Tag: linux

Oracle’s ASM Filter Driver Revisited

Almost exactly a year ago I published a post covering my first impressions of the ASM Filter Driver (ASMFD) released in Oracle 12.1.0.2, followed swiftly by a second post showing that it didn't work with 4k native devices. When I wrote that first post I was about to start my summer holidays, so I'm afraid … Continue reading Oracle’s ASM Filter Driver Revisited →

The Great Hypervisor Bake-off: VMware ESX vs Oracle VM

This is a very simple post to show the results of some recent testing that my colleague and I ran using Oracle SLOB on Violin to determine the impact of using virtualization. But before we get to that, I am duty bound to write a paragraph of text featuring lots of long sentences peppered with industry … Continue reading The Great Hypervisor Bake-off: VMware ESX vs Oracle VM →

Implementing Linux native multipathing or DM-MPIO together with EMC PowerPath

Guest Post I'm delighted to say that this is another guest post from my good friend Nate Fuzi, who performs the same role as me for Violin but is based in the US instead of EMEA. Because he is American, Nate thinks that scones are called "biscuits", that chips are called "fries" and that there is … Continue reading Implementing Linux native multipathing or DM-MPIO together with EMC PowerPath →

Viewing ASM trace files in VIM: Which Way Do You Use?

A couple of people have asked me recently about a classic problem that most DBAs know: how to view ASM trace files in the VIM editor when the filenames start with a + character. To my surprise, there are actually quite a few different ways of doing it. Since it's come up, I thought I'd … Continue reading Viewing ASM trace files in VIM: Which Way Do You Use? →

Oracle 12.1.0.2 ASM Filter Driver: Advanced Format Fail

[Please note that a more up-to-date post on this subject can be found here] In my previous post on the subject of the new ASM Filter Driver (AFD) feature introduced in Oracle's 12.1.0.2 patchset, I installed the AFD to see how it fulfilled its promise that it "filters out all non-Oracle I/Os which could cause accidental overwrites". … Continue reading Oracle 12.1.0.2 ASM Filter Driver: Advanced Format Fail →

Oracle 12.1.0.2 ASM Filter Driver: First Impressions

This is a very quick post, because I'm about to log off and take an extended summer holiday (or vacation as my crazy American friends call it... but then they call football  "soccer" too). Before I go, I wanted to document my initial findings with the new ASM Filter Driver feature introduced in this week's … Continue reading Oracle 12.1.0.2 ASM Filter Driver: First Impressions →

The Ultimate Guide To Oracle with Advanced Format 4k

It's a brave thing, calling something the "Ultimate Guide To ..." as it can leave you open to criticism that it's anything but. However, this topic - of how Oracle runs on Advanced Format storage systems and which choices have which consequences - is one I've been learning for two years now, so this really … Continue reading The Ultimate Guide To Oracle with Advanced Format 4k →

Oracle ASMLib: Physical and Logical Blocksize

This article is about the use of Advanced Format devices on Oracle's ASMLib kernel library for Linux. For background, read this page on 4k sector sizes first, otherwise it might all sound like nonsense. Mind you, it mind sound like nonsense anyway, I can't guarantee anything here. By the way, a big hello to my … Continue reading Oracle ASMLib: Physical and Logical Blocksize →

New script for setting up multipath.conf entries

I've added a new script to the Useful Scripts page called setup-violin-mpath.sh which automates the process of creating entries for the /etc/multipath.conf file on Red Hat 6 / Oracle Linux 6. As the name suggests, I wrote it with Violin devices in mind, but there should be overlap with other storage which will potentially make … Continue reading New script for setting up multipath.conf entries →