (MBeans) for inbound resource adapters that are compliant with Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) v1.5.
• Configure a JDBC provider and data source
  For access to relational databases, applications use the JDBC drivers and data sources that you configure for the application server.
• Configure connection validation timeout
  We can configure a timeout for connection validation by the JDBC driver through a data source custom property in the data source configuration panels.
• Resource references
  Use this page to designate how the resource references of application modules map to the actual resources configured for the application.
• Map-configuration alias
  This panel allows you to select a mapping configuration alias for the resource that you are configuring. This panel is only available when security domains are defined. Security domains allow us to isolate mapping configuration aliases between servers. The tree view is useful in determining the security domain to which an alias belongs, and the tree view can help you determine the servers that will be able to access each authentication alias. The tree view is tailored for each resource, so domains and aliases are hidden when we cannot use them. For example, a cell-scoped security domain will be hidden from the tree if all servers and clusters in the tree have defined their own security domain. If you are looking for an alias not visible in the tree, it is because the alias cannot be used by any servers that have visibility to this resource. In this case, you must define the alias at the global scope or in a different security domain that is visible to this resource.
• Select a J2C authentication alias
  Use this page to select a Java 2 Connector (J2C) authentication alias for the resource that you are configuring. This page is available only when at least one security domain is defined and assigned a scope that is applicable to the resource that is being edited. Additionally, that security domain must contain at least one JAAS J2C Authentication alias. Security domains isolate J2C authentication aliases between servers.
• Considerations for isolated resource providers
  There are some design considerations that you should be aware of when working with resource providers specified to be isolated in their own class loaders.
• Performing platform-specific tasks for JDBC access
  This article provides miscellaneous tips for platform-specific tasks for JDBC access.
• Implicitly set client information
  If you track client information in the database, we can choose one of two ways to pass WAS client data on database connections.
• Enable client information tracing with the dmgr console
  Use either of the methods outlined in this task to enable the passing and tracing of client information about a database connection.
• About Apache Derby
  The Apache Derby package that is bundled with the application server is backed by full IBM Quality Assurance (QA).
• Manage resources through JCA lifecycle management operations
  We can manage the run-time status of your data source and connection factory resources to perform some data access administrative tasks without restarting the application server. This topic outlines the process for managing those resources through the dmgr console.

Related concepts:

Relational resource adapters and JCA
JDBC providers
Data sources
Connection pooling

Related

Access data using Java EE Connector Architecture connectors
Configure JDBC providers to use pureQuery to access DB2
Enable trace at server startup

Reference:

Application scoped resources
Data source minimum required settings, by vendor
DB2 tuning parameters
J2C connection pool counters

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