Re: Oracle on Digital Unix RAID

Bryan Lenihan babbled:
>
> We are currently running on a RAID 5 system and are having trouble with
> performance.

Sounds like configuration problems...

> Oracle and it technologies are not friendly with a RAID 5 system.

Bull. The majority of systems out there in industry and big business are running on RAID 5. I've never had any trouble setting up a RAID system.

> We are in the process of seperating our RAID 5 system and setting
> all the disks to a RAID 1 system. This is a costly method, but my company
> wants to have redundant disks for zero downtime.

Redundant disks do not provide zero downtime, there are many factors including disks, but a RAID5 system already provides for redundant disks, that's its job. If you Mirror or Duplex everything, you do not increase your mean time between failure.

> I would recommend that you do not run on a RAID 5 system. Most operating
> systems have a system performace downgrade when using RAID 5.

Only if you use a software version of RAID 5. All my hardware versions kick booty.

> To Oracle a RAID 5 looks and acts like 1 disk drive, you will have disk
> contentions, controller contention and user contentions.

Aha! Now I see your problem. You don't have your database set up correctly. Change your RAID to a RAW partition and READ THE BOOKS on using Oracle with a RAID system. They are very informative: things like how to use dbwr's correctly on the RAID unit.

>> Luis Santos <lsrelac_at_pobox.com> wrote in article

Luis, this is a crock of garbage. This dude doesn't know what the heck he's talking about. Oracle runs just fine with RAID5, and depending on your unit, may show performance improvements over other methods, especially when coupled with RAW storage on the RAID device. All things considered, a solid RAID5 platform is unbeatable for ease of use, expandability, and capabilities.

bmartin Received on Tue Sep 03 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST