Oracle 12c In-Memory database how to start
The In-Memory Column Store feature that was introduced by Oracle in the database version 12c (12.1.0.2) brings the solution for accelerating performance of database-driven business decision-making to real-time speeds. Since it is an extra-license feature for which Oracle makes you pay around 50% on top of your CPU license (similar to RAC option), you probably ask yourself a few valid questions. Don’t we cache everything already in memory anyway? Is it really required for my application, my company? Will it work for my workload at all? In this post I’ll give you a short guideline and introduction into Oracle database In-Memory feature.
First of all me personally and so probably you do not know any database that works only on disk. Indeed we cache most of our data, code and intermediate results in memory already. Furthermore there are some extra Oracle database performance features that help you to achieve that fairly efficiently, for example:
– KEEP/RECYCLE Pools
– RESULT Cache
– 12c Big Table Caching
– 12c Full Database Caching
– ….
The key point of Oracle In-Memory is not “What to cache” but “How”. So the major difference of Oracle In-Memory Column Store is that it enables individual database segments to be loaded into memory in the compressed columnar format. This technique enables segment scans to perform much faster than the traditional on-disk formats, providing performance boost for analytical and reporting workload.
Oracle out of place patching reduces database downtime
To minimize downtime during patching of NON-RAC databases Out of Place Patching can be used. You can apply this approach to any Oracle patch starting from Oracle database 11g (11.2.0.2.0+) using OPatch utility. In this case time spent installing the software can be saved from the total database downtime required. However, some downtime is required for switching database services to the new Oracle database home and applying a post-upgrade script. A basic overview of the steps is below:
– Clone the existing database home online
– Apply required patch to the cloned database home using OPatch
– Switch the database services to the cloned database home
– Complete the post installation tasks for the patch applied
Notes:
– Oracle database 11g and 12c documentation describe DB_HOME cloning only in OFFLINE mode (when DB is down)
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11882_01/em.112/e12255/oui6_cloning.htm#OUICG298
http://docs.oracle.com/database/121/LADBI/app_cloning.htm#LADBI7853
– However, there should be no requirement to shutdown any databases, listeners, agents etc. that are running from the source home while cloning the Oracle Home directory because any processes that load the static binaries or libraries into memory should not hold a write lock.
– Oracle Out of Place patching is supported by SAP
– Out of Place patching is a recommended patching method that is used in out of the box deployment procedure of Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) Cloud Control 12c+ version
Below we will use a combination of Oracle documentation, a few MOS Notes and a little bit of experience to manually conduct Out of Place patching of Oracle database 12c
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German Oracle User Group (DOAG) Conference 2015
The 28th edition of DOAG 2015 annual Conference + Exhibition was held November 17 – 20, 2015 in Nuremberg Conference Center. Participants had the opportunity to attend the exibition and daily lecture programs with more than 500 talks and international top speakers, plus a wide choice of workshops, and community activities.
Interseting key notes including one with Andrew Mendelsohn, Executive Senior Vice President at Oracle, who shared the information about new developments in Oracle database 12c.
This was a great opportunity for everyone to expand the knowledge and benefit from the know-how of the Oracle community.
Thanks for all the organizers and participants.
I was speaking there also with a database related topic called:
Reduce planned database down time with Oracle technology smart
Official Abstract of my DOAG presentation:
How to design an Oracle database system to minimize planned interruptions? That depends on the requirements, goals, SLAs etc. The presentation will follow top-down approach. First we will describe major types of planned maintenance, prioritize those and then based on the system availability requirements find the best cost-effective technics to address those. A bit of planning, strategy and of course modern OS and database technics including latest Oracle 12c features will follow.
Timelines and location: Thursday, 2015-11-19, room Shanghai
The presentation consists of 3 major parts including Linux and SQL code examples:
– System downtimes and high availability basics
– Reducing planned downtime approach and methodology
– Technical part: system configurations, technics, new Oracle 12c features
See the slightly adjusted presentation material below:
– Presentation: Reduce planned database down time with Oracle technology
– Scripts: will follow
Please share your ideas, expririence or ask questions in the Comments to this post below.
You can also review my previouse DOAG 2014 presentation including live demo: Live adventure – From my PC to Oracle remote database
Some a few photos below… Read more »
Oracle database client silent installation without response file
I’m often asked questions on Oracle database or client software installation in Silent Mode with using response file. I used to do it in the past but not anymore. The silent software installation with Oracle response file is still available but I found another handy option in Oracle 11g/12c of doing the same. The same silent installation can be done directly from the command prompt without using an Oracle response file but it requires a minimum set of variables (from the response file) as arguments to the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) (i.e “runInstaller or setup.exe”).
I give a few tested examples below to install Oracle software in Silent mode without a response file:
Oracle Database 11.2 on Linux silent installation (Enterprise Edition Software Only)
cd /opt/oracle/stage/database
./runInstaller -silent -debug -force \ Read more »
Oracle DBaaS in Private Database Cloud workshop
Designing Database as a Service (DBaaS) in own Database Cloud is very comprehensive topic and it requires a lot of things: clear concept and strategy, solid planning, important architecture decisions, considerable involvement of different stakeholders, extra budget, etc. To start talking about this topic I’ll give my own definition of DBaaS which is a managed database service, hosted and offered by DBaaS provider on pay-per-usage basis, which provides access to own database resource with flexible on-demand system scaling capabilities. DBaaS on high level consists of three major pillars: Business, Operation and Technology and you cannot start with the most interesting one, which is certainly Technology (at least for me :).
Last week being a part of exclusive Oracle Database Day workshop I learned and discussed the possibilities of building a DBaaS based on Private Database Cloud with best Oracle Germany experts in Munich. This time we talked exactly about DBaaS Technology and specifically about Oracle Cloud Management capabilities. With help of Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) 12c Cloud Control and OEM Self Service Portal you can establish a framework for end-users to provision own DBaaS components with a few mouse clicks. In Oracle terms these DBaaS components can be the following:
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