Oracle RAC is an option to the Oracle Database Enterprise Edition. At least, this is what it is known for. This presentation shows the many ways in which the stack, which is known as Oracle RAC can be used in the most efficient way for various use cases.

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The Oracle Real Application
Clusters (RAC) Family of
Solutions – a “User Guide”
Markus Michalewicz
Director of Product Management
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC)
@OracleRACpm
http://www.linkedin.com/in/markusmichalewicz
http://www.slideshare.net/MarkusMichalewicz

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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary
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Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) 12c
§ Overview
– A clustered database solution for
high availability (HA), scalability,
agility, flexibility and elasticity
– Oracle's premier shared disk
database clustering technology
– Choice of administrator-managed
or policy-managed deployments
§ Benefits
– Runs all database workloads
– Foundation for DBaaS
– Scale out and scale up on-demand
– Highest availability for the database
– Flexible workload management
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC)
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW)
Oracle Flex ASM
CRM

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Oracle RAC Evolution
Oracle
Database 10g
RAC (* 2004)
Oracle 6 to
Oracle8i
OPS
(* 199x)
Oracle9i Rel. 1
Oracle9i Rel. 2
RAC (* 2001)
Oracle Database
11g Rel. 1 with
RAC (* 2007)
Oracle Database
12c Rel. 1 with
RAC (* 2013)
Oracle Database
11g Rel. 2 with
RAC (* 2009)
Oracle
RAC
One Node A
DBA
DBA
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Family of Solutions
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW) DBA
DBB
DBC
DBB
DBB
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW)
Oracle Flex ASM
Oracle RAC
One Node A
Oracle RAC
One Node B
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC)
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW)
Oracle Flex ASM

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Oracle RAC and Oracle Multitenant
The new standard for Oracle Database Consolidation
Consolidation
Agility
Oracle GI
Oracle RAC
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Oracle Database 12c High Availability
Four Standard Reference Architectures
GOLD
Comprehensive HA and Disaster Protection
Zero or near-zero data loss
SILVER
High Availability (HA) for Recoverable Local Outages
Data protected as of last backup
BRONZE
Single Instance Database, Basic Service Restart
Data protected as of last backup
PLATINUM
Zero Outage for Platinum Ready Applications
Zero data loss

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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary
Copyright © 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.11
Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”:
1. Standardize on Clusters
2. Standardize the Database Deployment
3. Standardize on Oracle RAC
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary

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Introduce Oracle RAC Step by Step
§ Overview
– Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) combines:
§ Oracle ASM & Oracle ACFS
§ Oracle Clusterware
– Oracle GI can replace any 3rd party
cluster solution for failover purposes
§ Benefits
– Free of charge when used for Oracle
– Provides:
§ Cluster-based High Availability
§ Flexibility, agility and simplified
resource management in the cluster
Step 1: Standardize on Clusters with Oracle Grid Infrastructure
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW)
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Standardize on Clusters
Clusters increase flexibility and HA regardless of DB types used later
Oracle GI
Oracle GI
Oracle GI for a Cluster
Oracle GI for a
Cluster
High Availability
Flexibility
License Costs
Oracle GI
Standalone
Oracle GI
Re-configuration
to enable cluster

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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”:
1. Standardize on Clusters
2. Standardize the Database Deployment
3. Standardize on Oracle RAC
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary
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Introduce Oracle RAC Step by Step
§ Overview
– Single instance databases (DBs) can
be deployed on a cluster infrastructure
§ Benefits
– Single instance DBs benefit from
cluster-inherent HA and resource
management features immediately:
§ Oracle Flex ASM HA capabilities
§ SRVCTL as the management tool
Step 2: Standardize your database deployment on clusters
DBA
DBB
DBC
DBB
DBB

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Introduce Oracle Flex ASM
Inter-node volume manager failover and HA for all Oracle 12c DBs
ASM Cluster Pool of Storage
Disk Group BDisk Group AShared Disk
Groups
Wide File Striping
Databases share
ASM instances
ASM Instance
Database Instance
ASM Disk
Cluster
Node5Node4Node3Node2Node1
Node5
runs as
ASM Client
to Node4
Node1
runs as
ASM Client
to Node2
Node1
runs as
ASM Client
to Node4
Node2
runs as
ASM Client
to Node3
ASM ASM ASM
ASM Instance
SI
DB
SI
DB
RAC
DBA
RAC
DBA
RAC
DBA
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ACFS – The ASM based Cluster File System
ACFS is part of Oracle GI, hosts all data and is fully integrated
ASM Cluster Pool of Storage
Disk Group BDisk Group AShared Disk
Groups
Wide File Striping
Databases share
ASM instances ASM Instance
Database Instance
ASM Disk
Cluster
Node5Node4Node3Node2Node1 ASM ASM ASM
SI
DB
RAC
DBA
RAC
DBA
RAC
DBA
Applications use
ACFS for all data
ACFS ACFSACFS ACFS ACFS

