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Oracle ASM Interview Questions

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Oracle ASM Interview Questions
Oracle ASM interview questions will help you clear oracle core DBA, Oracle RAC dba interview questions:

What is ASM?

ASM is a Volume Manager and a file system for Oracle Database Files that supports single instance
Oracle Database and Oracle Real Application cluster (RAC) configuration.

What is the recommended storage management solution from Oracle? Why?

ASM is the recommended storage management solution from oracle as it provides an alternative to
conventional volume managers,file systems and raw devices.

How is datafile stored in ASM?

ASM uses disk groups to store data files.Disk group is created from disks that are luns allocated from
NAS/SAN storage

What is oracle ASM filter driver?

Oracle ASM filter driver is a new feature in Oracle database 12c release 2 12.1.0.2. As an abbreviation
this is called Oracle ASMFD that happens to be a kernel module. this kernel modules is included in path
of I/O path of oracle asm disks. this module is included to protect the underlying ASM disks from
unnecessary typically non-oracle writes related I/O operations which in turn protects disks from being
corrupt

What is an ASM disk group?

An ASM disk group is a group of disks that ASM manages as an unit.Within the diskgroups an file system
interface maintains the Oracle database files. ASM simplifies database storage by consolidating disks
into disk groups.This reduces I/O overhead.

How is the performance of disk group comparable to raw disks?/Are disk groups a good alternative to
raw disks?

The files distributed across the set of disks in a disk group are striped or distributed across the disks to
eliminate hot spots and improve performance.Thus they perform equally well as raw disks.

How does ASM eliminate downtime?

Disks can be added and removed from the disk groups online,(i.e)during the operation of the database
without any downtime. When disks are added or removed ASM automatically redistributes the contents
without any downtime. Thus ASM eliminates downtime.
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Give details on server-based mirroring:-

This is a flexible option provided by ASM. The normal and redundant options of ASM provides two and
three way mirroring. We can use external option to enable RAID(Redundant Array Of Independent
Disks).

When creating disk groups we can specify option REDUNDANCY to EXTERNAL, NORMAL, HIGH

What is an oracle flex ASM?

Oracle flex ASM is a feature that enables an ASM instance to run on separate physical servers from the
database servers

What happens when an Oracle ASM diskgroup is created?

When an ASM diskgroup is created, a hierarchial filesystem structure is created. This is a new feature
that is available only from Oracle 12cR1 onwards

How does this filesystem structure appear?

Oracle ASM diskgroup's filesystem structure is similar to UNIX filesystem hierarchy or Windows
filesystem hierarchy.

Where are the Oracle ASM files stored?

Oracle ASM files are stored within the Oracle ASM diskgroup. If we dig into internals, oracle ASM files
are stored within the Oracle ASM filesystem structures.

How are the Oracle ASM files stored within the Oracle ASM filesystem structure?

Oralce ASM files are stored within the Oracle ASM filesystem structures as objects that RDBMS
instances/Oracle database instance access. RDBMS/Oracle instance treats the Oracle ASM files as
standard filesystem files.

What are the Oracle ASM files that are stored within the Oracle ASM file hierarchy?

Files stored in Oracle ASM diskgroup/Oracl ASM filestructures include:

1) Datafile

2) Controlfiles

3) Server Parameter Files(SPFILE)

4) Redo Log files


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What happens when you create a file/database file in ASM?What commands do you use to create
database files?

Some common commands used for creating database files are :

1) Create tabespace

2) Add Datafile

3) Add Logfile

For example,

SQL> CREATE TABLESPACE TS1 DATAFILE '+DATA1' SIZE 10GB;

Above command creates a datafile in DATA1 diskgroup

How can you access a databasefile in ASM diskgroup under RDBMS?

Once the ASM file is created in ASM diskgroup, a filename is generated. This file is now visible to the
user via the standard RDBMS view V$DATAFILE.

What will be the syntax of ASM filenames?

ASM filename syntax is as follows:

+diskgroup_name/database_name/database_file_type/tag_name.file_number.incarnation

where,

+diskgroup_name - Name of the diskgroup that contains this file

database_name - Name of the database that contains this file

datafile - Can be one among 20 different ASM file types

tag_name - corresponds to tablespace name for datafiles, groupnumber for redo log files

file_number - file_number in ASM instance is used to correlate filenames in database instance

incarnation_number - It is derived from the timestamp. IT is used to provide uniqueness

What is an incarnation number?

An incarnation number is a part of ASM filename syntax. It is derived from the timestamp. Once the file
is created, its incarnation number doesnot change.

What is the use of an incarnation number in Oracle ASM filename?


Learnersreference.com Incarnation number distinguishes between a new file that has been
created using the same file number and another file that has been deleted

How does an ASM manage files?/How is the file management simplified using ASM?

ASM uses the Oracle Managed Files(OMF) feature which simplifies file management.Files are created at
specified location,renames files,deletes files when operations at tablespace level happens(say
tablespace deletion).

Give some interfaces used to manage ASM:-

Oracle Enterprise Manager(OEM),SQL*PLUS,ASMCMD command-line interface are some interfaces that


can be used with ASM.

Can ASM co-exist with non-ASM system:-

Yes,ASM can co-exist with non-ASM third-party file systems and thus can be integrated into pre-existing
environments.OEM has an interface for migrating non-ASM files to ASM.

