Is LBA mandatory for SCAN listener

in Oracle RAC?

On Oracle RAC environment Load Balancing is something which is critical for

distribution of connections between the servers we have. Load Balancing
Advisory (LBA) is one of the key components for SCAN listener to decide the
best instance for the new incoming connection request. I was just wondering
if we can check if Load Balancing Advisory is enabled by default to all the
services that run on multiple nodes then can we disable this feature? But let
us understand exactly how critical is LBA for SCAN listener and its effects.
The figure above explains that SCAN listener might use the data from LBA
and decides the best instance to route the connection, but which type of Load
Balancing this falls into? We have already understood the functionality of
SCAN listener in our earlier blog How does SCAN listener works in Oracle
RAC 11gR2?
Let me quickly take you through the concepts of Load Balancing types and
then we will move ahead to the activity of controlling it.
Concepts:
Typically, there are two types of load balancing:

Connection Load Balancing (CLB)

Run-time Load Balancing (RTLB)

RTLB has come into existence from 10gR2 which can be either set
to SERVICE_TIME or THROUGHPUT. CLB can be configured at Client-Side
or at Server-Side. Of which, Server-Side load balancing is recommended and
have better functionality over Client-Side.
Is RTLB a client-side or server-side load balancing? Well, it is
combination of both and majorly on the client side. Connection and
performance statistics is collected on server side and transferred to the
application server recursively by using ONS (Oracle Notification Service)
infrastructure. It might not be applicable to all the application setups, by
default JDBC based applications can use this RTLB feature.
What is the role of LBA? LBA is the key for Run-time Load Balancing. Both
these configurations completely rely on the statistical data provided by LBA
(Load Balancing Advisory).
Functionality of RTLB: For a fixed time period the performance statistics
collected by LBA (with the help of PMON of all instances) are pushed into
application server through ONS service and we call them as LBA events.
Every time a new connection request triggers from application it will pass
through the connection cache/pool on the client side and picks up the best
instance to connect based on the service level goal configured.
Yes, now you might agree that Run-Time Load Balancing is more preferred
than Connection Load Balancing as major and important decisions are taken
at the client side before connection request reaches SCAN listener. In this
blog, let us run through the process of creating a service, understand the
weightage of LBA and if that can be disabled.
Case study:
Here is our case study, to create a default service on a 2-node RAC
environment and verify the parameters of load balancing. We will take this
study ahead by changing the parameters to understand the importance of
LBA.
1. Creating a default service without specifying the type of load balancing.
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl add service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB -g
RACPOOL
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl start service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl config service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB

<top lines removed>

Connection Load Balancing Goal: LONG
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: NONE
<next lines removed>
Our Findings: When a service is created by default Connection Load
Balancing is enabled and set toLONG and Run-Time Load Balancing is
disabled.
Does it mean that LBA is not used by SCAN at all? No, as it is server side load
balancing LBA statistics are used by SCAN listener to perform the load
balancing (Keep this on hand). This is the appropriate load balancing that
happens on the database server at the listener.
2. Now let us edit the configuration of this service and enable Run-Time Load
Balancing.
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl modify service -d RACDB -s LBASRV1 -B
SERVICE_TIME
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl config service -d RACDB -s LBASRV1
<top lines removed>
Connection Load Balancing Goal: LONG
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: SERVICE_TIME
<removed: same as above>
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl modify service -d RACDB -s LBASRV1 -B
THROUGHPUT
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl config service -d RACDB -s LBASRV1
<removed: same as above>
Connection Load Balancing Goal: LONG
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: THROUGHPUT
<next lines removed>
Our Findings: Irrespective of Connection Load Balancing Goal SHORT or
LONG you can enable Runtime Load Balancing Goal to SERVICE_TIME or
THROUGHPUT.

SERVICE_TIME: Attempts to direct work requests to instances according to

response time. Load balancing advisory data is based on elapsed time for
work done in the service plus available bandwidth to the service.
THROUGHPUT: Attempts to direct work requests according to throughput. The
load balancing advisory is based on the rate that work is completed in the
service plus available bandwidth to the service.
Key point: With Connection Load Balancing goal set to LONG, do not
configure Run-time Load Balancing as it is only applicable to applications
where next session or job starts only after the current one ends which is not
practical. This is the reason you must have read that Run-time Load
Balancing must be enabled with CLB goal set to SHORT.
Can we disable CLB?
Disabling CLB on server-side is equivalent to disabling LBA (Load Balancing
Advisory). You will not find an option to do it if you search in srvctl help.
Oracle document says that configuring GOAL to NONE will disable Load
Balancing Advisory (LBA) on the service. Let us try doing it and see what
exactly it is.
3. I will try to use DBMS_SERVICE package to modify this service and to
disable LBA.
SQL> EXECUTE DBMS_SERVICE.MODIFY_SERVICE (service_name =>
LBASRV1, goal => DBMS_SERVICE.GOAL_NONE);
SQL> select GOAL,CLB_GOAL from dba_services where name=LBASRV1;
GOAL

