FlashGrid for Oracle RAC and Database HA (on OL 8)
Cloud migrations have become faster and active-active databases achieve near-zero downtime
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is cloud migrations and active-active high availability across multiple availability zones. I use FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC for spreading database nodes across distinct cloud data centers, which guarantees the uptime SLA of 99.99%, achieving zero RPO and nearly zero RTO. RPO and RTO are crucial for any database, and this capability has been very helpful.
I also use FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC for automated Infrastructure as Code deployment. For SQL Server DBAs, it is used for Always On Availability Group setups, and for Oracle, it simplifies manual RAC installation, which has been very helpful.
How has it helped my organization?
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC has positively impacted my organization by saving considerable time and enabling smooth transitions. The time savings are significant since time is money for any business, and being able to operate more efficiently benefits the company substantially.
What is most valuable?
The best features FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC offers are automated CloudFormation and Terraform template provisioning for VMs. The automated provisioning with CloudFormation and Terraform templates is valuable for me due to both speed and reliability, which are crucial for any database administrator.
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC was very helpful in solving the shared disk problem. Public clouds do not naturally support standard on-premise shared block storage, so FlashGrid storage fabric converts local cloud disk into a shared virtual appliance, which was very helpful.
What needs improvement?
I believe FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC can be improved by providing better guidance on how to utilize it smoothly, especially regarding the learning curve. Adding resources for understanding how to operate it smoothly would be very helpful.
I think the needed improvements for FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC include better support. Having readily available support where I could get questions answered easily would be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC for more than four years in my current company and previously.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is excellent in terms of performance and security. I have no concerns with scalability.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used customer support for FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC so far because everything has been easy to use. I hope the support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not previously used a different solution; we only used the native solution.
What was our ROI?
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC helps us save a lot of time. Since time is money for any business, saving time means we can operate in a manner that benefits the company.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not part of the pricing, setup cost, and licensing decisions for FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC. I have only been delegated to use it, so I cannot provide comments on that.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC, I did not evaluate other options. In my experience, this was the first solution I used and we loved it.
What other advice do I have?
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is very secure regarding its AI capabilities. Most products today rely on cloud migration or are connected to AI, so I believe it is quite safe. Of course, there is room for improvement.
The accuracy and reliability of FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC has been excellent. In my experience, the accuracy and reliability have been all positive, and I have no negative things to say about it. It is very helpful and secure.
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is deployed in my organization in a hybrid and private cloud environment. I use Azure and AWS as my cloud providers.
My advice to others looking to use FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is that I believe a trial period for every database administrator would be valuable. Everyone might love the solution if given the opportunity to try it.
I rate FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC eight out of ten because while there is room for improvement, it was easy to navigate and accomplish automated infrastructure deployment, which was very helpful.
Migration to cloud has cut database costs and simplified shared storage but still needs lower latency
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is where I need a high availability solution for Oracle databases and where I have the requirement to migrate to the cloud. When I have an on-premise RAC cluster, I do not need FlashGrid. When I need to install Oracle RAC in the cloud, then I need FlashGrid.
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC enables Oracle RAC in the public cloud, which can be AWS, Azure, or GCP. It reduces the migration risk from on-premise to cloud because FlashGrid provides that shared block storage in the cloud.
What is most valuable?
The best features FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC offers include shared storage, which is critical because for on-premise Oracle high availability clusters, I do not need FlashGrid. When I migrate to the public cloud, I need FlashGrid to provide that shared storage. It is easy to migrate from on-premise to cloud because the Oracle architecture does not change; the only difference is that in the public cloud, shared storage block was not available, but FlashGrid provides that feature to the Oracle RAC cluster.
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC has positively impacted my organization cost-wise because by migrating to the cloud from my on-premise data center, I could consolidate the price structure for my storage and compute needs. Oracle RAC was the bottleneck for that because previously, without FlashGrid, I could not configure Oracle RAC in the public cloud, but with FlashGrid, I managed to consolidate costs for Oracle RAC infrastructure in the cloud.
After migrating with FlashGrid, I have a substantial presence of Oracle RAC clusters in my data centers, around 50 RAC clusters across the U.S., and each was costing around $100,000 per year per cluster. However, I was able to migrate 25 of those clusters to the public cloud using FlashGrid, and the cost was reduced to $50,000 for those clusters, meaning I saved $50,000 per annum for the 25 instances.
After installing and configuring FlashGrid in AWS cloud, I was able to reduce the storage cost substantially compared to my on-premise data center storage. I saved $50,000 per Oracle RAC cluster per annum using FlashGrid, which includes both storage cost, compute cost, and also manpower cost.
What needs improvement?
One weakness is that there might be performance degradation once I install Oracle RAC in the public cloud using FlashGrid; that is one weakness I have encountered after migrating to the public cloud with FlashGrid.
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC can be improved mainly due to performance degradation because it uses the network bandwidth of the public cloud. By using InfiniBand or advanced networking features, the performance of using FlashGrid in the public cloud can be improved.
On the licensing side, I believe there are opportunities to reduce the licensing cost for FlashGrid deployment.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC for the past four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC depends on the number of nodes. For two nodes, I can configure it very easily, and it can be scaled for multiple nodes as well.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is very good, both from AWS and Oracle sides; I would rate it eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before FlashGrid, I was not using any other solution in AWS. FlashGrid facilitated the installation of Oracle RAC for me.
Before choosing FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC, I did not evaluate other options; FlashGrid provided the solution for shared block storage in the public cloud. I was also using Exadata for Oracle Exadata clusters, but that was more costly compared to the FlashGrid solution.
How was the initial setup?
Without FlashGrid, it is very difficult to configure Oracle Real Application Cluster in the public cloud. FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC provides that facility for my database administrator to configure Oracle RAC in the public cloud, reducing complexity while migrating from on-premise to cloud for my existing real application clusters.
What about the implementation team?
I use AWS as my cloud provider.
I purchased FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC through the AWS Marketplace.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the setup cost is not very complicated because I have skilled manpower who managed Oracle RAC in my data centers. Configuring FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC for Oracle RAC in the public cloud on AWS was manageable for me, although I think it was a bit costlier on the licensing side.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is that if you are dealing with a very low latency application, you should try to avoid using FlashGrid because you will not get low latency with it.
FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC works very well; it is a good solution for getting shared block storage in the public cloud. I recommend using this solution where there is a need for shared storage. I rate this product seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Have successfully tested high availability setup and gained valuable architectural insights
What is our primary use case?
I tested the product as a proof of concept for Oracle RAC and Database High Availability in a non-production environment.
How has it helped my organization?
The proof of concept allowed us to quickly evaluate high-availability setups for Oracle RAC. It helped our team understand the solution architecture and test basic operations, which was useful for planning future deployments.
What is most valuable?
I found the ease of setup for the proof of concept environment to be valuable. The stability and performance of the cluster during testing were impressive. The support from the Customer Success Team was also valuable, as they were responsive and helpful.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in the area of migration or integration with existing on-premises infrastructure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used the solution for 3 months.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
This was a trial evaluation, so we did not use any previous solutions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I only tested the free proof of concept.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We primarily used the FlashGrid proof of concept for evaluation. Other high-availability solutions were considered but not tested in our environment.
What other advice do I have?
The trial was useful for understanding FlashGrid’s capabilities. The Customer Success Team provided excellent support and guidance throughout the evaluation.