Re: Oracle FailSafe 2.1 configs ...

From: Pete Sharman <psharman_at_us.oracle.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 13:22:42 -0800
Message-ID: <36FFEF22.E36221E2@us.oracle.com>

Comments inline.

HTH. Pete

NOtakmel_at_stratos.netSPAM wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Am reading up on FailSafe docs on the web. Am looking into this for a
> possibility of setting up an Oracle server. BTW, this will be a
> dedicated database server, nothing but database. Our application &
> file/print services will be by our current file server (NetWare).
>
> So to deploy FailSafe I need to have Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS)
> working.
>
> 1. Is MSCS something already included in NT4 (just need to turn it
> on) or is it an option to be purchased?

It's in the NT4 Enterprise Edition. I think (although the last time I looked at it was last year) that once you've purchased NT4 EE you don't have to pay any more.

> There are three different FailSafe scenarios using the current two
> node clust limit on MSCS: standby, active/active, partitioned.
>
> 2.Of the above three scenarios what would be the best for a box
> providing only database services & at a site with no full time DBA
> <g>?
>
> TIA.
> R.

Depends on what you're trying to achieve. Oracle Fail Safe solutions are deployed in three different ways:

PARTITIONED WORKLOAD: Most ERP systems (SAP R/3, Baan, PeopleSoft, Oracle Applications, . . .) can be deployed by partitioning independent workloads onto different cluster nodes to maximize throughput.

                  For example, deploy the application server on one
system and the Fail
                  Safe Oracle database on the other. Each node protects
the other during
                  an outage, providing higher availability than two
separate standalone
                  systems.

                  2. PARTITIONED DATA: In this case, the data is
separated into multiple
                  independent databases.

                  For example, a Sales database could be served from one
node, and a
                  Marketing database could be served from the other.
During an outage
                  (planned or unplanned), the surviving node will
automatically serve both
                  databases.

                 3.  STANDBY: In this case, one node serves the database,
while the other
                  waits to take over work in the event of a failure. This
is an
                  active/passive configuration, as contrasted with the
previous
                  active/active configurations.

To give you an idea of what we were looking at doing at one client, we were going to use the 3rd scenario on NT boxes in the holds of aircraft (i.e. no DBA's and no contact for DBA's until the plane lands).

Regards

Pete

Peter Sharman                             Email: psharman_at_us.oracle.com
WISE Course Development Manager           Phone: +1.650.607.0109 (int'l)
Worldwide Internal Services Education            (650)607 0109 (local)

San Francisco

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Received on Mon Mar 29 1999 - 15:22:42 CST