Re: is there a way of using a Single processor Oracle License on Multi CPU Box

jiggaman wrote:

> Thanx for your reply. I am using windows 2000 server, the box is a
> dell server with 4 cpu's on board. I dont have the model number of the
> Dell box...but i have a gut feeling that windows will not allow to
> configure a program to run on 1 dedicated cpu. lets hope i am wrong.
> let me have your feedback if any.

Yes you can bind a Windows process to a single CPU (look for setting the processor affinity mask API call in the Win32 API docs).

No, Oracle does not support processor binding.

Yes, you can do it externally (bind a process to a processor using another program).

No, this program is not supplied with the Windows installation media.

Yes, it is a bad idea to do processor binding - load balancing and CPU allocation are best dealt with at kernel level. Doing this at application level is very much an exception and usually intereferes more with the kernel than anything else.

Yes, even a process bound to a single CPU can still benefit from additional CPUs. AND THAT IS THE CRUX OF THE MATTER.

Simply example. Oracle does an overlapped i/o call (Windows talk for async i/o). That will be happily serviced by the kernel on another CPU, despite the fact that the Oracle DBWR thread is bound to a single CPU.

--
Billy