About Managing Multiple Database Instances Using Instance Caging

Use instance caging to manage your system resources on Oracle Database Appliance.

Oracle Database provides a method for managing CPU allocations on a multi-CPU server that runs multiple database instances. This method is called instance caging.

Instance caging and Oracle Database Resource Manager (the Resource Manager) work together to support your desired service levels across multiple instances. Consolidation can minimize idle resources, maximize efficiency, and lower costs.

Oracle Database Appliance templates are already tuned for the size of each database instance workload. They are designed to run on a specific number of cores. Instance caging ensures that each database workload is restricted to the set of cores allocated by the template, enabling multiple databases to run concurrently with no performance degradation, up to the capacity of Oracle Database Appliance. You can select database template sizes larger than your current needs to provide for planned growth.

Note:

Oracle strongly recommends that you use the Oracle Database Appliance templates, because they implement best practices and are configured specifically for Oracle Database Appliance.

The Oracle Database Appliance Manager interface refers to the database sizing templates as database classes.

By default, instance caging is not enabled on Oracle Database Appliance. To enable instance caging, set the initialization parameter, RESOURCE_MANAGER_PLAN, for each database on Oracle Database Appliance. The parameter specifies the plan to be used by the Resource Manager for the current instance. Setting this parameter directs the Resource Manager to allocate core resources among databases. If no plan is specified with this parameter, then the Resource Manager is not enabled and instance caging will not be enabled.

Instance caging allocation of core resources is enabled in accordance with the Oracle Database Appliance database template size that you select for each database. The CPU_COUNT initialization parameter is set in the template. Use the CPU_COUNT setting that matches the size of each database to consolidate, and follow the standard instructions for configuring instance caging.

For more information about enabling and configuring instance caging and the Resource Manager, see Oracle Database Administrator's Guide.