Re: Clustering Basics with RAC?

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 22:20:12 +0000, nibs wrote:

> If I have 2 servers running Win2003 Server Standard Edition, can I
> cluster them with the aid of RAC? Or do I need to use Win2003 Server
> Enterprise Edition to cluster?
>

You need to sharpen your definition of 'cluster'. Traditional clustering means the two machines' OS's get coordinated. In RAC, the database operations get coordinated and this is clustering of database instances, but not OS clustering.

The difficulty with RAC starts with getting a disk subsystem that can be shared by mutiple machines. This is NOT like a traditional shared disk, as all machines need to be able to write on the disk, potentially in the same location [file], at the same time. There are several techniques for doing this - my favorite right now is using NetAp's networked file system (which is very different than sharing your C: drive).

Then you need to get the machines talking with each other. If you use a NetApp TCP/IP based file system, then this latest piece implies 3 sets of network interfaces.

Once you are past that hurdle, Oracle pretty well has the rest of the solution in it's stack.

But it ain't clustered Windows machines.

> This is all new to me and I'm trying to teach myself!!
> Any help to get me started or links to useful help sites most appreciated.
> Nibs

Since there is very, very little difference in the operation of the database between a RAC and a non-RAC environment, I encourage you to make sure your non-RAC skills are up to par first (say by following Oracle By Example from http://otn.oracle.com). The RAC stuff then becomes a modest increment - the hardware hurdle being the significant exception.

If you REALLY need to do this, go to http://www.dizwell.com - now that Howard has returned to a pure Windows environment, he's got some excellent Windows-only articles, including one for 'laptop RAC'. Use that for a start.

FGB Received on Fri Feb 25 2005 - 20:00:34 CST