Oracle 8.1.7 or similar versions may connect successfully using the same approach as for Oracle 10g [1]. However, here is a tried and tested approach with this older version of Oracle. The process is the same as for Oracle 10g but with the following changes:
You will need the Oracle JDBC driver. This is a file called “classes12.zip” and can be downloaded from Oracle (search for “Oracle JDBC driver” and look for “classes12.zip” for Oracle 8.17). It should be on the Oracle CD and/or in the installation directory.
Links:
[1] http://kb.visokio.com/node/366