What does Oracle's new technology mean for Linux?

Oracle is a staunch advocate of Linux since the launch of the first commercially available database for Linux platform in 1999. In particular, it has always been a leader in enhancing Linux, availability, and scalability.

Recently, Oracle has released a series of library functions and toolkits for Linux, a move that dramatically improves the cluster performance of Linux and provides developers with new features for using Linux and its file systems. These new tools greatly improve the practicality and business value of Linux. In addition, Oracle provides technical support to customers who configure oracle9i on the Red Hat Linux Advanced Server version 2.1. The benefits of this service are enormous, and it means that the company can now confidently adopt Linux based applications.

Why Linux is supported

The answer is very obvious. Linux is desperately needed on the market. For example, IDC predicts that spending on the Linux environment will increase from $80 million trillion in 2001 to $280 million in 2006, with an average growth rate of 28%. Gartner Group predicts that by 2007, the Linux market will earn more than 9 billion dollars, close to 18% of total shipping revenue. While such predictions only show their own views, it is commercially important for Oracle to fully support Linux. Since June 2002, more than 68,000 Linux based oracle9i databases have been downloaded in the 2nd edition.

On the other hand, the fundamentals of Linux are just as important as open source in common sense. Open source documentation is normalized, and open source represents a shift in the pattern of flexible systems that are created and modified by a small number of developers to create and modify with a few developers and users, a flexible system that enables today's business to function better.

Another reason Oracle is dedicated to Linux is that Linux can run on almost any hardware platform from mainframes, servers to desktops. This makes Linux uniquely positioned to operate in a clustered environment and improves the investment value of applications running on Linux by providing companies with more control and flexibility to deploy applications on a wide range of open source platforms.

Improve cluster performance

Enterprise needs availability and scalability, and cluster technology plays a major role in both. Linux Cluster technology is unique in that it can handle the cluster running on ordinary hardware, so the application of cluster extends to small business and individual users. Now, with the latest Linux enhancements to Oracle and Red Hat, the management and performance of the cluster has been greatly improved. These enhancements include:

The most important enhancements associated with clustering for cluster file systems are Oracle's release of the Linux clustered file system. Before a clustered file system is present, managing each part of the cluster means dealing directly with the bare disks. In contrast, the cluster file system greatly simplifies the management of the entire cluster. With a clustered file system, a user can create a large partition that includes all the disks in the cluster, and all nodes can access the file system very simply. The shared file system specifically designed for oracle9i real application clusters allows all nodes in the cluster to share an Oracle home file without requiring that each node have its own local copy. Changes made to the Oracle home file are replicated dynamically through the cluster without impeding its availability.

Load switching during NIC failure is also known as Network fault tolerance (network Fault TOLERANCE,NFT) or NIC redundancy, which enables two or more servers to maintain an active link at all times. Load switching during NIC failure means that the user can install another compatible NIC on each machine, and if the primary network connection fails for any reason, the second standby NIC will automatically gain control and maintain network connectivity. Now that you have a linux-based Oracle product, users can install another NIC to ensure high availability.

I/O protection I/O protection helps protect the integrity of file systems that are shared by multiple nodes. I/O protection means that when one node is down, the other node separates it from the file system. Oracle's I/O protection, especially for Oracle, prevents the remaining write operations of the failed database node from writing information to the file system.

Enhanced Manageability

Oracle is also working to make its products run on Linux easier to manage, and it is working with Red hat to develop more tools and programs. Tools to enhance the manageability of Linux include:

Cluster Manager to better utilize the cluster enhancements mentioned earlier, Oracle created a new component called Cluster Manager (Cluster Manager) for oracle9i real application clusters. The cluster Manager is a daemon (daemon) that is responsible for monitoring all cluster services. The user can configure the daemon and launch it, and Oracle accesses it when needed.

The Israid utility Israid is an Oracle-developed utility that enables users to manage RAID storage. With this program, users can query the Linux MD device for information about the device and its owning block. With Israid, the user can recover the Raidtab file, check for and ensure the correctness of the information in the file, and then, if the disk is renamed, manually or with Israid to rebuild the MD configuration.

Network console and Emergency Dump program This tool, bundled with the Advanced Server 2.1 of Red Hat, provides a network console that logs kernel messages (including Linux contingency signature messages) over the network to a central server. The tool provides a centralized, consistent view of the system and kernel logs to help users solve Linux-related problems more quickly.