Oracle Database 12c is designed for the cloud and introduces Multitenant Architecture with more than 500 new features. It enables customers to make more efficient use of their resources and reduce IT costs.
What is Multitenant Architecture?
Oracle 12c now introduces multitenant architecture featuring pluggable databases, which makes it easy to consolidate your databases on to the cloud, deliver high density of schema based consolidation without making changes to application, increase utilization of resources, and rapidly provision and clone database for various purposes by lowering down of Infrastructure & administrative costs.
In large enterprise architecture you will see hundreds or thousands of databases. A database may use only a fraction of server hardware capacity and others might have overloaded. The DBA team must manage the Resources, Database files, Security, backups and accounts and so on of each database separately. In this new architecture, a multitenant container database can hold many pluggable databases. It manages many databases as one and retains the isolation, resource control of each database. This will help to manage both Infrastructure and human resources effectively.
The benefits of managing many databases as ONE database
Fewer Backups – With Oracle 12c, you don’t need to back up each database separately. The new pluggable architecture only requires you to perform a backup at the multitenant container level. That means you will have fewer backups to manage as each pluggable database backup with container. You’ll also get the flexibility to perform the recovery operation at the pluggable database level or container level.
Fewer Patches and upgrades – With Oracle 12c, you don’t need to apply a patch, patch set, or product updates to multiple databases separately. All these can be applied at the container level and not at each individual pluggable database level. Consolidating the multiple pluggable databases into a multitenant contain can reduce the amount of patching and upgrade activities.
Fewer Standby Databases – With Oracle 12c, you don’t need to ship and apply redo logs separately on each standby. You can apply the redo logs at container level and every pluggable database in a container is fully protected from outages and uses can also use their standby pluggable databases for reporting purpose.
DBAs can still use data integration tools such as Data Pump and GoldenGate to migrate data to pluggable databases. Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control can be used to simplify the management of Oracle Multitenant database creating, resource management, backup/recovery, problem analysis…etc.
Oracle multitenant is fully compatible with existing database options and features such as Oracle Real Application Cluster, Active Data Guard, Real Application Testing and Recovery Manager.
Why Oracle 12c?
Oracle 12c makes easier for customers to take advantage of the cloud through:
Pluggable Database – The pluggable databases gives the opportunity for consolidation. It allows running multiple databases as ONE by shrinking hardware footprint.
Consolidating Database – Many pluggable databases into a single multitenant container database by sharing its memory and background processes and reduce patching and upgrade activities by increasing server virtualization with high density database consolidation per server.
Rapid provisioning and cloning – You can plug and unplug the database and move database rapidly across the different containers. This gives the flexibility of creating new patched or upgraded containers and selectively unplugging database from older container and plugging database into a new patched or upgraded container. In single step you can close a database instantly.
Automatic Data compression – This feature automatically age out older data and store it on different storage compression level tiers. The Heap map feature in Oracle 12c tracks usage information at row and segment level, applying policies to automatically move and compress database objects based on the age and activity of the data.
Oracle Advanced compression will help to reduce storage requirements of large OLTP tables or partitions containing “Hot” frequently updated rows by 2-4x and Oracle Hybrid columnar compression provides up to 10x compression for “warm” read-only data and up to 50x compression for “cold” archival data.
Continuous Business operation – Oracle 12c provides continuous access with Oracle’s Maximum Availability Architecture. For Application Continuity from database failures, it makes better user experience by enabling transaction replay in a non-disruptive manner following a recoverable database failure.
