Compaq ProLiant 8500 Compaq Parallel Database Cluster Model PDC/O2000 for Orac - Page 42

2-18 Compaq Parallel Database Cluster Model PDC/O2000 for Oracle8i and Windows 2000 Administrator Guide Table 2-2 Features of Active/Standby and Active/Active Configurations for Redundant Fibre Channel Fabrics continued I/O Path Configuration Advantage Disadvantage Active/active with two or more RA4000/RA4100 Arrays Provides a small but measurable improvement in I/O performance over the active/standby configuration because both Fibre Host Adapters in each node and both Fibre Channel SAN Switches are simultaneously active. This improvement can be meaningful for customers with large cluster databases or high I/O transaction requirements. Provides better load balancing between the two Storage Hubs than the active/standby configuration. Both Fibre Channel SAN Switches are connected to the same or equivalent numbers of both active and standby array controllers in the RA4000/RA4100 Arrays. Does not provide true cabling symmetry between Fibre Channel SAN Switches and array controllers if you consistently configure the top or rightmost array controller as the active controller. Each Fibre Channel SAN Switch is cabled to top (active) array controllers in some RA4000/RA4100 Arrays and bottom (standby) controllers in others. You can achieve cabling symmetry if you configure the bottom array controller in some RA4000/RA4100 Arrays as active. However, this requires using Secure Path to configure the lower array controller as active if it is in standby mode.