Problems with NetApp filer connected to Sun V440 via NFS when using Oracle

We have a bit of a wierd problem using a NetApp filer to hold the datafiles for an Oracle database (9.2.0.4) for a Sunfire V440 (Solaris 9 patched to the most recent patchset for Dec 04). I wondered if anyone else had come accross anything similar, given that (according to NetApp) their filers are used so commonly with Oracle.

The filesystem on the filer is exported and mounted by the V440 via NFS (as per reccomendation by NetApp). With Oracle down the mount stays mounted indefinately (we've tried it for 3 weeks, about half with no traffic accross the link and the remainder with a file being repeatedly copied accross the link from the filer to the server and back again).

With Oracle up the NFS connection seems to drop out non-fatally for a few minutes. Oracle just freezes, no messages in the alert log but we do get a few messages in the messages file (OS log) such as:

Dec 22 14:18:22 XXXXXXXXX nfs: [ID 333984 kern.notice] NFS server filer not responding still trying

Dec 22 14:21:53 XXXXXXXXX last message repeated 2 times
Dec 22 14:29:17 XXXXXXXXX nfs: [ID 563706 kern.notice] NFS server filer ok
Dec 22 14:29:17 XXXXXXXXX last message repeated 1 time

After a while (could a few minutes or quarter of an hour, it varies) the connection comes back and oracle continues on as if nothing had happened.

I've tried looking in v$waitstat to see if it is anything particular but nothing jumps out as having massively higher wait times than everything else. Although given that the connection drops out for several minutes it's likely that everything will get hit badly.

Has anyone run accross this or something similar? If so, how did you solve it?

Is there anything Oracle might be doing to cause this? The only thing that comes to mind is that Oracle is doing random access where as the copying the file back and forth is doing sequential access.

Thanks

Stephen
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It's better to ask a silly question than to make a silly assumption.
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http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l Received on Tue Jan 04 2005 - 12:08:39 CST