Enterprise grid challenges Even with the considerable advantages of enterprise grids, providing suitable and effec- tive infrastructure for Oracle 10g Real Application Clusters (RAC) remains challeng- ing. The move to low-cost x86/x64 hardware has often shifted many of the integration issues from vendors to in-house operational staff. The endless system, networking, and middleware configuration choices can be daunting and complex. Even with a highly available database such as Oracle 10g, failure to properly architect infrastructure can result in unplanned downtime that can be cata- strophic for the business.

For many vendors, it is enough to ship rack- mount systems and say they work with Oracle. Unfortunately, this approach can create new complexities, leaving extensive engineering and integration tasks for the customer. For instance, while Oracle Database 10g RAC provides a highly available database, it assumes that highly available supporting network and storage infrastructure exists. Organizations deploying or consolidating Oracle 10g RAC face a number of challenges: