Upgrading the Lab

I am afraid I have been a bit negligent in my blog posts of late. I will endeavor to make them more frequently and of course try to make them interesting and enlightening! I am embarking on a new project, I am rebuilding my computer lab with newer, better equipment. To that end I just completed the purchase of the following gear:

1. 2 – Dell PowerEdge 2950 III servers
1. 2x2.83 GHz E5440 Quad core
2. 16 GB memory
3. 4x500 GB internal drives
4. PERC6i 2PS
2. 4 – Dell Qlogic QLE2460 single port 4 GB FC PCIe HBAs
3. 1 – A7394a HP Storageworks SAN 4 GB/s Switch with 32 active ports
4. 1- CIPRIO MediaVault RX 4 GB dual FC Storage 5 TB array (capable of RAID0, RAID1 or RAID3)

Now, you should realize I have access to a full IBM Power8 server with an IBM FlashSystem 840 attached via remote access to the STG lab, but when I am testing and learning I prefer a system where if I crash it or trash it, it will effect only my work. Once I learn what not to do I will take advantage of the advanced equipment that IBM has made available.

It is interesting to note that when I started writing Oracle books I purchased a new server (back in the late 1990’s) at that time I got a hyper-threaded, dual core system with 2 GB of memory for about $5K. When RAC was released I needed to upgrade so I purchased 2 – single core hyper-threaded servers with 4 GB or memory, a 1 GB switch and 2 disk arrays at a total cost of around $3K. For all of the equipment listed above I paid $1.6K on Ebay. It just goes to show the incredible decrease in costs and increase in capabilities that have occurred over the last 20 years.

Next I will be acquiring Oracle OEL for the operating system and Oracle12c for testing and learning on. I will post my lessons learned as I go along. I hope to test many of the new features of 12c such as container databases, in-memory database options, use of Flash Cache in container, regular and RAC 12c databases and of course use of the in-memory option with a 12c RAC database.

Next I have to decide whether to install the equipment in the house or out in the shed, if I do it in the shed I have to build a computer room out there and put in a small AC unit. I an existing AC unit that will work, just have to cut the needed ports in the side of the building and install the intake/outlet lines for the air handler section. Of course instead of building a room it may be more cost effective to buy a small 8x10 foot shed and place it in the larger 30x50 foot equipment shed. I’ll post pictures along with the blog entries as I go along.