Asymmetric configurations allow for these configurations:
Different number of CMIOUs in each compute server within the SuperCluster M8 or SuperCluster M7
Different number of CMIOUs in each PDomain within each compute server
Individual CMIOUs that can be added to PDomains in compute servers
A second compute server that can be added to a single-compute server SuperCluster M8 or SuperCluster M7
Elastic configurations enable SuperCluster M8 or SuperCluster M7 to have the following customer-defined combinations of compute servers and Exadata Storage Servers:
One compute server and three storage servers in a single system, expandable to eleven total storage servers
Two compute servers and three storage servers in a single system, expandable to six total storage servers
See SuperCluster M8 and SuperCluster M7 Rules and Restrictions for rules and restrictions on asymmetric and elastic configurations.