ServiceGuard/VCS and Oracle RAC

[Albert Smith_1]

Got a question that I hope can be answered here. My enviornment may have a need to run Oracle RAC on HP-UX that needs to be clustered at the app. and hardware level. I have gone through all the documentation that I can find and it looks like the only way to support this with be by using VCFS (veritas clustered file system) because it can use the shared-write configuration.

However I want to maintain the stability of service guard. Per my conversation with a Veritas SE he states that VCS with StorageFoundations for RAC will handle all my cluster needs. I am a little leary of beliving this as I am not 100% familiar on how to work with VxVM and ontop of it adding in VCS.

Anyone have any experience in this and that can lead me down the correct path?

Thanks,

-Al

[TwoProc · Accepted solution]

Albert, You don't NEED Veritas to use Service Guard and Oracle RAC.

But it's really nice to have in that if you use the Veritas product, you will be able to use both asynchronous I/O AND cooked (that is non-raw disk) file systems on the shared disks.

If you don't use Veritas, then you'll have to use raw disk partitions for all of your tablespaces between the machines in the cluster. By raw disk partitions, I mean that after you create the lvol's (with lvcreate), you will NOT create a file system on them (that is you WON'T run "newfs"). Then you'll refer to all of your "files" in Oracle as /dev/vgxxx/lvolx - which are really logical volumes, not files.

The advantage for Veritas is that you get ease of use, speed, and Oracle RAC ability - the disadvantage is money, and training. Veritas can be little pricey, and well, you'll have to learn it (I'm supposing you already know lvm).

The advantage for not using Veritas would be that you probably already know lvm, and you won't have to spend the money. The disadvantage is that you'll have to manage your Oracle spaces raw, without being to manage your space in a file system.

If I had a shot at being able to budget it, I'd like to try the Veritas method. But, last I checked it was really too much $$dough$$ for us.

[Albert Smith_1]

John,

Thanks for the info. I don't think using the RAW disks will be an option for us our DBA doesn't like using them plus I don't think Veritas likes using the async driver it likes to use it's own built in software for that. Since we reside on a SAN with a CX700, EMC has been pushing us to goto a VxVM for the ability to expand the lun on the fly which is a great benefit. As for the traning and price it is alot of traning and alot of $$ but it's somthing that my company wants performance and scability and security with.

So with that being said with the VCS would that replace ServiceGuard in this instance or work with ServiceGuard? I know SG has a RAC extension but they recommend the use of the VCS for the Shared Cooked FS.

Thanks,

-Al

[TwoProc]

Well, you're right, I forgot that there is supposed to be a file system you can share with new version of SG on systems with 11.23. But, I'm not familiar with that at all.

But, to answer your question in regards to the above information... Veritas wouldn't replace SG in it's entirety, only for vx volume and file system component. SG will still be managing everything for the cluster, that is, moving the packages between the servers, etc.

[Stephen Doud]

Have a look at this Release Announcement:
http://docs.hp.com/en/T1907-90021/ch01s01.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Discussed Serviceguard RAC and Cluster File System.
CFS is VxVM-based however, so if you need CFS, you'll need to get familiar with VxVM to a degree.

[Albert Smith_1]

Thanks all for your help.

[Albert Smith_1]

All the information provided has helped me make my decision.