In order to prevent and mitigate unplanned down time Oracle 12c offers many high availability components, here are few:
Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) – Protects from Database storage failures
Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) – Protects from Database server failures
Oracle Flashback – Protects from human errors & reduce recovery time
Oracle Active Data Guard – Protects from site failures and offload processing
Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) – Comprehensive foundation for efficient Database backup and recovery
GoldenGate – Real time data integration and replication
In order to reduce planned downtime, Oracle 12c offers many solutions:
Online Patching
Online Redefinition
Rolling Database Upgrades
Hardware Maintenance and Migration operations
Edition Based Redefinition
Comprehensive security & compliance – Oracle offers a multi-layered approach to protect enterprise data from hackers and other groups intent on stealing data. Oracle provides customers with the relevant preventative, detective and administrative controls which include:
Transparent encryption of data using Oracle Advanced Security
Separation of duties and latest privilege preventative controls using Database Vault
First line of defence of databases and consolidated audit trails using Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall
Comprehensive administrative controls such as Enforce password complexity, Monitoring accounts, Manage privilege entitlements, tracking and up to date of security patches.
Simplify Big Data Analysis – Oracle 12c provides comprehensive analytics and data integration in a single platform that meets Enterprise Business demanding needs. It supports wide range of tools including OLAP aggregation, advanced indexing, partitioning elimination, automatic query transformation and parallelize database operations.
Oracle 12c provides
Oracle Data integrator and Oracle Big data connectors for Big data integration
Oracle Database features such as In-Database Graph, In-Database MapReduce, SQL Pattern Matching, In-Database spatial and open source R algorithms for In-Database analysis
Oracle Exadata Machine, Oracle Big Data Appliance, Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine for Big Data Infrastructure
Resource allocation Controls – Define resource utilization at pluggable database level and pull system resources when required from low priority applications in a container by ensuring performance service leave remain consistent. Oracle 12c offers Global Data Services (GDS) for automated workload management solution.
Upgrade path to Oracle 12c
Oracle 12c provides to enhanced upgrade automation, the pre-upgrade and post-upgrade steps have been enhanced by providing fix-up scripts to reduce the manual work.
Oracle 12c offers two upgrade options to customers, which is upgrading to new Multitenant architecture or current architecture. Customers have a direct upgrade path from Oracle Database 11g R1/R2 and Oracle 10g R2. Customers who are on Oracle 10g R1 and earlier can use tools such as Data Pump and GoldenGate to migrate data to Oracle 12c.
Direct upgrade support at Patch set level
Source Database
Source Patch Set
Direct Upgrade Supported
Oracle 11g R2
11.2.0.2 and later
Yes
11.2.0.1
No, Use another method
Oracle 11g R1
11.1.0.7
Yes
11.1.0.6
No, Use another method
Oracle 10g R2
10.2.0.5
Yes
10.2.0.4 and earlier
No, Use another method
Oracle 10g R1
All
No, Use another method
Oracle 9i and earlier
All
No, Use another method
There are various tools available to upgrade or migrate the database, such as Database Upgrade assistant (DBCA), Command-Line upgrade, Data Pump Export/Import, Original Export/Import, Transportable Tablespace.
Refer to Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for more info: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E16655_01/server.121/e17642/toc.htm
Oracle Enterprise Manage Cloud Control
Oracle Enterprise Manager provides business value by leveraging the built-in management capabilities for traditional and cloud environments.
The key capabilities include:
Maximum return on IT investment through Oracle engineered systems with real-time integration
Business-driven application management provides best service levels for traditional and cloud applications
A complete cloud lifecycle management solution allowing you to quickly set up, manage and support enterprise clouds and traditional environments
References
Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E16655_01/backup.121/e17631/toc.htm
Zero-Downtime Database Upgrades Using Oracle GoldenGate
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/goldengate/overview/ggzerodowntimedatabaseupgrades-174928.pdf
Oracle 12c Database High availability
http://www.oracle.com/us/products/database/high-availability/overview/index.html
Oracle 12c Database Security & Compliance
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/security/index.html
Oracle and Big Data
http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/big-data/index.html
Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E24628_01/doc.121/e25353/overview.htm
Conclusion
Oracle 12c offers many new features and new architecture. Now can manage many databases as ONE by efficient use of resources and reduce IT costs for your Enterprise Business. It also offers one solution for your traditional and cloud environments.