In the preceding section where we discussed how to create your own static ports, we also discussed the potential for users to access the Oracle BI 11g application by entering a URL into the address bar without a port number. So instead of http://myserver.com:9704/analytics, you can use http://myserver.com/analytics. This configuration is achievable by incorporating what is known as a web (HTTP) tier proxy. In most architectures, the web tier that handles all of the HTTP traffic and the application tier that handles all of the dynamic rendering, database access, and so on, are separated.
Although, usually this is done by means of separate physical servers, it can also be achieved on the same physical server, as long as the server is robust enough to handle the added resource needs of the web tier server.
The web/HTTP servers that are compatible with Oracle BI 11g are Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), Oracle HTTP Server (OHS), and Apache Web Server. OHS is merely...