Solid State Drives, Trim and Oracle

I am having an interesting 'discussion' with my system administrator. He is worried that a database we have running in noarchivelog mode, if moved onto solid state hard drives, will one day start to slow down because of the problem SSDs have about not knowing which blocks can be written to. He is concerned especially that the Oracle Enterprise Linux kernel version does not support the TRIM command which lets an OS get around this problem (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM)
My counter-argument to him has been that Oracle doesn't delete anything: the datafiles, control files and online redo logs are created once and then simply have their contents changed, over and over. Nothing is ever deleted, so the no-TRIM limitation is not one we would ever run into. I concede that if we were generating archived redo, and then having rman do a 'delete input', there would be a genuine issue. But this particular database is not in archivelog mode so that doesn't apply.
Anyone care to comment on the logic of my case (or lack of it, of course!).

Do not offhand see a flaw in your logic - especially not if the SSD is managed as a single "+raw+" disk via ASM. In this case there is no cooked file system on it that's managed by the o/s. The entire disk (and allocation and free space on it) is managed by ASM.
But then I would also question the use of what still is not yet a fully matured storage technology for databases - and also why the entire storage layer is not looked ito performance?
SDD addresses only a very specific part of the storage layer - and often that (with modern storage arrays and their huge memory buffer caches) is not the biggest limitation in I/O thruput. The PCI technology used (for the physical wire connectivity to the storage system) could be the bottleneck. The wire technology (e.g. fibre channel) could the bottleneck. Etc.
Addressing I/O performance needs a look at the entire storage layer. Not just the disks. (hint - look at what Exadata uses)

Similar Messages

Texas RamSan Solid State Storage Appliance and Oracle VM 3.x

Has anyone had success with using a Texas Memory System RamSAN 810 (solid state appliance) and Fiber Channel controllers with Oracle VM 3.x
I believe any Fiber Channel device should work as shared storage, but looking for some extra confirmation that there were no issues before actually buying.
Thanks for any information.

886374 wrote:
In playing with OVM 3.0 so far, I see that local storage (as the accelerator cards would show up as) is not really appropriate for Production Systems. It appears I can create a Repository on these physical disks and then present them to the VM guest. Then add these cards as my Oracle ASM disks for my "fast" storage, and do the same with the FiberChannel storage for my "slower" disks. Because of the Local Storage used for part of the VM guest, we would not be able to Live Migrate or have High availability I believe. Is this correct? Correct.
If we have the two servers as mentioned above. Could I take the database VM down and move it to the other server (ie Cold Migration)? The local storage (ie the accelerator cards) could physically be moved from one physical host to the other, but I am not sure, since this is virtualized disk, if this would be allowed or how it could be recognized on the other Oracle VM Server. This might be a "dream", but might be something we would like to do if an emergency arose or if more maintenance needed to be done on Server 1. Any comments?You would have to shutdown the VM, migrate it to an unassigned folder, edit the VM, remove the local storage from Server 1, migrate to Server 2 and add the local storage from Server 2. Whether or not this means moving your hardware is up to you.
Does anyone have other solutions to run Solid State disks (approximately 2TB worth) and Oracle VM, running a single guest that runs the database? We have been unable to find iSCSI or FiberChannel enclosures that can handle solid state drives in the 1 to 2 TB range of capacity. So perhaps there are other enclosures out there that can act as Shared Storage that can operate with SSDs. Thank you for any comments and suggestions.I know the Sun storage appliances use hybrid storage, i.e. a mix of SSD/spinning disks, but I don't know the details. Our Exadata machines have 5TB of Flash storage per cell, so I know we have such options.

