Higher Performance Storage and AMD Standard E4 Flex Shapes are now available for Oracle Database Service

AMD Standard E4 Flex Shapes and Higher Performance Storage is now available for Oracle Database Service.

This blog post by Tammy Bednar Senior Director of Product Management at Oracle highlights these exciting new additions to the already expansive array of features boasted by Oracle Database Cloud Service.

This blog post summarizes already available features within the Oracle Database Cloud Service.

• Flexible Provisioning of Compute Resources
• Higher Performance Storage for Greater Throughput & IOPS
• Scaling your Database VM System
• Develop and Deploy Database Applications in OCI

Enjoy this blog post announcing these exciting new capabilities available for Oracle Database Cloud Service.

Cheers.

Now Available: In-Place Upgrade for Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS) VM DB Systems

Now Available: In-Place Upgrade for Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS) VM DB Systems.

There is a very good blog post by Pravin Jha and Sebastian Solbach at Oracle announcing the In-Place Upgrade General Availability for Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS) VM DB Systems.

Here is a quick recap.

• You can now perform an in-place upgrade keeping the characteristics of your existing Oracle VM DB System e.g. SCAN Name, SCAN IPs, private IP addresses, and hostnames remain the same throughout the upgrade process.
• You can now upgrade Oracle Linux version from OL6 to OL7.
• You can upgrade the Grid Infrastructure to the latest or the previous GI 19c version (N-1).
• You can upgrade with minimal downtime in approximately 2 hours using cloning technology.
• You can fallback to a snapshot if a roll back is required.
• OCI console experience.

Enjoy this blog post announcing the In-Place Upgrade General Availability for Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS) VM DB Systems.

Cheers.

Moving Your Oracle Database into the Cloud with the Spring 2022 Update of OCI Database Migration

 Moving Your Oracle Database into the Cloud with the Spring 2022 Update of OCI Database Migration.

There is a very good blog post by Alex Kotopoulis Director of Product Management at Oracle on Moving Your Oracle Database into the Cloud with the Spring 2022 Update of OCI Database Migration.

Here is a quick recap.

• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Database Migration is a fully-managed service that provides users with a fast and easy-to-use self-service experience for migrating databases to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Database Migration provides logical online and offline migration for enterprise-level database migration with minimal downtime.
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Database Migration is based on industry-leading Oracle Zero Downtime Migration engine utilizing Oracle GoldenGate replication.

New Features:

•     Amazon RDS as a source..
•     Interactive Cloud Premigration Advisor (CPAT) results.
•     Auto-create tablespaces.
•     Dynamic display of excluded objects.  

Enjoy this blog post on Moving Your Oracle Database into the Cloud with the Spring 2022 Update of OCI Database Migration.

Cheers.

Quick Into: How to use OCI Tagging to enhance and improve Oracle Cloud Governance

Quick Into: How to use OCI Tagging to enhance and improve Oracle Cloud Governance.

There is a very good blog post by Kris Bhanushali and Adithya Raam Sankar Senior Product Managers at Oracle on How to use OCI Tagging to enhance and improve Oracle Cloud Governance.

Here is a quick intro on How to use OCI Tagging to enhance and improve Oracle Cloud Governance.

• The constant challenge of keeping track of cloud resources can be resolved by applying  the same set of corporate standards to cloud resources as they are applied to on-prem resources.
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) has introduced a standardized best practice approach to managing cloud resources using a set of standard tags.
• Oracle Standard Tags is a set of tag namespaces that governance administrators can deploy in their tenancy to enhance Oracle Cloud governance.
• The namespaces are a collection of most commonly used tags which allow oracle cloud customers to categorize resources for improving security / availability, managing costs as well as improving/enhancing the overall Oracle cloud experience. 
• You can simply select the Oracle Standard Tag namespaces to make these tags available for assignment across the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) tenancy.

Enjoy this blog post on How to use OCI Tagging to enhance and improve Oracle Cloud Governance.

Cheers.

