Oracle Tips by Burleson

10g Grid Computing with RAC
Real Application Cluster Architecture

listener.ora File

The listener.ora file contains the information needed by the SQL*Net listener file to identify the instances for which connection requests are being serviced. If no instances are listed in the listener.ora, the listener process will wait for the instances to self-register (instances have been capable of self-registering since Oracle8i). Below is shown a basic listener.ora file for use with RAC.

LISTENER=
(DESCRIPTION=
(ADDRESS=
(PROTOCOL=tcp)
(HOST=aultlinux1)
(PORT=1521)))

If advanced features such as load balancing and automatic failover are desired, there are optional sections of the listener.ora file that must be present. For example, to configure load balancing, the listener.ora file (using an instance name of "test") would be appropriate. The listener file must be the same on the servers that are participating in the load balancing for RAC. The second listener, "listener_test1" allows use of Oracle Enterprise Manager with the instance.

You should never configure the global_dbname parameter with Oracle RAC if you wish to use connect time failover or transparent application failover. Setting this parameter will disable these capabilities.

For the second server, the second listener would be called "listener_test2", and all instance specific references would be changed to "test2", while all server specific references would be changed to "testlinux2".

Listener_Test=
(description=
(load_balance=on)
(address=(protocol=tcp)(host=testlinux1)(port=1521)
(address=(protocol=tcp)(host=testlinux2)(port=1521)
(connect_data=
(service_name=test)))
listener_test1=
(description=
(address=(protocol=tcp)(host=testlinux1)(port=1521)
sid_list_listener_test1=
(sid_list=
(sid_desc=
(oracle-home=/u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.2)
(sid_name=test1)))

If a port other than 1521 is utilized, then the local_listener parameter in that instances local init.ora file must be set to the same port value. For example, if we used port 1525 instead of 1521, all references to port 1521 in the listener.ora would be changed to 1525, and the following entry would have to be added to the local init.ora:

local_listener="(address=(port=1525)(protocol=tcp)(host=testlinux1))"

Remote DBA Services

Burleson Consulting can offer world-class remote Oracle database support at super-affordable prices.

Our remote Oracle DBA service provides 100% of the remote Oracle database administration needs for your company, and includes 24x7 access to our staff of 100% OCP Certified Oracle DBAs. 

We require a 12 month service commitment and include the following services:

• Initial configuration review and problem identification
• Installation of Oracle statistics collection mechanisms and quarterly database growth summaries
• Hourly monitoring of your Oracle database for pending problems
• Periodic performance analysis & identification of tuning activities
• Twenty Four hour Oracle emergency support
• Reporting and resolving all serious Oracle alert log messages
• Free use of the BC TablePack, ServerPack and AuditPack services
• Quick response emergency support for production database outages
• Four hours of free remote DBA support every month. You can use these free hours for any DBA activity, including database analysis, system design, production migrations or personal mentoring.

For more information, please visit www.dba-oracle.com or email info@remote-dba.net.