Oracle Clusterware

Oracle Clusterware is:

• A key part of Oracle Grid Infrastructure 
• Integrated with Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
• The basis for ASM Cluster File System (ACFS)
• A foundation for Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC)
• A generalized cluster infrastructure for all kinds of applications

Oracle Clusterware is a key part of Oracle Grid Infrastructure, which also includes Automatic Storage Management (ASM) and the ASM Cluster File System (ACFS).

In Release 11.2, Oracle Clusterware can use ASM for all the shared files required by the cluster. Oracle Clusterware is also an enabler for the ASM Cluster File System, a generalized cluster file system that can be used for most file-based data such as documents, spreadsheets, and reports.

The combination of Oracle Clusterware, ASM, and ACFS provides administrators with a unified cluster solution that is not only the foundation for the Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) database, but can also be applied to all kinds of other applications.

Note: Grid Infrastructure is the collective term that encompasses Oracle Clusterware, ASM, and ACFS. These components are so tightly integrated that they are often collectively referred to as Oracle Grid Infrastructure.