Fast-Start Failover - Without Observer

Hello Experts,
I have a 3 node RCA with a 3node standby. Manual complete failover and switchover work correctly. I would like to enablr fast-start failover when nobody is around.
I know that according to the documentation, I would need a 3rd server to act like the observer. But I 've run out of servers.
Could someone provide clues or ideas how I could set this up. Do I indeed need an observer, or is it really just for additional fault tolerance?
Sincerely
Jan S.

There's no shortage of short notes on this :
http://jakub.wartak.pl/blog/?p=80
http://oracleinstance.blogspot.com/2010/01/configuration-of-10g-data-guard-broker.html
http://gjilevski.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/configuring-10g-data-guard-broker-and-observer-for-failover-and-switchover/
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/smiley-fsfo-084973.html
No idea how you would do it without Observer, its just a failover then.
Cooper

Similar Messages

ORA-16820: fast-start failover observer is no longer observing this databa

Wem have primary and physical standby of Oracle 11.2 on linux 2.6.18-92.el5. For a reason of hardware resources, we want to run the Observer on the standby machine. Here I have several questions:
1) Is it supported to run Observer on the standby?
2) Does fast-start failover means automatical detecting down of primary and switch over the role automatically? WE do not want automatical switch over.
3) Started Observer on the standby and run show configuration, get errorDGMGRL> show configuration;
Configuration - antony
Protection Mode: MaxAvailability
Databases:
    rdev2 - Primary database
    sdev2 - (*) Physical standby database
      Error: ORA-16820: fast-start failover observer is no longer observing this database
Fast-Start Failover: ENABLED
Configuration Status:
ERROR Is the error caused by sunning Observer on standby, or other things?
Thanks.

Answering all your questions
Does fast-start failover means automatical detecting down of primary and switch over the role automatically? WE do not want automatical switch over.
Fast-Start Failover is an Oracle Data Guard 10g Release 2 feature that automatically, quickly, and reliably fails over to a designated, synchronized standby database in the event of loss of the production database, without requiring manual intervention to execute the failover.
In addition, following a fast-start failover, the original production database is automatically reconfigured as a new standby database upon reconnection to the configuration. This enables Data Guard to restore disaster protection in the configuration quickly and easily, returning the database to a protected state as soon as possible.
Is it supported to run Observer on the standby?
There are three essential participants in a Fast-Start Failover configuration:
• The production database
• A target standby database
• The Fast-Start Failover Observer
The target standby database will become the new production database following a fast-start failover (note: There can be multiple standby databases in a Data Guard configuration, but only one can be designated as the fast-start failover target. A manual failover would be required in order to execute a failover to any of the additional standby databases within the configuration).
The Observer is a separate process incorporated into the DGMGRL client that continuously monitors the production database and the target standby database for possible failure conditions.
The rule is that out of these three participants, (production database, standby database & observer) whichever two can communicate with each other will determine the outcome of fast-start failover
Hope the above explaination answers your question.

Fast Start Failover has broken my Logical Standby and Flashback has not helped

I have a primary ( PRIMARYP ), a physical standby ( STANDBYP ) and a logical standby ( STANDBYL ).
I configured Fast Start Failover ( with STANDBYP as the target ) and started an Observer. I did a shutdown abort on my primary and the Fast Start Failover did make STANDBYP the primary. I was able to reinstate PRIMARYP as a physical standby.
However when I checked my broker config it gave for STANDBYL
ORA-16795: the standby database needs to be recreated
Strange I though, since I would have expected STANDBYL to survive ok given that the new primary, STANDBYP was a physical standby of PRIMARYP.
Not to worry I thought, I simply will flashback STANDBYL to the beginning of the day and SQL APPLY will reapply all the redo.
This is where the problem begins
I mount STANDBYL
RMAN> connect target /
connected to target database: STANDBYL (DBID=440422466, not open)
RMAN> flashback database to time "TO_DATE('05/12/13 09:30:00','DD-MM-YY HH24:MI:SS')";
Starting flashback at 05-DEC-13
using target database control file instead of recovery catalog
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=11 device type=DISK
starting media recovery
archived log for thread 1 with sequence 24 is already on disk as file /home/app/oracle/fast_recovery_area/STANDBYL/archivelog/2013_12_04/o1_mf_1_24_99yqwog0_.arc
archived log for thread 1 with sequence 25 is already on disk as file /home/app/oracle/fast_recovery_area/STANDBYL/archivelog/2013_12_05/o1_mf_1_25_9b0mlyvr_.arc
media recovery complete, elapsed time: 00:00:04
Finished flashback at 05-DEC-13
RMAN> quit
Recovery Manager complete.
oraclel[STANDBYL]>dgmgrl
DGMGRL for Linux: Version 11.2.0.3.0 - Production
Copyright (c) 2000, 2009, Oracle. All rights reserved.
Welcome to DGMGRL, type "help" for information.
DGMGRL> connect sys/manager
Connected.
DGMGRL> shutdown;
ORA-01109: database not open
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
DGMGRL>
DGMGRL>
DGMGRL> startup;
ORACLE instance started.
Database mounted.
ORA-01589: must use RESETLOGS or NORESETLOGS option for database open
ORA-01589 - that a nasty surprise ! I didn't think I would need to do anything with the log sequences after a flashback
Any ideas of what is going on ?
thanks,
Jim

