ORACLE SUN SUPERCLUSTER T5-8: MODEL
Mfg # 7105407
CDW # 3591727
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ORACLE SUN SUPERCLUSTER T5-8: MODEL is rated
3.80 out of
5 by
6.
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1245153 from
Can be fast but we're not getting reliability or stability
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for E-Business Suite applications, the applications for the government, and most of the applications that use an HCM.
What is most valuable?
I wouldn't say there is anything good about it because since it was deployed we have been having issues with the cluster.
It's not working as we expected. We thought it would be fast and reliable but we are not getting the reliability. It's not stable. It could be an issue with the network or configuration.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SuperCluster for just over a year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's partially scalable. We have less than 20 users using this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their support is 50/50. Neither good nor bad.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used IBM. We decided to switch because of our implementers.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was complex.
We've also changed the network to Cisco. Maybe it's a problem with the compatibility.
It took around six months to set up.
What about the implementation team?
We used a consultant for the deployment. All of the maintenance is done by Oracle.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to someone considering this solution is to do your homework before switching to this solution. Look at what the solution offers, look at the licensing because we might think that doing the Oracle SuperCluster would actually reduce the licensing. It is not like that.
The staff should also know what kind of issues to expect so as to be able to actually work with them to be able to work with the SuperCluster. The staff should be trained to identify issues.
I would rate SuperCluster a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2020-01-30T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
SibusisoNgwenya from
Widely used internal integrated system; very good scalability
What is our primary use case?
Our HR system uses this solution as do many of our staff. We currently have over 3,000 users within the company and the company has a total of 15,000 employees. We have a vendor that carries out the majority of our maintenance and one or two internal people also involved in maintenance. The solution is used on a daily basis in the company. We're customers of Oracle and I'm a service support specialist.
What is most valuable?
The scalability and the technical support that you get from Oracle are very valuable to us.
What needs improvement?
The solution is not very user friendly and that could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of stability, the hardware of the solution is stable but on the software level we've had some problems. They deal with any issues very quickly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite complex and we used a system integrator to implement. I believe deployment took about three months. We've been using the solution for about five years and we're now planning a hardware update.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay an annual licensing fee but that's not my department.
What other advice do I have?
It's important to realize that this is a big system for enterprise companies and not suitable for small business.
I would rate this product an eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2020-06-03T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1206969 from
Helps ensure growth of our bank with good performance and an integrated infrastructure
What is our primary use case?
We use SuperCluster for the bank's financial application, which covers the core banking and internet banking functionality.
How has it helped my organization?
The core banking application and database is completely based on Oracle solutions, which provides us with not only good performance, but also the scalability we need to ensure the growth of the bank. We have not experienced many challenges in terms of meeting our performance requirements.
What is most valuable?
SuperCluster is basically a combination of Oracle, with Exadata and Compute node features, so it is a computing cluster that is integrated in a single infrastructure such that we don't need a separate solution for the application database, the data storage database, and everything else the application needs.
What needs improvement?
A major issue for us is that after the most recent update of SuperCluster, they have now stopped all future production of new versions. That is to say, after M7 there was M8, and now there are no future versions planned (e.g. M9) in the market.
As for features, even though they are not planning new releases, I believe SuperCluster could do better with their administration GUI. At the moment, most of our administration takes place on the command-line because the GUI is inadequate, so an improved GUI would suit us well.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Oracle SuperCluster for almost six years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There are no problems with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable, but as mentioned, if you want to update your SuperCluster to the next version, you are out of luck as there will be no future development on it from Oracle.
As it is now, both the banking application and a few other applications are running fine for our users on SuperCluster.
How are customer service and support?
Their support is good. I would give them 8/10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
At this time, we also have other solutions available to us, but our experience is that the SuperCluster solution is superior.
How was the initial setup?
The setup depends on the design. With SuperCluster, what you're setting up is less straightforward than most deployments because there are more virtualization areas to deal with. There are a lot of activities that need to be carried out in order to set it up properly.