SSD (Solid State Drive) Upgrades and DV7 4280US

I am posting this as an FYI for anyone who is considering upgrading their DV7 or similar laptop with a SSD.
My experience with this has been somewhat difficult and I am hoping this will help.
I own a DV7-4280US laptop with 6GB of memory, i5 processor, and an 750 GB 5400rpm drive. I decided to put a OZC Vertex 2 120GB drive in it to replace the main drive. I decided to do a fresh install of the factory image directly to the new drive. This failed. I was able to run the HP recovery disks and get all the way through without an error, but was not able to boot. The system stated that there was no valid boot disk. I tried several times with different options and always got the same error message when I tried to boot from the SSD.
The solution for me was to use partition wizard home edition (http://download.cnet.com/Partition-Wizard-Home-Edition/3000-2094_4-10962200.html?tag=mncol;1) and to copy partition #1,2 and 4 over to the new drive (from my old drive in an external enclosure) resizing appropriately so the data all fit on the newer smaller drive. I was careful to make sure each partition was created as a primary partition not a logical one. I also had to make the first partition active as it contained the boot info for Win 7-64bit.
A note about partition size: before I copied the partitions over, I decided to uninstall some of the extra software I did not use that came from HP and a few that I had installed. I also deleted all of my temporary files and did a disk clean up. It is best to not fill your new SSD too quickly and to do as few writes as possible. It is the writing that consumes the drive over time and even if you copied the partition and then uninstalled and cleaned up you will have still consumed some of the life of your drive. I was able to trim my C: drive down to about 30 GB and have a lot of space left in the 111GB of that partition.
My guess is that the problem with the HP restore disks is that they for whatever reason did not set the first partition as active on the SSD. I have not been able to figure out why because they would do this correctly if it were any other type of drive. Maybe this is a bug with that restore program.
I also found that doing a fresh install of Win 7 form a microsoft disk works fine too.
I have been told by OCZ that if I have enough memory (4GB +) that I should set the page file to "No Paging File" in the advanced system settings. This will conserve the SSD as they have a limited number of writes and over time the page file will consume a good portion of it's life.
OCZ and Microsoft both recommended that I run the Windows Experience Index immediately after installing the SSD because it will turn off several prefetch and caching services that you will not need with your new SSD.
I have been super happy with my new SSD and am absolutely convinced that it is the very best upgrade you can do to speed up your system. My windows experience index went from 5.2 to 6.7 the disk is now rated at 7.6. Windows now loads in about 8 seconds and web pages are almost instantaneous. It is well worth the 200 I paid for the drive.

Hey...thanks for the information - I wish my search had come across your post earlier...it would have saved me a couple days of pulling my hair out! I just bought a DV7-7298 (i7, 1T HDD, 12GB RAM, Win8 pre-installed) and similarly wanted to install an SSD (Intel 335 240GB).
The recovery disk option for intalling Win8 on the new drive got me nowhere at all - it would not boot except for once and I had no networking and major software installation issues which forced a reboot sequence and more terror...horribly frustrating and HP was absolutely no help. I had a Windows 7 disk that I was able install on the SSD but no clean Win8 disk. I called Microsoft (who were quite helpful) - they were happy to allow me to download a fresh copy of Win8 with my existing Win8 Product Key...great, I thought...
With some aftermarket software I found the Win8 key which is attached electronically to the BIOS on these new machines - no more Product Key stickers on the bottom of our machines...the problem is that the OEM Key was not accepted by the Windows site to allow me to download the clean Win8 software...argh! In the end, Microsoft helped again by agreeing to mail to me a Win8 install disk (which I though was decent of them)...not a quick solution, however. In looking for solutions, I came across the Microsoft Win8 Pro upgrade offer ($40 until Jan. 31, 2013) - in order to potentially get this done, I decided to spend the $40 and get the upgrade which I downloaded and installed immediately...in the end? Success!! But not quite so fast...I had to install Windows7 on the SSD first in order to run the Win8Pro install which I'd put on the 1T drive that came with the machine - put it in an external drive...it installed without any issues. I downloaded the drivers that Windows missed from the HP website and now have a slick, extremely fast notebook without all the bloatware...so sweet!
It is amazing just how fast these drives work - no regrets at all (except for the wasted time getting it working)...this is a great performance upgrade - if you want a faster machine and quick boot, this has got to be the best bang for the $! With this DV7, I can still have the 1T drive in the second bay (battery power isn't a problem for me) so a lot of my data will be going there with programs on the SSD. If you're considering this upgrade - great - do it for sure! But do yourself a favour and don't waste time with the HP recovery disks...they just don't work for this upgrade...find someone with a clean Windows disk (XP, Vista (ugh2), 7 or 8) and install your OS that way. If you have the UEFI BIOS Product Key set-up - it should activate itself (Win8).
Best of luck - you'll love the results!

