Using the Sun QFS Shared File System

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The Sun QFS shared file system is always installed in the global-cluster node, even when a file system is used by a zone cluster. You configure specific Sun QFS shared file system into a specific zone cluster using the clzc command. The scalable mount-point resource belongs to this zone cluster. The metadata server resource, SUNW.qfs, belongs to the global cluster.

You must use the Sun QFS shared file system with one storage management scheme from the following list:

Hardware RAID support
Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster

Distributing Oracle Database Files Among Sun QFS Shared File Systems

You can store all the files that are associated with Support for Oracle RAC on the Sun QFS shared file system.

Distribute these files among several file systems as explained in the subsections that follow.

Sun QFS File Systems for RDBMS Binary Files and Related Files

For RDBMS binary files and related files, create one file system in the cluster to store the files.

The RDBMS binary files and related files are as follows:

Oracle Database relational database management system (RDBMS) binary files
Oracle Database configuration files (for example, init.ora, tnsnames.ora, listener.ora, and sqlnet.ora)
System parameter file (SPFILE)
Alert files (for example, alert_sid.log)
Trace files (*.trc)
Oracle Clusterware binary files

Note - Beginning with Oracle Database version 11g release 2, Oracle Clusterware binaries cannot reside on Sun QFS shared file systems.

Sun QFS File Systems for Database Files and Related Files

For database files and related files, determine whether you require one file system for each database or multiple file systems for each database.

For simplicity of configuration and maintenance, create one file system to store these files for all Support for Oracle RAC instances of the database.
To facilitate future expansion, create multiple file systems to store these files for all Support for Oracle RAC instances of the database.

Note - If you are adding storage for an existing database, you must create additional file systems for the storage that you are adding. In this situation, distribute the database files and related files among the file systems that you will use for the database.

Each file system that you create for database files and related files must have its own metadata server. For information about the resources that are required for the metadata servers, see Resources for the Sun QFS Metadata Server.

The database files and related files are as follows:

Data files
Control files
Online redo log files
Archived redo log files
Flashback log files
Recovery files
Oracle Database cluster registry (OCR) files
Oracle Clusterware voting disk

Optimizing the Performance of the Sun QFS Shared File System

For optimum performance with Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster, configure the volume manager and the file system as follows:

Use Solaris Volume Manager for Sun Cluster to mirror the logical unit numbers (LUNs) of your disk arrays.
If you require striping, configure the striping by using the file system's stripe option.

Mirroring the LUNs of your disk arrays involves the following operations:

Creating RAID-0 metadevices
Using the RAID-0 metadevices or Solaris Volume Manager soft partitions of such metadevices as Sun QFS devices

The input/output (I/O) load on your system might be heavy. In this situation, ensure that the LUN for Solaris Volume Manager metadata or hardware RAID metadata maps to a different physical disk than the LUN for data. Mapping these LUNs to different physical disks ensures that contention is minimized.

How to Install and Configure the Sun QFS Shared File System

Before You Begin

You might use Solaris Volume Manager metadevices as devices for the shared file systems. In this situation, ensure that the metaset and its metadevices are created and available on all cluster nodes before configuring the shared file systems.

Ensure that the Sun QFS software is installed on all nodes of the global cluster where Support for Oracle RAC is to run.
For information about how to install Sun QFS, see Using Sun QFS and Sun Storage Archive Manager with Oracle Solaris Cluster .

Ensure that each Sun QFS shared file system is correctly created for use with Support for Oracle RAC.
For information about how to create a Sun QFS file system, see Using Sun QFS and Sun Storage Archive Manager with Oracle Solaris Cluster .

For each Sun QFS shared file system, set the correct mount options for the types of Oracle Database files that the file system is to store.
- For the file system that contains binary files, configuration files, alert files, and trace files, use the default mount options.
  
  Note - Beginning with Oracle version 11g release 2, Oracle Clusterware binaries cannot reside on Sun QFS shared file systems.
- For the file systems that contain database data files, control files, online redo log files, and archived redo log files, or Oracle Clusterware OCR and Voting files, set the mount options as follows:
  - In the /etc/vfstab file set the shared option.
  - In the /etc/opt/SUNWsamfs/samfs.cmd file or the /etc/vfstab file, set the following options:
```
fs=fs-name
stripe=width
mh_write
qwrite
forcedirectio
rdlease=300 Set this value for optimum performance.
wrlease=300 Set this value for optimum performance.
aplease=300 Set this value for optimum performance.
```
    fs-name
    
    Specifies the name that uniquely identifies the file system.
    
    width
    
    Specifies the required stripe width for devices in the file system. The required stripe width is a multiple of the file system's disk allocation unit (DAU). width must be an integer that is greater than or equal to 1.
  Note - Ensure that settings in the /etc/vfstab file do not conflict with settings in the /etc/opt/SUNWsamfs/samfs.cmd file. Settings in the /etc/vfstab file override settings in the /etc/opt/SUNWsamfs/samfs.cmd file.

Mount each Sun QFS shared file system that you are using for Oracle files.
```
# mount mount-point
```
mount-point

Specifies the mount point of the file system that you are mounting.
If you are using a zone cluster, configure the Sun QFS shared file system into the zone cluster. Otherwise, go to Step 5.
For information about configuring Sun QFS shared file system into a zone cluster, see How to Add a Cluster File System to a Zone Cluster (clsetup) in Oracle Solaris Cluster Software Installation Guide or How to Add a Sun QFS Shared File System to a Zone Cluster (CLI) in Oracle Solaris Cluster Software Installation Guide .

Change the ownership of each file system that you are using for Oracle Database files.
Note - If you have configured Sun QFS shared file system for a zone cluster, perform this step in that zone cluster.

Change the file-system ownership as follows:
- Owner: the database administrator (DBA) user
- Group: the DBA group
The DBA user and the DBA group are created as explained in How to Create the DBA Group and the DBA User Accounts.
```
# chown user-name:group-name mount-point
```
user-name

Specifies the user name of the DBA user. This user is normally named oracle.

group-name

Specifies the name of the DBA group. This group is normally named dba.

mount-point

Specifies the mount point of the file system whose ownership you are changing.
Grant to the owner of each file system whose ownership you changed in Step 5 read access and write access to the file system.
Note - When Sun QFS shared file system is configured for a zone cluster, you need to perform this step in that zone cluster.
```
# chmod u+rw mount-point
```
mount-point

Specifies the mount point of the file system to whose owner you are granting read access and write access.

Next Steps

Ensure that all other storage management schemes that you are using for Oracle Database files are installed. After all storage management schemes that you are using for Oracle Database files are installed, go to Chapter 3, Registering and Configuring the Resource Groups.