Hi Windows 2003 x64 have no memory limits (8TB per process) and it´s a very stable platform althought not as stable as Unix because of virus and continuos updates that forces to reboot. Please take a look at page 13 of the following ppt: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/Mentor-6754-ukoug-2006-best-practic es-rac-64-bit-windows-Best-Practices-Oracle-Database-10g-RAC-Microsoft-64bit -Windows-Commitment-Partnership-Regi-on-ppt-powerpoint/ Standard x64 edition now support 32GB RAM and cost 1/5 of EE. Greetings. Juan. _____ De: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En nombre de Goulet, Richard Enviado el: martes, 23 de febrero de 2010 3:03 Para: rafiq9857@xxxxxxxxxxx; Robert Freeman; oracle list Asunto: RE: Oracle RAC on Win vs. Oracle on Linux Rafiq, As I'm working in one of the premier (top 10) trials companies to the pharma community we are moving all our databases/applications off of Windows for Unix based operating systems. These are validated, no problem. Windows has two basic problems, memory and processes. Without a start up switch your limited to 3GB total memory for Oracle, with the switch you can have another gb, but it uses memory context switches which are a performance killer. The second is that Oracle on Windows is multithreaded within a single executable where as Unix based systems have multiple processes again limiting capacity. Our windows based databases are a real pain in the shorts, they are constantly hitting that "blue screen of death" at least once a week. As it is after 1 June we will no longer support or validate a Windows database. Dick Goulet Senior Oracle DBA/NA Team Lead PAREXEL International _____ From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mohammad Rafiq Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 8:50 PM To: Robert Freeman; oracle list Subject: RE: Oracle RAC on Win vs. Oracle on Linux Robert, I don't agree that Window is evil. I seen problems with Windows NT (mostly memory leak related) but after handling Oracle databases on Windows 2000 or newer version, it is quite stable. However it depends on SA of Windows server how competent they are to configure and handle Windows server. I am mostly supporting Oracle databases of various versions on HP, RedHat Linux and Windows and did not find serious issues with Windows 2000+ servers. Although it is not a preferred environment but due vendor requirements for their application (specially for pharmceutical industry which needs validated application/databases) we need to put Oracle databases on Windows 2000/2003 servers. Regards Rafiq _____ Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:05:10 -0800 From: robertgfreeman@xxxxxxxxx Subject: Oracle RAC on Win vs. Oracle on Linux To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Anyone want to jump in on their preferred platform for RAC? Personally I tend to lean towards Linux for stability purposes, but I'd like your thoughts on why you prefer either platform for RAC. Specifically why would you avoid windows (other than the fact that it's evil), or would you? RF Robert G. Freeman Master Principle Consultant, Oracle Corporation Oracle ACE Author: Oracle Database 11g RMAN Backup and Recovery (Oracle Press) - ON ITS WAY SOON! OCP: Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Professional Study Guide (Sybex) Oracle Database 11g New Features (Oracle Press) Oracle Database 10g New Features (Oracle Press) Other various titles Blog: http://robertgfreeman.blogspot.com <http://robertgfreeman.blogspot.com/> _____ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. Get it <http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469230/direct/01/> now.