On 20 Apr 2011, at 12:54, Gillfillan, Marianne J. wrote: > 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. One point to bare in mind though is that to use ASM does not require the usage of ASMLib. jason. -- http://jarneil.co.uk > > Marianne > > Marianne Gillfillan, OCA > CAIS Technical DBA > Marianne.Gillfillan@xxxxxxxxxxxx > -- > //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l > > -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l