Database Support: Exalogic Task Overview Concepts

Dear Readers,

My name is Franz Devantier, creator of this blog. I am an Oracle Certified Professional (OCP DBA 11g) Security DBA. I will be sharing with you the basic duties of an Oracle DBA, and also some of the undocumented, and not so well known tasks.

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Contact: Franz

Exalogic Task Overview Concepts - Part 3

Virtual Storage Resources

There are three types of storage resources visible to Cloud Users in the Exalogic vDC.

-> vServer Root Disks

vServer root disks are created at vServer creation time, and are based on the server template. This is the disk where the vServer OS operates. Root disks are available after a vServer reboot, and a root disk is deleted only when a vServer is deleted.

There are four attributes of the vServer root disk that are visible to Cloud Users:

. vServer

. Size GB

. Status

. Created by

-> Volumes

A volume is a virtual block storage device that can be attached or detached from vServers. Cloud Users can attach one or more volumes to a vServer, either at vServer creation time or at a later time to a stopped vServer. The storage space for volumes is limited by the Account’s quota.

Cloud users can create an empty volume, or create a volume from a snapshot, or import a volume from an HtTP server.

When you create a volume you can share it. Shared volumes can be attached to multiple vServers. If a volume is not attached to any vServer, then you can delete it.

There aretwelve attributes about the volumes that are visible to Cloud Users.

. Name

. Description

. Max Size GB

. Usage Size GB

. Attached to

. Share Status

. Use Status

. Root Volume

. R/W

. Created By

. Status

. Tags

-> Snapshots

A snapshot is a clone of a volume at a specific point in time. The snapshot captures the current state of the volume and is immutable.

Cloud Users can create a snapshot from an existing volume. Cloud Users can create a volume from a snapshot and attaché those volumes to vServers at vServer creation time. They can also attach those volumes at a later time to a stopped vServer. Deleting a volume does not influence any snapshot that had been created based on that volume. Snapshots exist independently of the volume.

A Snapshot has 12 attributes associated with it, that are visible to Cloud Users:

. Name

. Description

. Max Size GB

. Usage Size GB

. Attached to

. Share Status

. Use Status

. Root Volume

. R/W

. Created By

. Status

. Tags

Distribution Groups

Distribution Groups is a concept that is specific to Exalogic Virtual Data Centers (vDCs). You place your vServers in a distribution group. This mechanism can help you to ensure that no two vServers run on the same Oracle VM Server. Distribution groups are bound to a specific Account. vServers can be assigned to a distribution group when you create a vServer. Cloud users have the authority to create, update, or delete their distributions groups. Naturally you can only delete distribution groups that don’t have any vServers assigned to them. Cloud Users can check the number of vServers that have been assigned to a specific Distribution group.

There are six Distribution Group attributes that are visible to Cloud Users:

. Name

. Description

. vServer Assigned

. Size

. Status

. Tags

vServers

A vServer is an entity that looks like an Operating System. It provides the outward interface of a Standalone Operating System. A vServer consumes CPU and memory resources. A vServer can be a member of one or multiple vNets. It has its own identity, its own local storage, its own interfaces, and its own configuration that exists for the full lifetime of the vServer.

As a Cloud User you can create one or multiple vServers at a time. When you create a single vServer a static IP address. A suffix is not added to the name of the vServer. When you create multiple vServers, only automatic IP address assignment is possible. Also when creating multiple vServers a suffix is added to the vServer name for each vserver.

Before creating a single vServer, a Cloud User should make sure that the following resources exist, and if they don’t exist, then the Cloud User should first define them:

. A Server Template

. A vServer Type

Only Cloud Administrators can create new vServer types, However a Cloud user can choose from the list of defined vServer types, including the three default vServer types. During the vServer creation process, the vServer types are visible to Cloud Users. So all a Cloud User can do is to select a vServer Type from the existing vServer Types that are allocated to the Account.

. One or more virtual networks

During the planning stage, the Cloud User can define the requirements anddefine the following resources to be used during the vServer creation.

. Reserved IP addresses

. Distribution Groups

. Volumes

. Public Key

There are nine attributes about the vServer that are visible to Cloud Users:

. Name

. Description

. Created By

. Creation date

. Memory Size GB