1. Be aware that Oracle's official position is that they do not support Oracle in a virtualized environment beyond the operating system. If there is a problem and you need Oracle's support, they may very well tell you to put it on a physical server before they will support you. 2. Whether you use VMDK's, NFS, or LUNs is going to depend a lot on which OS Oracle is running on and how you plan to protect the data. Also, which version of Oracle you are running. For instance if you are running Oracle 10g in a Windows environment then NFS is out of the question. If running 11g in the same environment, then one could use Direct NFS with Oracle. In a Windows environment Snapdrive for Windows 6.3 has no issue with taking snapshots of LUNs or NFS volumes, prior versions could not deal with NFS so you had to use LUNs if you wanted to use Snapdrive for Windows to handle taking snapshots of your databases.
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 4:49 AM, Tommy.Fallsen@kongsberg.com wrote:
Hi
Im setting a new Oracle Database solution to replace a old Oracle RAC on EVA8400.
After reading Oracle Databases on VMware vSphere 4 - Essential Deployment Tips i got a few question still needs answered.
Our new storage is a FAS 3240 7-Mode
We have a SATA and SAS aggregate and 1TB Flash cache available.
SAS 1 Raid Group (16 disks)
SATA 4 Raid Group (56 disks)
Whats the recommendations for Datastores and VMDK's?
From i can gather i need to create a volume dedicated to Oracle and present(NFS) it as Datastore for Oracle only.
And create VMDK's like this:
VMDK-1 OS from another Datastore
Oracle Datastore
VMDK-2 Oracle Binaries VMDK-3 Oracle data VMDK-4 Oracle Redo VMDK-5 Oracle Archivelogs
I have 5 databases so 5 VM's where i create a volume with Datastore for each?
Would like input from the list how others have done it.
Tommy Fallsen SA/DBA Grunt
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Toasters mailing list Toasters@teaparty.net http://www.teaparty.net/mailman/listinfo/toasters
I would strongly discourage placing an Oracle database on a VMDK unless it's very small and has very low IO. It might work for you, but the sort of random write IO that happens on an Oracle database doesn't do especially well through a VMDK.
In 5 years, I've only had one customer go forward with Oracle on a VMDK and I'm still trying to talk them out of it. NFS mounts right to the guests, iSCSI mounts right to the guest, or an FC RDM will give you much better performance, efficiency, and administrative flexibility.
From: Bill Holland [mailto:hollandwl@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 2:41 PM To: toasters@teaparty.net Subject: Re: Oracle and VMware Datastores
1. Be aware that Oracle's official position is that they do not support Oracle in a virtualized environment beyond the operating system. If there is a problem and you need Oracle's support, they may very well tell you to put it on a physical server before they will support you.
2. Whether you use VMDK's, NFS, or LUNs is going to depend a lot on which OS Oracle is running on and how you plan to protect the data. Also, which version of Oracle you are running. For instance if you are running Oracle 10g in a Windows environment then NFS is out of the question. If running 11g in the same environment, then one could use Direct NFS with Oracle. In a Windows environment Snapdrive for Windows 6.3 has no issue with taking snapshots of LUNs or NFS volumes, prior versions could not deal with NFS so you had to use LUNs if you wanted to use Snapdrive for Windows to handle taking snapshots of your databases.
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 4:49 AM, Tommy.Fallsen@kongsberg.com wrote:
Hi
Im setting a new Oracle Database solution to replace a old Oracle RAC on EVA8400.
After reading Oracle Databases on VMware vSphere 4 - Essential Deployment Tips i got a few question still needs answered.
Our new storage is a FAS 3240 7-Mode
We have a SATA and SAS aggregate and 1TB Flash cache available.
SAS 1 Raid Group (16 disks)
SATA 4 Raid Group (56 disks)
Whats the recommendations for Datastores and VMDK's?
From i can gather i need to create a volume dedicated to Oracle and present(NFS) it as Datastore for Oracle only.
And create VMDK's like this:
VMDK-1 OS from another Datastore
Oracle Datastore
VMDK-2 Oracle Binaries VMDK-3 Oracle data VMDK-4 Oracle Redo VMDK-5 Oracle Archivelogs
I have 5 databases so 5 VM's where i create a volume with Datastore for each?
Would like input from the list how others have done it.
- Tommy Fallsen
SA/DBA Grunt
________________________________
CONFIDENTIALITY This e-mail and any attachment contain KONGSBERG information which may be proprietary, confidential or subject to export regulations, and is only meant for the intended recipient(s). Any disclosure, copying, distribution or use is prohibited, if not otherwise explicitly agreed with KONGSBERG. If received in error, please delete it immediately from your system and notify the sender properly.
_______________________________________________ Toasters mailing list Toasters@teaparty.net http://www.teaparty.net/mailman/listinfo/toasters
I thought I would chip in here, often we use VMDKs for ease, and "we are told" to use RDM for performance.
My advice would be to test yourself and benchmark, using IOMeter etc, but also have a read of this article.
RDM versus VMDK performance
Conclusion: VMFS and RDM have similar performance. Don't choose RDM for performance.
