A Rough Guide To RAC.ppt

A Rough Guide to RAC Julian Dyke Independent Consultant Agenda Introduction Availability Scalability Manageability Total Cost of Ownership Conclusion Some RAC Terminology What is RAC? Multiple instances running on separate servers nodes Single database on shared storage accessible to all nodes Instances exchange information over an interconnect network Instances versus Databases A RAC cluster includes one database one or more instances A database is a set of files Located on shared storage Contains all persistent resources An instance is a set of memory structures and processes Contain all temporal resources Can be started and stopped independently Instances versus Databases What is a RAC Database? Located on shared storage accessible by all instances Includes Control Files Data Files Online Redo Logs Server Parameter File May optionally include Archived Redo Logs Backups Flashback Logs Oracle 10.1 and above Change Tracking Writer files Oracle 10.1 and above What is a RAC Database? Contents similar to single instance database except One redo thread per instance What is the Interconnect? Instances communicate with each other over the interconnect network Information transferred between instances includes data blocks locks SCNs Typically 1GB Ethernet UDP protocol Often teamed in pairs to avoid SPOFs Can also use Infiniband Fewer levels in stack Other proprietary protocols are available Why Use Shared Storage? Mandatory for Database files Control files Online redo logs Server Parameter file if used Optional for Archived redo logs recommended Executables Binaries Password files Parameter files Network configuration files Administrative directories Alert Log Dump Files What Shared Storage is Supported? Oracle supplied options Oracle Cluster File System OCFS Version 1 Windows and Linux Supports database and archived redo logs No executables Version 2 - August 2005 Linux, Windows and Solaris As OCFS1 plus executables Automatic Storage Mana