CLB_G

NONE

LONG

But as soon as we restart the service using srvctl GOAL has come back
to THROUGHPUT.
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl stop service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl start service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
SQL> select GOAL,CLB_GOAL from dba_services where name=LBASRV1;

GOAL

CLB_G

THROUGHPUT

LONG

You can call this as bug as the configuration changes done in SQL prompt will
not be updated in OCR. So let us try doing it using srvctl.
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl stop service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl modify service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB -B
NONE
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl config service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
<top lines removed>
Connection Load Balancing Goal: LONG
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: NONE
<next lines removed>
This has come back to the default configuration when we created this service.
Yes, RTLB is now disabled but will it not use LBA according to the Oracle
document?
4. Let us connect to the database now using this service from the client
server and check if LBA is used by SCAN listener.
Client server: C:\Users\Administrator>sqlplus
system/########@//192.168.122.#/LBASRV1
Database server:
SQL> select user_data from sys.sys$service_metrics_tab order by
enq_time;
Last row of the output:
SYS$RLBTYP(LBASRV1, VERSION=1.0 database=RACDB service=LB
ASRV1 { {instance=RACDB_2 percent=50 flag=UNKNOWN aff=FALSE}
{instance=RACDB_1 percent=50 flag=UNKNOWN aff=FALSE} } times

tamp=2016-03-17 16:38:38) Current system time:

SQL> !date
Thu Mar 17 16:49:46 IST 2016
This means that LBA events are not generated when new connection request
was handled by SCAN listener.
5. Now let us change the Connection Load Balancing to SHORT, reconnect
from client server and see if LBA is used by SCAN listener.
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl modify service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB -j
SHORT
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl stop service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl start service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
[oracle@RAC1 ~]$ srvctl config service -s LBASRV1 -d RACDB
<top lines removed>
Connection Load Balancing Goal: SHORT
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: NONE
<next lines removed>
Client server:

C:\Users\Administrator>sqlplus

system/########@//192.168.122.#/LBASRV1
Database server:
SQL> SELECT user_data
1 ;

FROM sys.sys$service_metrics_tab

ORDER BY

Last row of the output:

SYS$RLBTYP(LBASRV1, VERSION=1.0 database=RACDB service=LB
ASRV1 { {instance=RACDB_2 percent=50 flag=UNKNOWN aff=FALSE}
{instance=RACDB_1 percent=50 flag=UNKNOWN aff=FALSE} } times
tamp=2016-03-17 16:38:38) Current system time:

SQL> !date
Thu Mar 17 16:54:46 IST 2016
Even with SHORT goal we dont see any LBA events generated by Oracle
RAC. Does it mean that LBA is not used by SCAN listener when only
CLB is configured? Hold on!!! Let us clear this road block.
6. Let me try to connect from multiple client sessions and see if load is
distributed across RAC instances.
SQL> select inst_id,username from gv$session where
username=SYSTEM';
INST_ID USERNAME
-
1 SYSTEM
2 SYSTEM
2 SYSTEM
Woooh!!!, there is load balancing on server side. Is it with the help of LBA?
We have disabled it before this step, isnt it?
One of the Oracle documents shown above says that LBA can be disabled by
setting GOAL to NONEand this document says that server-side load balancing
uses LBA even when Run-time Load Balancing is disabled. It is not surprising
if you have got confused now
Summary of our case study:

Server-side CLB is better over Client-side CLB and RTLB is best over

Server-side CLB.
Application should be able to read LBA events published by RAC to

make the most out of RTLB. Mostly JBDC, ODBC, Oracle Data Provider for
.NET (ODP.NET) can be configured to handle RTLB.
We can enable (SERVICE_TIME/THROUGHPUT) or disable(NONE) RTLB

by using srvctlcommand line utility for a service.

When RTLB is disabled Load Balancing Advisory EVENTS are disabled,
which means that no notifications are published through ONS service

This is what we have observed by running a select query

on sys$service_metrics view.
You cannot disable CLB it has to be either SHORT/LONG. This also
means that it uses Load Balancing Advisory(LBA) data collected by

PMON of all the instances without which service goal metrics cannot be
met.
Now, I understand that LBA is definitely mandatory for SCAN
listener in Oracle RAC.

I love to see your comments!

Feel free to give additional information in the comments, that I can
validate and include in blog posts or update this as well.