Virtualizing Oracle® Databases on vSphere®

Book description

The start-to-finish guide to virtualizing business-critical Oracle Software and Databases on VMware vSphere

Virtualizing large-scale Oracle software and databases on vSphere can deliver powerful scalability, availability, and performance benefits. Recognizing this opportunity, thousands of organizations are moving to virtualize Oracle. However, reliable best practices have been difficult to find, and database and virtualization professionals often bring incompatible perspectives to the challenge.

Virtualizing Oracle® Databases on vSphere® is the first authoritative, comprehensive, and best-practice guide to running Oracle on VMware platforms. Reflecting a deep understanding of both Oracle and vSphere, this guide is supported by extensive in-the-field experience with the full spectrum of database applications and environments. Both a detailed reference and a practical cookbook, it combines theory and practice, and offers up-to-date insights for the entire lifecycle, supported by case studies.

Kannan Mani and Don Sullivan fully address architecture, performance, design, sizing, and high availability. Focusing on current versions of Oracle and vSphere, they highlight the differences between ESX/ESXi 4.x and 5.x wherever relevant. To deliver even more value, they provide extensive online resources, including easy-to-adapt scripts and expert how-to videos.

Coverage includes:

  • Understanding the DBA’s expanded role in virtualized environments, and the emergence of the vDBA, vRACDBA, and Cloud DBA

  • Identifying your best opportunities to drive value from virtualizing Oracle

  • Anticipating challenges associated with virtualizing Oracle-based Business Critical Applications on vSphere

  • Using VMware to overcome ongoing database deployment and management problems

  • Protecting your virtualized database environment with vSphere’s high-availability capabilities

  • Designing databases to achieve scalability on demand, maximize availability, consolidate servers, and improve compliance

  • Implementing best practices for memory, storage, and database layout

  • Demystifying the impact of virtualization on Oracle support and licensing

  • Using VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) to accelerate disaster recovery by seamlessly integrating VM and storage failover

