Update on Oracle 10gR2 RAC Certifications on Unix and Linux: Cost, Risk, and Choice

1. Oracle Update 2006 SE Interlock

2. Agenda • Update: 10gR2 RAC Certifications on Unix • Update: RAC / Linux Certifications discussions • Cost, Risk and Choice • What’s new in 5.0 for Oracle

3. Update on 10gR2 RAC Certifications on Unix • We support 10gR2 RAC today • GA in recent maint. packs • Configuration details in release notes • Oracle certification still in progress • Oracle has delivered 2/3 of cert kit • Expected to get rest kit on 1/23 • Oracle corporate has publicly stated that we will be certified on Unix • 4-6 weeks of testing plus 1-2 weeks for Oracle to review and post • Certification on Metalink approximately late Feb. or early March

4. Update on 10gR2 RAC Certifications on Unix (con’t) • Why are others already certified? • Done internally at Oracle as part of release process • Position the issue to customers • Symantec has a GA product that has completed internal QA • Oracle is bottleneck in certification • Use cost-risk-choice to be a trusted advisor • Bi-weekly Update Conference Call for SEs • Hosted by Vesna Vrdroljak • Every other Thursday at 7 AM Pacific Time

5. Update on RAC / Linux Certifications • We support RAC on Linux today • Oracle holding up certification to benefit themselves • We know this is a critical issue, and it is a top priority • Executive meetings have gone well • Technical meetings proceeding well • Oracle PM team needs additional pressure • Use Cost-Risk-Choice Messaging with your customers • Get customers to escalate to Oracle • Most effective way for us to change Oracle behavior

6. Update on RAC / Linux Certifications (con’t) • We believe Oracle will change Linux policy • We are negotiating a jointly signed public letter to use with customers • Expected certification timeframe on Linux is Q2 • Update webcast on Feb 1st at 11 AM Pacific Time • http://veritas.ca.breezecentral.com/fieldoracle/

7. Cost, Risk and Choice United & Consistent Messagingto compete with Oracle

8. Background • Oracle positioning against Veritas • “You don’t need Veritas; don’t pay the tax.” • “Veritas is not a long term part of the Oracle ecosystem” • Resulting FUD affecting UNIX and Linux • Oracle is withholding support for 10g RAC on Linux • Many customers are alarmed • Customers supportive of Veritas/Symantec

9. If you remember nothing else, remember this: COST RAC may be overkill RISK RAC is vulnerable without Veritas CHOICE Understand Oracle’s motives

10. RAC may be overkill COST RAC may be overkill RISK RAC is vulnerable without Veritas CHOICE Understand Oracle’s motives

11. RAC is expensive • Everybody agrees that RAC is expensive • Oracle RAC MSRP 50% higher than single instance • Managing RAC is complex and costly • So, what do you get? Oracle says… • Scalability • Availability

12. “Most likely, you don’t need RAC. Alternatives will usually be cheaper, easier to manage and quite sufficient.” Oracle User Group Select Journal How much availability do you need? MANUAL VCS TIME TO FAILOVER RAC 5 MIN 15 MIN 25 MIN 35 MIN • RAC failover is not instant, it can take 20+ seconds • RAC failover requires most apps to re-connect (downtime) • Storage Foundation HA can failover within minutes

13. Did we mention that RAC is expensive? Example: Enterprise environment needing 4 databases Does not even include maintenance, management, implementation, etc.

