Oracle Rdb7 OpenVMS AlphaServer 4x00 DIGITAL

This document details the DIGITAL HiTest Suite for Oracle Rdb7 on OpenVMS AlphaServer 4x00 systems, designed to provide prequalified configurations for data warehousing customers leveraging existing VMScluster investments. It outlines the specific hardware and software components, including AlphaServer 4000/4100 systems (with 2-4 CPUs and 2-4 GB memory), OpenVMS Version 7.1, and Oracle Rdb7 Version 7.0.1.0, along with their revision levels.

The document describes the system installation and setup, covering hardware, operating system, and layered products. The core of the report focuses on interoperability tests conducted using a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) database from Oracle Corporation, spanning 147.2 GB of data and 137 GB of indexes, distributed across RAID 5 arrays on three Dual-Redundant HSJ50 Controllers.

Various test scenarios were executed:

• VLM-Enabled Tests: Single-user (cold and warm cache) and multi-user (5 and 10 users) load tests on AlphaServer 4100 in minimum and maximum configurations.
• Non-VLM Enabled Tests: Distributed 10-user and 20-user load tests across two AlphaServers.
• RMU Backup and Restore Tests: Measured throughput and verified procedures for a multifile/multidisk database.
• Fault Insertion/Error Recovery Tests: Simulated disk failure, HSJ50 controller failure, and system power failure to assess impact and recovery.

Five SQL join query scripts, designed to emulate decision support questions for product sales, were used for performance evaluation. Test results consistently showed significantly better performance on AlphaServer systems, particularly benefiting from Very Large Memory (VLM) capabilities, compared to VAX systems.

While no hardware or operating system problems were identified during testing, a specific application problem related to Oracle Rdb7 was discovered: degraded query performance after a system power failure. This was attributed to row cache backing store files not being properly deleted during the database recovery process. The recommended resolution is an upgrade to Oracle Rdb7 Version 7.0.1.1, or a workaround involving opening and closing the database post-power failure. The document also provides detailed system limits, workload characterization data, and information on operational commands and supporting files used for setup and testing.