1. Question 14.

What Kind Of Storage We Can Use For The Rac Database

Storage?
Answer :
o OCFS (Release 1 or 2)
o ASM
o raw devices
o third party cluster file system such as GPFS or Veritas
o
2. Question 15. What Is A Crs Resource?
Answer :
Oracle Clusterware is used to manage high-availability operations in a cluster.
Anything that Oracle Clusterware manages is known as a CRS resource. Some
examples of CRS resources are database, an instance, a service, a listener, a
VIP address, an application process etc.
3. Question 16. How Is Clustered Database Important In Oracle Rac
Architecture?
Answer :
o Clustered database is just like a single database accessed by
multiple instances that are running on the server.
o The instances are being run separately or individually on the
server pool and when the demands rise they are shifted to acquire
more space according to the requirements.
o Clustered database provides dynamic access to the database and
on the demand of additional resources they are added to the server
pool.
o If one cluster is taking up the load then that load is shared
between other clusters running on the server and the application
services are provided in a much faster and better way.
o This also allows the adding of additional resources dynamically to
the server pool with no downtime and the application starts running
soon it is deployed on the server.
4. Question 17. What Is An Ocfs2?
Answer :
The OCFS2 is the Oracle (version 2) Cluster File System which can be used for
the Oracle Real Application Cluster.
5. Question 18. How Do We Remove Asm From An Oracle Rac
Environment?
Answer :
We need to stop and delete the instance in the node first in interactive or silent
mode. After that ASM can be removed using srvctl tool as follows:
o srvctl stop asm -n node_name
o srvctl remove asm -n node_name
 o We can verify if ASM has been removed by issuing the following
command:
o srvctl config asm -n node_name
6. Question 19. Describe The Oracle Real Application Clusters
Architecture?
Answer :
o Oracle RAC consists of a database that is represented in a
clustered manner in the architecture.
o The cluster is the collection or pool of independent servers that
make up one single system.
o Cluster architecture provides more flexibility to manage and
follow a modular incremental approach to improve the fault errors
and provide an incremental system.
o This architecture provides the maximum security in terms of
ensuring high availability of the resources to the users.
o It provides the resources on demand and provides hardware
architecture such that a single point of failure is being removed.
o The architecture provides the decoupling of the Oracle instance
like the process and memory that are running on the server from the
Oracle database.
7. Question 20. What Is A Cfs?
Answer :
A cluster File System (CFS) is a file system that may be accessed (read and
write) by all members in a cluster at the same time. This implies that all
members of a cluster have the same view.
8. Question 21. What Is The Use Of Ocr?
Answer :
Oracle Clusterware manages CRS resources based on the configuration
information of CRS resources stored in OCR (Oracle Cluster Registry).
9. Question 22. What Are The Key Components Of Oracle’s Maximum
Availability Architecture?
Answer :
o Oracle Real Application Clusters are the key components of the
existing architecture.
o It provides directions and management of the applications that
needs to be architect using the architecture.
o It provides high scalability of the applications that is being run on
a single server and it takes the advantage of lower cost commodity
hardware to reduce the cost.
o It enables the Oracle database to be run and maintained using the
business application that are on the server pools and involves
packaged products as well.
 o It provides a way to integrate the in-house applications that are
developed using the oracle database and its technology.
o It allows easy management of the server by providing the ability to
remove the server as a single point of failure in the database
application environment.
10. Question 23. What Kind Of Storage We Can Use For The Shared
Clusterware Files?
Answer :
o OCFS (Release 1 or 2)
o raw devices
o third party cluster file system such as GPFS or Veritas

11. Question 24. How Does An Oracle Clusterware Manage Crs Resources?
Answer :
Oracle Clusterware manages CRS resources based on the configuration
information of CRS resources stored in OCR (Oracle Cluster Registry).

12. Question 25. What Is Asm?

Answer :
               In Oracle Database 10g/11g there are two types of instances:
database and ASM instances. The ASM instance, which is generally named
+ASM, is started with the INSTANCE_TYPE=ASM init.ora parameter. This
parameter, when set, signals the Oracle initialization routine to start an ASM
instance and not a standard database instance. Unlike the standard database
instance, the ASM instance contains no physical files; such as logfiles,
controlfiles or datafiles, and only requires a few init.ora parameters for
startup.
               Upon startup, an ASM instance will spawn all the basic background
processes, plus some new ones that are specific to the operation of ASM. The
STARTUP clauses for ASM instances are similar to those for database
instances. For example, RESTRICT prevents database instances from
connecting to this ASM instance. NOMOUNT starts up an ASM instance
without mounting any disk group. MOUNT option simply mounts all defined
diskgroups
              For RAC configurations, the ASM SID is +ASMx instance, where x
represents the instance number.