Hello;
This pdf might meet your needs :
http://blogs.oracle.com/AlejandroVargas/resource/DATAGUARD-FSFO-IMPLEMENTATION.pdf
Additional info :
http://oracle-tech.blogspot.com/2008/08/fast-start-failover-it-is-reliable.html
http://jakub.wartak.pl/blog/?p=80
http://www.databasejournal.com/features/oracle/article.php/3849106/Fast-Start-Failover-in-Oracle-11g-Data-Guard.htm
Best Regards
mseberg

Data Guard Broker: errors ORA-16816 and ORA-16817 with Fast Start Failover

Hi,
my environment is:
OS: Windows XP Professional Edition SP2
DB: Oracle EE 10.2.0.3
Primary db: orcl
Standby db: stby
both databases are running on the same server.
I have configured Data Guard as described in the DG Administration Guide.
In the Data Guard Broker I switch to 'stby' succesfully and 'stby' is the primary db and 'orcl' is the standby db.
I switched back to 'orcl' as primary db and I get some errors:
DGMGRL> show database 'orcl' statusreport;
STATUS REPORT
INSTANCE_NAME SEVERITY ERROR_TEXT
* WARNING ORA-16817: configuration for Fast Start of Failover is not synchronized.
DGMGRL> show database 'stby' statusreport;
STATUS REPORT
INSTANCE_NAME SEVERITY ERROR_TEXT
* ERROR ORA-16816: wrong databaserole
* WARNING ORA-16817: configuration for Fast Start of Failover is not synchronized.
DGMGRL> show configuration;
Configuration
Name: DG1
Enabled: YES
Protection Mode: MaxAvailability
Fast-Start Failover: ENABLED
Databases:
orcl - Physical standby database
- Fast-Start Failover target
stby - Primary database
Current status for DG1:
Warning: ORA-16607: one or more databases failed.
I have searched for solutions on Metalink and google, but with no success.
Has anyone got this kind of problem?
Any suggestions on how to resolve it?
Thanks

Hi DigerDBA
I did your advice , the error disappear, and thanks for your advice , but do I need to keep standby_file_management='AUTO' or 'MANUAL' in primary and standby init files?
Am asking this because when I use the observer the failover failed and I get the following error
SQL Execution error=604, sql=[ALTER DATABASE COMMIT TO SWITCHOVER TO PRIMARY WAIT WITH SESSION SHUTDOWN]. See error stack below.
ORA-00604: error occurred at recursive SQL level 1
ORA-01275: Operation ADD LOGFILE is not allowed if standby file management is automatic.
Complete Failover operation failed in the step when attempting to convert the database to be the new primary.
Database Resource SetState Error (16771)
01/07/2014 09:14:43
Command FAILOVER TO epprod2 completed with error ORA-16771
if possible can you advice me please?

Can fast start failover be achieved in maximum performance mode

In a physical standby I would like to know if it is possible to configure High Availability in async mode to achieve fast-start failover? If so, please briefly describe how. Thanks

