This is all great advice. To clarify, I don't want to have
to install anything beyond the tnsnames.ora file on the web
server. I want this to be enough to get me to the server
that holds the database. So if possible, anything regarding
ORACLE_HOME is kind of out of the question. I've found,
thanks to your suggestions, that if i specify the host in my
connection call that I am able to connect. But my tnsnames.ora
file actually specifies the host, so I shouldn't have to also
specify it in my script.