Re: The raw disk facility
Date: 24 Mar 1994 20:40:26 -0500
Message-ID: <2mtfea$kfm_at_news.delphi.com>
ghb_at_mh.nl (Hassan Ghrib) writes:
>I want to know something about Oracles raw disk,
>Can someone tell me the advantage c.q. disadvantages using the
>Oracle raw disk facility.
>Maybe someone can convince me to use or not to use this facility.
I think you are referring to ORACLE using raw disks; this is not ORACLE, but the UNIX platform option. Normally in UNIX, one uses the UNIX file buffering system; but the ORACLE RDBMS has a file buffering system. So it may slow down performance to have data buffered twice; one by ORACLE, once by UNIX. By using raw partitions (or disks), the DBA bypasses the UNIX buffer and writes directly to the disk; thus a "raw" disk.
Performance gains may be seen using raw disks, however, it is not always true and you need an astute systems administrator because recovery and backups are more complex. Hope that answers your question.
Dagmar Anne
Kopania & Komerovski
Received on Fri Mar 25 1994 - 02:40:26 CET