Initialization Parameter Use in Oracle RAC

By default, most parameters are set to a default value and this value is the same across all instances. However, many initialization parameters can also have different values on different instances as described in Table 3-3. Other parameters must either be unique or identical as described in the following sections

Table 3-3 summarizes the initialization parameters used specifically for Oracle RAC databases.

See Also:

Oracle Database Reference for additional information about these and other initialization parameters

Table 3-3 Initialization Parameters Specific to Oracle RAC

Parameter	Description
ACTIVE_INSTANCE_COUNT	This initialization parameter was deprecated in Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2). Instead, use a service with one preferred and one available instance.
ASM_PREFERRED_READ_FAILURE_GROUPS	Specifies a set of disks to be the preferred disks from which to read mirror data copies. The values you set for this parameter are instance specific and need not be the same on all instances.
CLUSTER_DATABASE	Enables a database to be started in cluster mode. Set this parameter to `TRUE`.
CLUSTER_DATABASE_INSTANCES	Oracle RAC uses this parameter to allocate adequate memory resources. It must be set to the same value on all instances. For policy-managed databases, Oracle internally sets this parameter to 16 For administrator-managed databases, Oracle internally sets it to the number of configured Oracle RAC instances You can set this parameter to a value that is greater than the current number of instances, if you are planning to add instances. For policy-managed databases, you should set this parameter to a higher value only if you intend to run a database with more than 16 instances. In this case, set the parameter to the expected maximum number of instances on which this database will run.
CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS	Specifies an alternative cluster interconnect for the private network when there are multiple interconnects. Notes: Oracle recommends that all Oracle databases and Oracle Clusterware use the same interconnect network. Oracle does not recommend setting the `CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS` parameter except in certain situations. See "Administering Multiple Cluster Interconnects on Linux and UNIX Platforms" for more details. This parameter is stored in the Grid Plug and Play profile in a Grid Plug and Play environment.
DB_NAME	If you set a value for `DB_NAME` in instance-specific parameter files, the setting must be identical for all instances.
DISPATCHERS	Set the `DISPATCHERS` parameter to enable a shared server configuration, that is a server that is configured to enable many user processes to share very few server processes. With shared server configurations, many user processes connect to a dispatcher. The `DISPATCHERS` parameter may contain many attributes. Oracle recommends that you configure at least the `PROTOCOL` and `LISTENER` attributes. `PROTOCOL` specifies the network protocol for which the dispatcher process generates a listening end point. `LISTENER` specifies an alias name for the Oracle Net Services listeners. Set the alias to a name that is resolved through a naming method such as a `tnsnames.ora` file. The `tnsnames.ora` file contains net service names. Clients, nodes, and the Oracle Performance Manager node need this file. Oracle Enterprise Manager does not require `tnsnames.ora` entries on the client for Cloud Control. See Also: Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for complete information about configuring the `DISPATCHERS` parameter and its attributes and for configuring the shared server
GCS_SERVER_PROCESSES	This static parameter specifies the initial number of server processes for an Oracle RAC instance's Global Cache Service (GCS). The GCS processes manage the routing of interinstance traffic among Oracle RAC instances. The default number of GCS server processes is calculated based on system resources with a minimum setting of 2. For systems with one CPU, there is one GCS server process. For systems with two to eight CPUs, there are two GCS server processes. For systems with more than eight CPUs, the number of GCS server processes equals the number of CPUs divided by 4, dropping any fractions. For example, if you have 10 CPUs, then 10 divided by 4 means that your system has 2 GCS processes. You can set this parameter to different values on different instances.
INSTANCE_NAME	Specifies the unique name of an instance. Clients can use this name to force their session to be connected to a specific instance in the cluster. The format of the `INSTANCE_NAME` parameter is generally `db_unique_name_instance_number`, such as `orcldb_2`. Note: In Grid Plug and Play environments, the `INSTANCE_NAME` parameter is not required and defaults to `db_unique_name_instance_number` if not specified.
RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE	In a clustered database, you can either set `RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=0` on every instance to disable the result cache, or use a nonzero value on every instance to enable the result cache. To switch between enabled and disabled result cache requires that you restart every instance: Enabling the result cache: Set `RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE` to a value greater than `0`, or leave the parameter unset. You can size the cache differently on individual instances. Disabling the result cache: Set `RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=0` on all instances to disable the result cache. If you set `RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=0` upon startup of any one instance, then you must set the parameter to zero on all instance startups because disabling the result cache must done clusterwide. Disabling the result cache on some instances may lead to incorrect results. If you do not set the `RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE` parameter, the parameter resolves to a default, nonzero value.
SERVICE_NAMES	When you use services, Oracle recommends that you do not set a value for the `SERVICE_NAMES` parameter but instead you should create cluster managed services through the Cluster Managed Services page in Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control. This is because Oracle Clusterware controls the setting for this parameter for the services that you create and for the default database service. The service features described in Workload Management with Dynamic Database Services are not directly related to the features that Oracle provides when you set `SERVICE_NAMES`. In addition, setting a value for this parameter may override some benefits of using services. Note: Oracle recommends that client connections use services rather than instance names. Entries in the `SERVICE_NAMES` parameter may be used by client connections rather than the `INSTANCE_NAME` parameter value. The `SERVICE_NAMES` parameter may include one or more names and different instances may share one or more names with other instances, enabling a client to connect to either a specific instance or to any one of a set of instances, depending on the service name chosen in the connection string.
SPFILE	When you use an SPFILE, all Oracle RAC database instances must use the SPFILE and the file must be on shared storage.
THREAD	Specifies the number of the redo threads to be used by an instance. You can specify any available redo thread number if that thread number is enabled and is not used. If specified, this parameter must have unique values on all instances. The best practice is to use the `INSTANCE_NAME` parameter to specify redo log groups.

