Installing 32-bit and 64-bit Oracle on same machine

I have an application that does not support 64-bit Oracle. It needs to run on 32-bit Oracle. Can I install two Oracle engines (32-bit and 64-bit) on the same machine? If so, how can it be done?

I have a problem here.

My current environment:

  1. AIX5.2 ML6
  2. Oracle 9.2.0.6 64-bit.

My problem is I have an application that does not support 64-bit Oracle. It needs to run on 32-bit Oracle.

My questions are:

  1. Can I install two Oracle engines (32-bit and 64-bit) on the same machine?
  2. If yes, how can it be done?
  3. Is there an installer for 32-bit Oracle 9i?
  4. How does 32-bit Oracle differ from 64-bit Oracle?

Thank you in advance.

  1. You can install Oracle 32-bit and Oracle 64-bit on the same server. The two installs must reside in different ORACLE_HOME directories though. So install Oracle 32-bit in a different directory than your 64-bit version and they will both coexist quite nicely.
  2. When you fire up the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI), enter a new ORACE_HOME directory when prompted.
  3. The OUI for the 32-bit version will be found with the media. In Disk1 of Oracle 9i, you will find a runInstaller utility.
  4. The difference between 32-bit and 64-bit software (not just limited to Oracle) lies at the difference in how your operating system executes code. The OS will look at code in chunks of memory called a "word." Those applications that are 32-bit apps have a word size of 32 bits. Those applications that are 64-bit apps have a word size of 64 bits. You must have a 64-bit OS (and processors) to be able to run 32-bit and 64-bit apps. You cannot run 64-bit software on a 32-bit OS (and processors). By addressing larger word sizes, many applications can run faster. A larger word size lets you address larger chunks of memory as well. If you want a SGA larger than 2GB, you need to use 64-bit Oracle.

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