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Standardize on Oracle RAC
For better availability during maintenance operations
Oracle GIDBA
DBA
DBA
Oracle RAC
High Availability
Scalability
Online (rolling) Patch and PSU ApplicationOracle GIDBA
DBA
Oracle RAC One Node
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Introduce Oracle RAC Step by Step
§ Overview
– Oracle RAC One Node is a RAC-enabled
DB running only one instance normally.
– In case of a server or instance failure,
the one running instance is started on
another server in the cluster (failover)
§ Benefits
– Better than 3rd party failover clusters:
§ Faster failover
§ Online Database Relocation minimizes
planned maintenance (patching).
§ Integrated into the Oracle RAC Stack
Step 2.1: Use Oracle RAC One Node as a minimum
DBA
DBB
DBC
DBB
DBB
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW)
Oracle Flex ASM
Oracle RAC
One Node A
Oracle RAC
One Node B

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Database Failover
§ On failure of
– a database (DB) instance
– Or the server hosting the DB
– Or other failures impacting operation
§ Oracle RAC One Node will fail over
the database instance to another
server in the cluster
§ Servers can be chosen using either
administrator-managed or policy-
managed resource allocation rules
Oracle RAC One Node provides standard DB cold-failover functionality
Node3Node2
Oracle Flex ASM based pool of shared storage
Node1
Public Network
DBB DBCDBA
Oracle Grid Infrastructure
DBEDBDDBA
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Oracle RAC One Node Failover
Shortest failover time compared to third party solutions
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
ASM eliminates need for storage failover
RAC One
Node
Cluster
Failover (time)
(transactions)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
3rd-Party
Failover
(time)
(transactions)
Extensive downtime for storage failover
down up
Recovers in 25 minutes (source: online payment provider)
Recovers in minutes (source: )

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Online Database Relocation for better HA
§ Online Database Relocation is the
only solution on the market that can
minimize downtime during scheduled
maintenance operations such as:
– Patching (HW, OS, database homes)
– Resource re-allocation due to demand
Oracle RAC One Node-specific functionality that makes the difference
Node3Node2
Oracle Flex ASM based pool of shared storage
Node1
Public Network
DBB DBC
Oracle Grid Infrastructure
DBEDBD
DBA
DBAOnline DB Relocation
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RAC One Node: Online Database Relocation
Almost no disruption during planned maintenance
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Online
Database
Relocation
(time)
Failover
down up
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 (time)
Recovers in minutes – source:
Almost no disruption – source:

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Oracle RAC One Node 12c – Summary
Oracle RAC One Node 12c provides:
1. Best in-class single instance
Oracle Database availability
2. Better database consolidation
3. Better database virtualization
Using
§ A standardized and improved
deployment and management
§ A familiar and matured HA stack
– Oracle Grid Infrastructure
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW)
Oracle Flex ASM
CRM
Oracle RAC
One Node A
Oracle RAC
One Node B
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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”:
1. Standardize on Clusters
2. Standardize the Database Deployment
3. Standardize on Oracle RAC
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary

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Standardize on Oracle RAC
For all the flexibility you need
Oracle GIDBA
DBA
Oracle GIDBA
DBA
DBA
Oracle RAC One Node
Oracle RAC
Flexibility
Scalability
Online
upgrade
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Introduce Oracle RAC Step by Step
§ Overview
– A clustered database solution for
high availability (HA), scalability,
agility, flexibility and elasticity
§ Benefits
– Runs all database workloads
– Foundation for DBaaS
– Scale out and scale up on-demand
– Highest availability for the database
– Flexible workload management
Step 3: Standardize on Oracle RAC
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC)
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI):
Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
Oracle Clusterware (OCW)
Oracle Flex ASM

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Oracle RAC One Node vs. Oracle RAC
“Always On” vs. “Always Running”
Oracle GI
DBA
DBA
DBB
DBB
Oracle GI
DB
A
DB
A
DB
B
DB
B
§ Oracle RAC: multiple instances
per database running concurrently
§ Oracle RAC One Node: one instance
per database running at a time
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Failover Times
Oracle RAC – always better than any 3rd party implementation
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Oracle RAC
(time)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Oracle RAC
One Node
Failover
(time)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
3rd-Party
Failover
(time)
down up
Recovers in 25 minutes
Recovers in minutes
Almost no disruption

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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary
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Added Value for Free
ACFS & Flex Cluster are free with Oracle RAC (One Node)
DBA
DBA
DBA
DBB
DBB
Hub Nodes
Leaf Nodes