Excellent Workshop: How to get started with Oracle Autonomous Database?

Excellent Workshop: How to get started with Oracle Autonomous Database?

There is a very good workshop by Keith Laker and Marty Gubar on How to get started with Oracle Autonomous Database?.Here is a quick recap of this workshop.

• Deploying an Autonomous Database instance optimized for Oracle Data Warehousing workloads.
• How to use Oracle Autonomous Database tools to load object storage sources.
• How to use advanced SQL to find customers at risk?

Enjoy this workshop on getting started with Oracle Autonomous Database.

Cheers.

Exadata Cloud Infrastructure X9M - Exadata becomes even more faster!

 Exadata Cloud Infrastructure X9M - Exadata becomes even more faster!

There is a very good blog post by Tammy Bednar Senior Director of Product Management at Oracle introducing the new Exadata Cloud Infrastructure X9M.

Here is a quick recap:

• The world’s fastest public cloud database platform is now even faster. 
• Exadata Cloud Infrastructure X9M now offers extreme scale out capabilities that benefit both Autonomous Database and Exadata Database Service.
• With more amounts of compute, storage, and networking resources in this latest version of Exadata,  mixed database workloads can be consolidated even more on lesser infrastructure.
• The granular scalability of Exadata Cloud Infrastructure X9M also lowers costs by starting out with smaller configurations.
• Exadata Smart System Software
• Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure
• Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure
• Exadata Cloud Infrastructure X9M is now available globally. 
• Provisioning/Trying out a new system can be done in as little as 48 hours. 

Enjoy this blog post about the advent of the new Exadata Cloud Infrastructure X9M.

Cheers.

How to use Ansible with Oracle Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure?

Quick Into: How to use Ansible with Oracle Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure?

There is a very good blog post by Jeffrey Cowen Senior Principal Product Manager on How to use Ansible with Oracle Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure.

Here is a quick recap.

• Two Ansible files are needed:
• sample.yaml is the main script which will 
• 1. Create a new Autonomous Container Database (ACD).
• 2. Create a new Autonomous Database (ADB) on top of the newly created ACD.
• 3. List ADBs in a compartment filtered by display name.
• 4. Get facts of the ADB that was created earlier.
• 5. Stop/Start the ADB.
• 6. Kick off the cleanup script.
• teardown.yaml is the cleanup script which can be run by itself.

Enjoy this blog post on How to use Ansible with Oracle Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure?

Cheers. 

Oracle Database 21c New Feature: Hybrid Scans with In-Memory

Oracle Database 21c New Feature: Hybrid Scans with In-Memory.

This blog post by Andy Rivenes Product Manager at Oracle highlights this exciting new feature in 21c to the already expansive array of features boasted by Oracle Database In-Memory.

Here is a brief summary.

• Columns are excluded from being populated to save space. If one or more columns of a table are never accessed by analytic queries then, there is no point in using the space in the IM column store to populate them.
• In previous versions, the problem with excluding columns was that, you had to make sure that none of the excluded columns were accessed by your analytic queries or else performance for those queries suffered because the object had to be accessed from the row store.
• Now that In-Memory Hybrid Scans are available in 21c, even if the columns of a table have been excluded and are then part of some analytic queries there usually won't be a huge drop off in performance.
• The cost of running the query in the IM column store and then retrieving a large number of column values from the row store may not be any better than just accessing the data in the row store.
• The query will run slower than if all the columns were populated, but in many instances, it will still run much faster than, if the entire table has to be accessed from the row store. 
• If you are only returning a relatively small number of values then the query can run almost as fast as if all the columns were populated. 
• There is a tradeoff but the space savings can be quite dramatic.

Enjoy this blog post announcing this exciting new capability now available for Oracle Database In-Memory.

Cheers.

Step-by-Step: How to migrate from AWS RDS to Oracle Autonomous Database via Data Pump

Step-by-Step: How to migrate from AWS RDS to Oracle Autonomous Database via Data Pump.

