NFS needs a name change…
June 18th, 2007 — ddelmoliSo, after being asked if I wanted my databases mounted over NFS, and replying “no”, and then being educated on today’s NFS performance and attributes (thanks to Kevin and Jeremy), I’ve decided that NFS needs a name change.
You see, my “recollection” of NFS resides along side Yellow Pages/NIS/NIS+ in my brain (probably somewhere around NFS versions 2 & 3).
From what I’ve seen, heard and read about NFS version 4, it really isn’t the same as it was back then.
So, who has a good idea for a new name for NFS? How about Peformant, Rapid, On-Demand, File System (PROFS)? Wait…., no…., PROFS means something else….. 
Oddly, back when I was playing with NFS, I was working with a client trying to come up with a way to make $ORACLE_HOME read-only, and mountable via NFS so we didn’t need to install the s/w everywhere. Just mount the app directory and create the database. All of the network/admin stuff put a damper on that plan. But it’s always been a pet project of mine to make $ORACLE_HOME read-only. I still think it’s a good idea. I think it’s the one remaining hole in OFA….
June 18th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Ha, I know exactly what you mean! My perception of NFS was also seriously out of date and I really appreciate that perception being corrected.
June 18th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
What about NASM? Network ASM?
ASM image is pretty good thanks to Oracle marketing.
June 21st, 2007 at 9:43 pm
The only downside with a shared Oracle home is that when you upgrade it, you have to upgrade every instance at the same time.
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:56 am
Not necessarily. If you’re going from 9i to 10g you’re establishing a new home. i.e., ../product/9.2.0 to ../product/10.2.0. This also pushes you toward fewer databases, which is always a good thing.
July 12th, 2007 at 10:38 am
As I see it, the major issue stopping the read only Oracle home solution are the location of the lock (lk$SID) and health check files (hc_$SID.dat) which are created in $ORACLE_HOME/dbs at instance startup.
anyone see it differently or maybe have a solution?