In 2 Node RAC clients always connect to Node 2...

Question

Dear all,
I have installed RAC 10gR2 on Oracle Enterprise Linux Version 4 Update 5. ASM as storage option on iscsi shared storage.
In Enterprise Manager I can see 2 instance are UP! i can connect to oracle from any one of the node. All services are running fine on both nodes.
But when i connect to RAC database from any client machine it always connect to the second node where database instance BSS2 is running and never connects to BSS1.
I use this query to check which instance:
SELECT
instance_name
, host_name
, NULL AS failover_type
, NULL AS failover_method
, NULL AS failed_over
FROM v$instance
UNION
SELECT
NULL
, NULL
, failove_type
, failover_method
, failed_over
FROM v$session
WHERE username = 'SYSTEM';
My tnsnames.ora contains the following entry:
ORA_DEVP, ora_devp.world =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = 192.168.0.63)(PORT = 1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = 192.168.0.64)(PORT = 1521))
(LOAD_BALANCE = yes)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = ora_devp.idevelopment.info)
(FAILOVER_MODE =
(TYPE = SELECT)
(METHOD = BASIC)
(RETRIES = 180)
(DELAY = 5)
I dont know why id do not connect to Node 1. RAC is running but the very basic feature is missing in my configuration. Kindly help.
Regards, Imran

Answer 1

Well, looking at this query more connections are on node 2 while very few are on node 1. Maybe this is because of instance load balancing BUT clinets are connecting to both nodes.
Thanks Jonathan.
Another thing is that i can not establish Transfer Application Failover (TAF) between the node, like if i am connected to node 2 from a client machine and when i stop instance running on node 2 and again try to run query from client it lost connection. Infact it should have transfered to node 1 instance.
Following is the entry on my tnsnames.ora file on both node (same on both nodes)
# tnsnames.ora.oraclecl2 Network Configuration File: /u01/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/network/admin/tnsnames.ora.oraclecl2
# Generated by Oracle configuration tools.
BSS2 =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl2-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = bss.beaconhouse.edu.pk)
(INSTANCE_NAME = bss2)
BSS1 =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl1-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = bss.beaconhouse.edu.pk)
(INSTANCE_NAME = bss1)
ORCL_TAF =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl1-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl2-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(LOAD_BALANCE = yes)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = orcl_taf.beaconhouse.edu.pk)
(FAILOVER_MODE =
(TYPE = SELECT)
(METHOD = BASIC)
(RETRIES = 180)
(DELAY = 5)
BSS =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl1-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl2-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(LOAD_BALANCE = yes)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = bss.beaconhouse.edu.pk)
EXTPROC_CONNECTION_DATA =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC0))
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SID = PLSExtProc)
(PRESENTATION = RO)
LISTENERS_BSS =
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl1-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl2-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
#Edited by Imran
ORA_DEVP =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl1-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclecl2-vip.beaconhouse.edu.pk)(PORT = 1521))
(LOAD_BALANCE = yes)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = ora_devp.beaconhouse.edu.pk)
(FAILOVER_MODE =
(TYPE = SELECT)
(METHOD = BASIC)
(RETRIES = 180)
(DELAY = 5)
also show service parameter commands show
ora_devp.beaconhouse.edu.pk as a service...
but it do not automatically tranfer the instance.
Thanks.