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Stephen D. Mund, OCP Database Administrator Nevada System of Higher Education System Computing Services. Offloading Input/Output on Blackboard Campus Edition Using Oracle Standby Database Technology. Introduction. Blackboard CE’s Section Backup. Introduction.
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Stephen D. Mund, OCP Database Administrator Nevada System of Higher Education System Computing Services Offloading Input/Output on Blackboard Campus Edition Using Oracle Standby Database Technology
Introduction • Blackboard CE’s Section Backup.
Introduction • Blackboard CE’s Section Backup. • Using Oracle for backup of small datasets.
Introduction • Blackboard CE’s Section Backup. • Using Oracle for backup of small datasets. • Offloading I/O from backups.
Case Study • Great Basin College – • Uses Blackboard CE as a primary tool in their Distance Learning program serving students in over 62,000 sq. mi. of rural Nevada.
Case Study • Great Basin College – • Uses Blackboard CE as a primary tool in their Distance Learning program serving students in over 62,000 sq. mi. of rural Nevada. • Over 1200 courses are offered through the Blackboard CE solution.
Case Study • Great Basin College – • Uses Blackboard CE as a primary tool in their Distance Learning program serving students in over 62,000 sq. mi. of rural Nevada. • Over 1200 courses are offered through the Blackboard CE solution. • Section backup was performing nominally, issue was with the amount of coursework needed to be backed up.
Case Study (continued) • Server degradation in performance towards the end of each semester.
Case Study (continued) • Server degradation in performance towards the end of each semester. • Massive slowdown causing users to log off and log on later.
Case Study (continued) • Server degradation in performance towards the end of each semester. • Massive slowdown causing users to log off and log on later. • Hangs during both reading and writing.
Case Study (continued) • Server degradation in performance towards the end of each semester. • Massive slowdown causing users to log off and log on later. • Hangs during both reading and writing. • Caused by extensive I/O on the application server due to constant use of section backup.
Case Study (continued) • Server degradation in performance towards the end of each semester. • Massive slowdown causing users to log off and log on later. • Hangs during both reading and writing. • Caused by extensive I/O on the application server due to constant use of section backup. • Section Backup required use of the application.
Options Considered • Don’t use the section backup utility and use another database to perform Point-in-Time Recovery. Then use Section Backup to recovery the file.
Options Considered • Don’t use the section backup utility and use another database to perform Point-in-Time Recovery. Then use Section Backup to recovery the file. • PROS: Does not require ongoing use of storage. Relieves the I/O issue.
Options Considered • Don’t use the section backup utility and use another database to perform Point-in-Time Recovery. Then use Section Backup to recovery the file. • PROS: Does not require ongoing use of storage. Relieves the I/O issue. • CONS: Cumbersome requires time consuming restoration to another server. More involved, difficult to script.
Options Considered • Optimize Disk Performance. System currently uses RAID 5 could reconfigure to better RAID configuration like 1+0 or even RAID 1.
Options Considered • Optimize Disk Performance. System currently uses RAID 5 could reconfigure to better RAID configuration like 1+0 or even RAID 1. • PROS: I/O performance is increased at the storage level.
Options Considered • Optimize Disk Performance. System currently uses RAID 5 could reconfigure to better RAID configuration like 1+0 or even RAID 1. • PROS: I/O performance is increased at the storage level. • CONS: It is doubtful that the performance increase would be substantial enough. Requires application downtime to configure and is labor intensive.
Options Considered • Standby database with Flashback technology and roll forward.
Options Considered • Standby database with Flashback technology and roll forward. • PROS: Off loads most of the I/O leaving only a minor amount required for resynchronization.
Options Considered • Standby database with Flashback technology and roll forward. • PROS: Off loads most of the I/O leaving only a minor amount required for resynchronization. • CONS: Requires extensive ongoing disk space for flashback logs, archive logs and database files.
Options Considered • Delayed Standby database with Flashback technology
Options Considered • Delayed Standby database with Flashback technology • PROS: Has the advantages of previous option but uses about half the space.
Options Considered • Delayed Standby database with Flashback technology. • PROS: Has the advantages of previous option but uses about half the space. • CONS: More involved setup. Requires special configurations to use extra long delay. Space requirement is more than first two options and recoveries are more involved than third option.
Our Solution • Best solutions.
Our Solution • Best solutions. • Technical points option 3.
Our Solution • Best solutions. • Technical points option 3. • Our specific situation option 4.
Our Solution • Best solutions • Technical points option 3. • Our specific situation option 4. • Option 3 is the easiest to implement and simplest to maintain.
Our Solution • Best solutions • Technical points option 3. • Our specific situation option 4. • Option 3 is the easiest to implement and simplest to maintain. • Option 4 was the best solution for us. Because it uses least disk space.
Implementation • Set up a Standby database.
Implementation • Set up a Standby database. • This is well documented inOracle® Data Guard Concepts and Administration 10g Release 2 (10.2) Part Number B14239-05 ,Chapter 3, Chapter 12.7, Chapter 12.8 Appendix F.
Implementation • Remote Archivelog Destination.
Implementation • Remote Archivelog Destination. • Parameters ARCH.
Implementation • Remote Archivelog Destination. • Parameters ARCH. • DELAY=20160.
Implementation • Remote Archivelog Destination. • Parameters ARCH. • DELAY=20160. • MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE.
Implementation • Standby Redo Logs.
Implementation • Standby Redo Logs. • Not needed in this application.
Implementation • Standby Redo Logs. • Not needed in this application. • Flashback Database.
Implementation • Standby Redo Logs. • Not needed in this application. • Flashback Database. • Only on the Standby Database.
Implementation • Special Configurations.
Implementation • Special Configurations. • Control file retention period greater than the amount of the delay (control_file_record_keep_time).
Implementation • Special Configurations. • Control file retention period greater than the amount of the delay (control_file_record_keep_time). • Archive logs will need to be maintained on both the primary and the standby for at least the delay time.
Implementation • Errors.
Implementation • Errors. • If you .see something akin to this in the alert log:FAL[client]: Failed to request gap sequence GAP - thread 1 sequence 34810-34909 DBID 3683442141 branch 624546717FAL[client]: All defined FAL servers have been attempted.
Implementation • Errors.
Implementation • Errors. • Probably indicates that you are not keeping enough archive logs on the primary rather than keep time for the control file.
Implementation • Errors. • Probably indicates that you are not keeping enough archive logs on the primary rather that keep time for the control file. • You will need to manually ship the archived logs on the standby to the primary.
Implementation • Best Practice.
Implementation • Best Practice. • Place the standby database in it’s own home. During upgrades and patching you will need to patch the standby along with the primary.
Implementation • Best Practice. • Place the standby database in it’s own home. During upgrades and patching you will need to patch the standby along with the primary. • If you use a development or test home then you won’t be able to test the patch without upgrading everything.