When an application, process, or server fails in a cluster, you want the disruption to be as short as possible, if not completely unknown to users. For example, when an application fails on a server, that application can be restarted on another server in the cluster, minimizing or negating any disruption in the use of that application. Similarly, if a server in a cluster fails, then all of the applications and processes running on that server must be able to fail over to another server to continue providing service to the users. Using the built-in generic_application resource type or customizable scripts and application agent programs, and resource attributes that you assign to applications and processes, Oracle Clusterware can manage all these entities to ensure high availability.
This chapter explains how to use Oracle Clusterware to start, stop, monitor, restart, and relocate applications. Oracle Clusterware is the underlying cluster solution for Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC). The same functionality and principles you use to manage Oracle RAC databases are applied to the management of applications.
This chapter includes the following topics: