Re: switch from file system to raw device

Igor <igor.news_at_merkudelete.org> wrote in message news:<pan.2004.09.16.12.46.52.851925_at_merkudelete.org>...
> On Thu, 16 Sep 2004 14:16:21 +0200, Anton Dischner wrote:
>
> Hello Anton,
>
> >> As I said before, some statements (or decisions) sometimes are political
> >> choices. In our case, we have in particular two systems, billing and SAP,
> >> that -your are right, are running on unsupported platforms- are not to be
> >> changed at this moment.
> >
> > Don't change a running system. ;-)
> > And really don't do it.
> > A "maybe with raw it's faster" will get you into deep trouble if it
> > make problems, and it -will- make problems, at least downtime.
> I might not have been clear in describing WHY I want to know more about
> this, but in fact I won't touch a running system, not in the way one can
> initially understand it. Let me explain better:
> My company has acquired another company and thinks about concentrating
> dbs and applications on our machines to eliminate machines on their side
> to save money from technical support contract. They have db on file system
> and when we transport it onto our site (after two or three test rounds) I
> thought to take the chance and put it onto raw device. All our dbs are on
> raw device, so why should I have one on file system (yeah, to make
> comparisons ...)?

This aquiring thing is where lots of opportunities lie. As you see, you have to merge the systems, and inevitably it is in favor of one over the other.

So, from a strategic viewpoint, take it in two steps: initial merge and where you want to wind up. Since you are going to have a lot of work to do anyways, you might as well wind up with something reasonably modern, not too bleeding edge, that can handle current needs and a few years into the future. So get whoever holds the strategic purse strings to sign off on this - don't let them go into perpetual "we'll have a committee look into that" mode. Look towards 9i in the near future, and RMAN.

>
> > It took us 10 years of experience and my conclusion is:
> > Linux is as good or as bad as any other Unix. (HPUX, AIX, Irix, Tru64,
> > you name it)
> I guess you are right.

Still not convinced that cheapo CISC is the way to go, but we'll see.

And one more thing about RMAN:
http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10501_01/server.920/a96519/backup.htm#1004914 the fractured block issue allows much lower impact on archiving. The best write performance is no write performance, eh?

jg

--
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