Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Storage Configuration Requirements for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

With the introduction of Exascale technology in Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer, you can configure the Exadata infrastructure to use ASM, Exascale, or a combination of both. When Exascale is configured to coexist with ASM, you must allocate a portion of the total Exadata storage for Exascale use. The allocated storage will be dedicated exclusively to Exascale.

Review the storage requirements for ASM, Exascale, and VM file systems to plan and optimize storage allocation based on your enterprise needs.

Note

If you are looking for information to plan the local VM storage available on your VM Clusters refer to Estimating How Much Local Storage You Can Provision On Your VMs

Configuring Exadata ASM Storage

Parent topic: Storage Configuration Requirements for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

About ASM Storage Configuration for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

As part of configuring each Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer VM cluster, the storage space inside the Exadata Storage Servers is configured for use by Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM).

By default, the following ASM disk groups are created:

  • The DATA disk group is primarily intended for the storage of Oracle Database data files. Also, a small amount of space is allocated from the DATA disk group to support the shared file systems that are used to store software binaries (and patches) and files associated with the cloud-specific tooling. You should not store your own data, including Oracle Database data files, backups, trace files, and so on, inside the system-related ACFS file systems.
  • The RECO disk group is primarily used for storing the Fast Recovery Area (FRA), which can be used to provide a local store for files related to backup and recovery. By default, the FRA is used to store archived redo log files and the backup control file. If you configure your VM cluster with the option to allocate storage for local backups, then you can use the FRA as a database backup destination. Finally, if you enable flashback features on a database, then the FRA is used to store the flashback logs.

In addition, you can choose to create the SPARSE disk group. The SPARSE disk group is required to support Exadata snapshot functionality. Exadata snapshots enable space-efficient clones of Oracle databases that can be created and destroyed very quickly and easily. Snapshot clones are often used for development, testing, or other purposes that require a transient database. For more information about Exadata snapshot functionality, see Setting Up Oracle Exadata Storage Snapshots in the Oracle Exadata System Software User's Guide.

Allocation of Storage Space Options on Oracle Exadata Storage Servers

Select the storage option that best meets your planned use case on your Oracle Exadata Storage Servers.

As an input to the virtual machine (VM) cluster creation process, you must choose options that determine how storage space in the Oracle Exadata Storage Servers is allocated to the Oracle ASM disk groups. Your choices profoundly affect how storage space in the Exadata Storage Servers is allocated to the ASM disk groups. Consider which option best meets your needs:

  • Allocate Storage for Exadata Snapshots

    If you select this option, then the SPARSE disk group is created, and less space is allocated to the DATA and RECO disk groups. If you do not select this option, then the SPARSE disk group is not created, and you cannot use Exadata snapshot functionality.

  • Allocate Storage for Local Backups

    If you select this option, then more space is allocated to the RECO disk group to accommodate local backups to Oracle Exadata storage. If you do not select this option, then more space is allocated to the DATA disk group, but you cannot use local Oracle Exadata storage as a backup destination for any databases in the VM cluster.

Allocation Proportions for DATA, RECO and SPARSE Disk Groups

Determine the storage allocation between the DATA, RECO, and SPARSE disk groups for Oracle Exadata Storage Servers.

Exadata Storage Server Configuration Allocation With No Exadata Snapshot Storage or Local Backup

When you select Allocate Storage for Exadata Snapshots: No and Enable Backups on Local Exadata Storage: No, then storage allocation is as follows:

  • DATA Disk Group: 80%
  • RECO Disk Group: 20%
  • SPARSE Disk Group 0% (The SPARSE disk group is not created.)

Exadata Storage Server Configuration Allocation With No Exadata Snapshot Storage and Local Backup Enabled

When you select Allocate Storage for Exadata Snapshots: No and Enable Backups on Local Exadata Storage: Yes, so that backups are enabled on local storage, then storage allocation is as follows:

  • DATA Disk Group: 40%
  • RECO Disk Group: 60%
  • SPARSE Disk Group 0% (The SPARSE disk group is not created.)

