The only way to add more CPU capacity is to add compute nodes (hardware) or Tune the SQL that's hogging the CPU (workload). See the image here http://twitpic.com/9gj54f/full as we add more and more databases to the Exadata cluster (half rack) there was a point that the OBIEE database ate up all the available CPU (even exceeded it). At that point the workload is asking for 5.8 compute nodes and it will be more efficient (& economical) to tune the OBIEE than to buy another 4 compute nodes. Once we fixed the issue, the overall CPU workload went down which freed up resources for additional databases. -- Karl Arao karlarao.wordpress.com karlarao.tiddlyspot.com twitter.com/karlarao -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l