Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Define Network Security Considerations
The nature of your data and the associated security risk considerations may require that your ODA be placed on
specific IP ranges, on VLANs, or behind specific firewalls. It is best to plan out the network security requirements with
your security and networking people as early as possible to avoid delaying your project. Every company has its process
and standards for network security, as well as its choice as to whether encryption needs to be deployed at the network
layer. This work can start before you order your ODA so that the network requirements don't become a bottleneck that
will slow down your ODA deployment.
In today's rush to DBaaS (Database as a Service) and cloud deployments, it isn't unusual to predeploy
infrastructure according to application and security tiering. The more that security or other network requirements
are worked out in advance, the better your chances are for realizing the fast deployment benefits of the ODA.
There are financial benefits for deploying infrastructure “Just-In-Time,” instead of “way too early” or “way too late.”
Complete Work That Can Be Accomplished Before the ODA Arrives
Identify when you can complete work in advance or do things in parallel so that when an ODA arrives, it can be
immediately cabled and deployed using the “one button” deployment automation feature. Some of the tasks that can
be done before the ODA arrives include a number of the implementation steps outlined in this chapter, including:
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Plan your networks.
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Finalize security considerations.
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Request IP addresses.
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Submit cabling requests and order any necessary cables.
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Submit DNS and firewall requests.
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Identify the rack locations.
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Build the deployment configuration files using the Oracle Appliance Manager Configurator
utility in offline mode.
This author has personally witnessed multiple ODAs land on the dock, only to be running as fully deployed RAC
clusters within 48 hours. Shipping time is not time to be wasting. Use that time to your advantage to prepare and be
ready when your ODA units arrive.
Now that it is possible to deploy applications in addition to databases on an ODA, your network planning
may need to extend to the application tier. Oracle supports deploying applications on an ODA to have a complete
application solution running very quickly. Oracle includes information in the Getting Started Guide to detail the
process for installing and supporting virtualization on an ODA.
Application requirements can impact your network planning. In addition to the need for more IP addresses,
applications may need to reside on different networks than your database servers. This can be due to security
considerations, for example.
When ODAs were first released, there were a number of partners and consultants that produced videos or blogs
detailing how fast it is to deploy ODAs. In one case, the network cables were run to the dock to deploy the ODA while it
was still on the shipping pallet. You can still find some of these videos on YouTube. Live ODA builds were highlighted
at several Oracle user conferences.
While it has been proven many times that an ODA can be deployed quickly, it is always important to make sure
to deploy them correctly. Planning can help accomplish this. It's always possible to change the networks after an ODA
has been deployed. Options for making some of these changes will be discussed in an upcoming section. If worse
comes to worst, you can always bare metal an ODA to start over. But if you follow the old carpenters rule to “measure
twice, cut once,” costly reworks can be eliminated.