Exadata Storage Server Configuration Allocation With Exadata Snapshot Storage and No Local Backup

When you select Allocate Storage for Exadata Snapshots: Yes and Enable Backups on Local Exadata Storage: No, so that storage is allocated for Exadata snapshots, then storage allocation is as follows:

  • DATA Disk Group: 60%
  • RECO Disk Group: 20%
  • SPARSE Disk Group 20%

Exadata Storage Server Configuration Allocation With Both Exadata Snapshot Storage and Local Backup Enabled

When you select Allocate Storage for Exadata Snapshots: Yes and Enable Backups on Local Exadata Storage: Yes, so that storage is allocated for Exadata snapshots, and storage is allocated for local backups, then storage allocation is as follows:

  • DATA Disk Group: 35%
  • RECO Disk Group: 50%
  • SPARSE Disk Group 15%

Virtual Machine File System Structure for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

Exadata Cloud@Customer X8M systems use the following file system organization on the virtual machines. To plan for local storage allocation on the virtual machines please refer to Estimating How Much Local Storage You Can Provision to Your VMs.

Filesystem Mounted On
devtmpfs /dev
tmpfs /dev/shm
tmpfs /run
tmpfs /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs /run/user/0
/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbSys1 /
/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbOra1 /u01
/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbTmp /tmp
/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbVar1 /var
/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbVarLog /var/log
/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbHome /home
/dev/mapper/VGExaDbDisk.u02_extra.img-LVDBDisk /u02
/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbVarLogAudit /var/log/audit
/dev/sda1 /boot
/dev/mapper/VGExaDbDisk.grid19.0.0.0.200414.img-LVDBDisk /u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid
/dev/asm/acfsvol01-142 /acfs01

Configuring Exadata Exascale Storage

Note

Exascale configuration requires Q-in-Q (802.1ad) enabled on the Exadata compute nodes. If Q-in-Q is not already enabled on the Exadata infrastructure, a Dom0 reboot will be initiated as part of the Exascale configuration operation. All VM clusters on the infrastructure will be restarted in a rolling fashion accordingly.

Parent topic: Storage Configuration Requirements for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

About Exascale Storage Configuration Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

To use Exascale storage during VM cluster provisioning, you must first configure it by allocating a portion of the total Exadata storage available on your Exadata Infrastructure.

Specify the storage capacity you wish to reserve for Exascale usage. A minimum of 2TB of available Exadata storage is required to configure Exascale storage. Configuring Exascale storage involves a rolling reboot of data nodes. After the initial configuration, you can scale the Exascale storage capacity online as needed. Note that scaling storage may trigger a storage rebalancing operation, which could temporarily affect performance during the process.

If sufficient storage is not available on the Infrastructure to configure the Exascale storage or to scale the existing Exascale storage capacity, additional storage can be added to the Infrastructure supporting the elastic storage expansion as follows:

  • Add new storage servers to the infrastructure.
  • Make the new storage capacity available to all ASM and Exascale VM clusters.
  • Adding new storage will proportionally increase the Exascale storage capacity.
  • Expand Exascale storage vaults as needed to utilize the additional capacity.

Alternatively, customers can shrink the existing ASM or Exascale clusters to free up storage and allocate it to Exascale to meet the additional capacity demand.

Using the Console to Configure Exascale Storage on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer Infrastructure

To configure Exascale storage on your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer infrastructure, be prepared to provide values for the infrastructure configuration.

