Oracle About Grid Computing

The following three attributes lie at the heart of grid computing:

• Virtualization between the layers of the computing stack and the users

• Dynamic provisioning of work among the available resources, based on changing   needs

• Pooling of resources to maximize availability and utilization

• You can manage your databases locally using the OEM Database Control, which is part    of the Oracle 10g server software.

• You can manage your databases centrally, through the OEM Grid Control, which is    available on separate CDs.

The Grid Control includes:

• Oracle Management Agent

• Oracle Management Service

• Oracle Management Repository

• Grid Control console

If you create a database manually, you must configure and install the OEM Database Control using the Oracle supplied build script (EM Configuration Assistant):

• $ORACLE_HOME/bin/emca for UNIX

• $ORACLE_HOME\bin\emca.bat for Windows.

Note: In order to access the OEM Database Control from your browser, you must first have the dbconsole process running on your system.

Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) now manages the entire pre-install requirements check automatically. Common checks performed are the following:

• Correct operating system version and compatibility level

• Operating system patches

• Kernel parameters

• Sufficient memory and file space

• Oracle Home

The OUI now offers three choices for configuring the file systems for any new starter database that you may create:

• Automatic Storage Management (ASM): ASM is integration of a traditional file system with a built-in Logical Volume Manager (LVM). The database automatically stripes and mirrors your data across the available disks in the disk groups.

• Raw Devices: If you use RAC, and a Clustered File System (CFS) is available on your operating system, Oracle recommends using either CFS or ASM for your file storage. If a CFS is unavailable, Oracle recommends that you use raw, or "uncooked," file systems or ASM.

• File Systems: Choosing this option will mean that you are using the traditional operating system files and directories for your database storage.

• Do not enable automatic backups

• Enable automatic backups

You have to set passwords for the following schemas:

SYS, SYSTEM, DBSNMP, and SYSMAN.

It’s DBA job to unlock the other standard user accounts and set new passwords for them.

The Oracle 10g installation supports several Real Application Clusters (RAC) features, including the installation of the Cluster Ready Services (CRS) feature.

In Oracle 10g, you can directly link the OEM to the OracleMetaLink service. Through this built-in MetaLink integration, OEM can then automatically track any new software patches for you. You can arrange to receive alerts whenever the OEM spots new patches.

The OEM Grid Control enables you to easily duplicate Oracle Database 10g software installations (Oracle Homes) from a master installation to one more servers.

Using the OEM, you can now easily clone databases. OEM performs database cloning by using RMAN. You use the OEM Clone Database wizard, also known as the Clone Database Tool, to perform the various steps in a database cloning operation.