8.2.3 New Configuration for System Partitions on Storage Servers

Previous generations of Oracle Exadata Database Machine use portions of two disks at slot 0 and 1 as system partitions. This is where the operating system and Oracle Exadata System Software are installed. Starting with Oracle Exadata Database Machine X7, there are two M.2 disks dedicated for system partitions. All hard disks on Oracle Exadata Storage Server X7-2 High Capacity and all flash disks on Oracle Exadata Storage Server X7-2 Extreme Flash are dedicated now for data storage only.

This configuration separates the system I/Os from the data I/Os and improves the performance on data disks at slot 0 and 1. Storage server disks now can be created on the entire disks at slot 0 and 1 and have a uniform size across all disks.

Additionally, Oracle Exadata System Software creates system partitions on the M.2 disks with the latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (Intel RSTe) RAID, which delivers faster performance and better data protection compared to the traditional software RAID.

Oracle Exadata System Software also supports online replacement of the M.2 disks. The M.2 disks can be replaced without server downtime.

See Maintaining the M.2 Disks of Exadata Storage Servers in Oracle Exadata Database Machine Maintenance Guide for details.

Minimum software required:

• Oracle Exadata System Software 18c (18.1.0)

• Oracle Exadata Database Machine X7-2 or Oracle Exadata Database Machine X7-8