Note

  • If an Exadata Infrastructure has been updated to Exadata System Software 24.1.x or later, a banner with the message "You can now configure Exascale storage on this infrastructure" will be displayed to indicate that the infrastructure is ready for Exascale configuration. This banner will not be displayed for infrastructures that are already configured to use Exascale.
  • The minimum Exascale storage that can be configured on Exadata Infrastructure is 2 TB.
  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Select Region and Compartment, and provide the region and the compartment where the Oracle Exadata infrastructure you want to edit is located.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Exadata infrastructure where you want to configure Exascale storage.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Click More Actions, and then select Configure Exascale storage.
  6. On the resulting Configure Exascale storage window, enter the storage capacity you want to allocate for Exascale.
  7. Click Submit.

The Exadata storage section on the Exadata Infrastructure Details page displays the storage details allocated for ASM and Exascale.

Using the Console to Create an Exascale Storage Vault

To create an Exascale storage vault, be prepared to provide values for the Exascale storage vault configuration.

An Exascale vault is a logical storage container that uses the physical resources provided by Exascale storage pools. Each vault is associated with at least one storage pool.

Note

  • The minimum configurable or resizable size for an Exascale Storage Vault is 2 TB.
  • A vault can be deleted and moved to another compartment.
  • A vault can be shared between two or more Exascale VM clusters.
  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Select Region and Compartment, and provide the region and the compartment where the Oracle Exadata infrastructure you want to edit is located.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Exadata infrastructure where you want to create an Exascale storage vault.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Under Resource, click Exascale storage vault.
  6. Click Create Exascale storage vault.
  7. On the resulting Create Exascale storage vault window, enter the following:
    • Compartment: Select a compartment where you want this resource to be created.
    • Name: Enter a descriptive name for the vault.
    • Storage capacity for the databases: Enter a reasonable storage capacity within the minimum and maximum values displayed on the screen.
  8. Click Create Exascale storage vault.

    The Exascale Storage Vault Details page provides key information, including the allocated storage and a list of VM Clusters associated with the vault.

  9. Alternatively, you can create a new vault on the fly using the Create new storage vault option while provisioning the Exascale VM cluster.

Using the Console to Scale an Exascale Storage Vault

To scale an Exascale storage vault, be prepared to provide values for the Exascale storage vault configuration.

Note

The minimum configurable or resizable size for an Exascale Storage Vault is 2 TB.
  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Select Region and Compartment, and provide the region and the compartment where the Oracle Exadata infrastructure you want to edit is located.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Exadata infrastructure where the Exascale storage vault you want to scale reside.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Under Resource, click Exascale storage vault.
  6. Click the name of the Exascale storage vault you want to scale.
  7. On the resulting Exascale storage vault Details page, click Scale storage vault.
  8. On the resulting Scale storage vault window, enter the storage capacity for the databases within the minimum and maximum values displayed on the screen.
  9. Click Save Changes.

Using the Console to Move an Exascale Storage Vault to Another Compartment

To move an Exascale storage vault to another compartment, use this procedure.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Select Region and Compartment, and provide the region and the compartment where the Oracle Exadata infrastructure you want to edit is located.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Exadata infrastructure where the Exascale storage vault you want to scale reside.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Under Resource, click Exascale storage vault.
  6. Click the name of the Exascale storage vault you want to move.
  7. On the resulting Exascale storage vault Details page, click Move resource.
  8. On the resulting dialog, choose the new compartment for the Exascale storage vault, and click Move Resource.

Using the Console to Delete an Exascale Storage Vault

To delete an Exascale storage vault, use this procedure.

Note

An Exascale storage vault can only be deleted when it is not associated with any Exascale VM clusters. To delete an active vault, you must first terminate all VM clusters and the underlying databases that are using the vault.
  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Select Region and Compartment, and provide the region and the compartment where the Oracle Exadata infrastructure you want to edit is located.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Exadata infrastructure where the Exascale storage vault you want to scale reside.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Under Resource, click Exascale storage vault.
  6. Click the name of the Exascale storage vault you want to move.
  7. On the resulting Exascale storage vault Details page, click Delete.
  8. On the resulting dialog, enter the name of the Exascale storage vault, and click Terminate Exascale storage vault to confirm the action.