Dell PowerEdge T110 II User Manual

Wendy Chen, Dell Database Solutions Engineering

Vinod Emmanuel, Dell Infrastructure and Cloud Computing

July 2012

Oracle Database Migration to Dell

PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers

and Dell Compellent Storage Systems

Oracle Database Migration to Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers and Dell Compellent Storage Systems

This document is for informational purposes only and may contain typographical errors and technical inaccuracies. The content is provided as is, without express or implied warranties of any kind.

© 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell and its affiliates cannot be responsible for errors or omissions in typography or photography. Dell, the Dell logo, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc. Intel and Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Server are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

July 2012| Rev 1.0

Oracle Database Migration to Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers and Dell Compellent Storage Systems

Contents

Executive summary ..................................................................................................... 4

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 5

Dell Solutions for Oracle Databases ................................................................................. 5

Technology Overview .................................................................................................. 5

Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers ......................................................................... 5

Dell Compellent Storage Systems ................................................................................. 6

Oracle Database Migration to Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers and Dell Compellent Storage .. 8

Test Configuration ................................................................................................... 8

Migration Options .................................................................................................... 9

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) Disk Rebalance ............................................ 10

Near Zero Downtime Oracle Database Migration to New Infrastructure and Operating Systems .... 13

Key Benefits of the Migration Solution ......................................................................... 21

Dell IT Case Study .................................................................................................... 22

Summary ............................................................................................................... 22

References ............................................................................................................. 22

Tables

Table 1. Hardware and software configurations of the source and the target Oracle systems ............ 9

Table 2. Volume configuration of the source database ........................................................... 9

Table 3. Volume configuration of the target database .......................................................... 14

Figures

Figure 1. Reference configuration of Oracle database migration ............................................... 8

Figure 2. Oracle ASM disk rebalance to move Oracle database to a different storage system .......... 11

Figure 3. Attach Dell Compellent storage to the source database configuration .......................... 12

Figure 4. Detach Dell|EMC storage from the source database configuration ............................... 13

Figure 5. Create ASM instance without database instance on target systems using DBCA ............... 15

Figure 6. Attach Dell|EMC storage to the target database configuration ................................... 16

Figure 7. Create a new storage group in Dell|EMC storage manager......................................... 17

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Oracle Database Migration to Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers and Dell Compellent Storage Systems

Executive summary

Database migration has become a routine operation in most IT organizations for modernization, consolidation and platform migration. Migration delivers improved computing power, faster performance, new functions, features, and lowered cost of ownership. But this essential operation invites a lot of risks as well as long operational outages. Migrating Oracle database presents many unique challenges for IT administrators; such as the complexity, data integrity requirements, and 24x7 availability requirements of critical database applications. To address these challenges, Dell offers a near zero downtime migration strategy to move Oracle databases into a new infrastructure with near zero downtime impact. This methodology has been proven to be reliable and repeatable with the adoption by Dell IT for a large scale Oracle database migration project. This methodology brings out the best of Dell Compellent storage features like thin provisioning and a well tested reference architecture using the latest generation Dell PowerEdge servers.

Oracle Database Migration to Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers and Dell Compellent Storage Systems

Introduction

The Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation servers and Dell Compellent storage systems are ideal choices for hosting Oracle database workloads by providing not only superior performance, but also lower TCO in terms of manageability, rack space, and power and cooling. For customers who are interested in moving their existing Oracle databases to new Dell hardware, performing a seamless migration is the first challenge they face. In the following sections, this paper examines various Oracle database migration options, including the pros and cons of each option. It details a migration solution adopted by Dell IT that can help customers migrate their existing Oracle databases to the latest releases of Dell hardware with near zero interruption to data availability. A key technology component used in this solution is the Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) disk rebalance feature. This paper provides the recommended best practices on how to implement the migration methodology.

Dell Solutions for Oracle Databases

Dell solutions for Oracle products are designed to simplify operations, improve usability, and provide cost-effective scalability as your needs grow over time. In addition to providing server and storage hardware, Dell solutions for Oracle include:

 Dell Configurations for Oracle―in-depth testing of Oracle configurations for high-demand

solutions; documentation and tools that help simplify deployment

 Integrated Solution Management―standards-based management of Dell solutions for Oracle that

can lower operational costs through integrated hardware and software deployment, monitoring, and updating

 Oracle Licensing—licensing options that can simplify customer purchase  Dell Enterprise Support and Infrastructure Services for Oracle―planning, deployment, and

maintenance of Dell solutions for Oracle database tools

For more information concerning Dell Solutions for Oracle Database, visit www.dell.com/oracle, and the Dell Oracle Solutions wiki page at http://delltechcenter.com/enterprise.