Source:http://www.vfrank.org/2011/03/22/performance-rdm-vs-vmfs/
Andrew
From: toasters-bounces@teaparty.net [mailto:toasters-bounces@teaparty.net] On Behalf Of Steiner, Jeffrey Sent: 23 September 2011 15:14 To: Bill Holland; toasters@teaparty.net Subject: RE: Oracle and VMware Datastores
I would strongly discourage placing an Oracle database on a VMDK unless it's very small and has very low IO. It might work for you, but the sort of random write IO that happens on an Oracle database doesn't do especially well through a VMDK.
In 5 years, I've only had one customer go forward with Oracle on a VMDK and I'm still trying to talk them out of it. NFS mounts right to the guests, iSCSI mounts right to the guest, or an FC RDM will give you much better performance, efficiency, and administrative flexibility.
From: Bill Holland [mailto:hollandwl@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 2:41 PM To: toasters@teaparty.net Subject: Re: Oracle and VMware Datastores
1. Be aware that Oracle's official position is that they do not support Oracle in a virtualized environment beyond the operating system. If there is a problem and you need Oracle's support, they may very well tell you to put it on a physical server before they will support you.
2. Whether you use VMDK's, NFS, or LUNs is going to depend a lot on which OS Oracle is running on and how you plan to protect the data. Also, which version of Oracle you are running. For instance if you are running Oracle 10g in a Windows environment then NFS is out of the question. If running 11g in the same environment, then one could use Direct NFS with Oracle. In a Windows environment Snapdrive for Windows 6.3 has no issue with taking snapshots of LUNs or NFS volumes, prior versions could not deal with NFS so you had to use LUNs if you wanted to use Snapdrive for Windows to handle taking snapshots of your databases.
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 4:49 AM, Tommy.Fallsen@kongsberg.com wrote:
Hi
Im setting a new Oracle Database solution to replace a old Oracle RAC on EVA8400.
After reading Oracle Databases on VMware vSphere 4 - Essential Deployment Tips i got a few question still needs answered.
Our new storage is a FAS 3240 7-Mode
We have a SATA and SAS aggregate and 1TB Flash cache available.
SAS 1 Raid Group (16 disks)
SATA 4 Raid Group (56 disks)
Whats the recommendations for Datastores and VMDK's?
From i can gather i need to create a volume dedicated to Oracle and
present(NFS) it as Datastore for Oracle only.
And create VMDK's like this:
VMDK-1 OS from another Datastore
Oracle Datastore
VMDK-2 Oracle Binaries VMDK-3 Oracle data VMDK-4 Oracle Redo VMDK-5 Oracle Archivelogs
I have 5 databases so 5 VM's where i create a volume with Datastore for each?
Would like input from the list how others have done it.
- Tommy Fallsen
SA/DBA Grunt
_____
CONFIDENTIALITY This e-mail and any attachment contain KONGSBERG information which may be proprietary, confidential or subject to export regulations, and is only meant for the intended recipient(s). Any disclosure, copying, distribution or use is prohibited, if not otherwise explicitly agreed with KONGSBERG. If received in error, please delete it immediately from your system and notify the sender properly.
_______________________________________________ Toasters mailing list Toasters@teaparty.net http://www.teaparty.net/mailman/listinfo/toasters
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 8:40 AM, Bill Holland hollandwl@gmail.com wrote:
1. Be aware that Oracle's official position is that they do not support Oracle in a virtualized environment beyond the operating system. If there is a problem and you need Oracle's support, they may very well tell you to put it on a physical server before they will support you.
One could (and I will) argue that this is no different than running Oracle on ProLiant or PowerEdge; neither are certified or supported beyond the OS. You may be asked to replicate your error on a different machine altogether.
No arguments from me. I would think a virtual machine would be less complicated from a hardware perspective, but just wanted to make sure you were aware of Oracle's published position on support in a virtual environment. Funny thing is, they also officially don't support RAC, which is their own product.
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:17 AM, Eugene Vilensky evilensky@gmail.comwrote:
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 8:40 AM, Bill Holland hollandwl@gmail.com wrote:
- Be aware that Oracle's official position is that they do not support
Oracle in a virtualized environment beyond the operating system. If
there
is a problem and you need Oracle's support, they may very well tell you
to
put it on a physical server before they will support you.
One could (and I will) argue that this is no different than running Oracle on ProLiant or PowerEdge; neither are certified or supported beyond the OS. You may be asked to replicate your error on a different machine altogether.
No arguments from me. I would think a virtual machine would be less complicated from a hardware perspective, but just wanted to make sure you were aware of Oracle's published position on support in a virtual environment. Funny thing is, they also officially don't support RAC, which is their own product.
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:17 AM, Eugene Vilensky evilensky@gmail.comwrote:
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 8:40 AM, Bill Holland hollandwl@gmail.com wrote:
- Be aware that Oracle's official position is that they do not support
Oracle in a virtualized environment beyond the operating system. If
there
is a problem and you need Oracle's support, they may very well tell you
to
put it on a physical server before they will support you.
One could (and I will) argue that this is no different than running Oracle on ProLiant or PowerEdge; neither are certified or supported beyond the OS. You may be asked to replicate your error on a different machine altogether.
-
Andrew Hancock -
Bill Holland -
Eugene Vilensky -
Steiner, Jeffrey