Dynamically Expanding CPU Resources for a Production Zone

Oracle Solaris Resource Pools: Dynamically Expanding CPU Resources for a Production Zone

One of the powerful capabilities of Oracle Solaris is the ability to allocate dedicated CPU resources to critical workloads using Resource Pools and Processor Sets. Recently, I had to increase the CPU allocation for a clustered production zone without causing any downtime.

This article walks through the process of reviewing the existing configuration, backing up the resource pool configuration, modifying the processor set, and activating the changes online.

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Environment Overview

The server hosts multiple Solaris zones:

root@solaris-node01# zoneadm list -cv

ID NAME STATUS PATH BRAND IP

0 global running / solaris shared

1 appzone01 running /zones/appzone01 solaris10 excl

2 prodcluster01 running /zones/prodcluster01 solaris excl

3 clonezone01 running /zones/clonezone01 solaris excl

4 clonezone02 running /zones/clonezone02 solaris excl

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Reviewing the Production Zone Configuration

The target zone was prodcluster01.

root@solaris-node01# zonecfg -z prodcluster01 info

zonename: prodcluster01

zonepath: /zones/prodcluster01

brand: solaris

autoboot: true

pool: prodpool

scheduling-class: FSS

[max-shm-memory: 64G]

[max-shm-ids: 4096]

[max-sem-ids: 4096]

net:

physical: vnic0

net:

physical: vnic1

attr:

name: cluster

type: boolean

value: true

``

Notable configuration items:

• Dedicated Resource Pool
• Fair Share Scheduler (FSS)
• Cluster-enabled zone
• 64 GB shared memory allocation
• Multiple network interfaces for cluster traffic

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Reviewing Current Pool Allocations

Before making any resource changes, check the current pool distribution.

root@solaris-node01# poolstat

pset

id pool size used load

1 prodpool 32 0.00 2.93

0 pool_default 80 0.00 1.38

2 dbpool 16 0.00 0.56

Current CPU allocation:

Pool	CPUs
prodpool	32
dbpool	16
pool_default	80

The production zone currently owns a dedicated processor set containing 32 CPUs.

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Verify Processor Set Configuration

Check the current processor set definition.

poolcfg -c 'info pset prodpset'

Output:

pset prodpset

uint pset.min 32

uint pset.max 32

This indicates that the processor set is statically configured with 32 CPUs.

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Backup the Existing Configuration

Before making changes, always save the current configuration.

pooladm -s /var/tmp/poolcfg-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)

Verification:

ls -lrt /var/tmp/poolcfg-backup-20260427

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19.7K Apr 27 14:18

/var/tmp/poolcfg-backup-20260427

Having a backup provides a quick rollback option if necessary.

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Increasing CPU Allocation

The requirement was to increase CPU resources allocated to the production cluster zone.

Current allocation:

32 CPUs

Target allocation:

48 CPUs

Modify the processor set:

poolcfg -c 'modify pset prodpset (uint pset.min=48; uint pset.max=48)'

At this point, the change is stored in the configuration repository but has not yet been activated.

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Verify Before Activating

Checking immediately after the modification:

poolstat

pset

id pool size used load

1 prodpool 32 0.00 3.92

0 pool_default 80 0.00 1.26

2 dbpool 16 0.00 0.58

The active configuration still shows 32 CPUs because the updated configuration has not yet been committed.

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Activate the New Configuration

Apply the modified resource pool configuration.

pooladm -c

This operation dynamically reallocates CPUs without requiring a system reboot.

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Verify the Results

Check the allocations again:

poolstat

pset

id pool size used load

1 prodpool 48 0.00 4.42

0 pool_default 64 0.00 1.58

2 dbpool 16 0.00 0.56

Success.

The production processor set increased from:

32 CPUs → 48 CPUs

and the CPUs were automatically taken from the default pool:

pool_default: 80 CPUs → 64 CPUs

All changes were made online with no interruption to the running zone.

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Lessons Learned

Always Backup First

Before modifying any resource pool configuration:

pooladm -s <backup_file>

Having a rollback option is a best practice in production environments.

Changes Are Not Active Until Committed

Modifying the processor set changes only the configuration database.

poolcfg ...

To activate the change:

pooladm -c

Online Resource Reallocation

Oracle Solaris allows CPUs to be reassigned between processor sets dynamically, enabling administrators to respond quickly to changing workload demands without requiring downtime.

Resource Pools Simplify Capacity Management

Dedicated pools provide predictable performance and workload isolation for critical applications.

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Command Summary

# Review zone configuration

zonecfg -z prodcluster01 info

# Review active pool allocations

poolstat

# Review processor set configuration

poolcfg -c 'info pset prodpset'

# Backup current configuration

pooladm -s /var/tmp/poolcfg-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Increase allocated CPUs

poolcfg -c 'modify pset prodpset (uint pset.min=48; uint pset.max=48)'

# Apply configuration

pooladm -c

# Verify results

poolstat

Conclusion

Oracle Solaris Resource Pools provide a powerful framework for workload isolation and capacity management. In this example, a production cluster zone's dedicated CPU allocation was increased from 32 CPUs to 48 CPUs using online pool reconfiguration, demonstrating how Solaris can dynamically adapt system resources to meet evolving business demands without impacting application availability.

How to Add Disks in an Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) Single Node BM

How to Add Disks in an Oracle Database

Appliance (ODA) Single Node BM

When managing an Oracle Database Appliance (ODA), ensuring sufficient disk space in the DATA and RECO diskgroups is crucial for optimal performance and storage management. If you find yourself running low on space and need to add new physical NVMe disks, follow these step-by-step instructions to expand your storage on a single-node Bare Metal ODA.

Prerequisites

• Ensure you have 4 new NVMe disks ready for installation.
• Confirm the ODA is a single-node Bare Metal system.
• Have administrative access to run odaadmcli commands.

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Step-by-Step Guide

1. Check Current Diskgroup Usage

Before adding new disks, assess the current size of the DATA and RECO diskgroups:

# odaadmcli show diskgroup

This command displays the current allocation and usage of the diskgroups.

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2. Review Existing Disk Status

Identify the existing disk IDs and their status:

# odaadmcli show disk

Note down disk IDs like pd_00, pd_01, etc., for reference.

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3. Insert New Physical Disks

Insert the new NVMe disks one at a time into available slots (e.g., slots 4 to 7). If a disk is not automatically powered on or visible, manually power it on:

# odaadmcli power disk on pd_04
# odaadmcli power disk on pd_05
# odaadmcli power disk on pd_06
# odaadmcli power disk on pd_07

Replace pd_04 to pd_07 with the actual disk IDs if they differ.

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4. Expand Storage

Once all disks are inserted and powered on, expand the storage to include the new disks:

# odaadmcli expand storage -ndisk 4

This command adds the 4 new disks to the ODA storage pool.

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5. Verify Disk Addition

Recheck the disk status to confirm the new disks are recognized:

# odaadmcli show disk

You should now see the newly added disks listed.

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6. Confirm Diskgroup Expansion

Finally, verify that the DATA and RECO diskgroups have increased in size:

# odaadmcli show diskgroup

This confirms successful expansion of your storage.

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Conclusion

Adding disks to an Oracle Database Appliance is a straightforward process when done methodically. Regular monitoring and timely expansion of storage ensure your database environment remains robust and efficient.

How to stop scrubbing in ZFS

 How to stop scrubbing in ZFS:

The simplest way to check data integrity is to initiate an explicit scrubbing of all data within the pool. This operation traverses all the data in the pool once and verifies that all blocks can be read.  

1. Command to check scrubbing is running or not? and how much time it will take to finish scrubbing:

#zpool status

Above command will show you pool name on which scrubbing is running.

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Scrubbing might negatively impact performance, increases I/O operation. So sometime we need to stop the scrubbing.

2. Command to stop scrubbing. 

#zpool scrub -s <pool name>

Regards,

Kiren Jadhav