Storage Management Requirements

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This section provides the following information about storage management for Oracle RAC:

Storage Management Requirements for Oracle Database Files

Support for Oracle RAC enables you to use the storage management schemes for Oracle Database files that are listed in the following tables. The tables summarize the types of Oracle Database files or Oracle Grid Infrastructure files that each storage management scheme can store. Ensure that you choose a combination of storage management schemes that can store all types of Oracle Database files.

The meaning of each symbol in the tables is as follows:

Yes: Indicates that the storage management scheme can store the type of Oracle Database file.
*: Indicates that the storage management scheme can store the type of Oracle Database file starting with Oracle Database version 12c release 1, but not for version 11g release 2.
No: Indicates that the storage management scheme cannot store the type of Oracle Database file.

Table 1-2 Storage Management Schemes for Oracle DBMS Files

Oracle DBMS File Type	Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster Scheme	Hardware RAID Scheme	Sun QFS Shared File System Scheme	Qualified NAS Devices Scheme	Oracle ASM Scheme	Cluster File System Scheme	Oracle ACFS File System Scheme	Local Disks Scheme
Installation binary files	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Configuration files	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
System parameter file (`SPFILE`)	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Alert files	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trace files	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Data files	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	*	No
Control files	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	*	No
Online redo log files	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	*	No
Archived redo log files	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	*	No
Flashback log files	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	*	No
Recovery files The fast recovery area cannot reside on a cluster file system because this set of files includes online redo logs.	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	*	No

Table 1-3 Storage Management Schemes for Oracle Grid Infrastructure Files

Oracle Grid Infrastructure File Type	Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster Scheme	Hardware RAID Scheme	Sun QFS Shared File System Scheme	Qualified NAS Devices Scheme	Oracle ASM Scheme	Cluster File System Scheme	Oracle ACFS File System Scheme	Local Disks Scheme
Installation binary files	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
OCR files	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Voting disk	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No

For more information, see the documentation for database storage options in the Oracle Database installation guide for your version of Oracle Database.

Storage Management Requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure

Oracle Grid Infrastructure binary installation files are supported on the following storage management schemes:

Qualified network-attached storage (NAS) devices
Local file systems

Oracle Grid Infrastructure Oracle cluster registry (OCR) and voting disks are supported on the following storage management schemes:

Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster
Hardware redundant array of independent disks (RAID) support
Sun QFS shared file systems, with either hardware RAID support or Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster
Qualified network-attached storage (NAS) devices
Oracle ASM
Cluster file systems
(Starting with Oracle Database 12c) Oracle ACFS file systems

Storage Management Requirements for the Support for Oracle RAC Database

You can use the following storage management schemes for the Support for Oracle RAC database:

Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster
Hardware redundant array of independent disks (RAID) support
Sun QFS shared file systems with hardware RAID support or with Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster
Qualified network-attached storage (NAS) devices
Oracle ASM
(Starting with Oracle Database 12c) Oracle ACFS file systems

Caution - To avoid experiencing possible performance degradation or failures of the SUNW.ScalDeviceGroup probe, do not configure Oracle ASM with Solaris Volume Manager mirrored logical volumes.

Storage Management Requirements for Oracle Database Binary Files and Configuration Files

You can install the Oracle Database binary files and configuration files on one of the following locations.

The local disks of each cluster node. See Using Local Disks for Oracle Database Binary Files and Configuration Files for additional information.
A shared file system from the following list:

Note - Oracle Grid Infrastructure binaries cannot reside on a cluster file system or on a Sun QFS shared file system.
- Sun QFS shared file systems
- File systems on a qualified NAS device
- PxFS-based cluster file systems
- ACFS file systems
See Using a Shared File System for Oracle Database Binary Files and Configuration Files for additional information.

Using Local Disks for Oracle Database Binary Files and Configuration Files

Placing the Oracle Database binary files and configuration files on the individual cluster nodes enables you to upgrade the Oracle Database application later without shutting down the data service.

Note - Some versions of Oracle Database software require you to shut down the data service during an upgrade. To determine whether you can upgrade the Oracle Database application without shutting down the data service, see your Oracle Database documentation.

The disadvantage is that you then have several copies of the Oracle Database application binary files and Oracle Database configuration files to maintain and administer.

Using a Shared File System for Oracle Database Binary Files and Configuration Files

To simplify the maintenance of your Support for Oracle RAC installation, you can install the Oracle Database binary files and configuration files on a shared file system.

Note - Oracle Grid Infrastructure binaries cannot reside on a cluster file system or a Sun QFS shared file system.

The following shared file systems are supported:

Sun QFS shared file systems
File systems on a qualified NAS device
PxFS-based cluster file systems using Solaris Volume Manager
ACFS file systems

If you put the Oracle Database binary files and configuration files on a shared file system, you have only one copy to maintain and manage. However, you must shut down the data service in the entire cluster to upgrade the Oracle Database application. If a short period of downtime for upgrades is acceptable, place a single copy of the Oracle Database binary files and configuration files on a shared file system.

Storage Management Schemes Supported by Zone Clusters

You can use the following storage management schemes for running Support for Oracle RAC in a zone cluster, depending on the version of Support for Oracle RAC you are running.

Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster
A Sun QFS shared file system, using either Solaris Volume Manager or hardware RAID support
A file system on a qualified NAS device with fencing
Oracle ASM
(Starting with Oracle Database 12c) Oracle ACFS file systems