Building Scalable Storage Grids

Sun Oracle Exadata Storage Servers can be installed in to a standard 19-inch rack and are connected to database servers via InfiniBand. Exadata Storage Servers have dual 40 Gigabit InfiniBand links that provide connectivity many times faster than traditional storage or server networks. Further, Oracle’s interconnect protocol uses direct data placement to ensure very low CPU overhead by directly moving data from the wire to database buffers with no extra data copies.
Exadata Storage Servers are architected to scale-out easily. To achieve higher performance and greater storage capacity, additional Exadata Storage Servers are added to the configuration. This, combined with faster InfiniBand interconnect, Exadata Smart Flash Cache and the reduction of data transferred due to offload processing, yields very large performance improvements. A 10x improvement in query performance compared to traditional database storage architectures is common, with much greater improvement possible.

1. Preparing to Install
This section explains various aspects to consider before starting the installation.

1.1. System Requirements
Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition supports two (2) major architectures: Intel x86 and AMD64. The table below lists recommended hardware specifications. Depending on your needs, you might manage with less than this. However, most users risk being frustrated if they ignore these suggestions.

The Server Edition provides a common base for all sorts of server applications. It is a minimalist design providing a platform for the desired services, such as file/print services, web hosting, email hosting, etc.

1.2. Server and Desktop Differences
There are a few differences between the Ubuntu Server Edition and the Ubuntu Desktop Edition. It should be noted that both editions use the same apt repositories. Making it just as easy to install a server application on the Desktop Edition as it is on the Server Edition.

Defining a Backup Medium in SAP DB/MaxDB
Prior to running a backup, create at least one backup medium per backup type (complete, incremental) in SAP DB/MaxDB. When using Backint for Oracle, the name of backup medium created must begin with BACK. The type of backup medium must be PIPE. The following procedure demonstrates connecting to dbmcli, and then creating a backup medium (in this case, a sample medium called BACKORA).

Performing Backup And Restore
When running a backup of SAP DB/MaxDB, you must include the backup medium you created. The first step of the following procedure starts the utility session. You must start the utility session before running a backup. To learn more about utility session refer to SAP DB/MaxDB documentation.

Troubleshooting

• Useful log file $RUNDIRECTORY/dbm.ebp
  – Default run directory is <install_path>\sdb\data\wrk\<database_name>)
• Naming convention could add confusion:
  – Executable for “Backint for SAP DB/MaxDB” – backint
  – Executable for “Backint for Oracle” – backint
  – Executable for Adapter Program – backint

INTRODUCING ORACLE VM TO ORACLE ON DEMAND
Oracle is introducing server virtualization within the Oracle On Demand Managed Services Grid with Oracle VM, a new server virtualization product which fully supports both Oracle and non-Oracle applications and offers scalable, low-cost server virtualization that is three times more efficient than competitive products.
Backed by Oracle’s world-class support organization, On Demand customers now have a single point of enterprise-class support for their entire virtualization environments, including the Linux operating system, Oracle Database, Fusion Middleware and Application software—all of which are supported with Oracle VM.
Industry-leading partners, including AMD, Dell, Emulex, HP, Intel, Liquid Computing, NetApp, Pillar Data Systems, and QLogic have endorsed Oracle VM. And with this announcement, Oracle is the only software vendor that combines the benefits of server clustering and server virtualization technologies to deliver integrated clustering, virtualization, storage, and management for Grid Computing.
For more information about Oracle VM, visit oracle.com/virtualization.

HP Insight Dynamics – VSE for Integrity (ID-VSE) allows you to improve your server utilization in real time. Combining intelligent control of your virtualized environment with partitioning, ID-VSE can help you create a pool of virtual servers within an Integrity BL870c, which can increase or reduce based on your business needs. ID-VSE also brings the flexibility of virtualization to physical blades through the new logical server capability. The logical server is a server profile that is easy to create and can be freely moved across physical machines. By detaching the logical identity from the physical resource, you can create or move logical servers on any suitable physical machine—on demand. Templates can be created for business applications with specific configurations, and these can be stored and reactivated in minutes. This simplifies infrastructure change and increases business agility.

• HP Integrity Virtual Machines, a soft partitioning and virtualization technology, provides operating system isolation, shared CPU (with sub-CPU granularity), shared I/O, and automatic and dynamic resource allocation.

Virtualization role in IT infrastructure
Server virtualization can help simplify operations, improve utilization and uptime, and enable cost-effective scaling.

Simplifying operations
Server virtualization effectively hides hardware details from software, allowing the hardware to be truly interchangeable without affecting the software. Virtualization can help simplify operations by doing the following:

• Allowing workload portability across multiple servers, which includes the ability to “rehost” software (including legacy operating systems that are no longer supported)
• Streamlining application development and platform certification by certifying on a common virtual interface rather than multiple implementations of physical hardware
• Encapsulating complex configurations into a file that is easily replicated and provisioned

Improving utilization and uptime
Server virtualization can help organizations make optimal use of existing resources. A single physical server with multiple VMs can host several workloads that, without virtualization, would require multiple physical servers. Additionally, because workloads can be relocated or replicated easily in a virtualized environment, administrators can move them when performing maintenance without affecting service levels and can quickly provision new servers as needed. Virtualization can help improve utilization and uptime by doing the following: