Disaster Recovery options

I'm currently evaluating Data Guard for our DR setup and initial tests seem to 
work fine.  However, I made the mistake of asking Oracle about the licensing of 
the failover machines and was shocked by their response.
 
Here it is.
 
Failover ? In this type of recovery, nodes are configured in "cluster;" the 
first installed node acts as a primary node. If the primary node fails, one of 
the nodes in the cluster acts as the primary node. In this type of environment, 
Oracle permits licensed Oracle Database customers to run the Database on an 
unlicensed spare computer for up to a total of ten separate days in any given 
calendar year. Any other use requires the environment to be fully licensed. 
Additionally, the same metric must be used when licensing the databases in a 
failover environment.
Standby ? In this type of recovery, a copy of the primary database is 
maintained on a separate server at all times. These systems are configured for 
disaster recovery purposes. If the primary database fails, the standby database 
is activated to act as the new primary database. In this environment, both the 
primary and the standby databases must be fully licensed. Additionally, the 
same metric must be used when licensing the databases in a standby environment. 

So I'm supposed to fully-license Enterprise Edition w/ RAC of course on a 2 or 
3 node cluster sitting in a remote datacenter that isn't going to ever do 
anything unless there's a disaster?  Oracle is pricing themselves right out of 
our shop if their licensing model continues.  Anyone have know where I can find 
the Sqlserver-L mailing list?

How is Data Guard used in Oracle's defintions of a 'Failover'?  Seems like 
you're using the same disks out of the cluster and Data Guard wouldn't even be 
used there?

I'm wondering if I should go with Oracle 10G standard Edition where possible w/ 
RAC since it's included in the license and then manually ship the logs up to a 
standby database instead of using Data Guard.  Data Guard just seems to take 
care of the log shipment and applying for me.  I haven't had a standby database 
since V7 but from what I've read it seems like I could manually ship and apply 
the logs using SE vs EE since 'Data Guard' isn't part of SE.

We have an SLA where a 4 hour data loss would be 'acceptable' so I don't think 
it would be too hard to write something to ship the logs and apply them if I 
have a 4-hour window to do it in.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks - Brian


                
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