Sharing of Oracle Environments thru NFS

Question: What can be shared in Oracle environments?
Dr. Toaster's Answer:
There are 3 types of sharing models available when thinking of Oracle and NFS:
1. Shared Oracle Binaries - Sharing a single Oracle DB installation and configuring multiple databases to mount and use that single directory via NFS mounts.
2. Shared Oracle_HOME - Enabling single databases to share the same binaries, similar to RAC. Oracle 9i originally did not support Shared Oracle_HOME, but at this point it is supported to use a Shared Oracle_HOME over NFS mounts. Nevertheless, it is suggested to use it for testing and development environments. The Network Appliance™ Best Practice Guidelines for Oracle® recommends not to use it for production and HA environments.
3. Shared APPL_TOP - Sharing the Oracle E-Business Suite binaries. See Reducing Administration Costs for Oracle® E-Business Suite Using NetApp Filers for more information.