Re: RAC on Windows 2000 installation question

Thanks much for the detailed response HJR. Will give it a shot and post the results. :-)

joe.

"Howard J. Rogers" <howardjr2000_at_yahoo.com.au> wrote in message news:duHn9.46824$g9.133929_at_newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
> You do NOT need to install the Microsoft Cluster Service. It's perfectly
> possible to RAC with two Windows 2000 Professional boxes, whereas MCS is a
> "feature" of Advanced Server. So if you can RAC with an O/S that wouldn't
> know what MCS was if it came up and hit it on the head, it's a safe bet
that
> MCS is not a prerequisite for successful RAC'ing.
>
> As to whether MCS is *ever* required, it all rather depends on what type
of
> RAC you want. If you want a primary node to which all user access is
> directed, with a 'standby' secondary node ready to take over when the
first
> one fails (the 'high availability but not much scalability' solution) then
> yes, MCS can be used.
>
> But if you want two co-equal nodes to which users can make equally
> successful connections (the 'high availability, and some scalability too'
> solution) then MCS is not only not needed but positively must not be
> anywhere near your nodes, because MCS does not permit both nodes of a
> Windows cluster to write to the same drive at the same time.
>
> You then reasonably ask how can two nodes share the same disk in Windows.
> And the answer is, by keeping Windows as far away from the disks as
> possible: you're supposed to RAC with raw partitions (ie, logical volumes
on
> which no file system is created), or to use Oracle's own Cluster File
System
> for Windows. In other words, Microsoft's own sense of what constitutes a
> cluster is so far removed from what Oracle needs for a RAC that Oracle had
> to go out and write its own distributed file system to get the job done
> properly.
>
> All you need for a Windows RAC is to have a connection between two boxes
> running some form of 'professional' Windows O/S (ie, NT4, Windows 2000
> Professional, Windows 2000 Advanced Server or XP Professional); for both
> boxes to be able to communicate with each other over some form of
> interconnect (bog-standard 100Mbps Ethernet with TCP/IP works OK); for the
> *Oracle* Cluster Services to be running before you begin the install; and
> for the shared disk to contain either about 6 raw partitions (="Logical
> Volumes") or to be using the Oracle Cluster File System.
>
> Regards
> HJR
>
> "joe" <flyingbuick_at_yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:ghHn9.9919$Mw4.1443_at_nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
> > Hi all,
> > Got a question which I could not find definitive answer on from any of
the
> > Oracle sites (otn, metalinks, tahiti, etc...)
> >
> > The pre-install notes require creating volumes on the shared drives
before
> > installing RAC. Do you need to install Microsoft Cluster Server before
> > starting RAC installation? Else, how would both nodes access the same
> share?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> >
>
>
Received on Sat Oct 05 2002 - 22:04:25 CDT