What about the implementation team?
It was initially set up by the vendor itself, but going forward, any extra requirements are handled by myself as a consultant and the appropriate team. As for updates and maintenance, all this is done by us on a yearly basis.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Due to the multiple products involved in our use of SuperCluster (including different software, hardware, etc.), I cannot comment on the licensing aspect.
What other advice do I have?
When you look at SuperCluster's complete infrastructure as a whole and the fact that we can run the database and application all on the same infrastructure, I feel that SuperCluster is a better solution than most. It has good performance and works well for us.
Given that they have stopped upgrading and supporting SuperCluster, I am hoping that Oracle will be able to provide a similar type of solution with the same integrated infrastructure but with better performance in the future. I know there is a solution called PCA (Private Cloud Appliance), but this doesn't have the Exadata functionality that we need.
I would rate Oracle SuperCluster an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-09-15T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Shafiq Khan from
Great performance all round, but lacking in certain cloud features
What is our primary use case?
In my organization there has always been a need for high-performance computing, and we decided to go with Oracle SuperCluster for this reason coupled with the fact that we already use Oracle products such as Solaris (11.4), which is itself a component of SuperCluster.
As far as performance is concerned, SuperCluster is a system of machines engineered for high performance and reliability, while supporting a number of modern enterprise storage and database technologies such as Exadata and ZFS. The memory, along with Oracle's M7 servers, is also very good in terms of performance.
We use SuperCluster on-premises, with about 3,000 people who access it on a daily basis. Essentially, whoever is accessing the applications we use, is also accessing the SuperCluster. That includes our database administrators, system administrators, and many other administrators of various kinds.
What is most valuable?
Because SuperCluster is a specially engineered system, we have confidence in that all the components are compatible with one another. Everything runs together as a well-coupled group of machines, and the performance is great (especially the memory).
What needs improvement?
Speaking from a business perspective, our main problem is that our particular edition of SuperCluster is now at end-of-life status, making it obsolete and impossible to get support for. This presents a challenge for us, as finding a path to our next solution is not easy.
When it comes to features, I know that Oracle has already done a lot on the software side of things, but everyone has their own wish list for their specific environment and in newer editions of SuperCluster I would like to see new EXAchk data in the cloud environment. In fact, I would prefer if SuperCluster could come with more functionality as seen in Oracle Cloud where it is easier to share data and other things across the board. SuperCluster is already a smart machine, so I understand that it might be difficult to implement all those features, but at a minimum I would appreciate Oracle including more cloud infrastructure functionality.
Oracle's existing cloud machines are already able to provide all these cloud features that I would like, including the use of containers and hardware-sharing, and it would be great to have these on board for their customers and end-users of SuperCluster.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Oracle SuperCluster since 2017.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, it has been stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable system when it comes to performance, but unfortunately Oracle is no longer supporting the edition that we are running as it is now end-of-life, and figuring out the way forward isn't easy.
Our total user count is around 3,000 end-users, including everyone who uses our organization's applications such as normal end-users and the many administrators who work on it.
How are customer service and support?
We use Oracle as our single source of support most of the time whenever we need to patch the system, because this is usually done by Oracle as a matter of course.
Their support is very good, not only when it comes to their direct help in patching our systems, but also in general. They are a helpful team of people and passionate about their work.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The setup and configuration is difficult for the end-user because almost all of the time, Oracle supports the system themselves. They perform the configuration of the SuperCluster and set up the machines, and normally they do the patches as well.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For us, the licensing costs are a large amount, but we are also paying for the rack, the SLA, and other extras. When I look into our organization's requirements regarding performance, machine load, etc., I believe that, while expensive, SuperCluster is nevertheless good for us.
Additionally, in our case, it doesn't seem to make a difference in cost whether you pay a monthly amount or go with some other arrangement.
What other advice do I have?
