Oracle9i Rac: Oracle Real Application Clusters Configuration and Internals

by Madhu Tumma, Mike Ault, Michael R. Ault

A reference for RAC and TAF technology, this book demonstrates how to optimize Oracle clustered server environments for optimal performance and flexibility. Covering all areas of RAC continuous... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972751300
• ISBN13: 9780972751308
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Rampant Techpress
• Length: 606 Pages
• Weight: 2.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

I like the coverage

I have worked with RAC for 2 years and this book has addressed some of the missing pieces of the puzzle. This book is first in a new series "Oracle In Focus" and will give O'Reilly a run for their money. I really like this book and although I did have some critiques I felt that I could not resist. However, RAC is a very sophisticated Product and the authors have done a splendid job in bringing all of the material under one cover. This book does a great job laying out the differences between RAC and OPS. It also covers the architecture and implementation of RAC for all major platforms including Veritas DBE/AC. The architecture discussion covers areas such as I/O Fencing, SCSI3 Persistent Reservations, and Quorum Disks in Chapter 3. This is important information which sets a basis for the next chapter. In Chapter 4 RAC technical Architecture is thoroughly reviewed after a brief overview of the OPS evolution. Chapter 5 is a brief chapter that covers Hardware and RAC and explains the Implementation of RAC from a hardware perspective. I liked the approach taken by the authors because they do a good job tying in CFS or RAW with the disk subsystem. They also cover Veritas, Tru64 and Polyserve CFS's. Chapter 6 is a 100 page chapter that covers RAC Install and configuration for almost every platform. It is high level but covers the subject matter well. It is very current in relation to where Oracle is with Patch sets and such. I had only wished they covered the Linux install better and covered the watchdog/hang check timer kernel transition. I suspect the author's deadline did not allow for this. The reference to the metalink articles at the end of the chapter gives the reader a launching point into the subject matter. Chapter 7 is dedicated to the RAC internals and is good at condensing the internals that is covered in the Oracle RAC concepts guide. It is in Chapter 8 that the authors cover Threads but they stop short of explaining of how threads are used to generate SCN's and the role they play in recovery and Data Guard gap resolution. Overall this is a good chapter which covers the basics of RAC admin. Chapter 10 covers TAF (Transparent Application Failover) connectivity to RAC. Although this chapter covers the subject matter okay it is weak in when they cover load balancing on the nodes. It explains how Dedicated and shared are handled but it stops there and doesn't explain the how the nodes database processes inform the listeners of the work load. I felt this chapter could have been done better since it is one of the attractions to RAC. For example, when they authors cover TAF with JDBC they should have correlated their explanation with the commonly used terms of JDBC Thick/Thin. This is touched upon towards the end of Chapter 14 and might be attributed to having two different authors with unique styles. The remaining chapters are pretty good after skimming over them. I will update my review after finishing the book. Don't get me wrong by my critiqu

Good Reference Book

It is a good reference book on database clusters. While covering Oracle Real Application Cluster in detail, it puts the failover clusters in perspective. Authors have good understanding of the product. Backup/Recovery, Tuning and Cache fusion is well covered. This book discusses installation details for various platforms and makes suitable references to metalink notes and other books. Topics like split brain, quorum drive are explained well. Coverage on IBM-AIX, Linux and Polyserve is pretty good. It is a well researched book. Some screen shots are not very clear, book production quality needs imporovement, neverthless it is an excellent technical book. I strongly recommed this book for the DBAs interested in understanding and implemnting Oracle RAC Solution.

Best RAC Reference and Primer available.

I have worked with RAC for 2 years and this book has addressed some of the missing pieces of the puzzle. This book is first in a new series "Oracle In Focus" and will give O'Reilly a run for their money. I really like this book and although I did have some critiques I felt that I could not resist. However, RAC is a very sophisticated Product and the authors have done a splendid job in bringing all of the material under one cover.This book does a great job laying out the differences between RAC and OPS. It also covers the architecture and implementation of RAC for all major platforms including Veritas DBE/AC. The architecture discussion covers areas such as I/O Fencing, SCSI3 Persistent Reservations, and Quorum Disks in Chapter 3. This is important information which sets a basis for the next chapter. In Chapter 4 RAC technical Architecture is thoroughly reviewed after a brief overview of the OPS evolution.Chapter 5 is a brief chapter that covers Hardware and RAC and explains the Implementation of RAC from a hardware perspective. I liked the approach taken by the authors because they do a good job tying in CFS or RAW with the disk subsystem. They also cover Veritas, Tru64 and Polyserve CFS's. Chapter 6 is a 100 page chapter that covers RAC Install and configuration for almost every platform. It is high level but covers the subject matter well. It is very current in relation to where Oracle is with Patch sets and such. I had only wished they covered the Linux install better and covered the watchdog/hang check timer kernel transition. I suspect the author's deadline did not allow for this. The reference to the metalink articles at the end of the chapter gives the reader a launching point into the subject matter.Chapter 7 is dedicated to the RAC internals and is good at condensing the internals that is covered in the Oracle RAC concepts guide. It is in Chapter 8 that the authors cover Threads but they stop short of explaining of how threads are used to generate SCN's and the role they play in recovery and Data Guard gap resolution. Overall this is a good chapter which covers the basics of RAC admin.Chapter 10 covers TAF (Transparent Application Failover) connectivity to RAC. Although this chapter covers the subject matter okay it is weak in when they cover load balancing on the nodes. It explains how Dedicated and shared are handled but it stops there and doesn't explain the how the nodes database processes inform the listeners of the work load. I felt this chapter could have been done better since it is one of the attractions to RAC. For example, when they authors cover TAF with JDBC they should have correlated their explanation with the commonly used terms of JDBC Thick/Thin. This is touched upon towards the end of Chapter 14 and might be attributed to having two different authors with unique styles.The remaining chapters are pretty good after skimming over them. I will update my review after finishing the book. Don't get me wrong by my critique

Right book at right time

Oracle has made it clear that the path to Grid computing is by using RAC with server blades and this is the only book that I have found that explains how it works. Ault & Tumma show real-world examples of adding and deleting server nodes in a RAC cluster, and they make is easy to understand (unlike the Oracle documnentation).It is refreshing to see a book that is written by authors who actually use RAC everyday instead of people who just re-write the Oracle documentation. I can tell that these authors use RAC everyday, and the book is full of real-world working examples. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn Oracle clusters properly.

The DEFINITIVE RAC reference!

Having just returned from OracleWorld, it is obvious that Oracle is moving to a distributed-computing model. If you have the slightest interest in learning RAC, the time is now! 10g (the new version of the Oracle database) is built around GRID computing. Learning 9i RAC is the best way to prepare for 10g. This book is, by far, the best way to learn 9i RAC. It's written in a clear, logical manner and is based on the author's direct experience with the product. There are loads of invaluable tips here not covered (or at best, deeply buried) in the Oracle documentation. I can't imagine getting through a RAC installation without this book - worth it's weight in gold!