Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data Appliance/ODA?

From: Tim Gorman <tim_at_evdbt.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2016 19:17:29 -0700
Message-ID: <56B2B4B9.7020506_at_evdbt.com>



Delphix was never intended to do everything that EM does. But in the area for which it was created, it does much more than EM. Rome wasn't built in a day.

On 2/3/16 17:53, Peter Sharman wrote:
>
> When you can argue that Delphix does everything EM does, THEN I’ll
> listen! ;)
>
> Pete
>
> Oracle logo
>
> Pete Sharman
> Database Architect, DBaaS / DBLM
> Enterprise Manager Product Suite
> 33 Benson Crescent CALWELL ACT 2905 AUSTRALIA
>
> Phone: +61262924095 <tel:+61262924095> | | Mobile: _+61414443449_
> Email: pete.sharman_at_oracle.com <mailto:pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>
> Twitter: _at_SharmanPete LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/petesharman
> Website: petewhodidnottweet.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Controlling developers is like herding cats."
>
> Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook
>
> "Oh no, it's not, it's much harder than that!"
>
> Bruce Pihlamae, long term Oracle DBA
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*Tim Gorman [mailto:tim_at_evdbt.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 3, 2016 5:37 AM
> *To:* Peter Sharman <pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>; dedba_at_tpg.com.au; Seth
> Miller <sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Oracle Discussion List <oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data Appliance/ODA?
>
> FWIW, Delphix does everything that Oracle SnapClone does and more,
> without any Oracle licensing (except EE) or hardware prerequisites.
>
> Sorry, had to say something here... :)
>
>
>
>
> On 2/2/16 10:36, Peter Sharman wrote:
>
> Snap Clone is part of the Cloud Management pack, which has the
> DBLM pack as a prerequisite.
>
> Pete
>
> Oracle logo
>
> Pete Sharman
> Database Architect, DBaaS / DBLM
> Enterprise Manager Product Suite
> 33 Benson Crescent CALWELL ACT 2905 AUSTRALIA
>
> Phone: +61262924095 <tel:+61262924095> | | Mobile: _+61414443449_
> Email: pete.sharman_at_oracle.com <mailto:pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>
> Twitter: _at_SharmanPete LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/petesharman
> Website: petewhodidnottweet.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Controlling developers is like herding cats."
>
> Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook
>
> "Oh no, it's not, it's much harder than that!"
>
> Bruce Pihlamae, long term Oracle DBA
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*De DBA [mailto:dedba_at_tpg.com.au]
> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 2, 2016 10:28 PM
> *To:* Peter Sharman <pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>
> <mailto:pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>; Seth Miller
> <sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com> <mailto:sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Oracle Discussion List <oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> <mailto:oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data
> Appliance/ODA?
>
> Thanks Pete.
>
> I've now seen the ODA. The database is version 11.2.0.4. The data
> files are stored in ASM disk groups, not on ACFS mounts. I am not
> sure if it is still possible to create snapshots with oakcli in
> this situation?
>
> Is the snap clone functionality in EM/Cloud Control licensed with
> any optional pack? It sounds promising.. there is not much disk
> space left on the array, so a thin clone is preferable ;-)
>
> Cheers,
> Tony
>
> On 2/02/2016 12:45 pm, Peter Sharman wrote:
>
> Tony
>
> I don’t think I saw anything about database versions in the
> thread, so there are a couple of other options you could use
> depending on the version:
>
> ·If the DB is 12c, there is snapshotting capability built into
> the database itself
>
> ·From DB 10g onwards you could look at using Enterprise
> Manager’s Snap Clone functionality which uses copy on write
> technology to build thin clones, optionally including masking
> as well. This may make it easier for you to do the
> snapshotting as its built into the product, which makes it
> less error prone than a manual snapshotting process.
>
> Let me know if you need any more details on that.
>
> Pete
>
> Oracle logo
>
> Pete Sharman
> Database Architect, DBaaS / DBLM
> Enterprise Manager Product Suite
> 33 Benson Crescent CALWELL ACT 2905 AUSTRALIA
>
> Phone: +61262924095 <tel:+61262924095> | | Mobile: _+61414443449_
> Email: pete.sharman_at_oracle.com
> <mailto:pete.sharman_at_oracle.com> Twitter: _at_SharmanPete
> LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/petesharman
> Website: petewhodidnottweet.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Controlling developers is like herding cats."
>
> Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook
>
> "Oh no, it's not, it's much harder than that!"
>
> Bruce Pihlamae, long term Oracle DBA
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*De DBA [mailto:dedba_at_tpg.com.au]
> *Sent:* Monday, February 1, 2016 10:32 AM
> *To:* Seth Miller <sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
> <mailto:sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Oracle Discussion List <oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> <mailto:oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data
> Appliance/ODA?
>
> Seth,
>
> Thanks for that. I haven't got access to the systems yet, just
> reading up and preparing for the shock..
>
> You will not find OCFS on the ODA. It uses ACFS for the
> cluster file system as well as the database files.
>
> Ah, yes, of course, it's on ASM... I understand that oakcli
