Oracle Flash Area Usage Test

The Flash Recovery Area is a specific area of disk storage that is set aside exclusively for retention of backup components such as datafile image copies, archived redo logs, and control file autobackup copies. These features include:

  • Unified Backup Files Storage. All backup components can be stored in one consolidated spot. The Flash Recovery Area is managed via Oracle Managed Files (OMF), and it can utilize disk resources managed by Oracle Automated Storage Management (ASM). In addition, the Flash Recovery Area can be configured for use by multiple database instances if so desired.
  • Automated Disk-Based Backup and Recovery. Once the Flash Recovery Area is configured, all backup components (datafile image copies, archived redo logs, and so on) are managed automatically by Oracle.
  • Automatic Deletion of Backup Components. Once backup components have been successfully created, RMAN can be configured to automatically clean up files that are no longer needed (thus reducing risk of insufficient disk space for backups).
  • Disk Cache for Tape Copies. Finally, if your disaster recovery plan involves backing up to alternate media, the Flash Recovery Area can act as a disk cache area for those backup components that are eventually copied to tape.
  • Flashback Logs.The Flash Recovery Area is also used to store and manage flashback logs, which are used during Flashback Backup operations to quickly restore a database to a prior desired state.

Oracle recommends that the Flash Recovery Area should be sized large enough to include all files required for backup and recovery. Using the Oracle FlashArea Usage test, administrators can figure out whether the Flash Recovery Area is adequately sized or not, and accordingly make sizing recommendations.

This test is disabled by default. To enable the test, go to the enable / disable tests page using the menu sequence : Agents -> Tests -> Enable/Disable, pick Oracle Database as the Component type, Performance as the Test type, choose this test from the disabled tests list, and click on the << button to move the test to the ENABLED TESTS list. Finally, click the Update button.

Note:

This test is applicable only to Oracle database server 10g (and above).

Target of the test : An Oracle database server 10g

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the flash recovery area on the Oracle server.

Configurable parameters for the test
  1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed
  2. Host – The host for which the test is to be configured
  3. Port - The port on which the server is listening

  4. User – In order to monitor an Oracle database server, a special database user account has to be created in every Oracle database instance that requires monitoring. A Click here hyperlink is available in the test configuration page, using which a new oracle database user can be created. Alternatively, you can manually create the special database user. When doing so, ensure that this user is vested with the select_catalog_role and create session privileges.

    The sample script we recommend for user creation (in Oracle database server versions before 12c) for eG monitoring is:

    create user oraeg identified by oraeg

    create role oratest;

    grant create session to oratest;

    grant select_catalog_role to oratest;

    grant oratest to oraeg;

    The sample script we recommend for user creation (in Oracle database server 12c) for eG monitoring is:

    alter session set container=<Oracle_service_name>;

    create user <user_name>identified by <user_password> container=current default tablespace <name_of_default_tablespace> temporary tablespace <name_of_temporary_tablespace>;

    Grant create session to <user_name>;                                

    Grant select_catalog_role to <user_name>;

    The name of this user has to be specified here.

  5. Password – Password of the specified database user

    This login information is required to query Oracle’s internal dynamic views, so as to fetch the current status / health of the various database components.

  6. Confirm password – Confirm the password by retyping it here.
  7. ISPASSIVE – If the value chosen is yes, then the Oracle server under consideration is a passive server in an Oracle cluster. No alerts will be generated if the server is not running. Measures will be reported as “Not applicable" by the agent if the server is not up.
  8. SSL- By default, this flag is set to No, as the target Oracle database is not SSL-enabled by default. If the target database is SSL-enabled, then set this flag to Yes.
  9. SSL Cipher-This parameter is applicable only if the target Oracle database is SSL-enabled, if not, set this parameter to none. A cipher suite is a set of cryptographic algorithms that are used before a client application and server exchange information over an SSL/TLS connection. It consist of sets of instructions on how to secure a network through SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security). In this text box, provide a comma-seperated list of cipher suites that are allowed for SSL/TLS connection to the target database. By default, this parameter is set to none.
  10. TRUSTSTORE FILE- This parameter is applicable only if the target Oracle database is SSL-enabled, if not, set this parameter to none. TrustStore is used to store certificates from Certified Authorities (CA) that verify and authenticate the certificate presented by the server in an SSL connection. Therefore, the eG agent should have access to the truststore where the certificates are stored to authenticate and connect with the target database and collect metrics. For this, first import the certificates into the following default location <eG_INSTALL_DIR>/lib/security/mytruststore.jks. To know how to import the certificate into the truststore, refer toPre-requisites for monitoring Oracle Cluster. Then, provide the truststore file name in this text box. For example: mytruststore.jks. By default, none is specified against this text box.
  11. TRUSTSTORE TYPE-This parameter is applicable only if the target Oracle database is SSL-enabled, if not, set this parameter to none.Specify the type of truststore that contains the certificates for server authentication in this text box. For eg.,JKS. By default, this parameter is set to the value none.
  12. TRUSSTORE PASSWORD-This parameter is applicable only if the target Oracle database is SSL-enabled, if not, set this parameter to none. If a Truststore File name is provided, then, in this text box, provide the password that is used to obtain the associated certificate details from the Truststore File. By default, this parameter is set to none.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Flash area usage:

Indicates the space currently occupied by the flash recovery files.

 

MB

 

Maximum flash area size:

Indicates the maximum space allocated for flash recovery files.

MB

 

 

Flash area usage: 

Indicates the percentage of space occupied by the flash recovery files.

Percent

Oracle recommends that the Flash Recovery Area should be sized large enough to include all files required for backup and recovery. Therefore, ideally, the value of this measure should be very low. A value close to 100% indicates excessive usage of the recovery area; this implies that the flash recovery area could soon run out of space.  in such a case you can resize the flash recovery area by reconfiguring the parameter “db_recovery_file_dest_size” in database parameter file, provided enough disk space is available. If not, then Oracle recommends that the flash area be sized at least large enough to contain any archived redo logs that have not yet been backed up to alternate media.

Alternatively, you can remove the old files from the flash recovery area to create space for the new recovery files.

Free flash area:

Indicates the free space currently available for recovery files.

MB

 

Percent free disk space:

Indicates the percentage of disk space that is currently available for use.

Percent

Disk space is a key factor in sizing the flash recovery area. The value to be set for the db_recovery_file_dest_size parameter should be decided after carefully considering the total disk space that is available for use. If the disk space is low, then Oracle recommends that the flash area be sized at least large enough to contain any archived redo logs that have not yet been backed up to alternate media.  If very little disk space is free, then it would make more sense to free up some space in the disk or in the flash recovery area by removing old, unused files, so that enough space is available for the future files.