Oracle WebLogic

MaineIT Fusion Middleware WebLogic Managed Service

FY2022 & FY2023 Summary

Overview

The Fusion Middleware WebLogic Service provides the top application server across both conventional and cloud environments. As a cornerstone of both the Oracle cloud and Fusion Middleware application foundations, this product is the industry’s most complete, best-of-breed platform for developing cloud applications. The State’s highly available, highly scalable environment is both Intranet and Internet accessible providing a high performing and high availability WebLogic environment to support the State’s Oracle Applications.

Included

  • One managed server with 1 GB memory, allocated for a standard build. Please note, a minimum of two managed servers is required to provide high-availability and disaster recovery.
  • Enterprise monitoring.
  • Administration of the WebLogic hosting software and platform.
  • All internet applications include the Imperva Web Application Firewall which adds an additional layer of protection to analyze traffic for malicious activity and also prevent DDoS Attacks.
  • Automated deployments.
  • Collection of managed server logs for isolated applications.
  • Quarterly patches for WebLogic, JDK, and the Operating system to enhance features, functionality, and reduce security vulnerabilities when/where available.
  • Assistance with the monitoring and troubleshooting of Load Tests.
  • Enterprise Backups: Backups occur each night at 10:00PM with the following Standard Retention utilizing the Azure Gov Cloud:
    • Daily backups are taken at 10:00PM, stored in the SOM data centers, and retained for 15 days.
    • Weekly backups are taken every Friday at 10:00PM, stored in the SOM data centers and Azure Gov Cloud Tenant, and retained for 35 days.
    • Monthly backups are taken the first Friday of each month at 10:00PM, stored in the SOM Azure Gov Cloud, and retained for 365 days.
  • All hardware purchases and maintenance costs.
  • All software licensing and maintenance costs.
  • Server housing costs (power, backup generator, UPS, network connection, operational monitoring, etc.).
  • Customer Support Center for problem reporting. (Internal use only)
  • Operations/Unix Support Specialists.
  • Middleware Administrators to provide administration functions to keep the applications operational.

Excluded

  • Local PC Administration of WebLogic.
  • Administration for standalone WebLogic Servers. This rate covers the shared Oracle Middleware WebLogic environment only and is currently only available on the LINUX operating system.

Service Level Targets and Availability

  • Please note that the Middleware environment is extremely large and requires patching of non-production environments during normal business hours due to the complexity. If an outage can’t be sustained in pre-production during these times it will require a minimum of two managed servers.
  • Standard business hour coverage is 7:00AM – 5:00PM Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
  • If service is required for non-production systems outside of the standard business hours, prior arrangements will be required with the director of this service area.
  • Production systems are supported 24x7 365 days a year. If a critical production issue occurs during non-business hours, please contact the Oracle Middleware Team on-call support at 207-624-7700.
  • Platinum patching is a 24-hour process and occurs during business hours for all environments.

 

Single Instance
(No Disaster Recovery)
Clustered w/ a Minimum of One vServer Per Site
Definition One managed server. Multiple managed servers configured to be redundant.
Service Level Availability 99.5% availability excluding scheduled outages. 99.95% availability excluding scheduled outages. Please note, this can be increased by requesting additional clustered instances.
Single Component Failure Recovery Time Objective 24 Hours (No disaster recovery) No Outage
Redundant Component Failure Recovery Time Objective 24 Hours 24 Hours
Catastrophic Component Failure

 

Recovery Time Objective – RTO

Disaster recovery is not available in this configuration Dependent on disaster recovery plan.
Recovery Point Objective - RPO Dependent on backup schedule plan. Dependent on backup schedule plan.