There is a very good blog post by SATYABRATA MISHRA Senior Product Manager at Oracle on How to migrate from AWS RDS to Oracle Autonomous Database via Data Pump.

Here is a quick recap of the steps involved.

• Step 1 - Identify the Source Oracle database on AWS RDS.
• Step 2 - Prepare target Autonomous Database on Oracle DB Cloud.
• Step 3 - Validate compatibility using CPAT (Cloud Premigration Advisory Tool).
• Step 4 - Start the export of the source schema.
• Step 5 - Create an Amazon S3 bucket to upload the data pump dump file. 
• Step 6 - Import the data pump dump file from the  Amazon S3 bucket to Oracle Autonomous Database.

Enjoy this blog post on How to migrate from AWS RDS to Oracle Autonomous Database via Data Pump.

Cheers.

Quick Intro: Database Tools in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

Quick Intro: Database Tools in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

There is a very good blog post by Brian Spendolini Product Manager at Oracle on Database Tools Service in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

Here is a quick recap.

• In November 2021, the Oracle Database Development Tools team launched a service in OCI. This service, called  Database Tools enabled the customerto create a reusable resource for connecting to cloud databases via REST enabled SQL by consolidating all of the pieces of information you need to have to connect to a database.
• No need to remember which database on which server or remembering passwords for database connections.
• Added ability for using OCI policies and defining dynamic groups on who can use these connections.
• Securely store the hostname, port, database name, username, and password creating a reusable, portable resource that can be utilized across clouds, development tools, services, and pipelines.

Enjoy this Quick Intro blog post on the Database Tools service in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

Cheers.

Automatic failover for Autonomous Data Guard enabled Autonomous Databases on Exadata Cloud at Customer and Dedicated Infrastructure

Quick Into: Automatic failover for Autonomous Data Guard enabled Autonomous Databases on Exadata Cloud at Customer and Dedicated Infrastructure

There is a very good blog post by Ranganath Srirangapatna Ramachandra Principal Product Manager at Oracle on Automatic failover for Autonomous Data Guard enabled Autonomous Databases on Exadata Cloud at Customer and Dedicated Infrastructure.

Here is a quick recap.

• Automatic failover AKA Fast-start Failover in Oracle Data Guard.
• Automatic Failover allows Autonomous Data Guard to automatically fail over to your standby Autonomous database in the event of an outage on your primary database.
• Automatic failover rapidly fails over the standby Autonomous database to the primary database role without requiring any manual steps.
• Automatic failover is optional and can be enabled/disabled on your Autonomous Container Databases with Autonomous Data Guard.
• Both maximum performance and maximum availability protection modes are available with automatic failover. 
• Automatic failover guarantees zero data loss in Maximum Availability mode.
• Automatic failover ensures no data is lost that is more than the amount of data (in seconds) specified by the FastStartFailoverLagLimit configuration property in Maximum Performance mode. 
• FastStartFailoverLagLimit is set to 30 seconds and applies only to maximum performance mode. Automatic failover is only possible when the configured data loss guarantee can be upheld.
• Oracle automatically troubleshoots and repairs the failure conditions related to the primary database and reinstates it to the standby database role after an automatic failover occurs.
• You can perform a switchover operation to change the database roles to the original state after the failed primary is reinstated to the standby database.

Enjoy this blog post on Automatic failover for Autonomous Data Guard enabled Autonomous Databases on Exadata Cloud at Customer and Dedicated Infrastructure.

Cheers.

Creating Non-CDB Database in ExaCS - Step by Step

This is a short step-by-step using dbaascli on how to create an Oracle Non-CDB database in Oracle Exadata Cloud Service (ExaCS). Here, we will see high-level steps with example to create 19c Non-CDB Database in ExaCS 

There is a very good blog post by Sathis Muniyasamy Principal Cloud Architect at Oracle detailing the following steps.

• List Available Images
• Download the Image
• Create DB Home
• Create Database
• Verify the Database
• Viewing the Non-CDB Database and Home in OCI Console

Enjoy the Oracle Non-CDB database in Oracle Exadata Cloud Service (ExaCS).

