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39 Sizing and Best Practices for Online Transaction Processing Applications with Oracle 11g R2 using Dell PS Series | BP1003
7 Best practice recommendations
7.1 Storage
A configuration with more small volumes is preferred over a low number of large volumes for better
performance and simpler management of OLTP databases. It is recommended to use at least eight or more
volumes per PS6110XS array member for achieving optimal performance. Increasing the number of volumes
beyond eight may not result in significant performance improvements.
7.2 Network infrastructure
The following are network infrastructure design best practices:
 Design separate network infrastructures to isolate the LAN traffic from the SAN traffic (iSCSI).
 Design redundant SAN component architectures. This includes the NICs on the servers and switches
for the storage network (including server blade chassis switches and external switches).
 Make sure that the server NIC ports and storage NIC ports are connected so that any single
component failure in the SAN will not disable access to any storage array volumes.
 Enable flow control on both the server NICs and switch ports connecting to the server and storage
ports.
 Enable Jumbo frames on the server ports and switch ports.
 On iSCSI SAN switches, spanning tree should be disabled on switch ports connecting to end devices
like server and storage ports. The Portfast setting should be enabled in the switch configuration for
these ports.
Note: General recommendations for PS Series array network configuration and performance are provided in
the Dell PS Series Configuration Guide.
7.3 Operating system
The following are operating system best practices:
 Enable flow control and Jumbo frames on the server NIC ports used for connecting to storage and
match those settings with your switch and array controller port settings. Jumbo frames provide a more
efficient transport for data transfers.
 It is recommended to use PS Series-aware MPIO functionality provided by the Host Integration Tools
for the server operating system. HIT/Linux can be obtained from PS Series support. Configuring PS
Series-aware MPIO provides enhanced performance benefits and also enables easier configuration
by automating configuration of multiple required iSCSI sessions (connections) to the target volumes.
Since MPIO will be in use, disable NIC teaming or bonding on all ports used for iSCSI connections.
Also, to simplify system management and reduce the chances of making errors during system
configuration, disable any unused NIC ports on the system.
 It is recommended to run the eqltune utility included with HIT/Linux and follow the OS-specific
parameter recommendations listed by the utility.