13. Question 26. What Are The Key Benefits Of Asm?

Answer :
 ASM provides filesystem and volume manager capabilities built into the
Oracle database kernel. Withthis capability, ASM simplifies storage
management tasks, such as creating/laying out databases and disk space
management. Since ASM allows disk management to be done using familiar
create/alter/drop SQL statements, DBAs do not need to learn a new skill set or
make crucial decisions on provisioning.
The following are some key benefits of ASM:
o ASM spreads I/O evenly across all available disk drives to prevent
hot spots and maximize performance.
o ASM eliminates the need for over provisioning and maximizes
storage resource utilization facilitating database consolidation.
o Inherent large file support.
o Performs automatic online redistribution after the incremental
addition or removal of storage  capacity.
o Maintains redundant copies of data to provide high availability, or
leverages 3rd party RAID functionality.
o Supports Oracle Database as well as Oracle Real Application
Clusters (RAC).
o Capable of leveraging 3rd party multipathing technologies.
o For simplicity and easier migration to ASM, an Oracle database
can contain ASM and non-ASM files.
o Any new files can be created as ASM files whilst existing files can
also be migrated to ASM.
o RMAN commands enable non-ASM managed files to be relocated
to an ASM disk group.
o Enterprise Manager Database Control or Grid Control can be used
to manage ASM disk and file activities.

 
14. Question 27. How Does Database Connects To Asm Instance?
Answer :
The database communicates with ASM instance using the ASMB (umblicus
process) process. Once the database obtains the necessary extents from
extent map, all database IO going  forward is processed through by the
database processes, bypassing ASM. Thus we say ASM is not really in the IO
path. So, the question how do we make ASM go faster…..you don’t have to.

15. Question 28. What Init.ora Parameters Does A User Need To Configure
For Asm Instances?
Answer :
 The default parameter settings work perfectly for ASM. The only parameters
needed for 11g ASM:
o PROCESSES*
o ASM_DISKSTRING*
o ASM_DISKGROUPS
o INSTANCE_TYPE

16. Question 29. How Does The Database Interact With The Asm Instance
And How Do I Make Asm Go Faster?
Answer :
ASM is not in the I/O path so ASM does not impede the database file access.
Since the RDBMS instance is performing raw I/O, the I/O is as fast as possible.
17. Question 30. Do I Need To Define The Rdbms Filesystemio_options
Parameter When I Use Asm?
Answer :
No. The RDBMS does I/O directly to the raw disk devices, the
FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS  parameter is only for filesystems.
18. Question 31. Why Oracle Recommends Two Disk Groups?
Answer :
Oracle recommends two diskgroups to provide a balance of manageability,
utilization, and performance.
19. Question 32. We Have A 16 Tb Database. I’m Curious About The
Number Of Disk Groups We Should Use; E.g. 1 Large Disk Group, A Couple Of
Disk Groups, Or Otherwise?
Answer :
For VLDBs you will probably end up with different storage tiers; e.g with some
of our large customers they have Tier1 (RAID10 FC), Tier2 (RAID5 FC), Tier3
(SATA), etc. Each one of these is mapped to a diskgroup.
20. Question 33. We Have A New App And Don’t Know Our Access Pattern,
But Assuming Mostly Sequential Access, What Size Would Be A Good Au Fit?
Answer :
For 11g ASM/RDBMS it is recommended to use 4MB ASM AU for disk groups.
See Metalink Note 810484.1
21. Question 34. Would It Be Better To Use Bigfile Tablespaces, Or
Standard Tablespaces For Asm?
Answer :
The use of Bigfile tablespaces has no bearing on ASM (or vice versa). In fact
most database object related decisions are transparent to ASM.
22. Question 35. What Is The Best Lun Size For Asm?
Answer :
There is no best size! In most cases the storage team will dictate to you based
on their standardized LUN size. The ASM administrator merely has to
 communicate the ASM Best Practices and application  characteristics to
storage folks :
• Need equally sized / performance LUNs
• Minimum of 4 LUNs
• The capacity requirement
• The workload characteristic (random r/w, sequential r/w) & any response
time SLA
Using this info , and their standards, the storage folks should build a nice LUN
group set for you.
 
23. Question 36. In 11g Rac We Want To Separate Asm Admins From Dbas
And Create Different Users And Groups. How Do We Set This Up?
Answer :
For clarification
• Separate Oracle Home for ASM and RDBMS.
• RDBMS instance connects to ASM using OSDBA group of the ASM instance.
Thus, software owner for each RDBMS instance connecting to ASM must be a
member of ASM's OSDBA group.
• Choose a different OSDBA group for ASM instance (asmdba) than
for RDBMS instance (dba)
• In 11g, ASM administrator has to be member of a separate SYSASM group
to separate ASM Admin and DBAs.
24. Question 37. Can My Rdbms And Asm Instances Run Different
Versions?
Answer :
Yes. ASM can be at a higher version or at lower version than its client
databases. There’s two:
components of compatiblity: Software compatibility
Diskgroup compatibility attributes: compatible.asm, compatible.rdbms.

