Architecture

Automatic Storage Management (ASM), a feature of the Oracle Database, provides Oracle customers with simplified storage management that is consistent across all server and storage platforms. With ASM, storage is managed as a small number of storage pools called ASM Disk Groups. Database related files are assigned to ASM Disk Groups and ASM manages the layout and data organization ensuring optimal performance and protection from storage hardware failure. ASM Disk Groups provide a convenient and easy means for consolidating storage and simplifying the administrative tasks previously required of DBAs and System Administrators. ASM provides the underlying storage management for ASM Cluster File System (ACFS) that provides centralized storage for data outside of the database.

Key Benefits of ASM

• Simplifies and automates storage management
• Increases storage utilization and agility
• Delivers predictable performance, availability and scalability.
• Support database failure in the event of server crash.
• Integrated storage management with ACFS