I've always said, size doesn't matter to Data Guard except when you are creating a standby database. After that it is the amount of Redo that is generated by the Primary database. A failover is a failover, for a 10GB database or for a 60TB database. The scary part is having to get the old Primary back up as a standby as quickly as possible.
Of course if the original Primary is completely toast then you have to recreate it with a new backup of the new primary or use a backup of the original Primary that happens to be on the Primary system and restore it as a standby and let Data Guard catch it up with the current state of affairs.
But, if the original Primary is still intact then you can use flashback database to reinstate it as a physical standby with little effort and no major backup restores. And of course, that is one of the requirements of Fast-Start Failover (FSFO). To enable it you have to have flashback database enabled on both the Primary and the FSFO target standby. Since enabling FB Database requires the database to be at the mount state I would suggest you enable it right after the upgrade to 11g.
When FSFO triggers a failover after a failure of the Primary, the Observer will automatically re-instantiate the failed Primary as a standby when it is started again and then it will be resynchronized with the new Primary automatically by Data Guard as normal.
The only difference between Maximum Availability FSFO and Maximum Performance FSFO is that you have to decide how much data you are will to lose when a failover occurs and tell the Broker by configuring the FastStartFailoverLagLimit property (see section 9.2.12 of the Broker manual).
You also want to be sure to place the Observer on a system where it is not affected by the Primary or Standby server going down or a network break between the Primary and the Standby. And if you can, use Grid Control. When you enable FSFO in Grid Control (on the Data Guard home page) you can specify 2 systems where the Observer can live. If it goes down on the original system an atempt will be made to restart it there. If that system if no longer available then Grid Control will attempt to start a new Observer on the 2nd system.
I would highly recommend you read the section [5.5 Fast-Start Failover|http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28295/sofo.htm#i1027843] for lots of good information. And of course, the [Data Guard 11g Handbook|http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Guard-Handbook-Osborne-ORACLE/dp/0071621113] (sorry, still plugging the book :^)
Larry

Protection Modes and Fast-Start Failover

Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture allows you to set fast-start failover (FSF)to automatically failover to the standby in the event of losing the primary database.
One condition of FSF is that it will only initiate if there is a guarantee of no data loss. This is where i start getting confused. Maximum Availability mode allows for data loss as the primary will still process transactions if the connection to the standby is lost. This means then in the event of the standby being out of sync with the primary database (i.e. network glitches) and then losing the primary database to hardware issues for example. FSF will not be able to initiate as data will be lossed and a complete loss of service will happen!
Can FSF be used in Maximum Protection mode as this will always mean FSF will be able to occur? Also what is the overhead towards the databases with regards to running them in this mode?
Thanks,
Chris

Hi,
Can FSF be used in Maximum Protection mode as this will always mean FSF will be able to occur? Yes, Maximum Protection Mode can be used with Fast-Start Failover, please review the next link.
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14230/cli.htm#BABEIIHD
Also what is the overhead towards the databases with regards to running them in this mode?
Yes, the overhead is on major scale that other modes.
Regards.

Warning: ORA-16829: fast-start failover configuration is lagging

Hi
I got waring for fast_start failover configuration
DGMGRL> show configuration
Configuration - activefailover_migdb
Protection Mode: MaxPerformance
Databases:
migdb - Primary database
Warning: ORA-16829: fast-start failover configuration is lagging
migdbdr - (*) Physical standby database
Warning: ORA-16829: fast-start failover configuration is lagging
Fast-Start Failover: ENABLED
Configuration Status:
WARNING
anybody please suggest solution for the same

Dear shd,
Please check the following link;
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/appdev.111/b28419/d_dg.htm
*ORA-16829: lagging Fast-Start Failover configuration*
+DBMS_DG.INITIATE_FS_FAILOVER was invoked in a maximum performance fast-start failover configuration when the configuration was not in the user-specified redo lag limit.+
Oracle Error :: ORA-16829
fast-start failover configuration is lagging
Cause
The fast-start failover target standby database was not within the lag limit specified by the FastStartFailoverLagLimit configuration property. As a result, a fast-start failover could not happen in the event of a primary database failure.
Action
Ensure that the fast-start failover target standby database is running and applying redo data and that the primary database is successfully trasmitting redo data. If this condition persists consider raising the value of the FastStartFailoverLagLimit configuration property.
Ogan

Hinted streaming, fast start and the results.

Hi,
I put some clips onto a website recently, some were 5 min movies. I was pleased with the results, as the movies started almost immediately on several computers I tried.
Unfortunately, the client had to wait over 4 min to see the video. My video was compressed with hinted streaming.
So of course 4 min. seems like they downloaded the whole video before it started.
I have a web guy looking into if perhaps this could be a server issue with the customer, but I wanted to check if anyone has some insight to this.
I personally am not really clear on the "hinted vs faststart"
Thanks
Jeff

Hinted steaming is for streaming videos like the Apple's VideoKeynote presentations. For Example:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/appleevents/
Fast start is for progressive download of the video. For example:
http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
I have feeling your server is not a streaming server so you need fast start/progressive videos. A fast start video will begin to play after a few seconds while the video is being downloaded into the browser.
Open all your videos in Quicktime. Do a SAVE AS and save each video to a new folder. Doing this will activate (place back) the fast start in each video.
Send one video to the server for a test. Make sure your html embed code for the video has AutoPlay set to true.
(Steaming servers aren't cheap. If you click on the keynote presentation you'll notice that you can jump to anywhere in the video without having to wait for the video to load. Streaming videos don't download to you browser/computer, they stay on the server. Fast start/Progressive video download to you bowser/computer. Also streaming videos are one way to discourage people from downloading the videos. The only way to capture a streaming video is to use a screen capture program, Quicktime X has this capability.)

