Re: Oracle 9iR2 on regular Redhat 7.3 installation (Not Enterprise)

Hi Pat,

They're not particularly low-end questions, actually!

I'm not a Linux expert, so I can't answer your questions directly. On the other hand...

"Pat Smith" <psmith71_at_comcast.net> wrote in message news:pan.2002.12.15.14.00.40.894384.16756_at_comcast.net...
> Hello Group,
>
> I am very new to the oracle realm but have been an hp-ux, solaris, and
> linux admin for several years. I am wondering how to get the oracle rac
> server running on a non-enterprise edition of rh. I understand that the
> configuration would not be "certified" by Oracle Corp., but this is just
> a proof of concept project, with money to be allocated after I show that
> a viable instance cn be created in a clustered environment.
>
> I already have a 4 node linux cluster (openmosix) running on rh kernel
> version 2.4.20openmosix I plan on borrowing a small dell nas array ( 4
disks
> @ 60 GB ) which will function as the shared filesystem area. The
> pc's/servers are all p3 500mhz with 256 mb of memory and 10gb local disk.
>
> My Questions are these:
>
> 1. Can I use the pre-existing openmosix kernel or do I need to down
> grade to 2.4.9 kernel and then just force the install of the oracle rpm
> overtop my existing configuration?
>
> 2. Should I even be overlaying the rac server atop an existing grid?
> Does the rac server contain "clustering" component or just the shared
> file system?
>

Oracle RAC isn't just a shared file system. Indeed, it frequently isn't a shared file system at all, since RAC (and OPS before it), typically use raw partitions to enable shared access. Cluster file systems were pretty rare beasts until a couple of years ago, and Solaris and HP (to mention two) still don't have a native CFS of their own (HP will of course be purloining the Tru64 technology before long, though).

So no, it's not just a CFS. It's a whole infrastructure that taps into hardware/operating system clustering technologies so that Oracle can cluster its instances together, and co-ordinate access to the shared database. Specifically, the Oracle software supplies a 'cluster manager services' component, that passes instance-specific messages across the (hardware/os) cluster interconnect.

It's true that for Linux and for Windows, Oracle gave up waiting, and wrote their own CFS... but it's optional even on those platforms.

In general, I'm going to suggest that you review google.com newsgroup messages for this group for the past two weeks. There have been a lot of posts on the subject of RAC lately, and some posters have supplied interesting links to Linux-specific websites where non-certified RAC setups of various degrees of complexity have been documented. I'd even suggest trying to setup a RAC on a Windows laptop. In other words, start at the beginning and construct a RAC or two so that you get a feel for what's going on and what's involved. By doing it on a clean slate, as it were, you're going to end up knowing RAC pretty well, and get a much better feel for what it involves, and whether it will work in your specific environment.

In short, play with it at home on whatever platform you have to hand, and then move on from there.

There *is* a lot of RAC activity out there, but even so, it's still early days... meaning that firm answers to a lot of 'I'm on an uncertified setup, but does X work?' might still be hard to come by. So learn it for yourself by experimentation.

Regards
HJR
> 3 Has anyone served rac using a NAS solution. Is anyone aware of
> performance benefits or drawbacks?
>
> Sorry if the questions seem low-end but my experience withe the Oracle
> Application is nill
>
> Pat Smith
Received on Sun Dec 15 2002 - 14:00:59 CST