Oh boy. I'd first challenge the "I disagree..RAID 5 is a proven technology". Ask him for credible research and/or statistics that support his position. Sure, RAID 5 is a proven technology...so are floppy disks, and so what?
Second: clustered systems with failover mitigate disk array performance considerations? Just how does THAT work? Good luck! Paul --- Sam Bootsma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi List, > > > > We are approaching the cusp of a decision on how to store Oracle data > files on our SAN. We don't have the SAN yet, but it is due to arrive > any week (if not any day). > > > > I passed Cary's "Is RAID 5 Really a Bargain?" paper to our Sys Admin, > which he read and succinctly summarized for the Technical Manager > here. > I have also read through a couple of papers referenced in the BAARF > site. The Sys Admin comments were: > > > > Dell would like to know what RAID mode we want configured on the SAN > for > the B80 and 6C4 computers. Sam has told me that, in the Oracle > community, mirroring (RAID1) is preferred over RAID 5 for various > reasons (RAID5 is: more costly for write-intensive applications, 3 > times > more likely to incur data loss, suffers from massive performance > degradation during partial outages). RAID1 will be more costly per > unit > of usable storage. Mirroring seems to be the best choice. Let me know > what you think. > > > > Here is the Manager's response: > > > > Any suggestions on how I can counter points 4 and 5 - and the last > point > before his "Thanks" line? Currently we have two B80's (AIX 4.3.3) > set > up in a HA configuration. They share an external disk array. So if > a > hardware component in the primary box fails, then it will > automatically > failover to the secondary box (and at the same time, the secondary > box > takes control of the external disk array). I think the clustering > term > in point (4) is referring to this setup. > > > > Thanks for any suggestions. > > > > Sam. > > > > > > Sent: November 18, 2003 5:08 PM > > > > All the points are valid...however..my thought processes were as > follows: > > > > 1. The System & Core Application disks are resident on the disks > within > the CPU and Mirrorred (Everyone OK with that I think) > > > > 2. The Databases are Resident on the SAN > > > > 3. The SAN disks are RAID 5 as the provide more usable space for the > cost as compared to mirrorring > > > > 4. As the IBM Systems (B80's & 6C4's) are clusterd thus effectivley > Mirrors the RAID 5 Arrays mitigating the issues Sam raises re > preformance degradation (which will only ever arise in the event of a > failed disk/automated rebuild which is usually configurable to > address > performance degradation) > > > > 5. Write to Disk/Commit to Database should be a background process > (although I recognise this is a transaction/write intensive based > system) > > > > This is a standard model that all servers are being deployed with and > unless there are any specific technical reasons why this will not > work > it is the way I would like to see the systems implemented. Remeber, > with the SAN...Reconfiguration of Disks is not a large issue anymore > if > required in the future. > > > > Although not an AIX/Oracle guy...I disagree with the statement that > RAID5 is 3 times more susceptable to incur Data Loss. RAID 5 is a > proven technology > > > > Thanks..... Andrew > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Carl Nowak > Sent: Tue 18/11/2003 2:56 PM > To: Andrew Riem > Subject: SAN configuration for Banner > > > > Dell would like to know what RAID mode we want configured on the > SAN for the B80 and 6C4 computers. Sam has told me that, in the > Oracle > community, mirroring (RAID1) is preferred over RAID 5 for various > reasons (RAID5 is: more costly for write-intensive applications, 3 > times > more likely to incur data loss, suffers from massive performance > degradation during partial outages). RAID1 will be more costly per > unit > of usable storage. Mirroring seems to be the best choice. Let me know > what you think. > > > > Carl > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net -- Author: Paul Baumgartel INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
