An Oracle White Paper

September 2010

Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage

Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage
Management (ASM)
 Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

Introduction............................................................................................ 3
Oracle Automated Storage Management (ASM) ................................... 4
Veritas Storage Foundation by Symantec .............................................. 4
Advantages in Migrating from Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM .......5
Migrating from Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM ...............................5
Conclusion............................................................................................. 8
References............................................................................................. 8
 Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

Introduction

This paper addresses migration of Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation from Symantec
to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM). ASM is a feature in Oracle Database that provides
functionality similar to Veritas Storage Foundation . An overview of ASM and examples of migrating
from Oracle databases located on Storage Foundation Filesystems to Oracle ASM storage will be
provided.

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is a feature in Oracle Database 10g and 11g that
provides the database administrator with a simple storage management interface that is consistent
across all server and storage platforms. ASM combines a file system and volume manager which is
designed to hold Oracle database files.

Veritas Storage Foundation by Symantec has a history of being a popular third-party volume
manager and file system. It has been the choice in many high end applications and clusters.
However, it is also a separately licensed product which is placed in the middle of the application and
Operating System stack.

A migration from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM can unify the administration and reduce
overall licensing costs of an Oracle Database system.

To ease the transition, Oracle supplies tools which can aid in database migration to Oracle
ASM. Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) is a supported tool which allows for database
backup and recovery into a new environment. In an example later, RMAN will be used to
backup a database built on a Storage Foundation filesystem and to migrate it to an ASM
based database.
 Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

Oracle Automated Storage Management (ASM)

As a feature introduced in Oracle Database 10g, ASM combines a volume manager and filesystem
together to run as a unified entity above system disks. Some of the benefits of ASM include:
• Dynamic data redistribution. Data is balanced when disks are added to the group.
• Support for standalone and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC).
• Oracle Database Enterprise Manager can manage ASM instances.
• SQL interface for provisioning. No separate languages required.
• Cross platform compatibility with an identical interface between systems.ASM allows Oracle
Database to control functions which are often performed by the Operating System. With ASM,
disks can be added to a diskgroup, and RAID configurations such as mirroring can be used.
Asynchronous I/O is the default and stripe widths can be varied by ASM based on the information
in the stripe. ASM creates a much tighter relationship between the database and the hardware which
allows the stack to adjust and balance as required.

Oracle ASM can be setup on Solaris using the standard Database Creation Assistant (dbca). After
that, disks are selected to be placed in the diskgroup which is a pool of disks that ASM will use for
database storage. Detailed setup instructions are in the Oracle Real Application Cluster installation
instructions.

Veritas Storage Foundation by Symantec

Veritas Storage Foundation includes Veritas Volume Manager and the Veritas Filesystem along with
tools to deploy and monitor large disk installations. The Symantec stack has very similar functionality
to Oracle ASM. Some of the similarities between Storage Foundation and ASM:
• Cross platform compatibility.
• Support for standalone installation and for Oracle RAC
• Journaling file system
• Dynamic disk addition and removal.
• Multipathing support
• RAID functionality
Veritas Storage Foundation has been deployed in installations for volume disk management and
clustering. However the licensing costs increase the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). By contrast,
Oracle ASM, which is integrated into the Oracle Database, is a powerful solution that can be
considered as a replacement for Veritas Storage Foundation .
 Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

Advantages in Migrating from Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM

Migrating from Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM should be considered for the following reasons:
• Reduced overall licensing costs. Storage Foundation licensing is an added cost while Oracle ASM is
included with the Oracle Database License.
• Similar feature set. The major functionality of Storage Foundation is included in Oracle ASM.
• Reduced dependency on third-party software.
• Oracle Database provides a suite of tools to assist in migrating oracle databases, thus making the
transition simpler.