Parameters That Must Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Certain initialization parameters that are critical at database creation or that affect certain database operations must have the same value for every instance in an Oracle RAC database. Specify these parameter values in the SPFILE or in the individual PFILEs for each instance. The following list contains the parameters that must be identical on every instance:

The following parameters must be identical on every instance only if the parameter value is set to zero:

DML_LOCKS
RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE

Parameters That Have Unique Settings on All Instances

When it is necessary to set parameters that have unique settings on a policy-managed database, you can ensure that instances always use the same name on particular nodes by running the srvctl modify instance -n node_name -i instance_name command for each server that can be assigned to the database's server pool. Then a unique value of the parameter can be specified for instance_name that is used whenever the database runs on node_name.

Specify the ORACLE_SID environment variable, which consists of the database name and the number of the INSTANCE_NAME assigned to the instance.

Use the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter to specify an alternative interconnect to the one Oracle Clusterware is using for the private network. Each instance of the Oracle RAC database gets a unique value when setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter.

Parameters That Should Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Oracle recommends that you set the values for the parameters in Table 3-4 to the same value on all instances. Although you can have different settings for these parameters on different instances, setting each parameter to the same value on all instances simplifies administration.

Table 3-4 Parameters That Should Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Parameter	Description
ARCHIVE_LAG_TARGET	Different values for instances in your Oracle RAC database are likely to increase overhead because of additional automatic synchronization performed by the database processing. When using either Oracle Streams downstream capture or Oracle GoldenGate integrated capture mode in a downstream capture configuration with your Oracle RAC database, the value must be greater than zero. See Also: Oracle Streams Replication Administrator's Guide for more information about downstream capture configuration
CLUSTER_DATABASE_INSTANCES	While it is preferable for this parameter to have identical settings across all Oracle RAC database instances, it is not required.
LICENSE_MAX_USERS	Because this parameter determines a database-wide limit on the number of users defined in the database, it is useful to have the same value on all instances of your database so you can see the current value no matter which instance you are using. Setting different values may cause Oracle Database to generate additional warning messages during instance startup, or cause commands related to database user management to fail on some instances.
LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT	If you do not use the same value for all your instances, then you unnecessarily complicate media recovery. The recovering instance expects the required archive log file names to have the format defined by its own value of `LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT`, regardless of which instance created the archive log files. Databases that support Oracle Data Guard, either to send or receive archived redo log files, must use the same value of `LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT` for all instances.
SPFILE	If this parameter does not identify the same file to all instances, then each instance may behave differently and unpredictably in fail over, load-balancing, and during normal operations. Additionally, a change you make to the SPFILE with an `ALTER SYSTEM SET` or `ALTER SYSTEM RESET` command is saved only in the SPFILE used by the instance where you run the command. Your change is not reflected in instances using different SPFILEs. If the SPFILE values are different in instances for which the values were set by the server, then you should restart the instances that are not using the default SPFILE.
TRACE_ENABLED	If you want diagnostic trace information to be always available for your Oracle RAC database, you must set `TRACE_ENABLED` to `TRUE` on all of your database instances. If you trace on only some of your instances, then diagnostic information might not be available when required should the only accessible instances be those with `TRACE_ENABLED` set to `FALSE`.
UNDO_RETENTION	By setting different values for `UNDO_RETENTION` in each instance, you are likely to reduce scalability and encounter unpredictable behavior following a failover. Therefore, you should carefully consider whether there are any benefits before you assign different values for this parameter to the instances in your Oracle RAC database.