Cheers.

Oracle Database 21c now supports Enhanced In-Memory External Tables

Oracle Database 21c now supports Enhanced In-Memory External Tables.

This blog post by Andy Rivenes Product Manager at Oracle highlights this exciting new feature in 21c to the already expansive array of features boasted by Oracle Database In-Memory.

Here is a brief summary.

• With In-Memory 21c, external tables allow an application to populate data in the IM column store that exists outside Oracle Database without the need to to first having to materialize the data within the database.
• In-Memory 21c allows an application to take advantage of Oracle Database's rich feature set to query and analyze that data and perhaps combine it with other application data that resides within Oracle Database. 
• With Oracle Database 21c, Database In-Memory provides partition support for that external data to allow even more flexibility in managing fast analytics on many different types of data.

Enjoy this blog post announcing this exciting new capability now available for Oracle Database In-Memory.

Cheers.

Oracle Database 21c New Feature: Full Text Columns with In-Memory

 Oracle Database 21c New Feature: Full Text Columns with In-Memory.

This blog post by Andy Rivenes Product Manager at Oracle highlights this exciting new feature in 21c to the already expansive array of features boasted by Oracle Database In-Memory.

Here is a brief summary.

• In the previoius versions, Oracle Database In-Memory did not support predicates for non-scalar documents e.g. if you were using domain indexes for Oracle full text index, XML Search Index, or JSON Search Index then these were not populated in the IM column store. This resulted in degradataion of performance for searching non-scalar types of data. 
• Now in Oracle Database 21c In-Memory, there is new support  to store, or populate, these types of domain-specific indexes.
• The new 21c In-Memory Full Text Columns feature provides a faster way to perform searches on text type data.
• Full Text Columns do not require maintaining a separate Oracle Text index.
• Full Text Columns now support various types of application workloads within the Oracle converged database.

Enjoy this blog post announcing this exciting new capability now available for Oracle Database In-Memory.

Cheers.

Oracle Analytics Cloud uses Oracle Database In-Memory for faster results

Oracle Analytics Cloud uses Oracle Database In-Memory for faster results.

This blog post by Bret Grinslade Senior Product Director at Oracle highlights this exciting new announcement by Oracle Analytics Cloud.

Here is a brief summary.

• In Oracle Analytics Cloud, the new in-memory engine provides Automatic Caching, which is in-turn built on Oracle Database In-Memory.
• Built on Exadata and the advanced Oracle Database query engine, Automatic Caching for datasets offers query performance improvements without any changes to existing customer datasets.
• In-Memory is very helpful for larger datasets or datasets with complex calculations.
• The new caching engine is available in Oracle Analytics Cloud in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
• Some of the best performance improvements are for more complex scenarios e.g. Datasets with multiple users using shared workbooks see query performance improving as more queries are run.
• Users can noticeably observe the most performance benefits when employing complex filters and calculations. 
• These performance benefits now come with the same security and ease-of-use that, you get with an Oracle Analytics Cloud dataset.
• The best part of this new combination is that customers already have it.
• Starting with Release 6.1, all customers using Oracle Analytics Cloud on OCI Gen2 have been automatically upgraded: You can continue to use datasets with Automatic Caching, and when the data is reloaded, it will use in-memory technology.

Enjoy this blog post announcing this exciting new combination now available for Oracle Analytics Cloud.

Cheers.

Oracle Database In-Memory Important Documentation & Resources

Oracle Database In-Memory Important Documentation & Resources.

This excellent blog post by Andy Rivenes Product Manager at Oracle summarizes useful resources for Oracle Database In-Memory.

