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8 Sizing and Best Practices for Online Transaction Processing Applications with Oracle 11g R2 using Dell PS Series | BP1003
2 OLTP applications with PS Series arrays
OLTP database applications are optimal for managing rapidly changing data. These applications typically
have many users who are performing transactions simultaneously. Although individual data requests by users
usually reference few records, many of these requests are being made at the same time.
To develop appropriate storage performance and capacity sizing guidelines for OLTP workloads, it is
essential to understand the following factors:
 Read I/O and write I/O percentage
 I/O block sizes
 Data access rate
 Data locality
 Memory configuration on the database server (this plays a significant role in Oracle database I/O
performance)
2.1 PS Series hybrid arrays
The important characteristics of OLTP workload are a higher percentage of read I/O than write I/O, and a high
percentage of total I/O being concentrated on a relatively small percentage of the total data set. PS Series
hybrid storage arrays that combine SSDs and HDDs within the same chassis with automated, dynamic data
tiering are well suited for these OLTP applications. PS Series firmware automatically moves more frequently
accessed data to high-performing SSDs and less-frequently accessed data to HDDs, thereby helping optimize
the balance between performance and capacity needs of a demanding Oracle OLTP environment.