Oracle Tips by Burleson

Oracle Disk I/O Tuning

Chapter 5: Storage Disk System

Fig 5.9 Redundant HBA configuration

Examples of such a software solution include HP’s Secure Path, the Veritas Dynamic Multi-Path, EMC Power Path and PolyServe Matrix Server Multi-Path I/O. These all help to continue the flow of traffic despite the path failure. When it is configured with dual HBAs as shown in Fig 5.9, we can avoid a single point of failure. In 5.9(b) there is only one HBA fitted to each server, which can become a point of failure. In 5.9(a), a pair of HBA units for each server and a pair of switches in the I/O path provides redundancy.

Storage Redundancy Components

There are many other components that help us to keep the storage system secure and reliable. Some of these include:

Hot Spares

A hot spare drive is a drive that contains no data and acts as a standby in case a drive fails. The hot spare drive adds another level of redundancy in the RAID Module. If a drive (of similar or a smaller capacity) fails, the hot spare automatically takes over on behalf of the failed drive until we replace it with another drive. Once we replace the failed drive, the hot spare automatically returns to a spare-standby status. Depending on how many hot spares we configure, a LUN (logical unit) could remain optimal and still have several failed drives (each one being covered by a hot spare). This method helps to keep the RAID 1, 3, or 5 LUNs functional.

Hot Plug

A hot-plug component means that it is electrically safe to remove or add the component while the machine is still running. Typically, the system must be rebooted before the hot-plug component is configured into the system.

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