Migrating from Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM

Oracle Database provides tools to assist in database migration. Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) is
one such tool that contains specific commands for cloning databases across systems. The following
example shows how RMAN can be used to migrate a database from a Storage Foundation based
database to an Oracle ASM managed storage test environment
For testing database migration, a pair of Oracle's Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120s were used. Oracle
VM Server for SPARC (previously called Sun Logical Domains) was used to split the machines into
smaller virtual machines.
 Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

Figure 1: Test Environment Setup

SUN SPARC ENTERPRISE T5120 SUN SPARC ENTERPRISE T5120 SUN STORAGE 6180 ARRAY

Memory 128G Memory 128G Drives 16 x 300G

CPU 1.4Ghz x 128 threads CPU 1.4Ghz x 128 threads

3 Logical Domains: Control, 2 guest 3 Logical Domains: Control, 2 guest

domains domains

Two logical domains were setup in a two node Oracle RAC configuration using ASM on the storage
array volume. In another logical domain, a standalone Veritas Storage Foundation filesystem was used
to contain our test database.
Migrating the Veritas Storage Foundation database to ASM can be done using RMAN. A detailed
guide is available in the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide. The guide is
available at:
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/backup.102/b14191/rcmdupdb.htm#i1006233
 Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

The basic steps for a migration from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM are as follows:
• A new Oracle ASM instance must be started. Note it can be run on the same server or a remote
server.
• The new instance is created using a modified initialization parameter file.
• Connection as sysdba must be established between the Veritas based database and the ASM
database.
• The databases are started and placed in proper states for RMAN
• RMAN backup and duplication is performed.
• The duplicate database can then be used from ASM.
Detailed steps for a migration between two servers are listed below. The original database on Storage
Foundation is origdb and the new ASM based database is clonedb:
1. An oracle password file must be created to allow sysdba connection to the databases. Orapwd
is the utility for creating password files.

orapwd file=PWDdbclone.ora ENTRIES=30

Refer to Configuring Authentication in the Oracle Database documentation for further

usage instructions on orapwd.
2. Using sqlplus, verify connectivity between the instances.
As an example: CONNECT SYS/password AS SYSDBA
The password is the one assigned by orapwd and the ORACLE_SID should be set to the
remote instance.
3. Use rman to make a complete backup of the database to be cloned. Note that the database
must be in archivelog mode. A typical backup for origdb can be run as:

$ rman
RMAN> backup as copy format=’/backup/origdb/%U’ database plus
archivelog;

4. Copy over the backup files in the same directory structure from the origdb
server to the clonedb server.
5. Run rman duplicate database commands.

$ rman
 Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

RMAN> connect target sys/oracle@orig

RMAN> connect auxiliary sys/oracle@clonedb
RMAN> duplicate target database to clonedb
pfile='initclonedb.ora'

6. When the duplicate command completes, the clonedb on ASM can then be
started and used.
Transitioning the database may have other difficulties. Some other documents which cover cloning
databases are available. A good best practices guide is available here:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/availability/pdf/asm_cloning.pdf
It is recommended that deployments are tested in an environment which closely resembles the
production database environment before transitioning the actual database from Storage Foundation to
ASM.

Conclusion
Migrating a database from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM is a simple task which can
provide a significant upside by introducing a proven and reliable Oracle software solution for database
storage while reducing licensing costs. An Oracle only hardware/software stack is easier to maintain
while maintaining a similar feature set. Migration is eased by using commonly used Oracle tools.
Once a database has been migrated from Veritas Storage Foundation to Oracle ASM, it will be running
in a complete Oracle stack with the third party functionality removed and replaced with the integrated
volume manager of ASM.

References
Oracle® Database Backup and Recovery User's
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E11882_01/backup.112/e10642/toc.htm

Oracle® Database Backup and Recovery Reference

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E11882_01/backup.112/e10643/toc.htm
Migrating Oracle Database from Veritas Storage Copyright © 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is provided for information purposes only and the
Foundation to Oracle Automatic Storage contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other
Management (ASM) warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or
September 2010 fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations are
formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior written permission.
Oracle Corporation
World Headquarters Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood Shores, CA 94065 AMD, Opteron, the AMD logo, and the AMD Opteron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices. Intel
U.S.A. and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are
trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark licensed through X/Open Company,
Worldwide Inquiries: Ltd. 0410
Phone: +1.650.506.7000
Fax: +1.650.506.7200
oracle.com