Oracle RAC and Solid State Drive

Can we use Solid state Drive with Oracle RAC as a replacement to SAN?
Regards,
RJiv.

burleson wrote:
Hi,
Can we use Solid state Drive with Oracle RAC as a replacement to SAN?Yes, and it works especially great for RAC clusters:
http://www.rampant-books.com/t_rssd_12_removing_bandwidth_saturation.htm
BTW, SSD is now offered by Sun, EMC, and lots of other mainstream vendors, and the prices are falling rapidly:
http://www.dba-oracle.com/include_ssd.htm
Hope this helps . . .
Donald K. Burleson
Oracle Press author
Author of "Oracle Tuning: The Definitive Reference"
http://www.rampant-books.com/book_2005_1_awr_proactive_tuning.htm
Don,
I know you and your company has done lot of research on (RamSan+Oracle RAC), but it will be nice if you can comment on (FusionIO+RAC) solution. I know no one has used it so far, but I think it is viable, so what do you think?
The reason why I think FusionIO is a good solution for small DBs because it's not a Flash Drive and it costs less than the other SSD solutions available in the market. Also you do not want to buy SAN for small DBs (<250 GB).
But I am too sure about the actual configuration at this point like - gigabit vs 10 gigi NIC, type of interconnect, Fiber Channel, etc.
So I would really appreciate if you can provide some insight.
Thanks in advance....
Disclaimer: I do not work for FusionIO - http://www.fusionio.com/

Solid state drive without trim using time machine

hi guys,
Due to hard drive failure I got a solid state drive. Samsung 850 pro. I read online about trim support and some have it on and some have it off. Once I installed my ssd i used a memory stick to boot with the Yosemite installer on it and i was up and running. I used time machine to transfer the information from my previous built in hard drive.
My question is - how do I know wether trim is on or off. My mac is working perfectly so I'm at a loss. is my computer safe?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
ps - I'm using a mid 2012 macbook pro.

Well, it depends what applications - if they are part of the system, it's best to simply use the latest copy included already. As for third party, you have to check if a) they are compatible (you did not say if you are upgrading to a new OS or not), and b) do they have any registration number/key that needs to be entered. If you downloaded them, it'd be better to download them fresh. The difference between drag 'n drop and a clone is that a clone copies your entire system including the little bits and pieces which may be in obscure places, so a drag 'n drop method will work with an app that was installed by simply dragging it into the Applications folder - but, if it employs an installer, you don't know where all the pieces are. So, you can try it, but be prepared for some unexpected behavior.
Make sure you put everything in the same spot it originated from...

How do I copy my operating system to a solid state drive and make it the disk I boot from?

How do I copy my operating system to a solid state drive and make it the disc I boot from?

Where is your operating system now? Basically, you clone it from wherever it is now to the SSD:
Clone Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue button.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the SSD. Source means the drive now holding OS X.

What is largest solid state drive I can install in MacBook Pro 8,2? I want to perform a clean install of Mavricks and dump my old hard drive.

What is largest solid state drive I can install in MacBook Pro 8,2? I want to perform a clean install of Mavricks and dump my old hard drive.

If the bank account permits, I suggest getting a 1 TB SSD anyway. One cannot have too much storage.
Unless you are having issues with your current installation, a 'clean' install is not necessary. It would be more efficient to clone your current drive to the new SSD, test it, and then do the swap. The installation of Mavericks over Snow Leopard can be done either before or after the cloning process.
Ciao.

I have a 13" mac book pro with a 250 gb solid state drive and I would like to put in a larger one is this possible

I own a Mac book Pro 13" it has a 250 gb solid state drive and I would like to put a larger one in is this possible.

