RE: ASM on Linux 6

This seems to be a very serious situation for us: I think a call to my Oracle 
Sales Rep for a strongly worded protest is in order.

-----Original Message-----
From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Gillfillan, Marianne J.
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 7:54 AM
To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ASM on Linux 6

Did anyone else see the announcement from Oracle that they will not be 
providing ASMlib for kernels distributed by RH as part of RHEL 6, only for 
Oracle kernels?  See Metalink Note 1089399.1:

"For RHEL6, Oracle will only provide ASMLib software and updates when 
configured with a kernel distributed by Oracle. Oracle will not provide ASMLib 
packages for kernels distributed by Red Hat as part of RHEL6. ASMLib updates 
will be delivered via Unbreakable Linux Network(ULN) which is available to 
customers with Oracle Linux support. ULN works with both Oracle Linux or Red 
Hat Linux installations, but ASMlib usage will require replacing any Red Hat 
kernel with a kernel provided by Oracle."

To me, this sounds like Oracle is forcing all ASM Linux sites to buy into their 
support structure and drop RH support.  When we investigated the cost between 
RH and Oracle Linux support, we found Oracle Linux to be more expensive than RH 
(when comparing apples to apples).  For those on an already tight budget, this 
is not going to sit well.

I had also heard that this may have something to do with RedHat's decision to 
pre-bundle patches in the kernel, making it more difficult for Oracle to 
provide Red Hat support (and take away customers from Red Hat support):

http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/72012.html?wlc=1303298360

If that's the reason, it's going to backfire on RedHat as all those running ASM 
on Linux will have to flip to Oracle Support just to be able to download ASMlib 
updates.  They'll end up losing customers anyway.  The only other option is for 
ASM customers to drop the use of ASM and lose all the great functionality it 
provides.  Tough decisions ahead, I believe.

Marianne

Marianne Gillfillan, OCA
CAIS Technical DBA
Marianne.Gillfillan@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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