  • Streamlining provisioning and taking advantage of opportunities to automate

  • Table of contents

    1. About This eBook
    2. Title Page
    3. Copyright Page
    4. Dedication Page
    5. Contents
    6. Foreword
    7. Introduction
      1. Prerequisites
      2. Who Should Read This Book
      3. Book Overview
    8. About the Authors
    9. Acknowledgments
    10. About the Reviewers
    11. We Want to Hear from You!
    12. Reader Services
    13. Chapter 1. Introduction to Oracle Databases on Virtual Infrastructure
      1. Virtualization with ESXi and vSphere and the Software-Defined Datacenter
      2. Virtualizing Oracle Databases on vSphere: Benefits and Examples
      3. Oracle Databases and DBA Fundamentals
      4. Understanding Oracle Database Architectures
      5. Summary
    14. Chapter 2. Virtualization and High-Performance Oracle Workloads
      1. Virtualized Oracle Environments on vSphere Key Benefits
        1. Consolidating Platforms to Reduce Datacenter Costs
        2. Enhancing Database Availability and Cost-Effective Disaster Recovery
        3. Provisioning Rapid and New Database Server Environments
        4. Reducing Planned Downtime with Migration of Live Oracle Database Servers
        5. Guaranteeing Resources in a Shared Environment
        6. Achieving IT Compliance
      2. Zeroing In on Key Trigger Events
      3. Solving Oracle Database Deployment and Management Issues Using VMware
        1. Implementing Dynamic Oracle Datacenter Resource Management
        2. Minimizing Server Sprawl
        3. Meeting SLA Demands for Database Performance, Availability, and Disaster Recovery
        4. Supporting a Dynamic Business Environment
        5. Minimizing License Costs
        6. Maximizing Oracle Workloads and Sizing
        7. Option 1: Sizing the Oracle DB Workload
        8. Option 2: Sizing the Oracle DB Application Vendor Recommendations
        9. Option 3: Sizing Oracle DB Server Vendor Guidelines
      4. Testing the Limits: Performance Studies and Stress Tests
      5. Summary
    15. Chapter 3. Oracle Databases and Applications in Virtual Infrastructure: Architectural Concepts
      1. VMware ESXi Hypervisor
      2. Designing Databases on VMware
        1. Designing for Scalability on Demand
        2. Designing for High Availability
        3. Maintaining Compliance
        4. Consolidating Database Servers
        5. Virtualizing Oracle RAC
      3. Identifying Key Stakeholders
      4. Summary
    16. Chapter 4. Oracle on vSphere Best Practices
      1. Implementing ESX Host Best Practices
        1. Maximizing Performance Using BIOS Settings
        2. Operating System Processes
        3. Upgrading the Version of ESX/ESXi and vSphere
        4. Maximizing Support for a Hardware-Assisted Memory Management Unit
      2. Implementing Memory-Related Best Practices
        1. Supporting Large Pages
        2. Implementing Compute (vCPU)-Related Best Practices
      3. Configuring Storage-Related Best Practices
        1. Categorizing Storage Virtualization Technologies
        2. Understanding Storage Protocol Capabilities
        3. Understanding Database Layout Considerations
        4. Comparing VMFS to RDM: Performance and Functionality
      4. Networking Guidelines
      5. Monitoring Performance on vSphere
      6. Timekeeping in Virtual Machines
      7. Summary
    17. Chapter 5. Oracle Database High Availability: Planned and Unplanned Downtime
      1. Protecting the Virtualized Environment with vSphere High Availability
      2. Protecting Applications with vSphere and Symantec AppHA
      3. Understanding Oracle RAC in Virtual Machines
        1. Implementing Oracle RAC One Node
        2. Implementing Multinode RAC
      4. Deploying Oracle RAC on vSphere
      5. Protecting Oracle Databases Against Downtime
      6. Transitioning RAC Nodes Between Hosts Using VMware vMotion
      7. To RAC or Not to RAC
      8. Summary
    18. Chapter 6. Performance Workload and Functional Stress Test Studies
      1. Oracle Single-Instance Workload Study
        1. Test Methodology
        2. Test Result Details
      2. Oracle RAC Workload Characterization Study
        1. vMotion and VMware HA
        2. Large-Scale Order Entry Benchmark Kit (Swingbench)
        3. Architecture
        4. Network Configuration
        5. Oracle RAC Installation Overview
        6. 24-Hour Workload Test
        7. Oracle RAC Node vMotion Test
        8. Mega vMotion-RAC Functional Stress Test
      3. Summary
    19. Chapter 7. Support and Licensing
      1. Contemplating Oracle Software Support and Licensing
      2. Understanding Oracle Certification and Support for VMware Environments
        1. Certification of Oracle on VMware vSphere
      3. Licensing Oracle
        1. Advising VMware Customers
      4. Summary
    20. Chapter 8. Performance Management and Monitoring
      1. Performance Management Terminology
      2. The Role of the DBA in Performance Management
      3. Processing Power: CPU or vCPU
        1. CPU Ready Time (%RDY)
      4. Memory
        1. System Huge Pages
        2. Transparent Page Sharing
        3. Non-Uniform Memory Access
      5. Networking
        1. Network Load Testing
        2. Dropped Packets
      6. Storage Configuration and Utilization
        1. SCSI Queues
        2. NFS Storage
        3. Storage Access Latency
        4. Spindle Busy Average
      7. Understanding SCSI Queue Depth on an ESX/ESXi Host and Virtual Machine
        1. Storage Path Throughput
        2. Storage Benchmarking VMDK
        3. Benchmarking and Ongoing Maintenance
        4. Iometer
        5. Oracle ORION
      8. Comparing Storage Types
        1. Block Alignment
        2. Using pvSCSI and LSI Controllers
        3. ASM Is Comparable to an LVM
      9. Understanding the Oracle Enterprise Manager vCOPS Adapter
        1. Using Oracle Database Server Metrics
        2. Installing Oracle Enterprise Manager Adapter
        3. Validating the OEM Adapter
        4. Creating Oracle Database Custom Dashboard
        5. Configuring a Metric Graph (Rollover View) Widget
        6. Configuring a Generic Scoreboard Widget
        7. Finalizing the Oracle Database Dashboard
      10. Summary
    21. Chapter 9. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
      1. VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager
        1. vSphere Replication
        2. Storage Array-Based Replication
        3. Storage Replication Adapters
        4. Application-Based Replication
        5. Oracle Data Guard
        6. Repairing Logical Data Block Corruption with Oracle Data Guard
      2. Combining vSphere Replication and Data Guard
        1. Testing SRM vSphere Replication
      3. Using Storage Array-Based Replication with vSphere
      4. Virtual Provisioning for Oracle ASM Disk Groups
      5. Solution Findings
      6. Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan
        1. Configure Connections
        2. Break the Connection
        3. Export System Logs
        4. Using Array-Based Replication
      7. Summary
    22. Chapter 10. Backup and Recovery
      1. Backup and Recovery Principles
        1. Backing Up Data Using In-Guest Software Solutions
      2. Oracle Database Backup Methods
        1. Classic Oracle Database Backups
        2. Listing of Storage Vendor Backup Tools
        3. Other Backup Tools
        4. Storage Vendor Backup Solutions
        5. Working with NetApp Backup Solutions
      3. NetApp Backup and Restore Solution Overview
        1. Integrating NetApp with vSphere
        2. Working with NetApp Snapshot
        3. Backing Up a Virtualized Oracle Database with NetApp Snapshot
        4. Tools Available for Backups of Oracle Using NetApp
        5. Step-by-Step Solution for Backing Up a Virtualized Oracle Database with NetApp Storage and NFS Datastores
        6. Restoring a Database Using NetApp Snapshot
        7. Backup and Restore Use Case with Snap Creator
      4. EMC Avamar Backup and Restore Solution Overview
        1. Backing Up the Oracle Database
        2. Restoring the Oracle Database
        3. VMware Data Protection Advanced
      5. Comparing VMFS and RDM
        1. Backups
        2. Understand the Functionality of VMFS Versus RDMs
        3. Oracle Data Guard for Backup
        4. Oracle Database Backup Strategy Matrix
      6. Summary
    23. Chapter 11. Provisioning and Automation
      1. Migrating Oracle Database from a Physical to Virtual Environment
      2. Viewing Oracle Migration from a Physical to Virtual Solution
        1. Facilitating Deployments
        2. Understanding the Business Scenario
        3. Lab Architecture
        4. Migrating Oracle Database from Physical to Virtual
        5. Configuring Application Blueprints Using vCAC
      3. Building a Database-as-a-Service Platform
        1. Listing the Benefits of DBaaS
        2. Allocating Storage as Part of the DBaaS Paradigm
        3. Choosing the Components of a DBaaS Architecture
      4. Summary
    24. Chapter 12. Case Studies
      1. Indiana University
      2. American Tire Distributors
      3. EMC Information Technology
      4. Green Mountain Power
      5. The Idaho Supreme Court
      6. The University of British Columbia
      7. VMware Information Technologies
      8. So Many Others
      9. Working with Events
      10. Summary
      11. Book Conclusion
    25. Index
    26. Code Snippets

    Product information

    • Title: Virtualizing Oracle® Databases on vSphere®
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: October 2014
    • Publisher(s): VMware Press
    • ISBN: 9780133570229