Re: Again, Solaris or Linux for RAC

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:03:11 -0700, emdproduction wrote:

> Our application will potentially have a few thousand concurrent user.

OLTP or DSS?

> What will you pick, solaris or linux for your RAC?

For OLTP, I would discard RAC choice and buy IBM. IBM is the best when it comes to handling high I/O loads characteristic for OLTP and mixed databases.
For DW, I would consider RAC. Have in mind that PC machines are not true minicomputers and have hard times with large I/O loads. Also, cheapo disk arrays like Xiotech cannot handle high data loads like EMC, Hitachi or IBM Shark. SUN minicomputers are far better at handling high I/O loads then any Linux box. Also, in case of DSS, take a look at TimesTen and Oracle Express (OLAP solution, not XE). That can dramatically improve response speeds.
I have three words of advice for you: benchmark, benchmark, benchmark. Make the benchmark as realistic as possible and make the decision based on benchmark. Also, ask Oracle for references. They should give you names and addresses of people with similar configuration. Always check with them. For DSS, Oracle is far from being the only game in town. Use that as a leverage and demand references. Oracle sales force is usually extremely reluctant with providing them, especially if they can avoid dealing with the technicians and go directly to the people who sign checks. Their ability to do that means that the company has deep organizational problems.

-- 
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