Oracle Database Tips by Donald Burleson

Oracle10g Grid Computing with RAC
Chapter 9 -Managing and Using Oracle Grid Control

Introduction

If you haven't guessed already, 10g is the Grid release of Oracle. But what exactly is a grid and how does it apply to Oracle Database 10g RAC? Well, as we know the grid is a loosely coupled group of computers which are used to solve a common problem (as its most basic form). An example of a grid at its most basic level is the SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestial Intelligence) grid which uses a screen saver motif to get people all over the USA and the World to process single data chunks from the SETI radio telescopes. Each person on the SETI grid receives a chunk of data, when their computer goes into screen saver, rather than just display some interesting graphics or the latest failure from American Idol; it shows the data graphically and processes it. When it finishes processing it sends the results back to SETI and gets another chunk. If your system discovers the first intelligent signal from outer space they guarantee you a footnote in the history books. Oracle Database 10g is a bit more complex in its use of grid technology than this. To manage the 10g database and its associated resources like hosts, web applications, application servers, we have a Grid Control Utility.

In this chapter, we will examine what is Grid Control and how it can be used for managing the RAC database and other resources in the overall Grid Architecture.