Month: July 2008

IOUG RAC Attack! Register Now!

The Oracle RAC SIG and the IOUG are co-sponsoring the IOUG “RAC Attack” event and if you haven’t yet heard about it, you might want to check it out. The event runs for 2 days, August 4-5, in downtown Chicago and will bring together some excellent presenters as well as the opportunity for hands-on experiences … Continue reading “IOUG RAC Attack! Register Now!”

The Oracle RAC SIG and the IOUG are co-sponsoring the IOUG “RAC Attack” event and if you haven’t yet heard about it, you might want to check it out. The event runs for 2 days, August 4-5, in downtown Chicago and will bring together some excellent presenters as well as the opportunity for hands-on experiences via the hands-on labs that run throughout the event. See the RAC Attack web page for more details on the event.

As one of the RAC SIG board members, I’ve been involved with the planning and development of this event over the last 9 months and I think it’s going to be one of the best opportunities to get focused, high-quality education on RAC available today. Plus, you’ll get the chance to network with a group of people that are focused on RAC and it’s uses.

Of course, I’ll be there, so if you do make it to the event, please be sure to say hello. I’ll likely spend much of my time in the hands-on lab (when I’m not presenting my technical session) helping those that need it to build their cluster, test backup and recovery or exercise some new features.

Hope to see you there!

OOW Mix Session Selections Announced

I just saw this blog posting indicating that one of my session suggestions for OOW (So, you want to be an Oracle ACE?) was selected for presentation at the conference. Thanks to everyone that voted (for any session, but especially this one)–I look forward to seeing you there at the session too (especially the ACEs … Continue reading “OOW Mix Session Selections Announced”

I just saw this blog posting indicating that one of my session suggestions for OOW (So, you want to be an Oracle ACE?) was selected for presentation at the conference. Thanks to everyone that voted (for any session, but especially this one)–I look forward to seeing you there at the session too (especially the ACEs and ACE Directors)! Once I learn the time and date for the session, I’ll be sure to post it here.

Of course, thanks to the OracleAppsLab gang for Mix and working with the OOW team to take a cool idea (not sure who gets credit for the idea) and make it reality (quickly)! It’s only 61 days, 22 hours, 37 minutes and 27 seconds until OOW starts (the User Group Forum Day on Sunday, September 21)!

TNS Listener Configuration for Oracle RAC

I’ve been to more than one RAC customer site and seen several different ways to misconfigure the listeners for a RAC cluster. This post describes how I usually configure the listeners and their associated instance parameters normally. This really has nothing to do with TAF or connection load balancing, those those features may not work … Continue reading “TNS Listener Configuration for Oracle RAC”

I’ve been to more than one RAC customer site and seen several different ways to misconfigure the listeners for a RAC cluster. This post describes how I usually configure the listeners and their associated instance parameters normally. This really has nothing to do with TAF or connection load balancing, those those features may not work as expected unless the underlying configuration is performed properly.

First, some background on how these items work is necessary. The TNS listener (tnslsnr process on *nix) process listens on a specific network address for connection requests to one of the services from one of the database instances that it services. When requested, it either spawns a server process (dedicated server environment) and connects the user to that process or forwards the connection request to a dispatcher (shared server environment) for service to the database service requested. Alternatively, if the listener knows of more than one instance providing the requested service, it may direct the client to an alternate listener (usually on a different node) that will service the request. Continue reading “TNS Listener Configuration for Oracle RAC”

WordPress 2.6 upgrade successful, home test server not so good

That wasn’t even painful. There are some cool new features from an authoring perspective too. (Not that I author enough to make good use of some of the new features, but I’m trying to write more often.) I’ve got another post in the queue, but needed my VMWare Server at home to finish it up. … Continue reading “WordPress 2.6 upgrade successful, home test server not so good”

That wasn’t even painful. There are some cool new features from an authoring perspective too. (Not that I author enough to make good use of some of the new features, but I’m trying to write more often.)

I’ve got another post in the queue, but needed my VMWare Server at home to finish it up. Then I learned that my VMWare Server (perhaps because it felt neglected lately) apparently went belly-up sometime in the last month or two since I last logged on to it. After doing the online chat with Dell Support, they’re dispatching a tech to replace the motherboard, memory, processor, heat sink, and power supply. I guess that just leaves the hard drives and the CD-ROM drive as the only original electronic parts. I’m 38 days from the end of the warranty, so I’ll need to make sure it’s in top shape before mid-August just in case I need more parts.

Anyway, once the server is fixed, I should be able to verify some of my syntax and finish the posting. Until then, consider this: It never rains underwater. Discuss.

You can’t buy a SAN (I feel a rant coming on)

Warning, rant follows… I have a problem with referring to a storage array as a SAN as seems commonplace these days. SAN is Storage Area Network. Storage array <> SAN <> RAID <> LUN, but all are related. For clarification, storage arrays, which live in a SAN, typically provide access to LUNs that are often … Continue reading “You can’t buy a SAN (I feel a rant coming on)”

Warning, rant follows…

I have a problem with referring to a storage array as a SAN as seems commonplace these days. SAN is Storage Area Network. Storage array <> SAN <> RAID <> LUN, but all are related. For clarification, storage arrays, which live in a SAN, typically provide access to LUNs that are often created using RAID technologies to provide data protection.

Everyone has (or at least most of you have) been using SAN and storage array interchangably for years now and that’s not right. I think that the storage vendors are really to blame. When the concept of SANs were introduced, many viewed them as complex, difficult to design/create, and difficult to install. I believe that the storage vendors started selling storage arrays as “SANs” to make them easier to buy and install. I admit that the tools for managing SAN environments have improved to allow a single interface to handle switch zoning, LUN allocation, visualization of the storage configuration and performance monitoring. Technically, putting a storage switch inside a cabinet that includes a storage array does not a SAN make, though many vendors are offering products in that easy-to-buy format these days. Continue reading “You can’t buy a SAN (I feel a rant coming on)”