5.1.1 Selecting an Install Location for Sun Cluster HA for Oracle

You can install the Oracle binaries either on the local disks of the physical hosts or on the multihost disks. Both locations have advantages and disadvantages. Consider the following points when selecting an install location.

Placing Oracle binaries on the multihost disk eases administration, since there is only one copy to administer. It ensures high availability of the Oracle binaries or server during a cluster reconfiguration. However, it sacrifices redundancy and therefore availability in case of some failures. Note that in cases of switchover or accidental removal of the Oracle binaries from the multihost disk, the data service will be unavailable. Any binaries installed on the multihost disk will be mirrored as part of a disk group, so you must allocate space accordingly.

Alternatively, placing Oracle binaries on the local disk of the physical host increases redundancy and therefore availability in case of failure or accidental removal of one copy, and if a switchover occurs, Oracle will be able to run on the one node. However, placing the Oracle binaries on the local disk increases the administrative overhead, since you must manage multiple copies of the files.