14. How well does RAC scale? • Global Cache Service Consumes Resources • Performance per node degrades with more nodes • RAC an ineffective answer to scalability COST PERFORMANCE SERVER CAPACITY AVAILABLE CAPACITY

15. So, what is RAC good for? • For organizations that… • Understand that RAC does not eliminate all downtime • Can afford the extra cost of RAC to eliminate seconds of downtime • Can absorb the extra management complexity • A candidate may be a mission-critical OLTP database • Applications this critical need Veritas

16. RAC is vulnerable without Veritas COST RAC may be overkill RISK RAC is vulnerable without Veritas CHOICE Understand Oracle’s motives

17. "If the Virtual IP fails for any reason and cannot be restarted, CRS will bring down all dependent resources, including the Listener, ASM instance and database instance." Oracle User Guide Oracle RAC is vulnerable without Veritas • CRS is a single point of failure • Failed Interconnect:Loss of one database instance • Failed HBA:Loss of one database instance • Split brain: Possibility of data corruption • Storage Foundation can fix this • Failed Interconnect:No Change • Failed HBA:No Change • Split brain:Data is protected

18. Managing RAC without Veritas puts data at risk WITHOUT VERITAS WITH VERITAS $$ $$ $$

19. And what about Disaster Recovery? • Oracle RAC can help provide local HA • Systems requiring RAC should have an HA/DR solution • Only Veritas can provide full DR • Supports all Veritas and 3rd party data replication (including Oracle’s) • Stretch and wide-area (global) clustering capabilities • Handles all apps built around the Oracle RAC instance • Coordinates DR across the enterprise

20. Understand Oracle’s motives COST RAC may be overkill RISK RAC is vulnerable without VERITAS CHOICE Understand Oracle’s motives

21. Is Larry looking out for you? THE WORLD ACCORDING TO LARRY: • Oracle has the enterprise “locked in” • Everything (including unstructured data) should live in a database • That database (and all databases) should be Oracle • DBA’s run everything THEREFORE: • Little need to listen to large enterprise needs • No way to migrate off of ASM or CRS • Limited support for non-Oracle offerings

22. Again, please remember… • Most of the time, RAC is not necessary • When it is necessary, Veritas is essential • Use Veritas to minimize cost, reduce risk and provide choice COST RISK CHOICE • Use RAC appropriately • Usually not necessary • Higher availability • Reduced complexity • Proven technology • Any operating system • Structured & unstructured • Manage your way • Future-proof

23. What’s new in 5.0Dynamic Storage Tiering New SF RAC features Additional Enhancements

24. Storage Tiering: The Technical Problem • Some customers do storage tiering today • Buy different types of storage arrays for different projects • Poor granularity • Never change it, even though business value of data changes • Why? Conventional tools don’t allow anything else • Basic property of conventional file systems • 1 file system = 1 volume • Move files from one file system to another? • Backup procedures have to be adjusted • Applications have to be redirected • Run scripts have to be modified Our Dynamic Storage Tiering provides a better way

25. Data Warehouse Case Study • Retail company using Oracle database for sales tracking and analysis • Sales data entered and frozen six months later • Most recent data accessed most frequently • Storage Tiering configuration • Primary data is stored on Enterprise-class storage with RAID 1+0 volumes • Secondary storage is workgroup-class storage with RAID-5 volumes

26. Case Study – Physical Database Configuration • Sales table is partitioned by date • Each partition uses its own tablespace and datafiles

27. Dynamic Storage Tiering Summary • Can be used with databases, at the file level • Compelling Value Proposition • Save $$$ on storage hardware spending • Competitive Differentiation • EMC and other storage hw vendors can’t do it • Shows weakness in Oracle ASM vision

28. Additional 5.0 Enhancements • SF RAC Enhancements • 10g R2 RAC support (pre-5.0) • Full database FlashSnap support in SF RAC • Full Storage Mapping support • New Database Support • ASE 15 support • DB2 Viper (v9) support • Oracle 10gR2 and 10gR2 RAC support (released in 4.X MPs) • New VCS Replication Agents • *New* Oracle DataGuard and DB2 HADR • Full Storage Foundation for Oracle on Linux

29. Summary • Update: 10gR2 RAC Certifications on Unix • Certifications in progress  aggressively pursue deals • Update: RAC / Linux Certifications discussions • Progess with Oracle  Continue to have customers escalate • Cost, Risk and Choice • Be a trusted advisor to your customer • What’s new in 5.0 for Oracle • Continued investment in Storage Tiering and RAC

30. Questions?