Recommended Disk Configurations

Oracle servers are available on many different platforms ranging from PCs to mainframes. To support the wide range of hardware platforms and application requirements, Oracle servers have a number of configuration options that you can use to tailor the behavior of an Oracle database. You can also use these configuration options to tailor your database. Some of the options documented in this guide only apply to specific Oracle versions. For further information, see the appropriate Oracle documentation.

If the Oracle server is not dedicated to the erwin� Data Modeler Workgroup Edition mart, as database administrator you must be careful to balance the requirements of all users on the server. This is particularly true for database servers that support OLTP (On Line Transaction Processing) applications that require tight response characteristics.

The layout of Oracle database files on physical disk drives plays a major role in the performance of the database. When used with erwin� Data Modeler Workgroup Edition, Oracle performs large bursts of database operations (fetches, inserts, updates, and deletes) in a short period of time. This usage pattern often requires Oracle to perform a significant amount of disk I/O operations. For good performance, it is important that as many I/O operations as possible be performed in parallel. This enables Oracle to retrieve data faster during fetches and to write data faster during inserts, updates, and deletes.

To maximize parallel I/O access, split the Oracle database files across many physical disks. Ideally, you should place the database on four physical disks. If this is not possible, you can use three, two, or one disk systems.

Note: Installing Oracle on a single disk system causes significant performance degradation.