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High Availability and Load Balancing in Oracle RAC

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High Availability and Load Balancing in Oracle RAC

High Availability in Oracle RAC:  

  • Concept: Oracle RAC ensures continuous database availability by distributing workloads across multiple nodes. If one node fails, the remaining nodes continue to provide service.  
  • Failover: In case of failure, Oracle RAC provides failover capabilities where active sessions are transferred to another available node without user disruption.  
  • Redundancy: RAC uses redundant components like network interfaces, storage, and servers to minimize single points of failure.  
  • Automatic Reconfiguration: Oracle Clusterware automatically reconfigures the cluster when a failure occurs, helping in seamless availability.  
  • Rolling Patching: Patches can be applied to RAC nodes in a rolling fashion, ensuring that the database remains available during maintenance.  

Load Balancing in Oracle RAC:  

  • Client-Side Load Balancing: Distributes incoming connections across all active nodes in the RAC cluster. Defined in the client’s TNSNAMES.ORA file or through the Oracle SCAN (Single Client Access Name) feature.  
  • Server-Side Load Balancing: Automatically balances the load of client connections across RAC instances. Oracle Net Services ensures that workloads are distributed based on server metrics like CPU usage and session load.  
  • SCAN (Single Client Access Name): Simplifies the management of client connections in RAC by providing a single network name for the cluster, which is load-balanced across all nodes.  
  • Service-Oriented Load Balancing: RAC services can be configured for specific workloads, distributing them across instances to optimize performance.