Oracle ACFS resources can be created with the following methods:
Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) provides a GUI that exposes the most common functionality. In all cases, creating a file system resource does not format the underlying file system. Attempts to start the resource require the user to format the file system either manually or with ASMCA.
SRVCTL provides a highly flexible command line utility for creating Oracle ACFS file system resources through the filesystem object. Oracle ACFS resources created through this mechanism have access to the full feature set, including server pools.
acfsutil commands provide an alternative method to create Oracle ACFS file system resources using the registry object. Oracle ACFS resources created through this methodology have access to a limited set of options.
The differences between SRVCTL and acfsutil commands are:
Oracle ACFS resources created through SRVCTL and specifying a server pool or list of nodes are only mounted on one of those nodes. (node-local)
Oracle ACFS resources created through SRVCTL can take advantage of Oracle Server Pools.
Oracle ACFS resources created through acfsutil commands and specifying a list of nodes are mounted on all listed nodes. (node-local)
Oracle ACFS resources created through acfsutil commands are created with AUTOSTART set to ALWAYS.
Oracle ACFS resources created through SRVCTL allow for advanced Application ID functionality. Using this functionality enables the resource type to be set by the administrator. After the type is set, other resources can depend on this type, allowing different node-local file systems to be used to fulfill dependencies on each node. In a simplified example, this would allow the administrator to have a different device mounted on the /log directory on each node of the cluster, and be able to run an Apache resource. The Apache resource would specify the new type in its resource dependency structure, rather than specifying an individual resource.
Oracle ACFS resources created through SRVCTL can specify additional AUTOSTART parameters. These parameters can be used to prevent the resource from starting on stack startup, to always force the resource to start, or to only start the resource if it was previously running.
Oracle ACFS resources created through SRVCTL have access to functionality such as accelerator volumes.
The common elements of both SRVCTL and acfsutil commands are:
User
This is an additional user that can act upon the resource. By default, you must be the root user to start and stop an Oracle ACFS resource.
Options
These are mount options that should be used to mount the file system when the resource is starting.