Re: Oracle 11g CRS, RAC and ASM on Solaris

From: Dan Norris <dannorris_at_dannorris.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:54:10 -0500
Message-ID: <48160F42.5060500@dannorris.com>

Hold on--RAW was never a requirement, but it has always been an option. In the early days (circa OPS), there weren't many alternatives (except on VMS and Tru64/Digital UNIX), so RAW was more common back then.

ASM isn't a requirement either (for any version), except when using RAC with Standard Edition as Freek pointed out. For that configuration ASM is a license restriction, but it isn't a technical limitation. Note that for RAC with Standard Edition, you also must use *only* Oracle Clusterware--no 3rd party clusterware allowed.

For storage, I recommend ASM when using 10g R2 or higher. However, you'll find that even when using ASM, you'll still need to support non-ASM files like the OCR and Voting Disks for Clusterware. They can't go in ASM (chicken and egg problem), so you have to resort to using either RAW devices for them or place them on a supported cluster filesystem. For some customers (especially on platforms that don't have OCFS for free, like Solaris), the common choice is to use RAW for these files since a CFS is expensive and often requires some other clusterware (thereby throwing another vendor/software in the already-complex environment).

I would echo Dick's recommendation to use only Oracle Clusterware (avoiding additional 3rd party clusterware) which was what you already said was proposed in your environment. I would use ASM for database storage. As for how you manage non-shared storage, VxFS over VxVM is a fine and common solution, especially on Solaris. As I mentioned, you'll need to address how/where to store the OCR and voting disks--for your environment, I'd suggest using RAW.

Dan

Bobak, Mark wrote:

That would be difficult, since there was no ASM in 9i…..

 

 

I think point number two should have been:

2.)  Raw is required with RAC, you don’t have a choice.

 

That’s a requirement that used to be true, and went all the way back to the early days of OPS, well before RAC.

 

I’m not sure if it’s still a requirement.  ASM is an option, starting w/ 10g, but you’ll still need some shared raw storage for ASM to manage.

 

As to CFSes, I’m not sure what’s available/supported on what platform, as far as RAC is concerned.  I thought Veritas offered a clustered VxFS that would work w/ RAC, but, don’t quote me on that. 

 

We’ve always been a raw device shop, even for all our single instance databases, so, it was never an issue here.

 

-Mark

 

--
Mark J. Bobak
Senior Database Administrator, System & Product Technologies
ProQuest
789 E. Eisenhower, Parkway, P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346
+1.734.997.4059  or +1.800.521.0600 x 4059
mark.bobak@proquest.com
www.proquest.com
www.csa.com

ProQuest...Start here.

 

From: oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Goulet, Dick
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 11:46 AM
To: Best, David; duncan.lawie@credit-suisse.com; oracle-l@freelists.org
Subject: RE: Oracle 11g CRS, RAC and ASM on Solaris

 

To the best of my knowledge it’s been that way since 9i.

 

______________________________________________________________
Dick Goulet / Capgemini
North America P&C / East Business Unit
Senior Oracle DBA / Hosting
Office: 508.573.1978 / Mobile: 508.742.5795 / www.capgemini.com
Fax: 508.229.2019 /  Email: richard.goulet@capgemini.com
45 Bartlett St. / Marlborough, MA 01752

Together: the Collaborative Business Experience
______________________________________________________________

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From: Best, David [mailto:David.Best@cognos.com]
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 11:45 AM
To: Goulet, Dick; duncan.lawie@credit-suisse.com; oracle-l@freelists.org
Subject: RE: Oracle 11g CRS, RAC and ASM on Solaris

 

 

Is point #2 a new requirement for 11g?

 

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From: oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Goulet, Dick
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 11:07 AM
To: duncan.lawie@credit-suisse.com; oracle-l@freelists.org
Subject: RE: Oracle 11g CRS, RAC and ASM on Solaris

 

Duncan,

 

            I’m in the middle of planning/implementing a RAC on Solaris cluster.  The plan is to:

 

1)     use Oracle cluster services instead of other clusterware, less finger pointing.

2)     ASM is mandatory with RAC, you don’t have a choice.

 

-- http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l Received on Mon Apr 28 2008 - 12:54:10 CDT