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Can a website connect to Oracle over VPN?

Hi all,

I've been asked to find a way to set up a website with an Oracle back-end (with Oracle being taken care of by a third party).

However, they want the website, which accepts data through forms, to connect to Oracle using a VPN connection.

The site will sit on an IIS server, the database on a Linux server behind a firewall.

Sorry if this seems like a really stupid question, but is this actually possible, and if so, what would be an example of the connection string?

A quick response (even Yes or No) would be much appreciated!

mrjoltcola

Connecting over a VPN does not require a special connection string. YOu simply need the host database to be reachable. From that perspective, treat it just like a local network server.

However, with a VPN in place, you'll likely experience a timeout on idle connections, so you should make sure the VPN admin configures the VPN with a very high idle period for this link, and also I suggest using a connection pool configuration that will periodically "ping" connections.

I have several Cisco point to point VPNs and we use Oracle across those links, but if you leave a sqlplus or Toad session idle overnight, you'll find the connection dead in the morning and have to reconnect.

Acteon

ASKER

Thanks for the very fast response. I'm not used to this kind of connection (I usually use SQL hosted remotely and that's pretty simple, just an IP address, database name, username and password). Most of my code is written in asp.

I've never had to go through a VPN to connect from a website to a database before, could you give me an example of the code? I'm happy to add points for this.

Thank you again for your reply.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

mrjoltcola

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Acteon

ASKER

Fantastic, thanks for making it so clear!