Windows clustered server: Creating Oracle or Oracle RAC databases

For information about creating databases, refer to the Oracle product documentation. For information on the recommended database architecture and the databases you will need to create, see the Planning for Oracle topic. Be sure that all databases to be used with WebSphere Portal are created as UNICODE character set databases.

If you are using Oracle 10g databases, you must also obtain a copy of the ojdbc6.jar file from the Oracle JDBC driver download site, copy it to the WebSphere Portal machine, and update the wkplc_dbtype.properties file with oracle.DbLibrary=(the path to the local ojdbc6.jar). If you are using Oracle 11g databases, you must also copy the ojdbc6.jar file from the Oracle server to the WebSphere Portal machine and update the wkplc_dbtype.properties file with oracle.DbLibrary=(the path to the local ojdbc6.jar). The typical location is the oracle_home/sqldeveloper/jdbc/lib directory. Record the copy location on your local machine for future reference.

When creating Oracle databases for use with WebSphere Portal, you should consider the following information:

• The Oracle databases must be created manually before configuring WebSphere Portal.
• All databases must be created using UNICODE Database and National character sets such as UTF8, AL32UTF8, or AL16UTF16.
• It is recommended that all databases to be used with WebSphere Portal are configured in Dedicated Server Mode.
• Determine if your Oracle server will be remote or local to the WebSphere Portal installation.
• Ensure the database is registered with the Oracle listener. Use the tnsnames.ora file to describe this database and recycle the listener.
• After installing the database software for WebSphere Portal, you will need to set the buffer pools allocated to the Oracle database in order for WebSphere Portal to communicate with the Java Content Repository database. Use the following recommended values as a guide. Refer to the Oracle product documentation for information on how to set the buffer pools. Recommended initial buffer pool sizes:

  db_block_size = 8192 bytes
  db_cache_size = 1 gigabyte
  db_files = 1024 files
  log_buffer = 65536 bytes
  open_cursors = 1500 cursors
  pga_aggregate_target = 200 megabytes
  pre_page_sga = true
  processes = 300 processes
  shared_pool_size = 200 megabytes

  Note: If you are using IBM® Java Content Repository, the open_cursors value may need to be increased based on the table count in the Java Content Repository schema.
• Raise the number of parallel servers as appropriate. For example, if you have more than 875 parallel servers, you should set the parallel_max_servers to 1200.
• The Oracle parameter CURSOR_SHARING allows similar SQL Statements to be shared when possible, which prevents parsing and establishing a new execution plan. The execution plan is used by Oracle to gather the data needed to satisfy a request. There are two options for CURSOR_SHARING, which are as follows:

  FORCE

  When you select this option, Oracle uses the same execution plan for all SQLs that are similar in value even if the values are different. When you use this option, the execution plan may not provide optimum performance. For example, similar SQLs with different values may behave differently when executed running the same plan.

  EXACT

  When you select this option, Oracle only shares the same execution plan for SQLs that are identical and use the same values. This option removes the risk of a SQL statement being executed when optimum performance conditions do not exist.

  WebSphere Portal supports both options. Regardless of the option selected, portlet applications should not be affected. Contact your database administrator for further assistance on these options.