Raw data volume size

[Ninad_1]

Hi Again,

The HP doc http://docs.hp.com/en/B2355-90950/ch06s01.html#diskplan in the Section "Setting Up Logical Volumes for Raw Data Storage" says
The maximum supported size for a raw data device is 4 GB

My queries are
1. Does this mean I cannot use logical volumes I have created which are greater than 4 GB as raw volumes in Oracle database ?
2. Does it mean that I can use volumes greater than 4 GB only as filesystems?

Thanks,
Ninad

[A. Clay Stephenson · Accepted solution]

Your questions lack meaning unless you specify the version of the OS. Generally these limits refer to very old releases. 11.x will support raw i/o of much larger LVOL's. Ultimately filesystem i/o becomes raw i/o so how do you think filesystems could be larger than 4GB if the underlying system calls couldn't handle large LVOL's?

Having said all of this, there can also be limits imposed not by the OS but by the application.

[Ninad_1]

Clay,

Thanks, but since there is no mention of particular OS version in the text in the document either, I assumed it to be valid for even HP-UX 11.23.
By the way I would be using HP-UX 11.11.
So can I use raw data volumes greater than 4 GB for Oracle database - if Oracle supports this use? - can I assume that there are no restrictions from HP-UX 11.11 side?

Regards,
Ninad

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

Its helpful to change the ownership of raw disk areas from root, which must craete them to the id of the user that owns the app binaries.

The answer of course does as noted apply to the OS.

Largefiles permits OS files bigger than 2 GB, which is the only practical limit I know of for 32 bit apps.

Oracle does support raw devices bigger than 4 GB on all recent releases.

Oracle version?

SEP

[Ninad_1]

As per comments from our experts, I conclude that its possible to have raw data volumes > 4 GB for HP-UX 11.11 for Oracle database 10g R2.
I will however need to test when the infra is available to me.
Closing the thread.

Thanks,
Ninad