Can a Service Group in VCS have multiple Databases in them?

[sparmar]

Hello All
I'm new to Veritas Cluster Server, so please bear with me.
My question is: Can a Service Group in VCS have multiple Databases in them? Would I need a separate Virtual IP address for each of the listeners, or can I use just one IP for the whole Service Group?


Many Thanks

[Gaurav_S]

Hello,

Yes, you can configure multiple database in one service group, no worries, VCS supports it.

Depending on your configuration you can use one or more virtual IP address.

If your listener (with any Virtual IP) is serving 2 database, you can configure same listener & only one virtual IP in a service group with 2 oracle instances.

 Hope this answers your query..

Gaurav

[sparmar]

That's great.


Thankyou very much, it's good to useful advice when needed.

[Marianne]

It can be done, but just be aware that a failure of one database will cause a failover of the entire service group, meaning downtime on all databases.
Most users prefer to configure each database instance in its own service group.
The Oracle agent guide explains different configuration options - a single listener for multiple instances as well as one listener per instance. In all of the examples in the manual, each instance has its own service group.
If we know which version of VCS an which O/S, I will provide a link to the Oracle agent guide.

[sparmar]

Hi Marianne

Thanks for the reply.

I'm using VCS 5.0 for Linux, on Red Hat version 5.4 with Oracle DB 11g (version 0.2, I think)

I've set up the Service/Disk/Volume Groups as below:  (Generic Names)

Service Group=TEST_SG
Disk Group=testdg
Volume Group=test-database1-vol
                          =test-database2-vol
                          =test-database3-vol
Database Names=database1, database2, database3 etc..



As you can see, we are trying to run 3 or more databases within one service group.  The only thing is that we have about 10 service groups in total, all running about 4or 5 databases in each, so I'm a bit concerned when you say the whole service group would fail in the event of database fault.


As you probably have already guessed, I'm quite new to this software and wasn't sure about the Oracle agents, is this extra software that has to be purchased?


Thanks


Sparmar

[Marianne · Accepted solution]

Here's the link to all SF/HA docs for version 5.0 for Linux:
http://sfdoccentral.symantec.com/Storage_Foundation_HA_50_Linux.html
The Oracle Guide is called Cluster Server Agent for Oracle Installation and Configuration Guide.

You will find examples of Service Groups in this manual. Best if each Instance has not only its own volumes, but also its own diskgroup. This will enable you to create separate Service Groups with each Instance functioning independant of other instances, allowing you to online, offline, switch Instances without affecting other database instances. In the event of a failure, the entire SG needs to be offlined on the active node and brought online on the 2nd node.

If you have SF/HA for Oracle license key, the Oracle agent is included by default.
The manual will tell how where to find the agent on your install media and how to install it.
If you upgrade to version 5.1, all database agents are included with SF/HA license.