How to export as mp4 and achieve effect of "fast start" in mov export

When exporting as a .mov one can check the "fast start" prepare for internet streaming option. This option allows the end user to start watching your video without waiting for the entire file to buffer/download. That's great.
However, when export as a .mp4 file, the same option does not exist.
Does anyone know how to achieve this "fast start" effect if exporting as an mp4?
I have an existing work around...just rename the .mov to .mp4.
I would like an .mp4 file because I use ezs3 to host my videos and the mp4 player options are far superior to the mov player options.
Thanks for your help.

I'm having the same problem. I want to export an .mp4 that can start playing as soon as it starts downloading from a web site. Until I can find a solution, I'm using .m4v files, but they're huge.
Does anyone have a solution?

Fast Start

Is it possible to add fast start to an existing Quicktime movie withouth exporting it, and losing quality in the process.

With QT Pro you can use "Save As" and select the "Self-contained movie" option. That will reset Fast Start without re-encoding the movie. After that you should not further edit the file before putting it on the server, as editing is what defeats the fast start flag in the first place. You also can try this freeware drop box app that is supposed to carry out the reset fast start/save as self-contained operation on one file or a whole directory of files: Lillipot

Fast-Start On-Demand Roll Back

Fast-Start On-Demand Roll Back, how to enable it?
Regards
Neo

suzanne wrote:
Hi:
I'm sorry for not replying sooner but I have been away from home. I have found what you asked, I think. Can I just post it here or should I send it to you privately somehow? In other words, is there anything in this file which could pose a security risk if someone else sees it.
This morning, I was finally able to do a scan and then upgraded Sophos at which point I was able to turn on-access scanning back on without doing the things you suggested. Is this going to keep happening?
Many thanks,
Suzanne
Hello Suzanne,
Thanks for sending the logs to us, it was very valuable. The error that you (and probably others) are seeing is definitely an issue we've improved and likely fixed in the 9.4 release that is currently in preview. We expect to release this version to everyone at the end of this month, if everything goes to plan.
If you'd like to install it now, see this posting:
http://openforum.sophos.com/t5/Sophos-Anti-Virus-for-Mac-Home/Version-9-4-0-Preview-Now-Available/td-p/21401
Thanks again for your assistance, definitely helped show what went wrong and confirm its one of the issues addressed in the next update.

No start with "fast Start"

I have encoded numerous movies out of Final Cut for my iWeb site and can't get them to show and play while they're downloading. They won't show until they are completely loaded even though I encoded them with the "fast start" option checked in the movie settings window. I'm using the H.264 setting. What's strange is there are a few that will show and play while loading but most won't! I can't figure out why!? Below is a link to one of my pages that has links to 2 movies - one movie that works while the other doesn't.
http://web.mac.com/sammcj/iWeb/Sam%202K6%20Site/Dell.html
The first movie works while the second one just shows the QT icon until its loaded. They were encoded with the same settings...? Anybody else have this problem? If anybody has any insights I would really appreciate it! Thanks

