Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data Appliance/ODA?
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 11:36:32 -0700
Message-ID: <56B0F730.2070201_at_evdbt.com>
FWIW, Delphix does everything that Oracle SnapClone does and more, without any Oracle licensing (except EE) or hardware prerequisites.
Sorry, had to say something here... :)
On 2/2/16 10:36, Peter Sharman wrote:
>
> Snap Clone is part of the Cloud Management pack, which has the DBLM
> pack as a prerequisite.
>
> Pete
>
> Oracle logo
>
> Pete Sharman
> Database Architect, DBaaS / DBLM
> Enterprise Manager Product Suite
> 33 Benson Crescent CALWELL ACT 2905 AUSTRALIA
>
> Phone: +61262924095 <tel:+61262924095> | | Mobile: _+61414443449_
> Email: pete.sharman_at_oracle.com <mailto:pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>
> Twitter: _at_SharmanPete LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/petesharman
> Website: petewhodidnottweet.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Controlling developers is like herding cats."
>
> Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook
>
> "Oh no, it's not, it's much harder than that!"
>
> Bruce Pihlamae, long term Oracle DBA
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*De DBA [mailto:dedba_at_tpg.com.au]
> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 2, 2016 10:28 PM
> *To:* Peter Sharman <pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>; Seth Miller
> <sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Oracle Discussion List <oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data Appliance/ODA?
>
> Thanks Pete.
>
> I've now seen the ODA. The database is version 11.2.0.4. The data
> files are stored in ASM disk groups, not on ACFS mounts. I am not sure
> if it is still possible to create snapshots with oakcli in this situation?
>
> Is the snap clone functionality in EM/Cloud Control licensed with any
> optional pack? It sounds promising.. there is not much disk space left
> on the array, so a thin clone is preferable ;-)
>
> Cheers,
> Tony
>
> On 2/02/2016 12:45 pm, Peter Sharman wrote:
>
> Tony
>
> I don’t think I saw anything about database versions in the
> thread, so there are a couple of other options you could use
> depending on the version:
>
> ·If the DB is 12c, there is snapshotting capability built into the
> database itself
>
> ·From DB 10g onwards you could look at using Enterprise Manager’s
> Snap Clone functionality which uses copy on write technology to
> build thin clones, optionally including masking as well. This may
> make it easier for you to do the snapshotting as its built into
> the product, which makes it less error prone than a manual
> snapshotting process.
>
> Let me know if you need any more details on that.
>
> Pete
>
> Oracle logo
>
> Pete Sharman
> Database Architect, DBaaS / DBLM
> Enterprise Manager Product Suite
> 33 Benson Crescent CALWELL ACT 2905 AUSTRALIA
>
> Phone: +61262924095 <tel:+61262924095> | | Mobile: _+61414443449_
> Email: pete.sharman_at_oracle.com <mailto:pete.sharman_at_oracle.com>
> Twitter: _at_SharmanPete LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/petesharman
> Website: petewhodidnottweet.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Controlling developers is like herding cats."
>
> Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook
>
> "Oh no, it's not, it's much harder than that!"
>
> Bruce Pihlamae, long term Oracle DBA
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*De DBA [mailto:dedba_at_tpg.com.au]
> *Sent:* Monday, February 1, 2016 10:32 AM
> *To:* Seth Miller <sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
> <mailto:sethmiller.sm_at_gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Oracle Discussion List <oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> <mailto:oracle-l_at_freelists.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Anyone with experience with the Oracle Data
> Appliance/ODA?
>
> Seth,
>
> 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
>
-- http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-lReceived on Tue Feb 02 2016 - 19:36:32 CET