2.8 Increasing the Number of Active Cores on Database Servers

You can increase the number of active cores on Oracle Exadata using capacity-on-demand.

The number of active cores on the database servers on Oracle Exadata Database Machine X4-2 and newer systems can be reduced during installation. The number of active cores can be increased when additional capacity is needed. This is known as capacity-on-demand.

Subject to the applicable licensing rules for capacity-on-demand, additional cores may be licensed and enabled in increments of 2 cores on 2-socket systems, and in increments of 8 cores on 8-socket systems. The following table lists the capacity-on-demand core processor configurations.

Table 2-3 Capacity-on-Demand Core Processor Configurations

Oracle Exadata Eligible Systems Minimum Cores per Server Maximum Cores per Server Core Increments
Oracle Exadata Database Machine X11M Oracle Exadata Database Server X11M 14 192

From 14 to 192, in increments of 2:

14, 16, 18, …, 190, 192
Oracle Exadata Database Machine X11M Oracle Exadata Database Server X11M-Z 8 32

From 8 to 32, in increments of 2:

8, 10, 12, …, 30, 32

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X10M

Any configuration except Eighth Rack

 14 192

From 14 to 192, in increments of 2:

14, 16, 18, …, 190, 192

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X10M

Eighth rack

 8 32

From 8 to 32, in increments of 2:

8, 10, 12, …, 30, 32

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X9M-2

Any configuration except Eighth Rack

 14 64

From 14 to 64, in increments of 2:

14, 16, 18, …, 62, 64

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X9M-2

Eighth rack

 8 32

From 8 to 32, in increments of 2:

8, 10, 12, …, 30, 32

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X7-2, X8-2, and X8M-2

Any configuration except Eighth Rack

14

48

From 14 to 48, in increments of 2:

14, 16, 18, …, 46, 48

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X7-2, X8-2, and X8M-2

Eighth rack

8

24

From 8 to 24, in increments of 2:

8, 10, 12, …, 22, 24

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X6-2

Any configuration except Eighth Rack

14

44

From 14 to 44, in increments of 2:

14, 16, 18, …, 42, 44

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X6-2

Eighth rack

8

22

From 8 to 22, in increments of 2:

8, 10, 12, …, 20, 22

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X5-2

Any configuration except Eighth Rack

14

36

From 14 to 36, in increments of 2:

14, 16, 18, …, 34, 36

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X5-2

Eighth rack

8

18

From 8 to 18, in increments of 2:

8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X4-2

Full rack

Half rack

Quarter rack

12

24

From 12 to 24, in increments of 2:

12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24
Oracle Exadata X7-8, X8-8, X8M-8, and X9M-8

Any configuration

56

192

From 56 to 192, in increments of 8:

56, 64, 72, …, 184, 192

Oracle Exadata X6-8 and X5-8

Any configuration

56

144

From 56 to 144, in increments of 8:

56, 64, 72, …, 136, 144

Oracle Exadata Database Machine X4-8

Full rack

48

120

From 48 to 120, in increments of 8:

48, 56, 64, …, 112, 120

The database server may need to be restarted after enabling additional cores. If the database servers are part of a cluster, then they can be enabled in a rolling fashion.

  1. Verify the number of active physical cores using the following command:
    DBMCLI> LIST DBSERVER attributes coreCount
  2. Use the following command to increase the number of active physical cores:
    DBMCLI> ALTER DBSERVER pendingCoreCount = new_number_of_active_physical_cores
  3. Verify the pending number of active physical cores using the following command:
    DBMCLI> LIST DBSERVER attributes pendingCoreCount
  4. Restart the server (if required).

    You must restart the server to enable the new active cores if the output from the previous ALTER DBSERVER command states that a reboot is required or if the command provides no output about restarting the server.

    A server reboot is not required only if that is indicated in the output from the previous ALTER DBSERVER command.

  5. Verify the number of active physical cores using the following command:
    DBMCLI> LIST DBSERVER attributes coreCount

Related Topics

Parent topic: Maintaining Exadata Database Servers