25. Question 38. Where Do I Run My Database Listener From; I.e., Asm
Home Or Db Home?
Answer :
It is recommended to run the listener from the ASM HOME. This is particularly
important for RAC env, since the listener is a node-level resource. In this
config, you can create additional [user] listeners from the database homes as
needed.
 
26. Question 39. How Do I Backup My Asm Instance?
Answer :
Not applicable! ASM has no files to backup, as its does not contain
controlfile,redo logs etc.
27. Question 40. When Should I Use Rman And When Should I Use Asmcmd
Copy?
Answer :
RMAN is the recommended and most complete and flexible method to backup
and transport database files in ASM.
ASMCMD copy is good for copying single files
• Supports all Oracle file types
• Can be used to instantiate a Data Guard environment
• Does not update the controlfile
• Does not create OMF files
28. Question 41. I'm Going To Do Add Disks To My Asm Diskgroup, How
Long Will This Rebalance Take?
Answer :
Rebalance time is heavily driven by the three items:
1) Amount of data currently in the diskgroup
2) IO bandwidth available on the server
3) ASM_POWER_LIMIT or Rebalance Power Level

29. Question 42. We Are Migrating To A New Storage Array. How Do I Move
My Asm Database From Storage A To Storage B?
Answer :
Given that the new and old storage are both visible to ASM, simply add the
new disks to the ASM disk group and drop the old disks. ASM rebalance will
migrate data online.

30. Question 43. Is It Possible To Unplug An Asm Disk Group From One
Platform And Plug Into A Server On Another Platform (for Example, From
Solaris To Linux)?
Answer :
No. Cross-platform disk group migration not supported. To move datafiles
between endian-ness platforms, you need to use XTTS, Datapump or Streams.

31. Question 44. How Does Asm Work With Multipathing Software?
Answer :
It works great! Multipathing software is at a layer lower than ASM, and thus is
transparent.
You may need to adjust ASM_DISKSTRING to specify only the path to the
multipathing pseudo devices.
32. Question 45. Is Asm Constantly Rebalancing To Manage “hot Spots”?
Answer :
No.ASM provides even distribution of extents across all disks in a disk group.
Since each disk will equal number of extents, no single disk will be hotter than
another. Thus the answer NO, ASM does not dynamically move hot spots,
 because hot spots simply do not occur in ASM configurations. Rebalance only
occurs on storage configuration changes (e.g. add, drop, or resize disks).
 
33. Question 46. What Are The File Types That Asm Support And Keep In
Disk Groups?
Answer :
o Control files
o Flashback logs
o Data Pump dump sets
o Data files
o DB SPFILE
o Data Guard configuration
o Temporary data files
o RMAN backup sets
o Change tracking bitmaps
o Online redo logs
o RMAN data file copies
o OCR files
o Archive logs
o Transport data files
o ASM SPFILE

34. Question 47. List Key Benefits Of Asm?

Answer :
o Stripes files rather than logical volumes
o Provides redundancy on a file basis
o Enables online disk reconfiguration and dynamic rebalancing
o Reduces the time significantly to resynchronize a transient failure
by tracking changes while disk is offline
o Provides adjustable rebalancing speed
o Is cluster-aware
o Supports reading from mirrored copy instead of primary copy for
extended clusters
o Is automatically installed as part of the Grid Infrastructure
35. Question 48. What Is Asm Striping?
Answer :
ASM can use variable size data extents to support larger files, reduce memory
requirements, and improve performance.
Each data extent resides on an individual disk.
Data extents consist of one or more allocation units.
The data extent size is:
o Equal to AU for the first 20,000 extents (0–19999)
o Equal to 4 × AU for the next 20,000 extents (20000–39999)
 o Equal to 16 × AU for extents above 40,000
ASM stripes files using extents with a coarse method for load balancing or a
fine method to reduce latency.
o Coarse-grained striping is always equal to the effective AU size.
o Fine-grained striping is always equal to 128 KB.
36. Question 49. How Many Asm Diskgroups Can Be Created Under One
Asm Instance?
Answer :
ASM imposes the following limits:
o 63 disk groups in a storage system
o 10,000 ASM disks in a storage system
o Two-terabyte maximum storage for each ASM disk (non-Exadata)
o Four-petabyte maximum storage for each ASM disk (Exadata)
o 40-exabyte maximum storage for each storage system
o 1 million files for each disk group
o ASM file size limits (database limit is 128 TB):
o External redundancy maximum file size is 140 PB.
o Normal redundancy maximum file size is 42 PB.
o High redundancy maximum file size is 15 PB.
2. Question 50. What Is A Diskgroup?
Answer :
A disk group consists of multiple disks and is the fundamental object that
ASM manages. Each disk group contains the metadata that is required for the
management of space in the disk group. The ASM instance manages the
metadata about the files in a Disk Group in the same way that a file system
manages metadata about its files. However, the vast majority of I/O
operations do not pass through the ASM instance. In a moment we will look at
how file I/O works with respect to the ASM instance.