> will create & manage fs automatically, but I'm not going to
> have RAC. One node is supposed to be production, whereas the
> other node will run dev, test and UAT. I will need to refresh
> the dev & test databases from production, and wonder whether I
> can create a snapshot, do the masking etc. and then mount the
> copy on the other node where it will then be used as the gold
> copy for the refreshes.
>
> get yourself a couple of excellent books.
>
> Practical Oracle Database Appliance
> <http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Oracle-Database-Appliance-Curtis/dp/1430262656>
>
> Oracle Database Appliance: A Hands-On Guide
> <http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Database-Appliance-Hands--Guide/dp/0071827447>
>
>
> I did look at the first one, which has some famous names
> amongst the authors. One of the reviews that I saw mentions
> that it is somewhat dated? Is it still worthwhile getting even
> if you work with the latest hard/software?
>
> Cheers,
> Tony
>
> On 31/01/2016 2:45 pm, Seth Miller wrote:
>
> Tony,
>
> The ODAs apparently are each set up as two stand-alone
> servers with shared storage. I understand that one needs
> to use oakcli to create databases and that this tool hides
> pretty much all functionality that we are used to through
> dbca etc.
>
> Yes, oakcli is the magic behind ODA but it does not
> preclude you from using DBCA. If you need to create a
> database that does not fall into one of the oakcli
> templates, feel free to use DBCA or any other classic method.
>
> But what does it do exactly?
>
> Oakcli is nothing more than a bunch of very well written
> perl and shell scripts that wrap the classic tools
> included with the Oracle database software. They are easy
> to find and read if you really want to know what they are
> doing.
>
> How does one manage the OCFS?
>
> You will not find OCFS on the ODA. It uses ACFS for the
> cluster file system as well as the database files.
>
> Can a file system be mounted on both nodes, or just on
> one? Is this automatic?
>
> Oakcli will take care of this for you.
>
> Given a complete backup (... which is a problem all of its
> own...), how does one restore a database?
>
> Use RMAN or Enterprise Manager for this. There will be
> little difference from a standard RAC database in how you
> backup and restore a database.
>
> Don't use centralised wallets with TDE, otherwise problems
> will arise -- but what does that even mean?
>
> This isn't specific to the ODA. There are a number of
> reasons to have local wallets in RAC -- one of the most
> important being that you can't have a local only autologin
> wallet if it is shared with multiple nodes.
>
> You will find little argument that the documentation for
> ODA is mediocre at best. This is why a number of training
> companies (including the one I teach for) have developed
> their own content for the ODA. I think your best course of
> action, though, is to get yourself a couple of excellent
> books.
>
> Practical Oracle Database Appliance
> <http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Oracle-Database-Appliance-Curtis/dp/1430262656>
>
> Oracle Database Appliance: A Hands-On Guide
> <http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Database-Appliance-Hands--Guide/dp/0071827447>
>
> Seth Miller
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 10:42 PM, De DBA <dedba_at_tpg.com.au
> <mailto:dedba_at_tpg.com.au>> wrote:
>
> I've just read through that documentation, as I will
> shortly get the responsibility for 2 ODA's. I would
> not classify the 3 software manuals and 2 hw manuals
> as good documentation. After reading all of it, I've
> got more questions than what I started out with...
>
> The ODAs apparently are each set up as two stand-alone
> servers with shared storage. I understand that one
> needs to use oakcli to create databases and that this
> tool hides pretty much all functionality that we are
> used to through dbca etc. But what does it do exactly?
> How does one manage the OCFS? Can a file system be
> mounted on both nodes, or just on one? Is this
> automatic? Given a complete backup (... which is a
> problem all of its own...), how does one restore a
> database? Don't use centralised wallets with TDE,
> otherwise problems will arise -- but what does that
> even mean? Questions...
>
> Pointers to more complete documentation/blogs/etc.
> regarding managing and patching the ODA are very welcome!
>
> Cheers,
> Tony
>
> On 30/01/2016 6:38 am, Hans Forbrich wrote:
>
> Yes, lack of documentation was a problem at one time.
>
> That has significantly improved. See
> http://docs.oracle.com/en/engineered-systems/
>
> /Hans
>
> On 29/01/2016 12:54 PM, Andrew Kerber wrote:
>
> I have run into problem with a lack of good
> documentation on its use.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>
> On Jan 29, 2016, at 1:49 PM,
> <Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com
> <mailto:Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com>>
> <Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com
> <mailto:Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> We just attended an ODA presentation and
> it looks very promising as a solution for
> our non-prod testing environment as it
> would allow us to clone multiple instances
> of the gold copy test databases easily
> (without needing to coordinate with other
> departments as we do now) and apply
> patches for those environments quickly and
> easily as well.
>
> Any real life pros or cons that anyone has
> experienced with the appliance? We’d keep
> our production and performance testing
> environments off it at least for now.
>
> Jay Miller
>
> Sr. Oracle DBA
>
> 201.369.8355
>

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Received on Thu Feb 04 2016 - 03:17:29 CET

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