Re: ODA - VM question (Windows)

From: Seth Miller <sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 14:11:34 -0500
Message-ID: <CAEueRAWgWUZSJpa1V0G=pVo9OOMNduZxo5Nc=D8tj9frSfe8yg_at_mail.gmail.com>



Mark,

I mostly agree with you but your assertion that ODA is meant for only one purpose conflicts completely with its design and intent. If that were the case there would be no virtualization option.

ODA may stand for Oracle Database Appliance but ODAVP does not. It is meant to allow you to add a deep fryer and a high speed mixer so you can make your french fries and milkshakes right alongside your toast without utilizing additional hardware.

Seth Miller

On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 11:58 AM, MARK BRINSMEAD <mark.brinsmead_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> Why are you worried about the cost of the hardware?
>
> ODA hardware is CHEAP. Dirt cheap, really, when you compare it to the
> cost of database licenses.
>
> If you are running Oracle EE with RAC, Partitioning, Diagnostics Pack, and
> Tuning Pack, the software licenses can cost over $3million at list price.
> That's with all the cores enabled, of course.
>
> With only 4 cores enabled, though, you are still looking at about $200,000
> for the software licenses. *So what* if the hardware is not "fully
> utilized"? It only costs about $50,000. And its specialized hardware,
> anyway, specifically meant for running Oracle databases.
>
> Why would you choose to put Windows inside your ODA, just for the sake of
> saving maybe 2 U's of rack space and perhaps a couple thousand dollars
> (about 1% of the money you paid for your database licenses.)
>
> "ODA" stands for "Oracle Database Appliance". Its meant to be like a
> toaster. You plug it in, and make toast. Sure, you could probably make
> french fries in that toaster (and maybe even milkshakes, if you are really
> inventive), but ultimately, it is only meant to make toast. Why would you
> do anything else?
>
> If it were my choice, I would put in the ODA (it really is a compelling
> little solution) and use it exclusively to run databases. The ability to
> enable / license fractional portions of the machine is a huge strength, but
> so far as I can see, the "unused" portions serve only one practical
> purpose: to allow for future growth of your database environment.
>
> Sure, you probably *can* do other stuff with it. But if you do, you are
> probably missing the point of buying an "appliance".
>
> On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 12:30 PM, Jeff Chirco <backseatdba_at_gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the feedback so far.
>> Yes Seth you are correct I was not referring to running a DB over
>> Windows. However, David we are currently in the same boat as you. We run
>> 10 databases all on Windows with a couple 400gb and a DW at 3tb however it
>> doesn't get used that much. We used to run AIX and then it was a decision
>> against my recommendation to move to Windows, basically we lost our Unix
>> admin and didn't want to hire another. But surprisingly the DB runs well
>> with 11g R2 Win 2008 NOT virtual. The issues we have are more related to
>> the lack of support from Oracle for Windows. There are always bugs that
>> don't exist in Linux or if they do they wont have a patch fix for it and
>> will instead force you to upgrade to next patch set version.
>>
>> We are just in the very early stages of considering an ODA. We are due
>> for a hardware refresh and we are now more open to the idea of moving to
>> Linux but not a ton of in house Linux experts. So the ODA sounds
>> intriguing because they say it is pretty much self managed and
>> pre-configured by Oracle. It just might be overkill for our database
>> environment unless we can find some other uses for the hardware, like
>> spinning up a Windows VM inside it to use for some application. And the
>> price isn't that bad considering the price to refreshing 4 Dell servers.
>> But then we would be moving off our NetApp SAN which has been nice. I may
>> start another thread with additional questions.
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 10:08 PM, Seth Miller <sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> *"You have to be careful when you request Oracle support because they
>>> will tell you that they don't certificate the DB over a virtualized
>>> environment -at least not 11g R2 and not over Windows-"*
>>>
>>> David, perhaps you had a side conversation with Jeff that the rest of us
>>> didn't see but I don't think he mentioned anything about running a database
>>> in Windows on a VM.
>>>
>>> Jeff, to answer your question, the ODA Virtualized Platform (ODAVP) will
>>> run and support any VM support by Oracle Virtual Machine since that is the
>>> hypervisor being used. OVM is built over Xen which runs Windows quite well
>>> and yes, Windows is fully supported for most products on OVM. Take a look
>>> at MOS note 464754.1 for specifics.
>>>
>>> *"Going forward every product running on Linux and Windows released by
>>> Oracle is certified and supported on Oracle VM. For specific information on
>>> the earliest product versions supported on Oracle VM, refer to the product
>>> specific information below."*
>>>
>>> Seth Miller
>>>
>>> On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 4:15 PM, David Ramírez Reyes <
>>> dramirezr_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have never liked MS Products (with the exception of Office, I have to
>>>> say), but here in the company we have 8 DB's running over Windows (it was
>>>> CIO decision, don't ask).
>>>>
>>>> These are small databases (120 GB the biggest) but very critical for
>>>> the business as they are in use 24x7x365 and I have to say that the
>>>> performance and stability is surprisingly good (11g R2 with Win Server 2008
>>>> -virtualized over VMWare).
>>>>
>>>> You have to be careful when you request Oracle support because they
>>>> will tell you that they don't certificate the DB over a virtualized
>>>> environment -at least not 11g R2 and not over Windows- and they will use
>>>> that to explain any possible bad behavior on the DB, even if it's not
>>>> related.
>>>>
>>>> Of course am still against this use, as I know all the features and
>>>> possibilities Oracle DB has over Linux/Unix environments and are not
>>>> available for Windows, but I would lie if I say that everything is a mess.
>>>>
>>>> Here's a a good like that I would suggest you to check before starting
>>>> working over Windows (specially if you are used to work with Linux/Unix for
>>>> the DB server, which was my case), this is very good beginning:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.rampant-books.com/art_oracle_on_windows_unix_users.htm
>>>>
>>>> Good luck...
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>>
>>>> David Ramírez Reyes
>>>> Profesión: Padre de Familia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 26 March 2015 at 15:03, Jeff Chirco <backseatdba_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I don't have an appliance, just in the early stages of figuring out if
>>>>> it will be worth it for use. We would use maybe 4 cpu's of it for our
>>>>> databases, with the rest being a waste. So I was thinking if Windows runs
>>>>> on there then that would be more useful for us. And our databases don't
>>>>> have large growth where we would need to expand much in the future.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jeff
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 12:54 PM, George <georgelza_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Please do tell,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Also bout to deploy this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> G
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 9:44 PM, Jeff Chirco <backseatdba_at_gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Anybody run Oracle Database Appliance with the VM option and run a
>>>>>>> Windows VM for example as an application server? Just wondering how well
>>>>>>> Windows OS runs on it.
>>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jeff
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> You have the obligation to inform one honestly of the risk, and as a
>>>>>> person
>>>>>> you are committed to educate yourself to the total risk in any
>>>>>> activity!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Once informed & totally aware of the risk,
>>>>>> every fool has the right to kill or injure themselves as they see fit!
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

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Received on Fri Mar 27 2015 - 20:11:34 CET

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