On the Bill

WebLogic Managed Service

Service Code = MWWEB

Service Category = Oracle Database Services

Service Full = Oracle Fusion Middleware WEBLOGIC (MWWEB)

Sample NICUS 350 Report-

Columns A-I

Oracle WebLogic

Service Rates: Please see the MaineIT Rate Table 

Options Available for Additional Charge

  • Additional memory for managed servers. Please note, in some cases too much memory can degrade performance. Please work with your Middleware administrator to ensure compatibility before requesting.
  • A minimum of two managed servers is required to provide high availability.
  • Local PC Administration of WebLogic.
  • Administration for standalone WebLogic Servers.

Customer Expectations

  • Individual users follow State of Maine IT rules and policies, including all security policies.
  • Application teams will utilize centrally managed data sources where possible to allow for greater visibility and flexibility of the application. The configuration utilizes Active GridLink (AGL), and Fast Connection with the Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) databases[1]. This provides a highly scalable and highly available environment when configured with multiple Oracle database instances.

An AGL data source uses Fast Connection to:

      • Provide rapid failure detection.
      • Abort and remove invalid connections from the connection pool.
      • Perform graceful shutdown for planned and unplanned Oracle RAC node outages.
      • Adapt to changes in topology, such as adding or removing a node.
      • Distribute runtime work requests to all active Oracle RAC instances, including those rejoining a cluster.
  • Provide a contact person and backup at a minimum, but an email group is preferred. This group will receive updates and work with the Middleware team to configure and stand up the application.
  • Report any issues or problems with this service to the MaineIT team as promptly and with as complete information as is feasible.
  • With the new security climate, it is critical that we have teams validate patching in the pre-production environments prior to moving to production. If the applicant is unwilling or the application is unable to stay current on the Enterprise Data Services Shared WebLogic environment, the application must move to a standalone configuration. This move will incur the cost of the server; WebLogic support and additional licensing costs may also apply. This includes but is not limited to the Operating System, WebLogic, and JDK software.
  • Prior to deployment, the applications will be developed and compiled by application development teams. The expectation is the applications will be initially deployed on a copy of WebLogic that has been deployed on their PC. The PC’s installation will be utilizing the same version and patch set of WebLogic and the JDK as the EDS enterprise hosting environment. The application will be working fully where possible prior to deployments completed on the enterprise hosting environment. The expectation is that most of the development and debugging will occur on the local development environments prior to deployments to the Enterprise. It is the responsibility of development teams (external and internal) to create and support local development environments. Deploying untested application code to Enterprise WebLogic environments is highly discouraged. 
  • At least one pre-production environment is required for every production environment.
    • If a clustered configuration has been selected for production, then at least one clustered configuration is required in pre-production.

To get help, or to order this service

  • Call the MaineIT Service Center at 207-624-7700 and assign to the Oracle Middleware team.
  • For application projects (new projects, major enhancements, or upgrades), contact the MaineIT Project Management Office (PMO).
  • A Footprints ticket is required for all non-production work requests. All production work requests require an authorized RFC. If applicable, a billing code is required for those items that are not part of the base published rate.
  • For new Middleware environments, please send an email to the Oracle Middleware team to schedule an intake discussion. Once complete the team will request and/or create a Footprints ticket requesting the environment. Most requests will be completed within two weeks of receiving a completed request.
  • If the published service level agreement is not met, issues can be escalated to the next priority level by contacting any of the following individuals: 
    • The Enterprise Data Services Director, Manager of the Middleware team, or your friendly Account Manager.
  • Jeffrey Jordan, Director, Enterprise Data Services
    • MaineIT Operations will engage the On-Call Core Technology Duty Manager if necessary. 
  • For an after-hours production break fix, contact MaineIT Operations at Customer Support 207-624-7700.

Priority Levels for monitoring

  • The standard production published service level agreement can be viewed at the following link: Standard SLA Maine IT Production Services.
  • Standard business hour coverage is 7:00AM – 5:00PM Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, please contact MaineIT Operations.
  • If service is required for non-production systems outside of the standard business hours, prior arrangements will be required with the director of this service area and associated fees apply.
 

[1] AGL and Fast Connect requires Gold or Silver service level databases