The Template Directory – ASM file number 5 – contains information about all file templates for the disk group.
There are two types of templates – system and user created. The default (system) templates are always available for each file type supported by ASM. User created templates can be added for a custom template specifications.
Each template entry contains the following information:
- The template name (for the default templates this corresponds to the file type)
- The file redundancy (defaults to the disk group redundancy)
- The file striping (default is file-type specific)
- The system flag (set for the system templates)
Using templates
The full template information is externalized via V$ASM_TEMPLATE view. Let’s have a look at my templates:
FROM v$asm_template
WHERE group_number=1;
Template Name Redundancy Striping System
———————— —————- —————- ——–
PARAMETERFILE MIRROR COARSE Y
ASMPARAMETERFILE MIRROR COARSE Y
DUMPSET MIRROR COARSE Y
CONTROLFILE HIGH FINE Y
FLASHFILE MIRROR COARSE Y
ARCHIVELOG MIRROR COARSE Y
ONLINELOG MIRROR COARSE Y
DATAFILE MIRROR COARSE Y
TEMPFILE MIRROR COARSE Y
BACKUPSET MIRROR COARSE Y
AUTOBACKUP MIRROR COARSE Y
XTRANSPORT MIRROR COARSE Y
CHANGETRACKING MIRROR COARSE Y
FLASHBACK MIRROR COARSE Y
DATAGUARDCONFIG MIRROR COARSE Y
OCRFILE MIRROR COARSE Y
16 rows selected.
There is one template that stands out – CONTROLFILE. It is the default template for database control files. Note that a file created with this template will always be triple mirrored and fine striped. The most interesting thing about it is that we can use it to create any database file.
Here is an example (note that I am connected to the database instance here):
Tablespace created.
SQL> SELECT name FROM v$datafile WHERE name like ‘%triple_f%’;
NAME
——————————————————————————–
+DATA/br/datafile/triple_f.271.771793293
ASM assigned file number 271 to my file. Let’s now look at the redundancy of this file. This time I am connected to ASM instance:
FROM v$asm_diskgroup
WHERE name=’DATA’;
GROUP_NUMBER NAME Redundancy
———— ——————————– —————-
1 DATA NORMAL
So this is a normal redundancy disk group. Still, files created with CONTROLFILE template should be tripple mirrored. Let’s check on my file 271:
FROM x$kffxp
WHERE group_kffxp=1 and number_kffxp=271
ORDER BY 1,2;
Extent AU Disk
———- ———- ———-
0 1126 1
0 1130 3
0 1136 2
1 1131 3
1 1132 0
1 1137 2
…
7 1132 1
7 1135 3
7 1141 2
24 rows selected.
As expected, the file is triple mirrored – we see that each virtual extent has three physical extents. But why do I see eight virtual extents when the size of my file is only 1 MB? Ah, that is because the file is fine striped as CONTROLFILE template dictates fine striping.
User templates
What if I want my file triple mirrored but with coarse striping? Well, I have to create my own template for that:
Diskgroup altered.
Let’s now use this template. Back to the database instance…
Tablespace created.
SQL> SELECT name FROM v$datafile WHERE name like ‘%triple_c%’;
NAME
——————————————————————————–
+DATA/br/datafile/triple_c.272.771794469
Note the ASM file number is 272. Back to the ASM instance to check this file:
FROM x$kffxp
WHERE group_kffxp=1 and number_kffxp=272
ORDER BY 1,2;
Extent AU Disk
———- ———- ———-
0 1136 3
0 1137 0
0 1142 2
1 1133 1
1 1137 3
1 1143 2
6 rows selected.
Now I have one virtual extent allocated to my 1 MB file. Additional extent is for the file header. Note that the file is triple mirrored and coarsely striped.
I can also create a template for files that I don’t want mirrored at all. Let’s do that.
Diskgroup altered.
And let’s now use that template:
Tablespace created.
SQL> SELECT name FROM v$datafile WHERE name like ‘%not_important%’;
NAME
——————————————————————————–
+DATA/br/datafile/not_important.273.771795255
This is ASM file number 273. Let’s check it out:
FROM x$kffxp
WHERE group_kffxp=1 and number_kffxp=273
ORDER BY 1,2;
Extent AU Disk
———- ———- ———-
0 1138 0
1 1134 1
And we can see that this file is not mirrored.
Conclusion
The template directory contains the information about file templates in the disk group. Each disk group would have the default set of system templates and users can create additional templates as required. One good use of the templates is for creating triple mirrored files in normal redundancy disk groups. Note that for this to work we need at least three failgroups in the disk group.
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