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Introduction to Real Application Clusters Setup and Configuration

This chapter provides an overview of the procedures and components for installing and configuring Oracle Real Application Clusters. This chapter includes the following topics:

• The Oracle9i Enterprise Edition and Oracle9i Real Application Clusters
• Real Application Clusters Installation Overview
• System Installation Requirements for Real Application Clusters
• Version Compatibility in Real Application Clusters Databases

The Oracle9i Enterprise Edition and Oracle9i Real Application Clusters

The Oracle9i Enterprise Edition, which is required for Real Application Clusters, provides single-instance database software and the additional components to operate Real Application Clusters databases. Some of the Real Application Clusters-specific components include:

• Operating system-dependent clusterware
• Real Application Clusters-enabled ORACLE_HOME
• Oracle Server Management (SRVM) for Real Application Clusters

The Operating System-Dependent Clusterware

The clusterware contains operating system-dependent (OSD) components that control the operating system and clusterware. The OSD's two primary subcomponents are the Cluster Manager (CM) and the Interprocess Communication (IPC) software. Figure 1-1 illustrates these components in more detail.

• The OSD clusterware installation process varies according to platform:
• For UNIX operating systems, your vendor provides the OSD clusterware.
• For SunClusters, Oracle provides a UDLM patch that you must install onto each node in the cluster from the /racpacth directory on the first CD-ROM before installing and configuring Real Application Clusters.
• For Linux platforms, refer to Oracle9i Administrator's Reference Release 2 (9.2.0.1) for UNIX Systems: AIX-Based Systems, Compaq Tru64, HP 9000 Series HP-UX, Linux Intel, and Sun Solaris.
• For Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems, use the Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard to install the Oracle OSD clusterware after configuring your logical partitions as described in the online document, Oracle9i Database Installation Guide for Windows.

The Oracle Universal Installer and Real Application Clusters

The Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) provides a graphical user interface for the installation of the Oracle Enterprise Edition software. Figure 1-1 shows the OUI process flow.

Figure 1-1 Real Application Clusters Installation Components

Text description of the illustration pscfg001.gif

When the OUI runs, Oracle Corporation recommends that you select one of the preconfigured databases or use the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) interactively to create your cluster database. You can also manually create your database. If you are not using a cluster file system, then you must have configured shared raw devices before proceeding with database creation.

When you install Real Application Clusters, the installer copies the Oracle software onto the node from which you are running the installer. The OUI then propagates the software onto the other nodes that you have selected for installation.

The OUI can also install the software for the system management tool, Oracle Enterprise Manager (EM), to integrate this tool into your cluster environment. Or you can install EM onto other client machines outside your cluster as shown in Figure 1-1 (*).

The Oracle Intelligent Agent is installed when you install EM. The Oracle Intelligent Agent must be running on each node that is part of your Real Application Clusters database so that EM can discover and manage the database.

The Installed Real Application Clusters Components

All instances in Real Application Clusters environments share the control file, server parameter file, redo log files, and all datafiles. These files reside on a shared cluster file system or on shared disks. Either of these types of file configurations are accessed by all the cluster database instances. Each instance also has its own discrete set of redo log files. During failures, shared access to redo log files enables surviving instances to perform recovery.

Real Application Clusters Installation Overview

The Real Application Clusters installation process includes four primary tasks.

1. Install the operating system-dependent (OSD) clusterware. The OSD clusterware installation process varies according to platform:
   • For UNIX, refer to your vendor documentation and to the documentation for the SunCluster UDLM patch.
   • For Windows NT and Windows 2000, use the Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard as described in the online document, Oracle9i Database Installation Guide for Windows.
2. If you are not using a cluster file system, then configure the shared disks as described in Chapter 2.
3. Run the OUI to install the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition and the Oracle9i Real Application Clusters software as described in Chapter 3.
4. Create and configure your database as described in either:
   • Chapter 4 that explains how to use the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA), or:
   • Chapter 5 that explains how to manually create your database

System Installation Requirements for Real Application Clusters

Verify that your system meets the requirements discussed under the following topics before proceeding with installation:

• Hardware and Software Requirements for Oracle9i Real Application Clusters
• File System Requirements for Using Oracle Managed Files (Optional)

Hardware and Software Requirements for Oracle9i Real Application Clusters

Verify the following hardware and software requirements for each node:

Hardware

Each node in a cluster requires the following hardware:

• Operating system-specific hardware as described in operating system-specific installation guides
• External shared disk(s)

Software

Each node in a cluster requires the following software:

• Operating system-specific software as described in operating system-specific installation guides
• Certified vendor-supplied operating system-dependent clusterware for UNIX, or Oracle operating system-dependent clusterware for Windows NT and Windows 2000
• Oracle9i Enterprise Edition
• Oracle Net
• Oracle Intelligent Agent release 2 (9.2) if using EM
• One of the following Web browsers to view online documentation:
  • Netscape Navigator Version 3.0 or later.

    http://www.netscape.com
    
    

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 3.0 or later.

    http://www.microsoft.com
    
    

File System Requirements for Using Oracle Managed Files (Optional)

To use Oracle Managed Files (OMF) for a Real Application Clusters databases your platform must support a cluster file system. The OMF feature enables the Oracle database server to automatically create and delete files that Oracle requires to manage the database.

Supported Interconnect Software

Interconnects that support Real Application Clusters and Cache Fusion use one of the following protocols:

• Transmission Control Protocol/Interconnect Protocol (TCP/IP)
• User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
• Virtual Interface Architecture (VIA)

Real Application Clusters can use any interconnect product that supports these protocols. You can also use other proprietary protocols that are hardware vendor-specific. The interconnect product that you use must be certified by Oracle for your Oracle9i Real Application Clusters hardware platform.

Version Compatibility in Real Application Clusters Databases

32-bit instances cannot share access to the same 9.2 database with 64-bit instances. Depending on the platform, for example, 32-bit and 64-bit Oracle9i Real Application Clusters executables cannot be used at the same time within the same cluster domain. This is because some cluster manager implementations may not be able to concurrently manage 32-bit and 64-bit clients.

If you have installed and configured the required hardware and software and you are not using a cluster file system, then proceed to Chapter 2 to configure the shared disks. Otherwise, proceed to Chapter 3 if you are using a cluster file system.