Installing multiple versions of Oracle

[frdba]

Any experience with having different versions of Oracle installed on the same machine? Our current version is 9.2.03, and we want to install either 10g or 11g. We are trying to decide if installing on the same box is the way to go, or purchase a new box for the second installation. This is a production environment so we are obviously concerned with performance degradation.

I'd appreciate any opinions on the matter.
Thanks!

 

[SantaMufasa]

I have installed up to 4 different versions of Oracle on the same physical box. They were not production servers...they were development/test/staging instances.

For the performance reasons you mentioned, you will need to weigh the benefits of not using a different machine (capital savings) versus the potential downsides (poor performance). If it's a beefy enough server to handle both instances' demands at fully loaded usage levels, then go for it.

What operating system are you running on that machine? (Windows is a minorly tricky for running multiple Oracle instances using different versions.)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[jimirvine]

How big is the box? What is the expected, combined load of the 2 db systems. Do you have the budget to buy more hardware? have you considered bench testing performance? Is your current server having problems? Is there a good business case for maintaining two different db versions (esp maintaining a (now) de-supported version of Oracle (v9)? Do you plan on upgrading all of your dbs eventually? If so, how long do you expect the upgrade process to take? Have you read through the available documentation @ hhtp://tahiti.oracle.com ?

 

[frdba]

Thanks for your input!

We are running Win2003 Ent. Ed. on a 6850 that has 2 powervault MDs attached(SAS, 146gb).

To answer the rest of the questions posed:
From what I've heard so far, I do not have time to do benchmark testing.

The current server is not having issues, they were actually recently upgraded to 9.2.03. They are now wanting to upgrade our application which requires a newer version of Oracle.

It is 2 dbs that will eventually be migrated and it sounds as though it could take up to a year.

I have been reading through documentation, but what I really like is to hear what I could expect out in the real world. So, thanks for your responses I really appreciate them!