Re: Using symbolic links for data files ??

Chris Little (little_c_at_cho006.cho.ge.com) wrote:
: Running Oracle 7.0.16 on HP-UX 9.04
 

: By default, the oracle installer places data files in the
: $ORACLE_BASE/data/SID directory, but the Installation Guide
: implies that data files should be distributed across multiple
: devices and that the directory $ORACLE_BASE/data/SID should
: be empty.
 

: My intention is create symbolic links in this directory which
: point to data files distributed across multiple disks. This way,
: if I need to move a file, I can take the tablespace offline,
: move the file, modify the link, and bring the tablespace back
: online again, without having to ALTER TABLESPACE RENAME DATAFILE...
 

: This approach would also seem beneficial for backup and recovery
: because all symbolic links for a database are in a single directory.
 

: Has anybody out there done this, or does anybody see a problem with
: this? I would be grateful for any helpful comments and advice.
 

: Thank you.
: ________________________________________________________________________________
: Chris Little, DBA GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc.
: P.O. Box 8106, Mail Drop D-18A
: Charlottesville, VA 22906
: E_mail: little_c_at_cho000.dnet.ge.com Phone: (804) 978-5945 Fax: 978-5620

We separate each instance to its own filesystems like: '/oracle/SID'. Under each SID directory there is a links directory and a set of filesystems like: '/oralce/SID/d01','.../do2' ... which are three striped drives in one mount point. We also have a mirrored device for the system tablespace and redo logs. As far as ORACLE is concerned, all files are located in the links directory with file extensions '.lnk'. The links directory contains all the symbolic links to the mirrored and striped devices. Recovery after failure is as simple as mounting a temp drive, restoring to it, and changing a link. No reconfiguration of ORACLE is required. Moving tablespaces for optimization, maintenance, or system reorg is simple as well. This setup requires that you custom install ORACLE and not use ORACLE's install procedure to bring the instance up. If you do, you have to go in and move all the datafiles around the first time. Hope this helps.

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