Compaq Parallel Database Cluster Model PDC/O2000 for Oracle8i and Windows 2000 Administrator Guide

4-14 Compaq Parallel Database Cluster Model PDC/O2000 for Oracle8i and Windows 2000 Administrator Guide
Compaq Confidential – Need to Know Required
Writer: John Blackburn Project: Compaq Parallel Database Cluster Model PDC/O2000 for Oracle8i and Windows 2000 Administrator Guide Comments:
Part Number: 225082-002 File Name: e-ch4 Cluster Planning.doc Last Saved On: 6/13/01 10:25 AM
The larger redundant FC-AL configuration shown in Figure 4-4 contains these
key cluster components:
■ Six ProLiant servers (nodes)
■ Two Fibre Host Adapters in each server node
■ Two Storage Hub 12s or 11-port FC-AL Switches
■ Five RA4000/RA4100 Arrays. Each RA4000 Array holds up to eight
1.6-inch disk drives or twelve 1-inch disk drives. Each RA4100 Array
holds up to twelve 1-inch disk drives.
■ Two single-port array controllers installed in each RA4000/RA4100
Array
■ Ethernet NIC adapters, cables, and Ethernet switches or hubs for the
Ethernet cluster interconnect (not shown)
■ Ethernet NIC adapters, switches or hubs (not shown), and cables for the
client LAN
This cluster configuration could be made even larger by adding a second or
third redundant FC-AL to the PDC/O2000. Each redundant FC-AL or
redundant Fibre Channel Fabric can provide its own Fibre Host Adapters and
RA4000/RA4100 Arrays to the cluster without the need for adding nodes.
RAID Planning
Shared storage subsystem performance is one of the most important aspects of
tuning database cluster servers for optimal performance. Efforts to plan,
configure, and tune a PDC/O2000 cluster should focus on getting the most out
of each shared disk drive and having an appropriate number of shared drives in
the cluster. When properly configured, the shared storage subsystem should
not be the limiting factor in overall cluster performance.
RAID technology provides cluster servers with more consistent performance,
higher levels of fault tolerance, and easier fault recovery than non-RAID
systems. RAID uses redundant information stored on different disks to ensure
that the cluster can survive the loss of any disk in the array without affecting
the availability of data to users.
RAID also uses the technique of striping, which involves partitioning each
drive’s storage space into units ranging from a sector (512 bytes) up to several
megabytes. The stripes of all the disks are interleaved and addressed in order.