The following figure shows the logical architecture of the Oracle RAC database environment. The figure includes the infrastructure component layers, the software layers, and the management infrastructure and associated tools. The infrastructure components include the server layer, network, and storage.
Figure 1. Solution architecture and components
The server layer consists of:
- PROD virtual database servers—Two R740 PowerEdge servers running ESXi 7.0 hypervisors for two VMs running the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 guest operating system. The PROD Oracle 19c RAC database is deployed on these two VMs.
- DEV database servers—Two R640 PowerEdge servers running ESXi 7.0 hypervisors for two VMs running the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 guest operating system. The Oracle 19c RAC DEV database is deployed on these two VMs.
- R640 management/tool server—A R640 server running VMware ESXi 7.0 as the hypervisor to host multiple VMs, as follows:
- VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) deployed as a VM.
- VM with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 guest operating system installed to run the HammerDB test tool.
- VM with the Windows guest operating system installed to run Dell EMC AppSync software for snapshot creation and management automation.
The network layer consists of the following types of connectivity:
- Management network between vCenter and ESXi hosts. This network also connects the iDRAC Ethernet ports of all the servers.
- vMotion network for VM migration using vMotion between ESXi hosts.
- Public network for connecting Oracle database instances.
- Private network for internode communication between Oracle RAC nodes.
- SAN FC network that connects database servers and PowerStore SAN storage.
The following switches are used to implement the networks:
- One 1 GbE switch for management switches
- Two 10 GbE ToR switches for the Oracle private network
- Two 16/32 Gbps FC switches for FC SAN connectivity
The storage layer consists of the PowerStore T array as the FC SAN storage for the PROD and DEV databases and the data stores for VM operating system volumes. For a description of the storage volume design for this virtualized Oracle RAC database environment, see Oracle 19c RAC database design and deployment.