What's New in Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation and Configuration?

Raw Devices Not Supported with OUI

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2, Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) no longer supports installation of Oracle Clusterware files on raw devices. Install Oracle Clusterware files either on Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) disk groups, or in a supported shared file system.

Deinstallation Tool No Longer Supports the -cleanupOBase Option

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.4), the -cleanupOBase option for the deinstall executable file is desupported. There is no replacement for this flag.

Cluster Health Monitor Included with Oracle Clusterware

Cluster Health Monitor gathers operating system metrics in real time, and stores them in its repository for later analysis, so that it can determine the root cause of many Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC issues with the assistance of Oracle Support.

Cluster Health Monitor also works in conjunction with Oracle Database Quality of Service Management (QoS) by providing metrics to detect memory over-commitment on a node. QoS Management can shut down services on overloaded nodes to relieve stress and preserve existing workloads.

To support QoS Management, Oracle Database Resource Manager and metrics have been enhanced to support fine-grained performance metrics, and also can manage workloads with user-defined performance classes.

Oracle Database Quality of Service Management

The Database Quality of Service (QoS) Management Server allows system administrators to manage application service levels hosted in Oracle Database clusters by correlating accurate run-time performance and resource metrics and analyzing with an expert system to produce recommended resource adjustments to meet policy-based performance objectives.

Enhanced Patch Set Installation

Oracle Grid Infrastructure patch sets are full installations of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure software. Note the following changes with the new patch set packaging:

• Direct upgrades from previous releases (11.x, 10.2.x) to the most recent patch set are supported.

• Out-of-place patch set upgrades only are supported. An out-of-place upgrade is one in which you install the patch set into a new, separate home.

• New installations consist of installing the most recent patch set, rather than installing a base release and then upgrading to a patch release.

New Software Updates Option

Use the Software Updates feature to dynamically download and apply software updates as part of the Oracle Database installation. You can also download the updates separately using the downloadUpdates option and later apply them during the installation by providing the location where the updates are present.

Standalone Configuration Wizard for Post-Installation Cluster Configuration

The installation of Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Cluster with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 includes a software-only option. The Configuration wizard assists the administrator with completing the cluster configuration independently of the software installation. You no longer have to manually edit the config_params configuration file as this wizard takes you through the process, step by step.

Oracle Automatic Storage Management and Oracle Clusterware Installation

With Oracle Grid Infrastructure 11g Release 2 (11.2), Oracle ASM and Oracle Clusterware are installed into a single home directory, which is referred to as the Grid home. Configuration assistants start after the installer interview process that configures Oracle ASM and Oracle Clusterware.

The installation of the combined products is called Oracle Grid Infrastructure. However, Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM remain separate products.

Oracle Automatic Storage Management and Oracle Clusterware Files

With this release, Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) and voting disks can be placed on Oracle ASM.

This feature enables Oracle ASM to provide a unified storage solution, storing all the data for the clusterware and the database, without the need for third-party volume managers or cluster filesystems.

For new installations, OCR and voting disk files can be placed either on Oracle ASM, or on a cluster file system. You cannot install Oracle Clusterware files using raw devices for storage, except when upgrading a system that currently uses raw devices.

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS)

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) is a new multi-platform, scalable file system and storage management design that extends Oracle ASM technology to support all application data. Oracle ACFS provides dynamic file system resizing, and improved performance using the distribution, balancing and striping technology across all available disks, and provides storage reliability through the mirroring and parity protection Oracle ASM provides.

Cluster Time Synchronization Service

Cluster node times should be synchronized. With this release, Oracle Clusterware provides Cluster Time Synchronization Service (CTSS), which ensures that there is a synchronization service in the cluster. If Network Time Protocol (NTP) or Windows Time Service is not found during cluster configuration, then CTSS is configured to ensure time synchronization.

Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control Provisioning

Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control 11g provides the capability to automatically provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installations on new nodes, and then extend the existing Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC database to these provisioned nodes. This provisioning procedure requires a successful Oracle RAC installation before you can use this feature.

Grid Plug and Play

In the past, adding or removing servers in a cluster required extensive manual preparation. With this release, you can continue to configure server nodes manually, or use Grid Plug and Play to configure them dynamically as nodes are added or removed from the cluster.

Grid Plug and Play reduces the costs of installing, configuring, and managing server nodes by starting a grid naming service within the cluster to allow each node to perform the following tasks dynamically:

• Negotiating appropriate network identities for itself

• Acquiring additional information it needs to operate from a configuration profile

• Configuring or reconfiguring itself using profile data, making host names and addresses resolvable on the network

Because servers perform these tasks dynamically, the number of steps required to add or delete nodes is minimized.

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) Integration

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is an industry standard management protocol that is included with many servers today. IPMI operates independently of the operating system, and can operate even if the system is not powered on. Servers with IPMI contain a baseboard management controller (BMC) which is used to communicate to the server.

If IPMI is configured, then Oracle Clusterware uses IPMI when node fencing is required and the server is not responding.

Oracle Clusterware Out-of-place Upgrade

With this release, you can install a new version of Oracle Clusterware into a separate home from an existing Oracle Clusterware installation. This feature reduces the downtime required to upgrade a node in the cluster. When performing an out-of-place upgrade, the old and new version of the software are present on the nodes at the same time, each in a different home location, but only one version of the software is active.

Oracle Clusterware Administration with Oracle Enterprise Manager

With this release, you can use the Oracle Enterprise Manager Cluster Home page to perform full administrative and monitoring support for both standalone database and Oracle RAC environments, using High Availability Application and Oracle Cluster Resource Management.

When Oracle Enterprise Manager is installed with Oracle Clusterware, it can provide a set of users that have the Oracle Clusterware Administrator role in Oracle Enterprise Manager, and provide full administrative and monitoring support for High Availability application and Oracle Clusterware resource management. After you have completed the installation and deployed Oracle Enterprise Manager, you can provision nodes added to the cluster using Oracle Enterprise Manager.

SCAN for Simplified Client Access

With this release, the Single Client Access Name (SCAN) is the host name to provide for all clients connecting to the cluster. SCAN is a domain name registered to at least one and up to three IP addresses, either in the domain name service (DNS) or the Grid Naming Service (GNS). SCAN eliminates the need to change clients when nodes are added to or removed from the cluster. Clients using SCAN can also access the cluster using the Easy Connect Naming Method.

SRVCTL Command Enhancements for Patching

With this release, you can use the Server Control utility (SRVCTL) to shut down all Oracle software running within an Oracle home, in preparation for patching. Oracle Grid Infrastructure patching is automated across all nodes, and patches can be applied in a multi-node, multi-patch fashion.

Typical Installation Option

To streamline cluster installations, especially for those customers who are new to clustering, Oracle introduces the Typical Installation path. Typical installation defaults as many options as possible to those recommended as best practices.

Deinstallation Tool

OUI no longer removes Oracle software. Use the new Deinstallation tool (deinstall.bat) available on the installation media before installation and in the Oracle home directory after installation. The Deinstallation tool can also be downloaded from Oracle Technology Network.

Voting Disk Backup Procedure Change

In prior releases, backing up the voting disks was a required postinstallation task. With Oracle Clusterware release 11.2 and later, backing up and restoring a voting disk is not supported.

Backing up voting disks manually is no longer required, because voting disks are backed up automatically in the OCR as part of any configuration change. Voting disk data is automatically restored to any added voting disks.

Changes in Installation Documentation

With Oracle Database 11g Release 1, Oracle Clusterware can be installed or configured as an independent product, and additional documentation is provided on storage administration. For installation planning, note the following documentation:

Oracle Database Release 1 (11.1) Enhancements and New Features for Installation

The following is a list of enhancements and new features for Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1):