rac

It is probably easy to calculate hourly redo rate or daily redo rate using AWR data. For example, my script awr_redo_size.sql can be used to calculate daily redo rate, and awr_redo_size_history.sql can be used to calculate hourly redo rate. Hourly redo rate is especially useful since you can export to an excel spreadsheet, graph it to see redo rate trend.

Introduction to Direct Mode Writes

Direct mode operations write directly in to the database file skipping buffer cache. Minimal redo(aka invalidation redo) is generated, if the database is not in force logging mode. Keeping the database in no force logging mode is peachy as long as you don’t use Data guard, Streams, or Golden Gate.

This video was created circa July 2011. Click the Read More link to review the video. Version Oracle Database 11.2.0.2

Synopsis: Essentially, we probe the importance of LMS processes using DTrace. Explain why LMS should run in elevated priority. How to review deep statistics about LMS processes and much more.

In this blog entry, we will explore the wonderful world of SCNs and how Oracle database uses SCN internally. We will also explore few new bugs and clarify few misconceptions about SCN itself.

What is SCN?

SCN (System Change Number) is a primary mechanism to maintain data consistency in Oracle database. SCN is used primarily in the following areas, of course, this is not a complete list:

You might encounter RAC wait event ‘gc cr disk read’ in 11.2 while tuning your applications in RAC environment. Let’s probe this wait event to understand why a session would wait for this wait event.

Understanding the wait event

Let’s say that a foreground process running in node 1, is trying to access a block using a SELECT statement and that block is not in the local cache. To maintain the read consistency, foreground process will require the block consistent with the query SCN. Then the sequence of operation is(simplified):

On February 14-16, I’ll be at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado for RMOUG’s Training Days Conference. This is the largest regional Oracle User Conference in North America and attracts presenters from all around the country and the globe. I’ll be presenting:

Presentation Name: Troubleshooting RAC Background Process

Abstract: RAC background process performance is critical to keep the application performance. This session will demo techniques to review the performance of RAC background processes such as LMS, LMD, LMON, etc. using various statistics and UNIX tools. The presentation will also discuss why certain background processes must run in higher priority to maintain the application performance in RAC.

Presentation Name: A Kind and Gentle Introduction to RAC

Some time ago I wrote an article about configuring DNS for the SCAN address in Oracle 11gR2 RAC.

• http://www.oracle-base.com/articles/linux/DnsConfigurationForSCAN.php

Over the last couple of days one of the Oakies has given me some feedback on the article based on his experiences with Oracle Linux 5.

For my virtual RAC installations I typically do the DNS configuration on the host machine, which is running Fedora. It seems Oracle Linux 5 is a little different. Just to make sure I ran through the setup on Oracle Linux 5 and 6 to see what the score was.

Waits for ‘DFS lock handle’ can cause massive performance issues in a busy RAC cluster. In this blog entry, we will explore the DFS lock handle wait event, and understand how to troubleshoot the root cause of these waits. I am also going to use locks and resources interchangeably in this blog, but internally, they are two different types of structures.

A little background

DFS (stands for Distributed File System) is an ancient name, associated with cluster file system operations, in a Lock manager supplied by vendors in Oracle Parallel Server Environment (prior name for RAC). But, this wait event has morphed and is now associated with waits irrelevant to database files also. Hence, it is imperative to understand the underlying details to debug the ‘DFS lock handle’ waits.

How does it work?

As part of a server move from one data centre to another I enjoyed working in the depths of Clusterware. This one has been a rather simple case though: the public IP addresses were the only part of the package to change: simple. One caveat though was the recreation of the OCR disk group I am using for the OCR and 3 copies of the voting file. I decided to reply on the backups I took before the server move.

Once the kit has been rewired in the new data centre, it was time to get active. The /etc/multipath.conf file had to be touched to add the new LUNs for my +OCR disk group. I have described the processes in a number of articles, for example here:

http://martincarstenbach.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/adding-storage-dynamic...

A few facts before we start:

I mentioned the day before Open World I put a Virtual RAC on Oracle Linux 6.1 article live. Although the procedure was complete, some of the screen shots were from an old article as I didn’t have time to redo them before my flight. I’ve just run through the procedure again and taken new screen shots. As a result, I’ve allowed the article to display on the front page of the website, which is why you will see it listed as a new article there.

• Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.3) RAC On Oracle Linux 6.1 Using VirtualBox

This kinda rounds out the whole Oracle on 6.1 stuff as there has been a single instance installation guide out for ages and more recently the Cloud Control installation, which references it.

• Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2) Installation On Oracle Linux 6
• Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 1 Installation on Oracle Linux 5.7 and 6.1

Remember, it’s still not certified yet, but it’s coming.

• Oracle Database 11gR2 on OL6 / RHEL6: Certified or Not

Cheers

Tim…

Thanks to Tim Hall, I can now show you a snapshot of OEM demonstrating my personal four-node RAC.