Technical Information

• Oracle Database In-Memory Data Sheet
• Oracle Database In-Memory Technical Brief
• Oracle Database In-Memory Quick Start (one page brief)
• Oracle Database In-Memory Quick Start Guide
• Oracle Database In-Memory Implementation Guidelines Technical Brief
• Oracle Database In-Memory: In-Memory Aggregation
• When to Use Oracle Database In-Memory
• Why Exadata Is The Best Platform For Database In-Memory
• Oracle Database In-Memory Advisor
• Benchmark Results Reveal the Benefits of Oracle Database In-Memory for SAP Applications
• Enterprise Data Architecture
• Database In-Memory Guide
• Exadata System Software User's Guide

Application Information

• Oracle Database In-Memory with Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
• Performance Characterization of Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne with Oracle Database In-Memory
• Using Oracle Database In-Memory with Oracle E-Business Suite
• Oracle Database, Cloud and IT Infrastructure for SAP

Videos

• OOW 2018 New York City cab demo
• Tirthankar Lahiri presents In-Memory Database Architectures at the IMC Summit
• Database In-Memory Real-Time Analytics Demo
• OOW 2017 DBIM Temperature Demo
• Oracle Database In-Memory: What's new in 12.2
• Customers discuss the benefits of Oracle Database In-Memory
• Database In-Memory Introduction
• Juan Loaiza explains everything you need to know about Oracle Database In-Memory using the Wikipedia demo
• Juan Loaiza explains how Software-in-Silicon will optimize Oracle Database In-Memory at Oracle Openworld 2014
• Larry Ellison Launches Database In-Memory
• Oracle ACE Directors Talk about Oracle Database In-Memory
• Oracle Application teams explain how Database In-Memory will improve their performance
• Panel discussion on Oracle Database In-Memory hosted by Juan Loaiza
• Tirthankar Lahiri explains how Database In-Memory has been optimized for Intel processors

Other Database In-Memory Information

• Ask TOM Office Hours
• Database In-Memory YouTube Channel

Technical Briefs/Other Links

• How to generate a SQL Monitor Report - Updated for 19c!
• SQLMaria - Getting the most out of Oracle SQL Monitor
• SQL Monitor Technical Brief
• How to generate an Optimizer Trace

Presentations/Hands On Labs

• LiveLabs - Boost Analytics Performance with Oracle Database In-Memory Workshop
• OOW Hands On Lab Guide
• OOW Hands On Lab Scripts
• SSB Schema Export Files - GitHub
• Conference Hands On Lab Guide
• OOW 2019 Tips and Tricks Presentation
• ilOUG DBIM By Example Presentation (output)
• AskTOM Office Hours Scripts - GitHub
• AskTOM Office Hours Base Level Feature 19c presentation (pdf)

MOS Notes

• Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID 742060.1)

• Oracle Database In-Memory Option (DBIM) Basics and Interaction with Data Warehousing Features (Doc ID 1903683.1)

Database Patches

My Oracle Support Notes:

• Master Note for Database Proactive Patch Program (Doc ID 888.1)
• Overview of Database Patch Delivery Methods for 12.1.0.2 and older (MOS Note: 1962125.1)
• Overview of Database Patch Delivery Methods for 12.2.0.1 and greater (MOS Note: 2337415.1)

    Proactive Patch Information notes available based on release:

• Oracle Database 21c Proactive Patch Information (MOS Note: 2796590.1)
• Oracle Database 19c Proactive Patch Information (MOS Note: 2521164.1)
• Database 18 Proactive Patch Information (MOS Note: 2369376.1)
• Database 12.2.0.1 Proactive Patch Information (MOS Note: 2285557.1)
• Database 12.1.0.2 Proactive Patch Information (MOS Note: 2285558.1)

License Info

• Licensing Information User Manual
• Authorized Cloud Environments
• Licensing Oracle Software in the Cloud Computing Environment

Other Related Blogs

• Optimizer Blog
• Data Warehouse Blog
• SmartScan Deep Dive Blog (currently unavailable - some posts on DBIM blog)
• SQLMaria
• Mike Dietrich's Upgrade Blog

Enjoy this blog post summarizing useful resources for Oracle Database In-Memory.

Cheers.

