Oracle Exadata, or About the Use of Engineered Systems (Part 2)
In the first part of the article, we talked about the basic approaches underlying the engineered systems Oracle Exadata. Now dig a little deeper.
What does Exadata do this that a classic database can't do? As you have probably guessed, incremental backups are made only at the storage system level, and do not affect the performance of the database servers.
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Those operations that require massive I / O and heavily load the database level are also transferred to the storage system level. And if in the classical architecture the array returns to the system a set of blocks with which the database server works, then the Exadata Storage Server produces a complete set of rows and columns, which was required upon request - the so-called recordset, only those columns and columns that are required. As a result, the processor resources of the database server are significantly reduced.
The Oracle database uses classic data compression, OLTP compression. Exadata performs hybrid column compression — this means that when using Hybrid Columnar Compression, data is stored in a column-wise format, which is very efficient for large data warehouses, since it is a more compact format that allows high performance rates and a very high compression ratio. Just in case, Oracle reports in marketing materials that 10-fold compression is achieved for SAP applications - simply because no one will believe in higher rates at once. But in practice, SAP applications achieve a much higher compression ratio — for real data.
PCI Flash architecture improves system performance not only because it is faster than disks. By default, the solution includes the ability to transfer hot data from regular disks to PCI Flash Cash. The system responds very quickly to changes in load, and if the database actively requires certain data blocks, they instantly move to fast PCI Flash Cash. But, of course, like other advanced features, this can be turned off.
Before introducing this or that system, the customer is always forced to resort to complex and time-consuming testing, which will show how correctly and productively the solution will work on the customer's IT infrastructure. To do this, it is necessary to build a test bench, develop a testing methodology, highlight the most critical tasks for a business, consider generating workload and divert IT specialists from current tasks for at least a few weeks. In the case of Oracle Exadata for SAP, this problem is solved by a specialized service that is free for customers and called Oracle Exadata SAP Acceleration Pre-Check.
It works like this - for an SAP client who plans to migrate to (oracle) engineered systems , Oracle experts are ready to analyze its IT infrastructure and calculate how much more productive SAP solution will work on the software and hardware platform from Oracle. STAD, ST03 and AWR analyzes are performed based on best practices, i.e. according to the existing experience in the field of practical work of Oracle databases and SAP applications. Thus, the service does not require a test environment and does not affect the productive system.
The report contains information on such indicators as the overall response time of the system and the response time of the application and database. At the same time, the most pessimistic forecast of application performance is always given. In practice, the solution works much faster than a preliminary analysis shows.
How does the classic approach to the maintenance and upgrading of the system? You operate the system for a year, and then either yourself or involving IT partners, you do a fairly large-scale audit of the solution - how busy the networks are, how loaded the I / O system and servers are, whether the configuration is optimal, how noticeable the performance degradation is and what causes it . In the case of Exadata, everything is much simpler - you run the Oracle Exadata Exachk program, which performs comprehensive diagnostics of all system components and provides complete information about the Exadata configuration - for example, the program will indicate that the disk groups in the system are not marked as Oracle does. If the system does not install the next update, it will also be reflected in the report.
No need to explain that for the adequate work of software and hardware systems, the organization of technical support is extremely important. For technical support of Exadata, Exalogic and SuperCluster solutions, Oracle has a specialized program. Within the framework of this program, client cases are considered both on the hardware and on the software level - this is facilitated by the architecture of the software and hardware systems.
The classic Oracle service is a complete, comprehensive, proactive 24/7 Premier Support support that guarantees a response to a client's request within two hours. For the same money for engineered systems, Oracle provides support for Platinum Services. For certified configurations, a failure notification is guaranteed within five minutes, a solution to the problem or its escalation to the development department is within 15 minutes, in the latter case the problem is solved together by the developer within 30 minutes. Such SLA parameters are achieved due to the fact that Oracle engineers proactively monitor the state of the platform and read the system information at all levels - at the operating system level, at the level of software and hardware for all components, at the database level.
The procedure for updating the system is much simpler than in classical architectures - you just get a quarterly update already tested by Oracle engineers. The time required for updating systems, as well as the risks characteristic of such updates, are thus significantly reduced.
It is fundamentally important that SAP certifies the entire Oracle Exadata complex as a whole - and servers, networks, cluster software, storage systems, even cables. This guarantees the quality and correct operation of the solution, and precisely because of this, all the stages and terms of launching the system at the customer are very clearly determined.
Of course, for the database service to run on Exadata or SuperCluster, it is necessary that the Oracle databases be licensed. It is possible to license the solution both through SAP and directly from Oracle.
The most important, though obvious, is that SAP has already confirmed that the new version of Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 will be ported and tested for work with SAP applications. This will be the first release of Oracle Database 12 that SAP will work with. It also remains an important limitation that your company should use SAP NetWeaver 7 version and above, respectively, migration of such solutions that use NetWeaver 7 version and above is possible on version 12.
