Dell Compellent SC8000 Controller - Manual (Page 7)

Optimizing an Oracle Database with Dell Compellent Automated Tiered Storage
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expensive SATA drives in tier 3. However, assigning data to a particular storage tier may be an ongoing
and complex activity which may take a lot of time and effort from the administrators if it is done
manually. Automation is a must to support the tiered storage infrastructure. An automated storage
tiering solution can meet the right balance between performance and storage cost by dynamically
identifying and moving hot data to higher-performance storage tiers, while moving cold data to slower,
lower-cost storage tiers.
Many types of applications can benefit from the automated storage tiering solution. Among them, an
Oracle® database is a prime candidate.
 Database storage space represents a large percentage of the overall data storage. Industry
research indicates that the average databases are growing at a double digit annual growth
rate. The driving forces of the rapid database growth rate can be contributed by the factors
such as the increased business demands, the regulatory and legal requirements resulted longer
data retention period, and the high availability requirements with duplicated copies of data,
etc. Managing and retaining the overall database storage usage imposes a big challenge on IT
organizations. The automated storage tiering solution can help address this challenge.
 Storage needs for Oracle databases differ from one database to another. Oracle database I/O
workloads can be classified as Online Transaction Processing (OLTP), or Decision Support
System (DSS), or a mix of the two. OLTP workload is typically used by the transactional
processing applications represented with a small set of active data, which can benefit from
placing on the high-performance storage media. DSS applications are typically used by the
reporting and data analysis applications represented with a large set of older data that can be
stored in the high capacity and low cost storage media to reduce the storage cost.
 Oracle databases also differ in terms of Service Level Agreement (SLA). Some databases are
mission critical while others are less important. IT organizations can take advantage of the
automated storage tiering solution to align databases to different storage tiers, in order to
minimize the storage cost while satisfying SLAs and meeting the expected performance level.
 Furthermore, within an Oracle database, components have different I/O characteristics. For
example, online redo log files have high I/O demands. Indexes in OLTP type of databases are
typically I/O intensive comparing to other database objects. For DSS type of databases,
partitions of older data are usually less accessed. An automated storage tiering solution can
help place different components of an Oracle database to the most optimal storage tier.
Dell solutions for Oracle database
Dell solutions for Oracle products are designed to simplify operations, improve usability, and provide
cost-effective scalability as your needs grow over time. In addition to providing server and storage
hardware, Dell solutions for Oracle include:
 Dell Configurations for Oracle―in-depth testing of Oracle configurations for high-demand
solutions; documentation and tools that help simplify deployment
 Integrated Solution Management―standards-based management of Dell solutions for Oracle
that can lower operational costs through integrated hardware and software deployment,
monitoring, and updating
 Oracle Licensing—licensing options that can simplify customer purchase
 Dell Enterprise Support and Infrastructure Services for Oracle―planning, deployment, and
maintenance of Dell solutions for Oracle database tools