Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data Appliance/ODA?

Thanks for that. I haven't got access to the systems yet, just reading up and preparing for the shock..

You will not find OCFS on the ODA. It uses ACFS for the cluster file system as well as the database files.

Ah, yes, of course, it's on ASM... I understand that oakcli will create & manage fs automatically, but I'm not going to have RAC. One node is supposed to be production, whereas the other node will run dev, test and UAT. I will need to refresh the dev & test databases from production, and wonder whether I can create a snapshot, do the masking etc. and then mount the copy on the other node where it will then be used as the gold copy for the refreshes.

get yourself a couple of excellent books. Practical Oracle Database Appliance
<http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Oracle-Database-Appliance-Curtis/dp/1430262656> Oracle Database Appliance: A Hands-On Guide <http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Database-Appliance-Hands--Guide/dp/0071827447>

I did look at the first one, which has some famous names amongst the authors. One of the reviews that I saw mentions that it is somewhat dated? Is it still worthwhile getting even if you work with the latest hard/software?

Cheers,
Tony

On 31/01/2016 2:45 pm, Seth Miller wrote:
> Tony,
>
> The ODAs apparently are each set up as two stand-alone servers with
> shared storage. I understand that one needs to use oakcli to create
> databases and that this tool hides pretty much all functionality that
> we are used to through dbca etc.
> Yes, oakcli is the magic behind ODA but it does not preclude you from
> using DBCA. If you need to create a database that does not fall into
> one of the oakcli templates, feel free to use DBCA or any other
> classic method.
>
> But what does it do exactly?
> Oakcli is nothing more than a bunch of very well written perl and
> shell scripts that wrap the classic tools included with the Oracle
> database software. They are easy to find and read if you really want
> to know what they are doing.
>
> How does one manage the OCFS?
> You will not find OCFS on the ODA. It uses ACFS for the cluster file
> system as well as the database files.
>
> Can a file system be mounted on both nodes, or just on one? Is this
> automatic?
> Oakcli will take care of this for you.
>
> Given a complete backup (... which is a problem all of its own...),
> how does one restore a database?
> Use RMAN or Enterprise Manager for this. There will be little
> difference from a standard RAC database in how you backup and restore
> a database.
>
> Don't use centralised wallets with TDE, otherwise problems will arise
> -- but what does that even mean?
> This isn't specific to the ODA. There are a number of reasons to have
> local wallets in RAC -- one of the most important being that you can't
> have a local only autologin wallet if it is shared with multiple nodes.
>
> You will find little argument that the documentation for ODA is
> mediocre at best. This is why a number of training companies
> (including the one I teach for) have developed their own content for
> the ODA. I think your best course of action, though, is to get
> yourself a couple of excellent books.
> Practical Oracle Database Appliance
> <http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Oracle-Database-Appliance-Curtis/dp/1430262656>
> Oracle Database Appliance: A Hands-On Guide
> <http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Database-Appliance-Hands--Guide/dp/0071827447>
>
> Seth Miller
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 10:42 PM, De DBA <dedba_at_tpg.com.au
> <mailto:dedba_at_tpg.com.au>> wrote:
>
>
> I've just read through that documentation, as I will shortly get
> the responsibility for 2 ODA's. I would not classify the 3
> software manuals and 2 hw manuals as good documentation. After
> reading all of it, I've got more questions than what I started out
> with...
>
> The ODAs apparently are each set up as two stand-alone servers
> with shared storage. I understand that one needs to use oakcli to
> create databases and that this tool hides pretty much all
> functionality that we are used to through dbca etc. But what does
> it do exactly? How does one manage the OCFS? Can a file system be
> mounted on both nodes, or just on one? Is this automatic? Given a
> complete backup (... which is a problem all of its own...), how
> does one restore a database? Don't use centralised wallets with
> TDE, otherwise problems will arise -- but what does that even
> mean? Questions...
>
> Pointers to more complete documentation/blogs/etc. regarding
> managing and patching the ODA are very welcome!
>
> Cheers,
> Tony
>
> On 30/01/2016 6:38 am, Hans Forbrich wrote:
>> Yes, lack of documentation was a problem at one time.
>>
>> That has significantly improved. See
>> http://docs.oracle.com/en/engineered-systems/
>>
>> /Hans
>>
>> On 29/01/2016 12:54 PM, Andrew Kerber wrote:
>>> I have run into problem with a lack of good documentation on its
>>> use.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>> On Jan 29, 2016, at 1:49 PM, <Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com
>>> <mailto:Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com>>
>>> <Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com
>>> <mailto:Jay.Miller_at_tdameritrade.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi
>>>>
>>>> We just attended an ODA presentation and it looks very
>>>> promising as a solution for our non-prod testing environment as
>>>> it would allow us to clone multiple instances of the gold copy
>>>> test databases easily (without needing to coordinate with other
>>>> departments as we do now) and apply patches for those
>>>> environments quickly and easily as well.
>>>>
>>>> Any real life pros or cons that anyone has experienced with the
>>>> appliance? We’d keep our production and performance testing
>>>> environments off it at least for now.
>>>>
>>>> Jay Miller
>>>>
>>>> Sr. Oracle DBA
>>>>
>>>> 201.369.8355
>>>>
>>
>
>

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