General Installation Steps

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Figure 6.4 shows the basic flow of the cluster configuration, shared storage structures preparation and installation of the Oracle software, and creation of the database. This involves a sequential process of tasks.

Figure 6.4: Basic Installation Steps in creating RAC Database

As shown in the above figure, successful setting up of a RAC environment and creating the database involves many phases. The initial phase includes the selection of the server platform and operating system. Subsequently, the DBA needs to decide how many nodes to have initially and what kind of interconnect products to use for the node communication. Pre-planning and gathering the relevant information is an important step.

Phase - 1

The first and foremost activity is to review all the platform-specific documentation. This involves all of the personnel connected with the project such as system administrators, database administrators, and vendor support personnel. A project plan and strategy for effective coordination across all involved groups needs to be developed.

The next step involves preparing the server platform.

* Configure Kernel Parameters (For example, /etc/system)

* Create Administrative UNIX groups as OSDBA, typically named dba,

* Create the user account oracle to manage and own the installation

The setting up of kernel parameters varies from one platform to another. Though the semantics are the same, the method of setting up such parameters differs from system to system. For example, in a Sun Solaris Server, specify the kernel parameters in the /etc/system file, and in a Tru64 system, they are specified in the /etc/sysconfigtab file. Though the basic commands are the same across the different UNIX flavors, the system administrative methods differ. For example, creating a user account such as oracle in Sun Solaris and TruUNIX, requires the command useradd. In the case of AIX you need smit mkuser.

Phase ? 2

The next step will be to set up the physical interconnect and install the appropriate cluster software components. This is very specific to the physical environment. Please follow the instructions specified in the vendor documentation.

The next step is the cluster creation at the operating system level. Once the clusterware or OSD is successfully installed and tested, configure the shared storage structures. In certain situations, the configuration of shared storage volumes may precede the OSD installation. The necessary disks for the purpose of setting up a quorum have to be made available before installing the OSD. As a new feature of 10g, it is necessary to install the Cluster Ready Services.

The configuration of shared storage structures normally follows the steps outlined below.

* Configure the shared storage devices.

* Use volume manager and create volumes. Optionally create the ASM instance (Automatic Storage Method).

* Wherever the cluster file system is supported, create file systems and mount them. Otherwise, prepare raw partitions as needed. Make a plan for the required number of raw devices.

* Also plan for the quorum devices or coordination disks required for cluster framework. For the purpose of CRS, the DBA will need to provide the Voting Disk and OCR file.

Phase ? 3

This phase involves installation of Cluster Ready Services and installation of the Oracle database software and other allied functions, such as enabling the RAC option, as it is done in the case of the different Linux flavors. Subsequently, the creation of the database follows, which may be done by using DBCA GUI or by the manual method.

In the following sections, how to set up the cluster environment for Linux environment using the installation of Cluster Ready Services will be covered. CRS is the only required clusterware for the Linux and Windows environment. In case of other UNIX platforms like Solaris, HP-UX, HP Tru64 and AIX, vendor provided clusterware can also be used, but that would be optional.

Oracle software installation and database creation will also be covered. The phase involving the Oracle installation and the subsequent creation of the RAC database and configuration is mostly the same on all platforms.

Before beginning the description of the installation of CRS and Database Software and DB creation, a recap will be provided of all the storage options available for CRS Files and Database Files. Table 6.3 provides a summary of the storage options available.

O/S PLATFORM

STORAGE CHOICE FOR DB FILES

STORAGE CHOICE FOR CRS FILES

AIX

- Cluster file system using GPFS for AIX

- Automatic Storage Management

- Raw logical volumes using HACMP

- Cluster file system using GPFS

- Raw logical volumes using HACMP

(NOTE: If you are not using HACMP, you must use a GPFS file system to store the Oracle CRS files)

HP-UX

- Automatic Storage Management