What is an ASM instance?

An ASM instance is the instance that manages ASM disk groups. It composes of System Global Area(SGA)
and background processes. ASM instance mounts a disk group that is made available to the database
instance. An ASM instance manages the metadata of a disk group and provides file layout information to
the database instances.

Will the SGA(System Global Area) of ASM is comparable in size to an Oracle database instance?

No.The SGA size of an ASM is smaller than that of an Oracle database instance,as an ASM performs
fewer tasks than a database.

Can ASM instance mount a database?

No.An ASM instance can mount a disk group that can be used by a database instance.

What is ASM metadata and where is it present?

ASM metadata is the information that ASM uses to control the disk group.It is present within a disk
group.

What is an ASM metadata composed of?

An ASM metadata includes the following:

1) The disks that belong to a disk group

2) Amount of space available within a disk group


3) The filenames of the files within a disk group

4) The location of disk group datafile data extents

5) A redo log that records information about automatically changing data blocks

What are the possible ASM configurations?

ASM and database instances share access to disks in a disk group.

1) There can be one ASM instance and one database instance serving single database in a node

2) There can be one ASM instance,multiple database instances serving many database in a node. If the
ASM instance fails,all the databases fails.The advantage is that this doesn't demand a Server
reboot(Operating system restart)

3) There can be clustered ASM instances that are clustered using Oracle Clusterware.(i.e)One ASM
instance on each node that are integrated using Oracle clusterware.

How does an ASM instance communicate with a database instance?

The ASM instance manages the metadata and provides space allocation for the ASM files.When a
database instance creates or opens an ASM file,it communicates those requests to the ASM instance.In
response the ASM instance provides the file extent map information to the database instance.

What is ASM?

ASM is a Volume Manager and a file system for Oracle Database Files that supports single instance
Oracle Database and Oracle Real Application cluster (RAC) configuration.

What is the recommended storage management solution from Oracle?Why?

ASM is the recommended storage management solution from oracle as it provides an alternative to
conventional volume managers,file systems and raw devices.

How is datafile stored in ASM?

ASM uses disk groups to store data files.

What is an ASM disk group?

An ASM disk group is a group of disks that ASM manages as an unit.Within the diskgroups an file system
interface maintains the Oracle database files. ASM simplifies database storage by consolidating disks
into disk groups.This reduces I/O overhead.

How is the performance of disk group comparable to raw disks?/Are disk groups a good alternative to
raw disks?
The files distributed across the set of disks in a disk group are striped or distributed across the disks to
eliminate hot spots and improve performance.Thus they perform equally well as raw disks.

How does ASM eliminate downtime?

Disks can be added and removed from the disk groups online,(i.e)during the operation of the database
without any downtime. When disks are added or removed ASM automatically redistributes the contents
without any downtime.Thus ASM eliminates downtime.

Give details on server-based mirroring:-

This is a flexible option provided by ASM. The normal and redundant options of ASM provides two and
three way mirroring. We can use external option to enable RAID(Redundant Array Of Independent
Disks).

How does an ASM manage files?/How is the file management simplified using ASM?

ASM uses the Oracle Managed Files(OMF) feature which simplifies file management.Files are created at
specified location,renames files,deletes files when operations at tablespace level happens(say
tablespace deletion).

Give some interfaces used to manage ASM:-

Oracle Enterprise Manager(OEM),SQL*PLUS,ASMCMD command-line interface are some interfaces that


can be used with ASM.

Can ASM co-exist with non-ASM system:-

Yes,ASM can co-exist with non-ASM third-party file systems and thus can be integrated into pre-existing
environments.OEM has an interface for migrating non-ASM files to ASM.

What is an ASM instance?

An ASM instance is the instance that manages ASM disk groups. It composes of System Global Area(SGA)
and background processes. ASM instance mounts a disk group that is made available to the database
instance. An ASM instance manages the metadata of a disk group and provides file layout information to
the database instances.

Will the SGA(System Global Area) of ASM is comparable in size to an Oracle database instance?

No.The SGA size of an ASM is smaller than that of an Oracle database instance,as an ASM performs
fewer tasks than a database.

Can ASM instance mount a database?

No.An ASM instance can mount a disk group that can be used by a database instance.

What is ASM metadata and where is it present?


ASM metadata is the information that ASM uses to control the disk group.It is present within a disk
group.

What is an ASM metadata composed of?

An ASM metadata includes the following:

1) The disks that belong to a disk group

2) Amount of space available within a disk group

3) The filenames of the files within a disk group

4) The location of disk group datafile data extents

5) A redo log that records information about automatically changing data blocks

What are the possible ASM configurations?

ASM and database instances share access to disks in a disk group.

1) There can be one ASM instance and one database instance serving single database in a node

2) There can be one ASM instance,multiple database instances serving many database in a node. If the
ASM instance fails,all the databases fails.The advantage is that this doesn't demand a Server
reboot(Operating system restart)

3) There can be clustered ASM instances that are clustered using Oracle Clusterware.(i.e)One ASM
instance on each node that are integrated using Oracle clusterware.

How does an ASM instance communicate with a database instance?

The ASM instance manages the metadata and provides space allocation for the ASM files.When a
database instance creates or opens an ASM file,it communicates those requests to the ASM instance.In
response the ASM instance provides the file extent map information to the database instance

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