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Oracle Flex Cluster
The new standard for resource management in the cluster
§ Oracle Flex Cluster:
– The new standard for flexible
resource management in the cluster
§ Use it as demand requires it
§ Inherits all Flex ASM HA capabilities
§ Will support more use cases in future
– Efficient High Availability and
resource management across tiers
§ Lightweight cluster stack on leaf nodes
– Benefit from virtualization and
physical deployments in one cluster
DBA
DBA
DBA
DBB
DBB
Hub Nodes
Leaf Nodes
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Added Value for Free
Application Continuity & QoS are free with Oracle RAC (One Node)
CRM
DBA
DBA
DBA
DBA
DBA
✔ Database
Cloud
Services
SLA
Management
JIT
Resource
Allocation
Quality of Service
Management

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Application Continuity & Transaction Guard
Mask Unplanned & Planned Outages
§ Replays in-flight (DML)
work on recoverable errors
§ Masks many hardware, software,
network, storage errors and
outages when successful
§ Improves end-user experience and
productivity without requiring
custom application development
CRM
DBA
DBA
DBA
DBA
DBA
✔
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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary

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Introduce Oracle RAC Step by Step
§ Overview
– Running multiple workloads in a shared
infrastructure allows for standardized
deployments dividing the costs across
multiple projects
§ Benefits
– Cost savings
§ Using standardized deployments
§ Utilizing a faster time to market
– Cost sharing across projects
Consolidation = Share the benefits and reduce the costs
41
Commonwealth Bank
n The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is one of Australia’s leading providers of
integrated financial services including retail, business and institutional banking,
funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment and broking services.
The Bank is one of the largest listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange.

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Introduction
n In 2007 CBA set out to create an Oracle database shared service offering for the bank
• The offering has been highly successful by several measures
• Oracle-as-a-Service has continued to be developed through several iterations
n Oracle as a Service (OaaS) v1 – went live May 2008
43
n Host many Oracle database applications
on a cluster of hardware
n Processor consolidation
• Run each server hotter
• Take advantage of complimentary workload peaks.
n Higher Availability
• Load balancing
• HA failover for component failure
• Standby DR
• Most apps do not implement these features – too expensive
n Cost Reduction
n Better Service
• Full time experts
• Always on-call
n Reduced Risk
• Whole environment is managed
• Operated as a “business”
Oracle as a Service In A Nutshell

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Reduce Risk, Improve Time to Market
n For new Projects:
• Remove a phase from the project – infrastructure already in place
• Remove reliance on expensive/scarce SME resources for design and build
• No longer need to manage risk associated with procurement and build
• Time to instantiate a new Production quality environment: 3 months -> 2 minutes.
n Example: New ISV Application introduced into our Online Share Trading platform
• Required to test performance under the workload
& data volume conditions projected in 2 years time.
Dedicated Infrastructure OaaS
Implementation Time 3-4 months few hours
$ Cost to Project Several hundred thousand < $10K
On Project Completion Under-utilized asset remains Environment turned-off
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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary

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Oracle RAC
and
Virtualization
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Virtualization – a Black Box Approach
A simple solution without insight
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0 Hypervisor
Guest
Dom-0
Guest
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0Hypervisor
Dom-0
GuestGuest

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Live Migration = Moving a Black Box
Live Migration moves a black box from one server to another
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0 Hypervisor
Guest
Dom-0
Guest
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0Hypervisor
Dom-0
GuestGuest
Live Migration
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Virtual Machine HA = Restarting a Black Box
Virtual Machine HA restarts / fails over a virtual machine on failure
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0 Hypervisor
Guest
Dom-0
Guest
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0Hypervisor
Dom-0
GuestGuest

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Virtual Machine HA = Restarting a Black Box
But what if the application needs attention?
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0 Hypervisor
Guest
Dom-0
Guest
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0Hypervisor
Dom-0
Guest
DBA
?
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High Availability Requires Insight
The Oracle RAC Stack provides the insight
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0 Hypervisor
Guest
Dom-0
Guest
Bare-Metal Server
DOM-0Hypervisor
Dom-0
GuestGuest
DBC1DBA1
+1
DBC2 DBA2
+1

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Agenda
§ Overview
§ Introduce Oracle RAC “Step-by-Step”
§ Add Additional Value Free of Charge
§ Use Consolidation to Reduce Costs
§ Oracle RAC and Oracle VM
§ Summary
Copyright © 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.53
Oracle Database 12c High Availability
Four Standard Reference Architectures
Service Level Application Impact Proposed Solution
SILVER
High Availability (HA) for
Recoverable Local Outages
Data protected as of last backup
Use Oracle RAC
One Node
GOLD
Comprehensive HA
and Disaster Protection
Zero or near-zero data loss
Standardize on
Oracle RAC
PLATINUM
Zero Outage for
Platinum Ready Applications
Zero data loss
Use Oracle RAC &
Application Continuity
BRONZE
Single Instance Database,
Basic Service Restart
Data protected as of last backup
Standardize on
Clusters

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15000+ Customers and counting…
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