Here is my observation....and hopefully someone like QuickTimeKirk will chime in with the real goods here...
I see your problem. The first movie does not autostart, but it does show the first frame and will indeed play while downloading if the play button is clicked. The second movie only shows the big Q until everything is downloaded and then it will play if clicked (no autoplay).
Now here is the strange part....and I hope you dont mind that I am doing this....I know QuickTimeKirk says never to link directly to the actual QuickTime movie file and all, but a rule is a rule, right????...meant to be broken. And here are two prime examples of where breaking the rules yields positive results...
If you link to the files directly, everything works as you planned out...fast-start, autoplay, everything!
Dell TechForce, Episode 1
Dell TechForce, Episode 2
Of course, the reason for this is that the movies are using the QT browser plugin directly and using the fast-start characteristics that you enabled. In iWeb, though, these encoded characteristics are overridden (in my experience) by whatever the parameters are set for in the published .js files.
So for example, your first movie has an associated .js file called "Techforce 1.js" that contains a bunch of QuickTime parameters. Here is an exerpt...
document.write('<object id="id5" classid="clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B" codebase="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab" width="477" height="285" style="height: 285px; left: 118px; position: absolute; top: 163px; width: 477px; z-index: 1; "><param name="src" value="Techforce%201_files/TechForce1.mov" /><param name="controller" value="true" /><param name="autoplay" value="false" /><param name="scale" value="tofit" /><param name="volume" value="100" /><param name="loop" value="false" /><embed pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/" type="video/quicktime" class="mov" width="477" height="285" src="Techforce%201_files/TechForce1.mov" controller="true" autoplay="false" scale="tofit" volume="100" loop="false"></embed></object>');
The underlined parameters are the typically edited parameters in the .js files for QT movies. The three basic parameters are controller, autoplay, and loop...and these occur twice in the code. So changing autoplay from false to true would solve your autoplay problem.
But I don't know why the second movie just displays as a big Q while downloading. Hmm....
Well, I hope at least some of this is helpful to you in your troubleshooting. Best of luck....great videos. Funny stuff.

Fast start not working compressor 3.5.3

Hi, I am having a problem that I can't seem to resolve after much searching. I am compressing my video for my website using fast start. When I open my site, the video completely loads without playing on it's own. I have to hit the play button.
These are my specs in Compressor 3.5.3
Description: QuickTime H.264 video with PCM audio at 48 kHz. Settings based off the source resolution and frame-rate.
File Extension: mov
Estimated size: 599.04 MB/hour of source
Audio Encoder
AAC, Stereo (L R), 44.100 kHz
Video Encoder
Format: QT
Width: 640
Height: 480
Pixel aspect ratio: Square
Crop: None
Padding: None
Frame rate: 24
Frame Controls On:
Retiming: (Better) Motion Compensated
Resize Filter: Linear Filter
Deinterlace Filter: Better (Motion Adaptive)
Adaptive Details: Off
Antialias: 0
Detail Level: 0
Field Output: Progressive
Codec Type: H.264
Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On
Pixel depth: 24
Spatial quality: 75
Min. Spatial quality: 25
Temporal quality: 50
Min. temporal quality: 25
Average data rate: 1.331 (Mbps)
Fast Start: on
My original video is 29.97fps 720X486 and I am compressing it to 24fps 640X480.
I appreciate any help.
Message was edited by: kyanos1

Thanks for your help. That didn't work but now I'm wondering if all of the settings on my site allow for fast start. It works for some but not all of my videos.
Thanks again

Fast Start + Podcasting + iPod = Fail

I'm trying to create a video podcasting file that can be played on an iPod/iPhone as well as be able to watch it in a web browser without having to download it before being able to view it. What I've figured out is that podcast files don't have Fast Start on, so if you were to try to view it in a browser it will just start downloading the file to the computer instead of in the browser and you can't view it until it's done. So I turned on Fast Star, and once I did that now it can't be played on an iPod...
My question is am I doomed to make two files? One for podcasting and the other for viewing in a browser? Or is there a way to do both in one file?
Thanks,
Dave

My question is am I doomed to make two files? One for podcasting and the other for viewing in a browser?
No.
Or is there a way to do both in one file?
Embed an auto start command the movie in the page code.

Detecting Fast Start QuickTime Movies

Is there a tool, programming approach, or way to applescript the detection of whether a movie was saved with fast start or not?
And if so, is there a programming approach or way to applescript QuickTime to quickly set, or resave the file without needing to reencode the file?
I need to create a process where I can verify that files on my server are set to fast start and if not then set them. Please help.
Thanks in advance
Nicholas Stokes
Systems Administrator
MemberNet TV/Wiredrive.com
4212 Glencoe Avenue
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
310-823-8238 x 3533 direct line
310-738-1454 cell
[email protected]
http://www.wiredrive.com

Is there a tool, programming approach, or way to applescript the detection of whether a movie was saved with fast start or not?
And if so, is there a programming approach or way to applescript QuickTime to quickly set, or resave the file without needing to reencode the file?
I need to create a process where I can verify that files on my server are set to fast start and if not then set them. Please help.
Anything supposedly saved by QT in the "MOV" container automatically defaults to "Fast Start." If in doubt or using other QT containers, simply use the "Save As ..." file option to resave these files with "Fast Start" without re-encoding.

Fast-Start Failover - Without Observer

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