You don't need to partition your drive to run Fusion, only if you want to run Bootcamp.
If you have space on your Windows partition, I would suggest you backup your Windows partition, and then, delete the partition using Disk Utility.
You can now restore your virtual machine to a single volume or repartition if you prefer.
I would consider upgrading to a unibody MBP (used, refurbished will do) just to be able to access the HD. Opening the pre-unibody MBP is not something you would want to do.

Where and what type of solid state drive should I buy for my early 2008 Mac Pro Desktop??

where can I buy and what type of solid state drive should I use to upgrade my early 2008 Mac Pro Desktop??

Rick,
When you get a chance.... DSLReports is off line: their SQL server decided to take its indexes and access to data. Power. Not enough of the right kind of UPS. Same happened to StorageReview's "Drive Reliability Database" about 8-9 yrs ago.
dslreports.com is offline
Fri Apr 20 09:05:55 EDT 2012
SSD: Loading CS5 plus other little monsters might matter.
Lots of small I/Os
latency of 1/100th where nanoseconds replace those "long" milliseconds
System: Small and fast.
DLLoyd even goes for short-stroking drives to get and maintain highest I/O
The new 10k VRs hit 200MB/sec - I still use them and still find them useful, long lasting, feel responsive with whatever I ask of them. I know they get criticized and "cost too much"
Just bought a new WD Black and yes it is better than the 2008 model I was using.
600GB 10K $200 vs $150-220 for WD Black. your choice
I can destroy a 7.2k drive, I have brought ever 10K drive back after a simple WD Extended Test in Lifeguard.
I don't really care about $$/GB or I wouldn't have just bought Intel 128GB $149
Database: the pros put the index in memory and page fix (virtual volumes in memory; cache; hold disk drive index in memory). Caching storage has been around for almost 40 yrs.
Today you can use SSDs as front end cache to hold DB indexes and frequent data for web servers and such adn use slower secondary storage.
SSD + SAS + 4TB storage
Separating the system from data: #1 must
Having data on array: been what I use
I put a large photo library on 2 x 10K VRs vs SSD and couldn't tell much difference (SSD is soundless of course) But my WD Blacks make as much noise and run 15*C hotter than those 10K (not what you expect?)
While 10K and 7.2K are in the 140-180MB/sec range, they are in 3.0 to 12.0 ms seeks, not 0.01 ms.
People wonnder why shrink a drive to 2.5" (or why not go down to 1.8".
How long does it take to reposition a disk head? how often? the 10K VR travels on outer tracks at 70 MPH. Really trying to fly off into space.
It uses one step to find the "zip code" and then another DSP to find the "house."
True of any high density perpendicular recording mechanism.
And of course while the Raptor-X tried to find a home with famers, Cheetah buyers, the WD 10K line has more of a home where servers and small form factor drives - and 100s of them - can fit in a rackmount server I imagine.
Anyway.... if SR and DSLReports can drop out of site due to power and hardware failure and loss... we can learn some and hope to protect our own data and investments.

I'm looking to but the iMac 27" with 2TB Serial ATA Drive 256GB Solid State Drive . Will time machine automatically back up both the hard drive and the solid-state drive? Ae there any catches or things to be aware of?

Will time machine on Lion, Mac OS 10.7, automatically back up both the internal hard drive and the internal solid-state drive both inside a 27" iMac?

Also, you may find this of interest
TM 101
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

Upgrade my Macbook Pro 17" with solid state drive and RAM?

