1. What is Oracle ASM?
Oracle ASM (Automatic Storage Management) is a volume manager and a file system for Oracle
database files that simplifies storage management. It handles the storage of all database files and
manages disk groups.
2. What are ASM Disk Groups?
An ASM Disk Group is a collection of disks that ASM manages as a single unit. Each disk group can
contain multiple files and provides redundancy through mirroring.
3. What are the types of redundancy in ASM?
ASM supports three types of redundancy:
- External Redundancy: No mirroring by ASM, relies on hardware redundancy.
- Normal Redundancy: Two-way mirroring.
- High Redundancy: Three-way mirroring.
4. What are ASM Power Limit and Rebalance?
ASM Power Limit determines the speed of rebalancing operations. Rebalancing redistributes data
when disks are added or removed. A higher power limit speeds up the rebalance at the cost of
system resources.
5. What is an ASM instance?
An ASM instance is a special Oracle instance that manages ASM disks and disk groups. It uses
minimal memory and background processes compared to a database instance.
6. What is the difference between an ASM instance and a database instance?
An ASM instance manages storage, while a database instance manages user data and database
operations. ASM instances don't have data dictionaries or user schemas.
7. How do you add a disk to an ASM disk group?
You can use the SQL command: ALTER DISKGROUP <diskgroup_name> ADD DISK
'<disk_path>';
8. Can ASM manage non-database files?
Starting with Oracle 11g, ASM can manage non-database files using the ASM Cluster File System
(ACFS).
9. What is ASMLIB?
ASMLIB is a support library for ASM that simplifies the discovery and naming of ASM disks. It's
optional but recommended for easier administration.
10. How does ASM improve performance?
ASM improves performance through striping (spreading data evenly across all disks) and balancing
(automatically redistributing data when the storage configuration changes).