As you know, Oracle Database version 12.1.02 supports In-Memory technology, the meaning of which is that next to our usual buffer cache, which stores rows of tables and blocks of indexes, it creates a new cache, more precisely, a new shared area for data in RAM, in which information about the tables is stored in a column format, and the data is simultaneously active and transactionally consistent. All changes, as usual, are first made in the usual buffer cache, after which they are reflected in the column cache, or, as our English-speaking friends call it, the “columnar” cache.
Currently, work is underway to certify this option by SAP companies, and this is sure to happen - although not with the very first release to be certified by SAP.
The SAP application environment in the three-tier architecture consists of two components: application servers and database services. Database services can be deployed to Oracle Exadata, but where can I deploy SAP application servers? This can be done on Oracle SuperCluster.
Oracle SuperCluster is a self-contained software and hardware system that contains everything necessary for the functioning of database services and application servers - storage, database servers, virtualization systems, cluster solutions and application servers.
Oracle SuperCluster comes in two versions - Half Rack Supercluster and full version. The Half Rack Supercluster includes two compute modules with Oracle T5 processors. The database runs on the Exadata Storage Server. The configuration is completely duplicated in terms of hardware, applications are protected using Solaris Cluster technology, which is also included in the solution. To protect the geographical configuration from catastrophes, ZFS SA replication is used from the main site to the backup site, to protect the database service - the Oracle Data Guard technology, to protect the application servers - the Oracle Solaris Cluster. Thus, Oracle SuperCluster is a complete solution, protected from any failure, including the complete loss of the primary or backup data center.
As part of the Oracle ACS maintenance program, a productive database migration service for SAP to Oracle Exadata or Oracle Supercluster is offered. Migration projects are performed on various operating systems: UNIX, Linux, Windows, cross-platform migration is possible, migration from upgrades of Oracle Database versions. The migration speed mainly depends on the speed of the hardware platform, usually 0.5–1 TB per hour.
Oracle Exadata successfully operates in a variety of industries.
Query offload
What does Exadata do this that a classic database can't do? As you have probably guessed, incremental backups are made only at the storage system level, and do not affect the performance of the database servers.
')
Those operations that require massive I / O and heavily load the database level are also transferred to the storage system level. And if in the classical architecture the array returns to the system a set of blocks with which the database server works, then the Exadata Storage Server produces a complete set of rows and columns, which was required upon request - the so-called recordset, only those columns and columns that are required. As a result, the processor resources of the database server are significantly reduced.
Compression
The Oracle database uses classic data compression, OLTP compression. Exadata performs hybrid column compression — this means that when using Hybrid Columnar Compression, data is stored in a column-wise format, which is very efficient for large data warehouses, since it is a more compact format that allows high performance rates and a very high compression ratio. Just in case, Oracle reports in marketing materials that 10-fold compression is achieved for SAP applications - simply because no one will believe in higher rates at once. But in practice, SAP applications achieve a much higher compression ratio — for real data.
PCI Flash
PCI Flash architecture improves system performance not only because it is faster than disks. By default, the solution includes the ability to transfer hot data from regular disks to PCI Flash Cash. The system responds very quickly to changes in load, and if the database actively requires certain data blocks, they instantly move to fast PCI Flash Cash. But, of course, like other advanced features, this can be turned off.
Pre-check
Before introducing this or that system, the customer is always forced to resort to complex and time-consuming testing, which will show how correctly and productively the solution will work on the customer's IT infrastructure. To do this, it is necessary to build a test bench, develop a testing methodology, highlight the most critical tasks for a business, consider generating workload and divert IT specialists from current tasks for at least a few weeks. In the case of Oracle Exadata for SAP, this problem is solved by a specialized service that is free for customers and called Oracle Exadata SAP Acceleration Pre-Check.
It works like this - for an SAP client who plans to migrate to (oracle) engineered systems , Oracle experts are ready to analyze its IT infrastructure and calculate how much more productive SAP solution will work on the software and hardware platform from Oracle. STAD, ST03 and AWR analyzes are performed based on best practices, i.e. according to the existing experience in the field of practical work of Oracle databases and SAP applications. Thus, the service does not require a test environment and does not affect the productive system.
The report contains information on such indicators as the overall response time of the system and the response time of the application and database. At the same time, the most pessimistic forecast of application performance is always given. In practice, the solution works much faster than a preliminary analysis shows.
Escort
How does the classic approach to the maintenance and upgrading of the system? You operate the system for a year, and then either yourself or involving IT partners, you do a fairly large-scale audit of the solution - how busy the networks are, how loaded the I / O system and servers are, whether the configuration is optimal, how noticeable the performance degradation is and what causes it . In the case of Exadata, everything is much simpler - you run the Oracle Exadata Exachk program, which performs comprehensive diagnostics of all system components and provides complete information about the Exadata configuration - for example, the program will indicate that the disk groups in the system are not marked as Oracle does. If the system does not install the next update, it will also be reflected in the report.
Technical support
No need to explain that for the adequate work of software and hardware systems, the organization of technical support is extremely important. For technical support of Exadata, Exalogic and SuperCluster solutions, Oracle has a specialized program. Within the framework of this program, client cases are considered both on the hardware and on the software level - this is facilitated by the architecture of the software and hardware systems.