Utilizing Memoptimized Rowstore in non-Exadata Database Environments

Utilizing Memoptimized Rowstore in non-Exadata Database Environments.

This blog post by Andy Rivenes Product Manager highlights the fact that Memoptimized Rowstore is Available in non-Exadata Database Environments.

Here is a brief summary.

• Memoptimized Rowstore was first introduced in Oracle Database 18c.
• Memoptimized Rowstore is made up of two components: Fast Lookup and Fast Ingest. 
• These new features at the time were for Exadata On-Prem and Cloud environments only; However, they are now available in non-Exadata environments in 21c and in 19c starting with the 19.12 RU.
• The Memoptimized Rowstore Fast Ingest feature enables fast data inserts into Oracle Database: This enables support for applications that generate lots of informational data that has important value in the aggregate but that don't require full ACID requirements e.g. Internet of Things (IoT) Apps with rapid "fire and forget" type workloads.
• Memoptimized Rowstore Fast Lookup feature supports SELECT queries on primary key values: This Very Fast Lookup feature can be helpful for applications that require very high-frequency reads.

Enjoy this blog post highlighting this very useful capability.

Cheers.

Quick Intro: How to use Database Links with Oracle Autonomous Dedicated?

 Quick Into: How to use Database Links with Oracle Autonomous Dedicated.

There is a very good blog post by Jeffrey Cowen Senior Principal Product Manager at Oracle on How to use Database Links with Oracle Autonomous Dedicated.

Here is a quick recap.

• Only TCP connections are currently supported.
• Easy Connect syntax or the complete descriptor must be used.
• There is no access to the local tnsnames.ora file for editing.
• Create the DB Link and test it.
• OCI Egress Rules on the Autonomous Dedicated Infrastructure subnet must be open on port 1521 using Network Security Group (NSG) or a security list.
• If connecting your On-Prem to Autonomous you will need to make sure the scan or hostname used is resolvable by your source server through DNS lookup or a host file. 
• If connecting over VPN or FastConnect you must ensure that the On-Prem firewall is not blocking or timing out 1521 traffic for long queries.
• GLOBAL_NAMES is set to TRUE in OCI database services which requires the database link and the database to have the same name. This parameter is modifiable if needed. 
• If connecting to a public IP Address, the Autonomous Dedicated Infrastructure subnet will need proper route rules and network features enabled in the VCN such as a NAT Gateway if using a private subnet (recommended).

Enjoy this blog post on How to use Database Links with Oracle Autonomous Dedicated.

Cheers.

Oracle Database World 2021 In-Memory Sessions

 Oracle Database World 2021 In-Memory Sessions.

Oracle is hosting a new event called Oracle Database World 2021. Here is a summary of these very useful Oracle Database In-Memory sessions for Oracle Database World 2021:

•     Database In-Memory: Real Time Analytics, Supercharged, Andy Rivenes and Shasank Chavan
•     Superfast Event Stream Processing with a Converged Database, Tirthankar Lahiri and Shasank Chavan
•     Hands On Lab: Boost Analytics Performance with Oracle Database In-Memory, Andy Rivenes and Markus Kissling

Enjoy this blog post summarizing these very useful In-Memory Sessions at Oracle Database World 2021.

Cheers.

Oracle Database 21c New Features: In-Memory Vector Joins

 In-Memory Expressions in Oracle Database 21c: A Quick Primer.

This blog post by Andy Rivenes Product Manager at Oracle highlights this exciting new feature with Oracle Database In-Memory 21c.

Here is a quick summary:

• In-Memory Deep Vectorization is a new framework that has been added to Database In-Memory. 
• In-Memory Deep Vectorization is a SIMD-based (single instruction, multiple data) framework that supports vectorization for higher-level query operators in the query plan.
• In-Memory vectorized joins is the first feature that takes advantage of this new In-Memory deep vectorization framework. 
• This new feature speeds up in-memory joins and is transparent to the user.

Enjoy this blog post  highlighting this exciting new feature with Oracle Database In-Memory 21c.

Cheers.