FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC Reviews

My main use case for FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is where I need a high availability solution for Oracle databases and where I have the requirement to migrate to the cloud. When I have an on-premise RAC cluster, I do not need FlashGrid. When I need to install Oracle RAC in the cloud, then I need FlashGrid.

FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC enables Oracle RAC in the public cloud, which can be AWS, Azure, or GCP. It reduces the migration risk from on-premise to cloud because FlashGrid provides that shared block storage in the cloud.

The best features FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC offers include shared storage, which is critical because for on-premise Oracle high availability clusters, I do not need FlashGrid. When I migrate to the public cloud, I need FlashGrid to provide that shared storage. It is easy to migrate from on-premise to cloud because the Oracle architecture does not change; the only difference is that in the public cloud, shared storage block was not available, but FlashGrid provides that feature to the Oracle RAC cluster.

FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC has positively impacted my organization cost-wise because by migrating to the cloud from my on-premise data center, I could consolidate the price structure for my storage and compute needs. Oracle RAC was the bottleneck for that because previously, without FlashGrid, I could not configure Oracle RAC in the public cloud, but with FlashGrid, I managed to consolidate costs for Oracle RAC infrastructure in the cloud.

After migrating with FlashGrid, I have a substantial presence of Oracle RAC clusters in my data centers, around 50 RAC clusters across the U.S., and each was costing around $100,000 per year per cluster. However, I was able to migrate 25 of those clusters to the public cloud using FlashGrid, and the cost was reduced to $50,000 for those clusters, meaning I saved $50,000 per annum for the 25 instances.

After installing and configuring FlashGrid in AWS cloud, I was able to reduce the storage cost substantially compared to my on-premise data center storage. I saved $50,000 per Oracle RAC cluster per annum using FlashGrid, which includes both storage cost, compute cost, and also manpower cost.

One weakness is that there might be performance degradation once I install Oracle RAC in the public cloud using FlashGrid; that is one weakness I have encountered after migrating to the public cloud with FlashGrid.

FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC can be improved mainly due to performance degradation because it uses the network bandwidth of the public cloud. By using InfiniBand or advanced networking features, the performance of using FlashGrid in the public cloud can be improved.

On the licensing side, I believe there are opportunities to reduce the licensing cost for FlashGrid deployment.

I have been using FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC for the past four years.

FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is stable.

The scalability of FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC depends on the number of nodes. For two nodes, I can configure it very easily, and it can be scaled for multiple nodes as well.

Customer support is very good, both from AWS and Oracle sides; I would rate it eight out of ten.

Before FlashGrid, I was not using any other solution in AWS. FlashGrid facilitated the installation of Oracle RAC for me.

Before choosing FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC, I did not evaluate other options; FlashGrid provided the solution for shared block storage in the public cloud. I was also using Exadata for Oracle Exadata clusters, but that was more costly compared to the FlashGrid solution.

Without FlashGrid, it is very difficult to configure Oracle Real Application Cluster in the public cloud. FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC provides that facility for my database administrator to configure Oracle RAC in the public cloud, reducing complexity while migrating from on-premise to cloud for my existing real application clusters.

I use AWS as my cloud provider.

I purchased FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC through the AWS Marketplace.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the setup cost is not very complicated because I have skilled manpower who managed Oracle RAC in my data centers. Configuring FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC for Oracle RAC in the public cloud on AWS was manageable for me, although I think it was a bit costlier on the licensing side.

My advice to others looking into using FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC is that if you are dealing with a very low latency application, you should try to avoid using FlashGrid because you will not get low latency with it.

FlashGrid Cluster for Oracle RAC works very well; it is a good solution for getting shared block storage in the public cloud. I recommend using this solution where there is a need for shared storage. I rate this product seven out of ten.

I tested the product as a proof of concept for Oracle RAC and Database High Availability in a non-production environment.

The proof of concept allowed us to quickly evaluate high-availability setups for Oracle RAC. It helped our team understand the solution architecture and test basic operations, which was useful for planning future deployments.

I found the ease of setup for the proof of concept environment to be valuable. The stability and performance of the cluster during testing were impressive. The support from the Customer Success Team was also valuable, as they were responsive and helpful.

There is room for improvement in the area of migration or integration with existing on-premises infrastructure.

I have used the solution for 3 months.

This was a trial evaluation, so we did not use any previous solutions.

I only tested the free proof of concept.

We primarily used the FlashGrid proof of concept for evaluation. Other high-availability solutions were considered but not tested in our environment.

The trial was useful for understanding FlashGrid’s capabilities. The Customer Success Team provided excellent support and guidance throughout the evaluation.