On the whole, SuperCluster is a smart, sophisticated machine, and when I look into the performance of it, I'm happy. However, in some cases, the system itself is somewhat larger than necessary for our environment, and can be considered underutilized when we only have minimal amounts of data to process.
I would rate Oracle SuperCluster a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-09-12T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Abdelkrim Ferroudj from
Reliable with good performance and good support, but it's restricted to Oracle
What is our primary use case?
We use it for our main Oracle Databases, which are for our business applications.
What is most valuable?
The two features that I find to be the most valuable are high availability and high performance.
What needs improvement?
We are not using the latest version. Our version is a bit old. It's not the latest generation.
They may have made some improvements but based on the version that I am using, it is a little complicated because it is based on the Unix Operating system.
My understanding is that now it is on the Linux Operating System because it is simple to use and more user-friendly.
The SuperCluster is based on Solaris, which is different than Linux.
They should keep using the Linux Operating System. It's better than Unix. It's easier, more flexible, and used in most of the machines in the world.
Unix is not as easy for the users, it needs more maintenance and costs extra.
In my opinion, the next generation will be Linux-based.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for the last 12 months.
We are using version seven.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable product, it's been running for months.
How are customer service and technical support?
We cannot survive without Oracle's support. You are in an Oracle box made by Oracle, that can only be fixed by Oracle.
You don't have the freedom to go outside of Oracle's control.
The technical support is good. For both hardware and software, it's very good.
How was the initial setup?
I was not a part of the installation in this company. When I arrived, it was already installed.
I found that the installation was not done in the way that I think was the best model.
SuperCluster usually comes with Oracle Virtualization and you can create virtual machines as you do in virtualization solutions.
They completed the installation with a hard partitioning solution with physical nodes. They used a lot of physical nodes and didn't take the opportunity to use Oracle virtualization.
It may have been a requirement of the company.
What other advice do I have?
It's a really good product.
At this time, we are still using it and there are no plans to change it that I am aware of.
It depends on the plans of the company and what they want to do in the next three to five years.
I would rate Oracle SuperCluster a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1206969 from
Great performance and Technical support but cannot integrate with the newest version
How has it helped my organization?
Regarding the performance between our old system and the new system, previously we were running the system with IBM, the quarterbacking was running in IBM, then we moved to the Oracle SuperCluster.
The quarterbacking is from Oracle, the hardware and the database is also running on Oracle.
We have seen that there is an improvement in performance. For example, end of the year in IBM, we were running almost twelve and a half hours, but when we moved to Oracle SuperCluster, after the first year it was running for only four hours. It went from twelve and a half hours to four hours.
The performance is significantly improved, and the administration is easy because it is a single platform end-to-end.
What is most valuable?
The features of Oracle SuperCluster are more common based. If you want to make any additional configuration or changes to the virtualization layer, it is commonly based.
What needs improvement?
We are not able to upgrade our SuperClass to the latest version, because this solution is more compatible with Oracle. We are not able to run any .NET-based applications and they cannot install Windows.
The Oracle SuperCluster is specific to Oracle products. They can set up a convergence infrastructure so that you can run both applications, such as Java, non-Java, .NET, and Windows.
The features are limited and we are not able to upgrade this solution. We are not able to integrate our current version with the new, upgraded version.
If they had an application that centralized the administration, not about the monitoring, but for the configuration, it would be better.
We have heard that after the M8 was introduced a couple of years ago, there will be no production.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable and performs well.
We can expand to our requirements because the storage can be expanded and also the computer with us can be expanded. It depends upon the free space available on the rack.
We can expand the rack to superclass a rack and populate what the requirements are regarding the compute, the storage, and we can connect between the two racks using the InfiniBand switches.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is the best with any hardware issues.
If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch?
Previously we used X-Beta. Oracle created a specific product database and not the applications. As Oracle SuperCluster, we can run applications and databases in a single infrastructure.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment model was on-premises.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2019-10-15T00:00:00-04:00