The classic Oracle service is a complete, comprehensive, proactive 24/7 Premier Support support that guarantees a response to a client's request within two hours. For the same money for engineered systems, Oracle provides support for Platinum Services. For certified configurations, a failure notification is guaranteed within five minutes, a solution to the problem or its escalation to the development department is within 15 minutes, in the latter case the problem is solved together by the developer within 30 minutes. Such SLA parameters are achieved due to the fact that Oracle engineers proactively monitor the state of the platform and read the system information at all levels - at the operating system level, at the level of software and hardware for all components, at the database level.
The procedure for updating the system is much simpler than in classical architectures - you just get a quarterly update already tested by Oracle engineers. The time required for updating systems, as well as the risks characteristic of such updates, are thus significantly reduced.
Certification and licensing
It is fundamentally important that SAP certifies the entire Oracle Exadata complex as a whole - and servers, networks, cluster software, storage systems, even cables. This guarantees the quality and correct operation of the solution, and precisely because of this, all the stages and terms of launching the system at the customer are very clearly determined.
Of course, for the database service to run on Exadata or SuperCluster, it is necessary that the Oracle databases be licensed. It is possible to license the solution both through SAP and directly from Oracle.
Perspectives
The most important, though obvious, is that SAP has already confirmed that the new version of Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 will be ported and tested for work with SAP applications. This will be the first release of Oracle Database 12 that SAP will work with. It also remains an important limitation that your company should use SAP NetWeaver 7 version and above, respectively, migration of such solutions that use NetWeaver 7 version and above is possible on version 12.
As you know, Oracle Database version 12.1.02 supports In-Memory technology, the meaning of which is that next to our usual buffer cache, which stores rows of tables and blocks of indexes, it creates a new cache, more precisely, a new shared area for data in RAM, in which information about the tables is stored in a column format, and the data is simultaneously active and transactionally consistent. All changes, as usual, are first made in the usual buffer cache, after which they are reflected in the column cache, or, as our English-speaking friends call it, the “columnar” cache.
Currently, work is underway to certify this option by SAP companies, and this is sure to happen - although not with the very first release to be certified by SAP.
Supercluster
The SAP application environment in the three-tier architecture consists of two components: application servers and database services. Database services can be deployed to Oracle Exadata, but where can I deploy SAP application servers? This can be done on Oracle SuperCluster.
Oracle SuperCluster is a self-contained software and hardware system that contains everything necessary for the functioning of database services and application servers - storage, database servers, virtualization systems, cluster solutions and application servers.
Oracle SuperCluster comes in two versions - Half Rack Supercluster and full version. The Half Rack Supercluster includes two compute modules with Oracle T5 processors. The database runs on the Exadata Storage Server. The configuration is completely duplicated in terms of hardware, applications are protected using Solaris Cluster technology, which is also included in the solution. To protect the geographical configuration from catastrophes, ZFS SA replication is used from the main site to the backup site, to protect the database service - the Oracle Data Guard technology, to protect the application servers - the Oracle Solaris Cluster. Thus, Oracle SuperCluster is a complete solution, protected from any failure, including the complete loss of the primary or backup data center.
Migration
As part of the Oracle ACS maintenance program, a productive database migration service for SAP to Oracle Exadata or Oracle Supercluster is offered. Migration projects are performed on various operating systems: UNIX, Linux, Windows, cross-platform migration is possible, migration from upgrades of Oracle Database versions. The migration speed mainly depends on the speed of the hardware platform, usually 0.5–1 TB per hour.
Customers
Oracle Exadata successfully operates in a variety of industries.
- Under the link you can find out the details of the implementation of the solution in the bank "St. Petersburg". The project was launched after testing the performance of the banking information complex on the Oracle Exadata equipment, which successfully passed with a load of up to 30 thousand concurrent users.
- Malina introduced Oracle Siebel CRM on the Oracle Exadata platform. The first results of the project were the acceleration of operations at points of sale by a factor of ten and an increase in the productivity of analytical reporting systems by seven times.
- One of the first implementations of Oracle Exadata in the oil industry was the project of Slavneft. According to the company, the speed of performing tasks in the corporate IT system has grown on average threefold, and for some tasks more than 10 times; in particular, the time for performing such technological operations as updating the database software and system software was reduced, the time for creating and restoring backup copies decreased by almost five times. The efficiency of information storage has increased due to data compression and partitioning capabilities. The company uses two Exadata complexes - main and reserve.
- In the telecommunications industry , the Kyivstar project is interesting - a company that processes data coming from more than 13 thousand base stations, from 200 customer service centers and from four large contact centers located in various cities of Ukraine. Already, the results of pre-operational tests at Kyivstar showed that the performance of the system of financial and analytical calculations on Exadata increased by 3-5 times with more than fourfold reduction in the requirements for disk storage. Among the key results of the project are increasing the speed of computing processes, significant savings in disk space, the ability to quickly implement new projects.
- The project of the Alrosa Production Company is extremely interesting. The client testifies: “We didn’t even expect such a performance boost. To be honest, until the last moment there were some doubts, but the very first days of commercial operation dispelled them, so we are already thinking about expanding the complex and transferring other SAP tasks to Oracle Exadata. ”
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/264221/
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