Re: How critical is RAC experience

maks wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I come across many requirement that require DBA to have specific RAC
> experience. I would like to solicit input from the experts in this
> forum on following.
>
> 1) For Sr. DBA with solid fundamentals, how difficult/different is to
> handle/administer a RAC database?
>
> 2) How confortable would you be to hire a good DBA who does not have
> RAC experience to handle your RAC databases?
>

RAC commentary, of course, depends on version, as many regular posters are quick to point out.

Oracle-specific:
For RAC, you need to understand cache fusion and what it means to have multiple redo threads per database. And of course, the difference between an instance and a database. ;-) Understanding how non-trivial listeners work also helps.

Generic:
For clusters, you need to understand cluster daemons, heartbeats, split-brain avoidance, persistent cluster state information (e.g. registry for Oracle CRS), load balancing, cluster services (definition, dependencies, switchover), virtual "floating" network addresses, and so on.

If you *really* understand how products like Veritas VCS and HP/UX Service Guard work, and you are a "good DBA", then you should be able to come up to speed on RAC pretty quickly. To repeat what other posters said, always test in a separate environment first, and yes, there are cheap ways to set up your own RAC environment for learning.

-Mark Bole Received on Thu Apr 28 2005 - 19:41:44 CDT