Technology Overview

Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers

Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation servers are the newest addition to the PowerEdge server family. Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation servers can help improve the IT experience with the following notable features:

 Manage anywhere and anytime with agent-free server management  Reduce maintenance time with auto-update for replacement parts  Control cooling costs with better power monitoring and control  Tailor network to applications with fabric flexibility  Access information quicker via SATA, SAS, SSD and PCI Express Flash drives  Data protection using best-in-class RAID  Protect data at rest with malware resistance and faster encryption  Keep data safer with firmware signing and encrypted credentials  Accelerate high-performance computing (HPC) and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) through

integrated graphics processing unit (GPU) technology

Oracle Database Migration to Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers and Dell Compellent Storage Systems

 Deliver more throughput with major I/O performance enhancements  Better application performance with dual internal RAID controller options for PowerEdgeT620 and

R720

 No compromise on performance with greater memory density and capacity along with Intel Xeon E5

processors

Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation servers feature the Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 series processors based on the Sandy Bridge-EP architecture, which deliver more computations per second. Intel Xeon E5-2600 series processors provide up to 8 physical cores or 16 logical cores through hyper-threading, and up to 20 MB cache. Intel Xeon E5-2600 series processors also include features such as the new Intel advanced vector extensions, and the optimized turbo boost technology.

Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation servers include the express flash PCIe solid state drives to deliver better internal storage performance by connecting directly to the processor via PCIe bus. These PCIe solid state drives have up to 3x performance of standard SAS SSDs and 1000x performance of 15K SAS hard drives.

The PowerEdge R720 (12th generation) servers were used in the test configuration for this paper. The R720 server is a two-socket, 2U rack server emphasizing performance and scalability. R720 servers are designed for mid-to-large-size data centers, and are ideal for use as a virtualization or database server. Some highlighted features of the R720 include:

 Large memory footprint 24 DIMMs (768GB)  Dual SD cards for redundant hypervisor  CacheCade RAID enhancement to boost I/O  Internal storage capacity up to 16 x 2.5 HDD or 8 x 3.5 HDD  Maximum of four optional PCIe flash SSD drives  Redundant power supply units (PSU)  Hot plug and swappable PSU, HDDs, and fans

Dell Compellent Storage Systems

The Dell Compellent Storage Center Storage Area Network (SAN) provides a highly efficient and flexible foundation for enterprise and the cloud. Dell Compellent storage features an innovative Dell Fluid Data architecture to put the right data in the right place at the right time. It enables the storage system to dynamically adapt to changes in your business environment.

Dell Compellent Storage Center provides a fully virtualized storage platform that includes:

 Storage virtualization that abstracts and aggregates resources across the array, providing a high-

performance pool of shared storage

 Thin provisioning and automated tiered storage to deliver optimum disk utilization and intelligent

data movement

 Space-efficient snapshots and thin replication for continuous data protection without wasted

capacity

 Built-in automation and unified storage management to streamline storage provisioning,

management, migration, monitoring and reporting

Oracle Database Migration to Dell PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers and Dell Compellent Storage Systems

Reasons Why Customers Migrate to Dell Compellent

Compellent has built-in virtualization to simplify management, maximize efficiency, provide flexibility to adapt to changing requirements, and lower the TCO. Many of these benefits are most noticeable at the time of a hardware refresh.

To eliminate the need for future migration projects, once data is on Compellent it can be migrated to additional or future hardware incrementally, easily, non-disruptively, without interruption in snapshot and instant restore options, all from within the storage GUI.

To eliminate economically disruptive transitions and premature obsolescence, several features are helpful. Future disk interconnects, as well as SAN interconnects, can be added to existing controllers. The aforementioned incremental migration allows old and new resources to be effectively managed together with less hassle and less over-provisioned resources than a single-frame model. Disks can be gracefully removed from a virtually-provisioned pool without destroying the pool, so that disk refreshes are easy, routine, and deferred until the disks are too old. In this way older disks can continue to deliver performance benefits competitively even if their capacity is lower than the newer disks. Compellent customers can upgrade the hardware indefinitely simply by replacing the hardware: the software does not have to be re-purchased. This greatly reduces the budgetary hit from an upgrade.

To reduce wasteful over-provisioning of capacity, moving to Compellent built-in virtualization enables thin provisioning without imposing a performance reduction.

To use disk performance more efficiently, Compellent’s space-efficient snapshots come without the extra work to move old data out of the way, known as copy-on-write. Compellent has a long history of high customer adoption rates of advanced snapshot technology.

To reduce wasteful over provisioning of higher cost, higher performing tiers, Compellent offers tiering based on historical access patterns so that application performance is more dependable. The tiering uses an appropriate granularity much lower than a GB, reducing over-provisioning, yet large enough to avoid creating a resource penalty at the controller level. The tiering can not only can mix RAID levels but shift the RAID levels used within a tier based on the type of data access. Compellent can tier within a disk to prevent seek times from growing as much as disks fill up: hot data is more concentrated on the disk. With automatic provisioning, the initial setup does not determine the cost of the resources that will be consumed. Therefore Compellent provides charge-back reporting so that the departments driving the expenses can be charged appropriately, and departments with efficient application deployments can benefit from the savings that tiering delivers.

Dell has found that a demonstration of how Compellent is set up and managed is typically the tipping point that moves people to make a change.

Ultimately, the decision to migrate often flows naturally from having seen a Compellent demonstration.

By using Dell to provide the complete data center solution, it becomes easier to make sure that everything needed to support the application requirements are met.

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