Merge pull request #112063 from b-juche/live-update-04-20-2020-add-Oracle-solution-article

adding new article 'Benefits of using Azure NetApp Files with Oracle …

Author: v-albemi

articles/azure-netapp-files/TOC.yml

@@ -35,8 +35,12 @@
     href: azure-netapp-files-cost-model.md
   - name: Guidelines for Azure NetApp Files network planning 
     href: azure-netapp-files-network-topologies.md
-  - name: Solution architectures using Azure NetApp Files
-    href: azure-netapp-files-solution-architectures.md
+  - name: Solutions
+    items:
+    - name: Solution architectures using Azure NetApp Files
+      href: azure-netapp-files-solution-architectures.md
+    - name: Benefits of using Azure NetApp Files with Oracle Database
+      href: solutions-benefits-azure-netapp-files-oracle-database.md
   - name: FAQs about Azure NetApp Files
     href: azure-netapp-files-faqs.md
 - name: How-to guides

articles/azure-netapp-files/solutions-benefits-azure-netapp-files-oracle-database.md

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+---
+title: Benefits of using Azure NetApp Files with Oracle Database | Microsoft Docs
+description: Describes the technology and provides a performance comparison between Oracle Direct NFS (dNFS) and the traditional NFS client. Shows the advantages of using dNFS with Azure NetApp Files. 
+services: azure-netapp-files
+documentationcenter: ''
+author: b-juche
+manager: ''
+editor: ''
+
+ms.assetid:
+ms.service: azure-netapp-files
+ms.workload: storage
+ms.tgt_pltfrm: na
+ms.devlang: na
+ms.topic: conceptual
+ms.date: 04/20/2020
+ms.author: b-juche
+---
+# Benefits of using Azure NetApp Files with Oracle Database
+
+Oracle Direct NFS (dNFS) makes it possible to drive higher performance than the operating system's own NFS driver. This article explains the technology and provides a performance comparison between dNFS and the traditional NFS client (Kernel NFS). It also shows the advantages and the ease of using dNFS with Azure NetApp Files.  
+
+## How Oracle Direct NFS works
+
+Oracle Direct NFS (dNFS) bypasses the operating system’s buffer cache. Data is cached only once in the user space, eliminating the overhead of memory copies.  
+
+The traditional NFS client uses a single network flow, as the following example shows: 
+
+![Traditional NFS client using a single network flow](../media/azure-netapp-files/solutions-traditional-nfs-client-using-single-network-flow.png)
+
+In contrast, Oracle dNFS improves performance by load-balancing network traffic across multiple network flows. This capability enables the Oracle database to dynamically establish a significant number of 650 distinct network connections, as shown in the example below:  
+
+![Oracle Direct NFS improving performance](../media/azure-netapp-files/solutions-oracle-direct-nfs-performance-load-balancing.png)
+
+The [Oracle FAQ for Direct NFS](http://www.orafaq.com/wiki/Direct_NFS) shows that Oracle dNFS is an optimized NFS client. It provides fast and scalable access to NFS storage that is located on NAS storage devices (accessible over TCP/IP). dNFS is built into the database kernel just like ASM, which is used primarily with DAS or SAN storage. As such, *the guideline is to use dNFS when implementing NAS storage and use ASM when implementing SAN storage.*
+
+dNFS is the default option in Oracle 18c and the default for RAC.
+
+dNFS is available starting with Oracle Database 11g. The diagram below compares dNFS with native NFS. When you use dNFS, an Oracle database that runs on an Azure virtual machine can drive more I/O than the native NFS client.
+
+![Oracle and Azure NetApp Files comparison of dNFS with native NFS](../media/azure-netapp-files/solutions-oracle-azure-netapp-files-comparing-dnfs-native-nfs.png)
+
+You can enable or disable dNFS by running two commands and restarting the database.
+
+To enable:  
+`cd $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib ; make -f ins_rdbms.mk dnfs_on`
+
+To disable:  
+`cd $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib ; make -f ins_rdbms.mk dnfs_off`
+
+## Azure NetApp Files combined with Oracle Direct NFS
+
+You can enhance the performance of Oracle dNFS with the Azure NetApp Files service. The service gives you total control over your application performance. It can meet extremely demanding applications. The combination of Oracle dNFS with Azure NetApp Files provides great advantage to your workloads.
+
+## Next steps
+
+- [Solution architectures using Azure NetApp Files](azure-netapp-files-solution-architectures.md)
+- [Overview of Oracle Applications and solutions on Azure](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/oracle/oracle-overview)