What's New in Installation and Configuration?

This section describes the new features of Oracle9i release 1 (9.0.1) as they pertain to the installation and configuration of Oracle Real Application Clusters.

See Also:

Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Concepts for a detailed explanation of the features of Real Application Clusters and the new features of Oracle Real Application Clusters Guard
Your platform-specific documentation for information about installing Oracle Real Application Clusters Guard

The topic in this section is:

Oracle9i Release 1 (9.0.1) New Features for the Installation and Configuration of Real Application Clusters

Oracle9i Release 1 (9.0.1) New Features for the Installation and Configuration of Real Application Clusters

Real Application Clusters is a new, breakthrough architecture with scalability and high availability features that exceed the capabilities of previous Oracle cluster-enabled software releases. The Oracle9i release 1 (9.0.1) Real Application Clusters features described in this section are part of an effort to simplify the installation and configuration process for Oracle cluster-enabled sofware products.

In addition, this section describes a feature to improve failover and it includes a notice about the expiration of certain user names upon installation.

Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard for Windows operating systems

The Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard simplifies the installation of the Oracle operating system-dependent clusterware (OSD).

See Also:

Chapter 2, "Configuring the Shared Disks"
Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Administration for procedures on adding nodes and instances
Oracle9i Database installation guide for Windows

New raw device requirements

You must create a shared raw device to store Real Application Clusters server configuration information. In previous releases, Oracle stored this information in the db_name.conf file on UNIX and in the Registry on Windows NT platforms.

If you use the preconfigured database templates, you must also create several shared raw devices that were optional in previous releases. Create these raw devices for the Oracle9i Sample Schemas, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), Oracle9i interMedia, and for the automatic undo management feature. You must still create the other raw devices that were required in previous releases such as those for the SYSTEM, USERS, TEMP, and other tablespaces.

See Also:
Chapter 2, "Configuring the Shared Disks"

The Oracle Universal Installer and the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant have been enhanced to offer simplified software installation and database creation for Real Application Clusters

Note:

Oracle Corporation strongly recommends that you use the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) to create your Oracle Real Application Clusters database. Advanced features of Oracle9i, such as the server parameter file and automatic undo management, are best configured using the DBCA. If you use manual configuration procedures, make sure you have accurately completed the setup and configuration steps described in this manual and any other required procedures that are in other manuals as referred to in this document.

The Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) offers the following database configuration types: General Purpose, Transaction Processing, Data Warehouse, Customized, and Software Only. The Customized database configuration type replaces the Custom installation type.

The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant also has templates named General Purpose, Transaction Processing, and Data Warehouse. These templates correspond to the Installer's configuration types. In addition, the DBCA has a fully customizable template called New Database that does not include datafiles.

To simplify installation, you can select the General Purpose, Transaction Processing, or Data Warehouse configuration type in the Universal Installer's Database Configuration screen. If you configured your shared raw devices as described in this book, after completing the remaining Installer screens the installation and DBCA database creation processes continue without further input.

The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant has Instance and Template Management features

Use Instance Management to add or delete an instance to or from a Real Application Clusters database. Use Template Management to manage database templates. You can also use Template Management to create templates from existing databases and then use these templates to create new databases.
The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant creates the server parameter file

Oracle Corporation recommends that you use the server parameter file when you install Real Application Clusters.

See Also:
Chapter 4, "Creating Databases with the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant"
Modify the default file location for the server parameter file if using raw devices

Oracle Corporation recommends that you modify the default file location for the server parameter file for Real Application Clusters environments if you are using raw devices.

See Also:
Chapter 4, "Creating Databases with the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant"

The following feature improves failover processing.

Using the DBMS_LIBCACHE Package in Primary/Secondary Instance Configurations

To improve failover performance in Primary/Secondary instance configurations, use the DBMS_LIBCACHE package to transfer information from the library cache of the primary instance to the library cache of the secondary instance. This is known as warming the library cache.

The following notice applies to user names that expire upon installation.

Default user names expire as of this release

Effective as of this release, all default user names except SYS, SYSTEM, and SCOTT, expire upon install. To use these names, you must explicitly unlock them.