Re: 9iAS/10gAS infrastructure.

Telemachus wrote:
> RANT MODE ON
> Last couple of weeks I've been trying to put together an architecture for a
> new highly available production internet web services and database
>
> W2K is the platform so 10G AS not available.
>
> Great I thought I can use Oracle Maximum Availability papers
>
>
> I did - oh boy are there holes. Check MAA for details on IAS infrastruc HA -
> you won't find many.
>
> The database - yes - completely solid - these are technologies - RAC,Data
> Guard and Standby etc etc - great no problem I can live with them
>
> Switchover WANs network side firewalls - same here.
>
>
> Even OC4J islands - yes these I can live with.
>
> But have any of you really tried to make the 9iAS R2 infrastructure (SSO/
> Metadata and so forth ) - highly available ?
>
> The only 9 supported solution is via clustering ! The database can't be on
> RAC and it must be a 9.0 database ... Why oh Why ?
>
>
> (oh and unless you've patched you CAN'T CHANGE THE IP ADDRESS or the
> HOSTNAME ! OF THE SERVER ) and even if you do patch all you can change is
> the IP address
> [ this was closed as a documentation bug !!!! ]
>
> [ this one caught me when setting up a 9iAS box on my net for dispatch to a
> client site - the machine went down and joined their net and didn't work ]
>
>
>
> Then I read the 10g docs hoping for an early reprieve - but again we can
> see a thread here.
>
> in a 10G AS DR site the machines must all have the same amount of hardware,
> the same config and , and the same hostnames . There's a common something
> running through all this that leads me to believe there were some strange
> decisions made in the design process for the Infra. And it's not explained
> properly anywhere why this must be so. (the locked-in reliance on particular
> hosts - which can't be changed )
>
>
>
> COLD FAILOVER CLUSTERS.... groan.
>
> Come on isn't it just an LDAP directory + a database ? .. But hang on the
> LDAP directory's in the db too. Do tell Oracle.
>
> RANT MODE OFF
>
> PS
> Hi everyone nice to talk to you all again
>
> Telemachus.

I might get flamed for saying this, but here it goes anyways. SSO is NOT required to reside in the same database as the 9iAS "Infrastructure" data. AFAIK, SSO/LDAP can reside in a vanilla replicated DB; which can be made HA with some (moderate?) effort.

For discussion purposes, I break the 9iAS R2 into two basic componentents; 1) Infrastructure 2) Non-Infrastructure (NI). While Oracle make it challenging to create an HA Infrastructure, it is not a showstopper. Based upon some actual tests, it does not appear to me that the Infrastucture is required to keep the NI parts in operation. If/when the NI parts are up & operational, the Infrastructure can be taken down ( or crash)) WITHOUT any impact in the NI parts. The limitation is that you can't add or change NI components while the Infrastructure is down. So it seems that the Oracle middle tier can stay hightly available if you are willing to tap dance on a tight rope without a safety net. Received on Mon Jan 26 2004 - 15:08:30 CST