VersaStack for Oracle Database acceleration

Oracle Database forms the core of many applications involving online

transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing, batch processing,

complex queries for report generation and online analytical process-

ing (OLAP). The challenge for IT and database administrators is to

meet business objectives while satisfying the need for more perfor-

mance with data growth at a lower cost.

VersaStack is your building block for Oracle workloads

VersaStack is an integrated systems solution that brings together

Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS®) integrated infra-

structure and IBM storage systems built with IBM® Spectrum

VirtualizeTM. Backed by a Cisco Validated Design (CVD), VersaStack

forms the building block to host your Oracle workloads and provides

faster delivery of solution applications, greater reliability, easier man-

agement, simplified installation, and lower IT infrastructure costs.

VersaStack is pre-tested, validated, and optimized for Oracle

Database environments. It speeds the deployment of Oracle

Database, whether running on a single node or on Oracle Real

Application Clusters (RAC). VersaStack is ideally suited for OLTP and

OLAP environments.

Whether you are migrating your existing application to run on Oracle

Database, upgrading your current Oracle application infrastructure or

deploying a new Oracle workload, your business and infrastructure

Dramatically improve Oracle Database performance, reduce complexity and costs with VersaStackTM integrated infrastructure solution

VersaStack, an IBM and Cisco integrated

infrastructure solution, combines

computing, networking, storage and

management into a single integrated

system.

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objectives are clear — the overall solution should meet your perfor-

mance, reliability, and efficiency requirements at a price-point that

falls within your budget today and it should enable future growth.

VersaStack offers a choice of IBM storage options to meet any

Oracle Database performance and capacity requirements

Thanks to the versatility and price flexibility of IBM storage systems

such as IBM FlashSystem™ V9000, IBM Storwize® V7000, or IBM

Storwize V5000 storage systems, VersaStack can address high

performance, high capacity, high growth and cost-sensitive stor-

age requirements. FlashSystem V9000 offers the highest levels of

performance with robust software-defined storage capabilities for

database acceleration, analytics, or other business applications run-

ning on Oracle Database. Storwize V7000 is best suited for medium

to large enterprises looking for a hybrid storage technology (disk and

SSD). For smaller environments, Storwize V5000 hybrid storage sys-

tem offers an attractive entry-level solution, especially when paired

with Cisco UCS Mini.

With VersaStack, there are no tradeoffs in how applications are

deployed. It is possible to run mixed workloads, enable data center

consolidation, accelerate applications and reduce costs. VersaStack

configured with IBM FlashSystem V9000 is capable of achieving

extremely fast response times for Oracle Database reads and writes.

This means near real-time access to critical data with predictable,

sustained perfromance for online transaction processing and faster

batch processing. IBM Storwize V7000 and V5000 with hybrid

storage options provide compelling solutions suited for more cost-

sensitive Oracle workloads.

Accelerated Oracle application performance at lower cost

Cisco UCS is an innovative architecture with record-breaking Oracle

Database and Applications performance. Cisco UCS holds 37 world

performance records on Oracle applications and workloads and

counting1. In addition, Cisco UCS server, powered by Intel Xeon

processors, stretches your Oracle Database budget even further

because they have one-half core multipliers, much lower than tradi-

tional architectures used for standalone Oracle Database and Oracle

RAC workloads. Cisco UCS management and ground breaking

service profiles make it easy to quickly and accurately scale infra-

structure to handle workload fluctuations. For example, in an Oracle

RAC deployment, Oracle RAC is a shared-nothing architecture. All

Oracle RAC nodes (usually a physical server, rack or blade) see all

the storage and node-coherency is maintained with cache-fusion

among the different nodes. An interesting scenario is if an Oracle

RAC (physical server) node fails. Normally, in case of a RAC node

failure, it is a long process to deploy and provision a new server and

bring that node back into the RAC cluster. With VersaStack it is a

simple process to recreate an exact copy of a failed Oracle RAC

node in minutes, not days. The service profile of the failed node (rack

or blade) is instantiated onto a new, spare, node. In minutes, an exact

copy of the failed node (same UUID, MAC address, WWN, WWPN,

BIOS, Firmware and so forth) is duplicated. Oracle RAC identifies that

the failed node is now back in the cluster, because all of its hardware

attributes are identical to the failed node. In addition, since an N+1

extra node isn’t needed, Oracle Database licensing costs for an

entire node may be saved! The licensing savings alone can be quite

substantial.

