Re: Need a link for ASM RTFM

NetComrade <netcomradeNSPAM_at_bookexchange.net> said:
>Can someone point me to a doc that explains ASM in a couple of pages
>as well as it's role in a RAC, plus hw resources it requires? (to me
>it's just a Volume Manager)

How well does this answer your questions?

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b31107/asmcon.htm

... and expanding on the above a bit, trying to focus on your questions.

RAC requires some storage layer than can be used in a cluster; ASM is one of the possibilities for that (however, ASM as such can also be used on standalone Oracle servers).

As for hw resources; ASM itself is rather tolerant; mostly, you need to point ASM to raw devices it can utilize for the data storage.

If it is clustered ASM you're planning, then it is the clustering that sets your requirements - namely, to have storage hardware that allows multiple simultanous masters. This can be f.ex. a shared SCSI bus, a FibreChannel storage subsystem, or in some cases, even a remote NFS server (I gather NetApp NFS server is now supported by Oracle), or something else -- as long as the storage subsystem itself allows multiple simultanoues masters, and your hosts can be attached to it.

Supportability is then another issue -- which you would be wise to consider, if you plan a production environment. Check for support matrices for Oracle, the OS vendor, and the hardware vendors. Try to keep with configurations supported by all vendors -- even though it may feel that this limits your freedom of choice.

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