Advantages to the RMAN method include having RMAN do most of the actual work and allowing the migrated database to be ‘rolled forward’ before it is released to the users. This is, of course, a decision only the enterprise can make. This second method requires less disk space since no interim files are created to effect the endian change. This can also be accomplished by creating a blank database (as mentioned above) and using Data Pump to transfer the data. Moving from SPARC Solaris to x86_64 Linux means an ‘endian’ change for the database files and RMAN can perform this task given sufficient additional space to hold the converted files. The above configuration allows for minimal intervention on the part of the DBA to create blank databases for the enterprise, ready for data import, necessary if the Data Pump method of database migration is used. (pre-configured options to install, additional tablespaces, etc.) Modified database templates preconfigured with the standard enterprise database configuration Oracle Managed Files to make file management simpler Sufficient disk space for datafiles, controlfiles and redo logs The standard listener on port 1521, which can be reconfigured to use a non-standard portĪutostart configured for the databases when the VM is rebooted Network interface eth1 configured for backup trafficĪ 'standard' ORACLE_HOME configured for single-instance databases Network interface eth0 configured for user traffic A simple configuration using OEL 7 and Oracle 12.2.0.1 might include: It’s also easy to create and destroy these environments so they can be re-built with a more suitable disk/memory/CPU configuration, something physical hardware sometimes can’t provide. Using an Oracle VM provides an environment that doesn’t require additional hardware expenditures and is configurable to provide one or more network interfaces this is good because backup traffic can be isolated to its own network, separate from normal user traffic.

Let’s see how using an Oracle OEL 7 VM can provide a test bed for database migrations.

This is a good choice as it can reduce licensing costs over using VMWare since each individual VM doesn’t need licensing. Oracle provides Oracle Enterprise Linux, a modified form of Red Hat pre-configured for database servers, that is available using the Oracle VM product. If the enterprise is already using virtualization most likely Linux x86_64 is the O/S of choice. Many choices are available with Linux being a top contender. Oracle Solaris is on its way out, which means that for many shops the next project on the board will be to migrate to another operating system for Oracle database servers.

Oracle database virtual machine