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The true value of VersaStack lies in its flexibility of approach

Depending on your budget and workload, VersaStack supports

varied Cisco UCS servers, Cisco switches (Nexus and MDS), and

IBM storage configuration options that enable you to easily and cost-

effectively scale compute, network, or capacity as needed.

In an Oracle Database and Applications environment, greater flex-

ibility and simplicity is achieved by scaling performance and capacity

non-disruptively, as your data grows, without the upfront investment.

There is no downtime involved. The single management console is

provided by UCS Director for the entire VersaStack solution, and it

reduces management complexity significantly.

When VersaStack is deployed with IBM FlashSystem V9000, per-

formance is exceptional and consistent even under peak workloads.

Another important benefit of the VersaStack solution is the ability to

leverage software-defined storage features, such as IBM Real-time

Compression™ and automated data tiering without any performance

impact. And best of all, whatever the configuration, it is pre-tested

and backed by Cisco CVDs and IBM Redbooks®.

VersaStack offers unparalleled efficiencies to reduce IT

infrastructure costs

VersaStack virtualizes your data center with built-in server, storage

and network virtualization. It can virtualize your existing storage

infrastructure — even customers’ third party storage devices — to

allow for seamless operations and data migration. Another important

feature in VersaStack is IBM Easy TierTM, which allows for automati-

cally moving data to varied storage tiers (flash, disk, tape) based on

access. It is simple – no administrator involvement is needed for plan-

ning, tuning or monitoring, and it can be turned on-off.

Another differentiated benefit of the VersaStack solution is its

ability to leverage efficiency features provided by IBM Spectrum

Virtualize software such as Real-time-Compression. With Real-time-

Compression features, VersaStack enables cost savings by storing

up to five times more data in the same physical space2.

VersaStack will lower infrastructure cost and footprint due to its effi-

cient architecture. Not only it can store more data without expanding

footprint or degrading application performance, it can reduce net-

work cabling by 77 percent with Cisco SingleConnect technology3.

VersaStack provides a smaller form factor and lower power, cool-

ing, and environmental costs allowing you to reduce acquisition

and operational costs. In addition, fewer cores, CPUs and serv-

ers means reduced Oracle Database licensing costs. IBM storage

enables you to store application, user data and Oracle Database

instances together and apply real-time, inline data compression

and other efficiency features to all. IBM FlashSystem helps eliminate

risk by ensuring data compression results and guaranteeing flash

endurance.

IBM and Cisco together bring advantages and help businesses

innovate

IBM and Cisco have a long history of working together to deliver

market-leading IT solutions. Together, the companies have a 15-year

history of demonstrated joint success with more than 25,000 shared

customers. IBM and Cisco have experience driving emerging tech-

nology transitions and breadth of resources, and have a proven

history of delivering innovative, validated solutions while helping cus-

tomers lower costs and reduce risk.

Visit us at:

ibm.com/versastack

cisco.com/go/versastack

Cisco Systems, Inc.

170 West Tasman Drive

San Jose, CA 95134-1706

www.cisco.com/go/ibm

International Business Machines Corporation

New Orchard Road

Armonk, New York 10504

www.ibm.com/cisco

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2015

Produced in the United States of America

November 2015

All Rights Reserved

IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, VersaStack, IBM Spectrum Virtualize, FlashSystem, Storwize

and Easy Tier are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines

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terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or TM),

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Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in

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The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any

other company. (1110R).

1. Leading Performance for Oracle Applications?, John McAbel http://www.cisco.com/assets/

events/i/collaborate15-leading-performance-oracle-apps.pdf

2. http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/resource/info/compression-guarantee.html

3. http://www.slideshare.net/Ciscodatacenter/ucs-advantage

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