RAID-5

Looking for a bit of esoteric experience here.

I have a two-processor Compaq Proliant running Unixware 2.1.2 and Oracle 7.3.4 with two instances running simulaneously for different applications. My filesystems are on RAID5. Oracle documentation specifically warns against having redo logs on RAID devices. Right now I do not have any choice because I'm stuck with this hardware architecture. I'm really not seeing any specific problems.

So, my questions are these:
1. Is there trouble brewing down the line - or does the fact that everything runs fine at present mean that Oracle's warning is related to performance?
2. If the only concern is over performance, how would I calculate the related metrics. Due to the nature of the the applications the database is more or less loafing along. Under normal circumstances my 10M redo logs are not switching very often. On one database I see about 2-5 switches a day and on the other it is about 10-15 per day. 3. How much would I really gain by adding a SCSI hard drive for the sole purpose of having the redo logs defined there?

If I want to make my case to the people with the money and power I need to present evidence that would probably be in the "overwheming" category. Right now they are content that the system is working as it should and are not inclined to make any changes.

I'd welcome any relevant comments.

Ken Received on Mon Jun 28 1999 - 07:12:58 CDT