For an Oracle RAC (Real Application Clusters) deployment on Dell PowerEdge MX7000, you need a
well-architected configuration that ensures high availability, scalability, and performance. Below is a
recommended hardware and software configuration for such a setup.
1. Hardware Configuration
1.1 Compute – Dell PowerEdge MX750c (or MX740c)
Use at least two or more compute nodes for Oracle RAC.
Component Recommended Specification
Server Model Dell PowerEdge MX750c (or MX740c)
CPU 2 × Intel Xeon Gold/Platinum (16–32 cores per CPU)
Memory (RAM) 256GB–1TB DDR4/DDR5 (depends on workload)
RAID Controller PERC H755 or H750
Boot Disk 2 × 960GB SSD in RAID 1 (for OS)
1.2 Storage – Dell PowerMax, PowerStore, or PowerFlex
Oracle RAC requires shared storage. Choose from the following:
Dell PowerMax (for high-end performance)
Dell PowerStore (mid-range NVMe storage)
Dell PowerFlex (hyperconverged storage)
Storage Configuration:
Type Size Purpose
Oracle Data 5–10TB NVMe/SSD Stores database files
Redo Logs 500GB SSD Stores redo log files
OCR & Voting Disks 200GB SSD Stores cluster registry
Backup Based on retention policy Stores RMAN backups
1.3 Network – Dell Networking MX9116n & MX5108n
Oracle RAC requires low-latency and high-bandwidth networks.
Network Type Switch Speed Purpose
Management MX5108n 1GbE iDRAC, SSH, etc.
Public Network MX9116n 25GbE Client connections
Private Interconnect MX9116n 100GbE RDMA RAC interconnect (low-latency)
Storage Network (SAN/iSCSI) PowerSwitch Z-series 25GbE/32Gb FC Shared storage access
Network Type Switch Speed Purpose
2. Software Configuration
2.1 Operating System
Oracle Linux 8 (or RHEL 8)
Kernel: UEK (Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel)
2.2 Oracle Database & Grid Infrastructure
Component Version
Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c or 21c
Oracle RAC Database 19c or 21c
ASM (Automatic Storage Management) Required
Oracle Clusterware Required
2.3 Additional Software
Dell OpenManage Enterprise (for MX7000 management)
Ansible or Terraform (for automation)
Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) (for monitoring)
3. Deployment Steps
1. Set up MX7000 Chassis
o Configure compute sleds with BIOS/firmware updates.
o Set up Dell OpenManage for management.
2. Network Configuration
o Configure VLANs for public, private, and storage networks.
o Enable Jumbo Frames for RAC Interconnect.
o Set up multipathing for shared storage.
3. Storage Setup
o Provision LUNs for Oracle RAC (via PowerMax/PowerStore).
o Configure ASM Disk Groups.
4. Install & Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure
o Install Oracle Grid (Clusterware + ASM).
o Create RAC database.
5. Performance Tuning
o Enable HugePages & NUMA settings.
o Configure Oracle AWR & ADDM for monitoring.
4. Optional Enhancements
Dell PowerProtect for backups.
VMware vSphere for virtualization (if needed).
High Availability with Active Data Guard.
