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Introduction to Real Application Clusters Administration

This chapter provides an overview of the processes and components involved in administering Real Application Clusters. This chapter includes the following topics:

Administering Real Application Clusters Databases

This book describes Real Application Clusters-specific administrative duties. These tasks are in addition to those described in the Oracle9i Database Administrator's Guide which you should read before you use this book to administer Real Application Clusters. The following is an overview of the Real Application Clusters-specific administrative issues.

Parameter Management in Real Application Clusters

You can establish cluster database-wide parameter settings and specify instance-specific settings using the server parameter file. or you can use client-side parameter files to manage parameter settings.

There are also three types of parameters in Real Application Clusters. Some parameters can have different values for one or more instances while others must be either the same for all instances or unique among all instances. Parameter settings also have unique effects on instance startup within Real Application Clusters databases.

Administering Storage in Real Application Clusters

There are Real Application Clusters-specific storage management issues to consider such as datafile administration and undo tablespace management. You must also understand redo log file management and the use of threads of redo in Real Application Clusters instances. Automatic undo management simplifies the administration of storage management for undo tablespaces.

General Administration Issues

You can start and stop Real Application Clusters instances and databases using SQL, SQL*Plus, and command-line utilities. You can also set and connect to remote instances and perform administrative operations by way of Oracle Net. However, SQL and SQL*Plus commands can have both local and global effects on instances.

You can also use the SRVCTL utility to perform many administrative duties in Real Application Clusters databases. You can also use SRVCTL to perform other tasks such as managing configuration information, and to delete, rename, and move instances.

Oracle Enterprise Manager in Real Application Clusters

You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager to perform most administrative duties in Real Application Clusters. Use Oracle Enterprise Manager to start and stop instances, monitor their performance, schedule jobs, and to perform backup and recovery operations.

Backup and Recovery in Real Application Clusters

You can configure Recovery Manager (RMAN) for use in Real Application Clusters. You can also configure RMAN to automatically back up each control file and to automatically save channel settings.

You can use RMAN or operating system commands to perform both open and closed backups in Real Application Clusters. Your recovery options in Real Application Clusters include complete, incomplete, and block media recovery. You can also use parallel recovery.

See Also:

Real Application Clusters Scalability

To meet increased system demands or replace failed hardware, you can add nodes and instances and delete instances in Real Application Clusters. Use the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) and the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) to dynamically add nodes and to add and remove instances.

Troubleshooting

Oracle records processing information in various trace and log files. You can refer to these files for troubleshooting information and you should regularly copy these files to avoid overwriting them.