2 Configuring Servers for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC

2.1 Checking Server Hardware and Memory Configuration

Run the following commands to gather your current system information:

1. To determine the available RAM and swap space, use the sar command. For example, to check for available free memory and swap space, you can enter the following command, which shows free memory and swap memory at two-second intervals checked 10 times:

   # sar -r 2 10
   

   If the available RAM indicates a potential memory shortage, then you must install more memory before continuing.

2. To determine the size of the configured swap space, enter the following command:

   # /usr/sbin/swap -l
   

   Note:

   Configure swap for your expected system loads. This installation guide provides minimum values for installation only. Refer to your Oracle Solaris documentation for additional memory tuning guidance.

3. To determine the amount of space available in the /tmp directory, enter the following command:

   # df -k /tmp
   

   This command displays disk space in 1 kilobyte blocks. On most systems, you can use the df command with the -h flag (df -h) to display output in "human-readable" format, such as "24G" and "10M." If there is less than 1 GB of disk space available in the /tmp directory (less than 1048576 1-k blocks), then complete one of the following steps:

   • Delete unnecessary files from the /tmp directory to make available the space required.

   • Set the TEMP and TMPDIR environment variables when setting the oracle user's environment.

   • Extend the file system that contains the /tmp directory. If necessary, contact your system administrator for information about extending file systems.

4. To determine the amount of free disk space on file systems, enter the following command:

   # df -kh
   

5. To determine if the system architecture can run the Oracle software, enter the following command:

   # /bin/isainfo -kv
   

   Verify that the processor architecture matches the Oracle software release to install. If you do not see the expected output, then you cannot install the software on this system.

   The following are examples of responses on 64-bit operating systems:

   64-bit SPARC installation:

   64-bit sparcv9 kernel modules

   64-bit x86 installation:

   64-bit amd64 kernel modules

   Ensure that the Oracle software you have is the correct Oracle software for your processor type.

   Note:

   If the output of this command indicates that your system architecture does not match the system for which the Oracle software you have is written, then you cannot install the software. Obtain the correct software for your system architecture before proceeding further.

2.2 General Server Minimum Requirements

• Select servers with the same instruction set architecture; running 32-bit and 64-bit Oracle software versions in the same cluster stack is not supported.

• Ensure that the server is started with run level 3 (Multiuser state with NFS resources shared). Display run level information by using the who -r command.

• Ensure display cards provide at least 1024 x 768 display resolution, so that OUI displays correctly while performing a system console-based installation.

• Ensure servers run the same operating system binary.

• Oracle Grid Infrastructure installations and Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) support servers with different hardware in the same cluster. Your cluster can have nodes with CPUs of different speeds or sizes, but Oracle recommends that you use nodes with the same hardware configuration.

  Oracle recommends that if you configure clusters using different configuration, that you categorize cluster nodes into homogenous pools as part of your server categorization management policy.

  See Also:

  Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about server state and configuration attributes, and about using server pools to manage resources and workloads

2.3 Server Storage Minimum Requirements

Each system must meet the following minimum storage requirements:

• 1 GB of space in the /tmp directory.

  If the free space available in the /tmp directory is less than what is required, then complete one of the following steps:

  • Delete unnecessary files from the /tmp directory to make available the space required.

  • Extend the file system that contains the /tmp directory. If necessary, contact your system administrator for information about extending file systems.

• At least 8.0 GB of space for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster home (Grid home). Oracle recommends that you allocate 100 GB to allow additional space for patches.

• 10 GB of additional space in the Oracle base directory of the Grid Infrastructure owner for diagnostic collections generated by Trace File Analyzer (TFA) Collector.

• At least 12 GB of space for the Oracle base of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation owner (Grid user). The Oracle base includes Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM log files.

• For Oracle Solaris platforms, if you intend to install Oracle Database, then allocate 5.2 GB of disk space for the Oracle home (the location for the Oracle Database software binaries).

If you are installing Oracle Database, and you plan to configure automated database backups, then you require additional space, either on a file system or in an Oracle Automatic Storage Management disk group for the Fast Recovery Area.

2.4 Server Memory Minimum Requirements

Ensure that your system meets the following minimum requirements, depending on your system architecture

• 64-bit System Memory Requirements

• Shared Memory Requirements