Database Management; Performance Tuning; Increasing Available Storage In The Nas 8000 - HP StorageWorks 8000 - NAS User Manual

2) A complete backup is recommended.
3) Copy/move the active redo log file(s) using operating system commands.
4) Startup the database instance and mount the database ( SQL> startup mount pfile="path"; )
5) Rename the redo log files in the control file. ( SQL> alter database rename file 'old_redo_file_name' to
'new_redo_file_name'; )
6) Open the database for use ( SQL> alter database open; ).

database management

Utilizing the NAS 8000 for database storage does not substantially change the database administration
tasks. In many instances, use of the NAS 8000 may actually make certain administrative tasks easier. One
example of this could be the backup plan for a mission critical database. In creating and/or maintaining a
database, the only differences are those that have been previously described. All Oracle command line
tools (e.g. sqlplus, svrmgrl1,...) should function as expected.

performance tuning

One of the many benefits of utilizing the NAS 8000 as storage for Oracle databases is that the NAS 8000
will relieve the server's CPU from many of the tasks associated with managing and accessing direct-attach
storage. For example, many server systems use CPU resources to manage (and/or perform) RAID level
protection such as striping or mirroring on their storage. The VA 7xxx storage subsystem of the NAS 8000
utilizes HP AutoRAID tm providing RAID levels 0, 1 and 5DP, automatically protecting the data, even from
multiple, simultaneous disk failures. The intelligence of the NAS 8000 storage subsystem relieves the CPU
of the NAS 8000 from the overhead of many storage tasks, freeing it to process the data requests from the
attached client(s). Performance tuning is an interesting topic as it involves performance tuning the network,
the Oracle server(s) and ORDBMS to work well with the NAS 8000, rather than just performance tuning the
NAS 8000. One of the tremendous strengths of the Oracle ORDBMS is its ability to be fine-tuned. There
are hundreds of parameters that can be tuned to increase database speed and efficiency. Oracle has
many tools to aid with performance tuning, and these tools remain a source of important tuning information.
While the general concepts of tuning a database homed on the NAS 8000 are the same as for a database
stored on Direct-Attach Storage, there are some differences. However, the general guidelines for
performance tuning any Oracle database still apply. There are several tunable parameters that can be
accessed through the Command View NAS and Command View SDM GUIs. It is beyond the scope of this
paper to discuss these parameters and how to tune them. However, the reader is directed to the NAS
8000 home page for a link to performance tuning information. Additionally, there are several product
options that can be implemented to increase data throughput, such as increasing the speed/bandwidth of
the network by adding multiple/faster NIC cards, directly attaching the NAS 8000 to the Oracle server
through one or more NIC cards with cross over cables, etc.

increasing available storage in the NAS 8000

Increasing the amount of storage available to a file volume can usually be accomplished without
interrupting service. If there is unassigned space available in the VA 7xxx array, the unassigned space can
be pooled into one or more LUNs. These new LUNs can be added to existing volume group(s), thereby
increasing storage space available to all file volumes within those volume groups. When there is
unallocated space in a volume group, the space can be assigned to any (one or more) file volumes within
the volume group. The size of a file volume can be increased through the Command View NAS GUI, but
cannot be decreased. If all available storage has been assigned, then hard drives can be added to the VA
7xxx enclosure if there are open drive bays. Up to 15 hard drives can be placed in the VA 7100, and up
to 105 drives can be added to the VA 7400 (with DS2400 enclosures). The VA 7100 and the VA 7400
can contain a mixture of 18 GB, 36 GB and 73 GB hard drives. See below for details on adding hard
drives to the Virtual Arrays. If the drive bays are all full, but the size of the hard drives are not all 73 GB
hard drives, then storage may still be added depending upon the RAID and hot spares settings. In this
case, remove either an 18GB or a 36GB drive. The array should automatically recover/reconstruct the
data 'on' one of the "hot spares". Once the data has been rebuilt, add a higher capacity hard drive in the
bay from which the drive was removed. This process can be repeated as often as necessary. NOTE: If the
RAID level and/or Hot Spare setting has been changed so that the VA 7xxx is no longer performing RAID
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