My MBP is a 17" mid-2009, 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3, Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB.
I am an architecture student. I use 3D modeling programs like SketchUp, Revit, AutoCad, etc. According to these software websites, my MBP is sufficient. However, when I'm running these programs, I get the apple "beach ball" a LOT, along with a lot of lagging even when I'm working on simple models. After doing some research, it appears that upgrading my RAM to 8GB (my model's max capability) and buying a solid state drive would help my MBP run much faster and much cooler.
My questions:
1. What brand and exact product #/link to this (if possible) of RAM (2 x 4GB sticks) and SSD should I purchase?
2. Which SSD GB option should I purchase? I chatted with OWC online and was given this variety of SSDs.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_Sta te
3. I was also given this product bundle recommendation. It's cheaper than buying everything individually, but I'm not sure if I need the tools and I don't understand the purpose/advantage of having the "OWC Express Silver Enclosure".
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/YSSDMP240/
I just want my MBP to run as fast as possible while running my modeling software w/o spending an arm and a leg if possible. But I don't know if it's worth the trouble and expense to upgrade my current MBP, which I love, or just getting a new MBP or Mac desktop. And if I should just get another Mac, I don't know which one I should get.
Another thing I have seen is the Mac Mini. Is it possible to plug this or any other external device to my MBP in order to accomplish my performance goals without having to modify my MBP or buy another Mac?
This is the first time I've posted any help questions to the Apple Support Community. I really appreciate any advise you Mac experts can give me. I called one of the Apple Stores, but I was definitely not satisfied with the inexperienced rep's answers.
Thanks!

1. OWC or Crucial are recommended sources for memory. You can usually find a 5% off and free shipping code for Crucial on retailmenot.com. On crucial just key in your system information in their memory selector.
2. Your system likely supports SATA II speeds, so the SSD OWC pointed to would work. I installed one in our 2010 mac mini and it's working well. I originally installed their 6G drive however it ran at SATA I speeds. Turns out the 3G which is specd for SATA II is what was needed and works fine.
3. The OWC package they recommended includes a case to put your existing hard drive in. That helps to be able to transfer your data back to the SSD then you can use it as a backup drive or as an external storage device.

I have a 2008 13" Mac Book and want to put a solid state drive in it

I installed Lion firdt and then Clones my hard drive to the solid state drive but it has issues.
I tried to do a clesn install on the solid state drive but the install will not complete

The macbook originally came with OSX Leopard, which I upgradedto Snow Leopard.
I then increase the Ram to the full 4Gig and then upgraded the OS to LIon OS 10.7.5
I decided to swap the original hard drive with a Kingston SSDNow 100V+.
I used Carbon Clone to clone the original Hard drive and swapped the drives.
The issue I am having is that the sytem freezes and I get the pinwheel and have to push the power button to shutdown. The sytems restarsts but I never know when I will get the pinwheel.
I have taken the SSD out and put the original drive back in.
I did try to do a clean install onto the SSD by reformaytting the SSD but at the end of the install the installer loops back to the beginning, or I get the pin wheel again.
Is it possible that the Kingston Drive is not compattible?
Thanks for the help.
Jim

I have a MacBook Pro, 15-inch, Mid 2009. I would love to upgrade to a Solid State Drive. What is the best possible upgrade I can buy. I need the specs and even brand name. Thank you to anyone who can help.

I have a MacBook Pro, 15-inch, Mid 2009. I would love to upgrade to a Solid State Drive. What is the best possible upgrade I can buy. I need the specs and even brand name. Thank you to anyone who can help.

A 15" mid-2009 MBP RAM specifications are: 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM.
As has been pointed out, OWC is an excellent source for Mac compatible RAM. Crucial is another first rate source for Mac RAM. RAM from either vendor will work just as well as any purchased from Apple with the bonus of being less expensive and having a lifetime guarantee.
Ciao.

What's the difference between flash storage and solid state drive in MacBook Pro?

What's the difference between MacBook Pro with flash storage and MacBook Pro with solid state drive?

A SSD is packaged like any other notebook drive. Flash storage uses a different design and layout that connects directly to the motherboard using PCIe. It is faster than a normal SSD.
SSD vs HDD: What's the Difference? | PCMag.com
what are the differences between solid state drive and flash storage ...

What is the difference in price of MacBook Pro 13-inch: 2.9GHz750GB and 256GB solid-state drive

What is the difference in price of MacBook Pro 13-inch: 2.9GHz750GB and 256GB solid-state drive ?

go to the Store and configure all the models with upgrades but... an SSD will be fast and responsive, no noise or heat and adds $200 probably to the cost
macbook series forum though, are here (not here)
MacBook Pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro

Solid State Drives, Trim and Oracle

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