Data Sheet: Storage Management Veritas Storage Foundation ...

1 Veritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC from SymantecManageability and availability for oracle RAC databasesData sheet : Storage ManagementConfidence in a connected 1 of 5 OverviewVeritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC fromSymantec offers a proven solution to help customersimplement and manage highly available Real ApplicationClusters (RAC) databases. The solution leveragesSymantec s industry-leading Veritas Storage Foundation , Veritas Storage Foundation Cluster File System, andVeritas Cluster Server products, and has been tightlyintegrated with oracle RAC to provide a reliable,easy-to-use Storage and cluster Management Foundation for oracle RAC enables ITorganizations to select the most appropriate operatingsystem and Storage hardware for their environment, allwithout compromising Management Foundation for oracle RAC provides a singlemanagement view for all database, clustering and storagemanagement tasks, enabling IT organizations to install,configure and manage centrally independent of hardwareplatform.

2 Moreover, it increases flexibility, scalability andperformance while reducing system 1. Storage Foundation for oracle RAC architectureHighlights Simplify Management of oracle RAC Centralizemulti-node Management and make RAC as easy tomanage as a single-node non-RAC database Facilitate off-host processing Create easy-to-usedatabase clones to enable data analysis and backups Increase efficiency of database backup andrecovery Protect the database from logical errors byproviding point-in-time copies Ensure data integrity Eliminate the risk of datacorruption in the event of a split brain condition Identify and remove I/O bottlenecks Map databaseobjects down the Storage hierarchy to the disks Scalable database performance Utilize databaseaccelerators and multiple physical paths to disks Enable stretch RAC environments Achieve highavailability and disaster recovery by utilizing a campuscluster configuration for oracle RAC Reduce

3 Database Storage costs Automatically moveless frequently used data to slower, less expensive disksSimplify Management of oracle RACW hile most application cluster implementations areintended to increase application availability, oracle RACalso attempts to improve application scalability by usingmultiple servers for the same workload. However, thisscale-out approach to clustering introduces managementcomplexity to server, Storage and database Storage Foundation for oracle RAC minimizes thiscomplexity by enhancing the native capabilities of OracleData sheet : Storage ManagementVeritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC from SymantecConfidence in a connected 2 of 5 RAC with a highly available, scalable, non-disruptive serverand Storage Management solution that is independent ofoperating system and Storage hardware. The centralizedmanagement capability of Veritas Storage Foundation forOracle RAC enables users to add and remove nodes andstorage capacity without impacting applicationavailability.

4 Veritas Cluster File System enables oracle RACtablespaces to grow online without the need topre-allocate Storage capacity. A single cluster file systemand volume Management tool facilitates creation of ashared oracle home that simplifies ongoing maintenanceand patch off-host processingRelational databases provide a single view of the data toall applications referencing it. While this dramaticallyimproves the quality of information available to users andmanagers, it constrains an enterprise s ability to use thesame data for data analysis or backup. Both requirepoint-in-time images, which cannot be made while adatabase is being updated by business applications. TheVeritas Storage FlashSnap feature enablesadministrators to set up reusable point-in-time copypolicies, verify Storage resources, and create full onlinedatabase volume clones and space-saving file systemcheckpoints with minimal impact on productionapplications and users.

5 Database snapshots can bemigrated to secondary servers and used forresource-intensive processes such as backups, decisionsupport, reporting, and testing independent of thestorage hardware being 2. Migrating database snapshots to secondary serversIncrease efficiency of database backup and recoveryVeritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC enablesefficient backup and recovery of oracle RAC databasesusing Storage Checkpoint technology. Storage Checkpointis a disk- and I/O-efficient snapshot technology forcreating a clone of a currently mounted file system (theprimary file system). Unlike a full file system copy thatuses separate disk space, all Storage Checkpoints sharethe same free space pool where the primary file systemresides, greatly reducing the need for extra Storage . Adirect application of the Storage Checkpoint facility isStorage Rollback.

