need to make space in server by removing old database and other files

[Oskar Teran]

hello people,
we are running two oracle databases: 7.3.3 and 8.0.6. The 7.3.3 is the old one and will soon be taken of the server. However, the disk space on that server is very tight and I've been looking at what programs are loaded on the server. In spring we are upgrading to the 8i version and from what I understand, that database needs a graphical environment to be administered....so.....we have the Xwindows and the CDE loaded on the server.
I'm wondering which one is better to keep in terms of which one uses less resources. What advice could you people give me on this matter? Is it better to keep the CDE or the Xwindows. Can I run one without the other? Also, there are a bunch of other things in the server that are loaded....like netscape server, audio components....stuff like this.
I'm thinking of removing those things since we don't use them.
Would there be any problems with removing them?

Thank you for any advice,
Oskar

[Alex Glennie]

The CDE Runtime bundle includes the Xserver bits.

CDE is a windows manager ... and gives a common look & feel to the windows enviroment.

CDE can only run if the Xserver process is running (at least locally).

However GUI's will quite happily run just on X , however you'd most likely need to export the DISPLAY and run the commands remotely from somewhere else.

My advise would be to install the min CDE run-time enviroment off the core O/S. If disk space is still short start trimming .

[Alex Glennie]

not so sure where netscape comes in .... I dont think its part of CDE . Don't think it should be necessary for Oracle GUI's etc.

As to the audio stuff .... this most likely comes from a product/bundle - most likely MPower Web .... I don't see any need for this wrt Oracle either ?

[John Bolene]

First you need to check and see where all the space is being used. Is it in /var, /opt, or /tmp. It may even be mostly used by the Oracle database.
Do this
bdf
cd /
du -x|sort -rn|more

Where is the space used?
Most of my space is used in /var and /opt.
Do you have core files that can be removed?
Do you have stuff in /tmp that can be removed?
Have you loaded a lot of patches and the superceded ones can be removed?
Do you have crash files that can be removed?
Do you have print files that can be removed?

Can you add another disk drive?
This can be the easiest and cheapest route to take.
You can make your server really stupid by removing the wrong files which can cost hours or days of downtime.
We have a lab/test/burndown machine that we test stuff on. We have a make_recovery backup tape that we can load if it goes really stupid and it has quite a few times. We have found that a test machine saves a lot of time. We can play with it and try stuff that we would never dare to do on a production machine, and it only takes an hour or so to load the backup tape when we make a mistake.

[Tim Malnati]

My first piece of advice would be to strongly consider running your X services from a different server. Any form of X requires significant resources to run. Running on the same platform will have a severe impact on Oracle. This is also true of Netscape, audio components, etc.

You didn't mention how you plan on accessing X windows. If you are using something like Reflection on a pc you can usually allow the pc to handle the window management functions. If you have full unix based workstations, the same is true. But if you are using X terminals, you will need to run a window manager on some central machine. How this is setup will also have a drastic impact on your network as well.

[Oskar Teran]

we will be running Reflections now that you mention it.
That will be installed only on the admin workstations (winNT).....