6 Because each Storage Checkpoint is aconsistent, point-in-time image of a file system, StorageRollback is the restore facility for these on-disk Rollback simply rolls back blocks contained in aStorage Checkpoint into the primary file system for veryfast database data integrityWhen multiple systems/nodes have access to data viashared Storage , the integrity of the data depends onData sheet : Storage ManagementVeritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC from SymantecConfidence in a connected 3 of 5internode communication ensuring that each node isaware when other nodes are writing data . When thecoordination between the nodes fails, it results in a splitbrain condition a situation in which two servers try toindependently control the Storage , potentially resulting inapplication failure or even corruption of critical data ,which can then require days to recover, if recovery is fencing is Symantec s method of choice for ensuringthe integrity of critical information by preventing datacorruption.

7 Veritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC hasimplemented I/O fencing using the industrystandardSCSI-3 persistent group reservation technology, allowing aset of systems to have temporary registrations with thedisk and coordinate a write-exclusive reservation with thedisk containing the data . With I/O fencing, Symantecensures that errant nodes are fenced and do not haveaccess to the shared Storage , while the eligible node(s)continue to have access to the data , virtually eliminatingthe risk of data 3. Implementing I/O fencingScalable database performanceThere is a strong movement towards the consolidation ofmultiple disparate database systems onto even larger RACclusters. The major concern in any consolidation effort ismaintaining respectable performance and/or meetingcommitted performance service-level agreements (SLAs). Veritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC improves theoverall performance of database environments byproviding extensions to oracle Disk Manager (ODM), adatabase accelerator technology that enables OLTP performance equal to raw disk partitions, but with themanageability benefits of a file system.

8 It delivers thesame performance benefits as Veritas Quick I/O, but alsoprovides tight database integration for easiermanageability. Moreover, with the Dynamic Multi-pathingfeature of Veritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC,performance is maximized by load-balancing I/O activityacross all available paths, from the server to all majorhardware RAID array products. Moreover, with thisfeature, there is no need for third-party multi-pathingsoftware, reducing the total cost of and remove I/O bottlenecksThe challenge with maximizing database performance ishaving visibility from the data file to the Storage Storage mapping feature in Veritas StorageFoundation for oracle RAC provides organizations with aproven approach to that visibility, when used with VeritasStorage Foundation Manager. When organizations havedetailed database mapping information, a detailedunderstanding of the Storage hierarchy, and knowledge ofwhere each data file resides, performance bottlenecks canbe eliminated.

9 Armed with this information, ITData sheet : Storage ManagementVeritas Storage Foundation for oracle RAC from SymantecConfidence in a connected 4 of 5organizations can minimize I/O performance bottlenecksby dynamically moving data files to different logical unitson different physical spindles, or to another arrayaltogether. The performance tuning capabilities of StorageFoundation for oracle RAC gives organizations theflexibility to be as sophisticated as they choose, or letStorage Foundation manage data architecture with hotrelocation, a feature that automatically detects andreplaces failed disks using a free disk 4. Gain visibility with Veritas Storage Foundation ManagerEnable stretch RAC environmentsA campus cluster configuration provides local highavailability and disaster recovery capability in a singleStorage Foundation for oracle RAC cluster.

10 Thisconfiguration uses data mirroring to duplicate data atdifferent sites. No host or array replication is involved inthe process. Storage Foundation for oracle RAC supportscampus clusters that employ shared disk groups mirroredwith Cluster Volume Manager (CVM).A Storage Foundation for oracle RAC campus cluster issimilar to a basic Storage Foundation for oracle RACcluster except that the data is mirrored across multiplesites. When a site fails, the Storage Foundation for OracleRAC cluster in the secondary site continues running and asparallel applications are already running on the secondarynodes, they are not affected. The ability to run RAC in acampus cluster configuration results in a more highlyavailable disaster recovery environment. Using aCoordination Point Server (CPS) in a campus clusterenvironment enables the use of a 3rd site as an arbitrationpoint without requiring SAN connectivity to the 3rd database Storage costsAs the size of a relational database grows, so does the sizeof the inactive data .