Oracle Database Cloud Service: My First Experience with the Cloud

Written by Dr. Christoph Burandt, Senior Principal Instructor, Oracle University

“Going to the Cloud” - what does this mean for databases, as well as database administrators? 

The main difference between this new way and the previous way: the database storage and memory is not any more located “on premises” (that means locally located at my office or company site.)

The new approach uses a data center as storage location for the creation of a Database as a Service DBaaS, which is also named as Database Cloud Service (DBCS). 

Each database also has it’s own shape, which is VM provided, with an eligible number of OCPUs and RAM.

Fig.1 : based on the Cloud Presentation of Jean Francois Verrier

Let’s examine the main components of this architecture to become more familiar with this new Oracle technology. 

My intention is to describe only the basic functionalities, which helps guide us through the creation process of a database deployment. 

The complete architecture is presented in this video of Jean Francois Verrier.

On the left hand side of Fig.1, there is the Oracle Cloud My Service environment, where I need to have a username like xxxxx@oracle.com and password to connect and moreover a data center and identity domain.

Oracle Cloud Terminology (Oracle Documentation):

Term	Definition
Data center	A facility used to house computer systems and associated components. Oracle provides data centers in various geographical regions. An identity domain and the services associated with that domain must belong to a specific data center.
Identity domain	Controls the authentication and authorization of the users who can sign in to an Oracle Cloud service, as well as which features they can access

How to get such an account? 

According to Oracle documentation:

“To register for a trial or purchase a subscription to an Oracle Cloud service, you must have an oracle.com account. If you do not have an oracle.com account, the system prompts you to create an account the first time you attempt to sign up for an Oracle Cloud service.”

The Database Console will be used to create the Database Cloud Service DBCS “Shape” which is a Virtual Machine (VM) containing as basic components the RDBMS Instance plus the File System consisting of mount points where max. 10 volumes can be attached. 

The Compute Console positioned in the picture below the Database Console allows after creation of the “Shape” to add more volumes, if needed. 

The following table shows the default sizing settings for a database deployment:

Mount point	Type of data stored	Size (GB)
/(root)	boot	16
Swap	boot	4
/u01	bits	30
/u02	Data	User specified
/u03	Fra (Fast Recovery Area)	1.7 x Data
/u04	Redo (Redolog Data)	10

The maximum possible storage equals 2 TB (2048 GB) for the creation process.

After creation, you can add more storage - up to 4.6 TB with local backups or up to 12TB without local backup. This means backups sent to the Storage Cloud Container.

The public key saved inside the shape allows passwordless connect to the shape with the only open port 22 using SSH.

Other ports like 1521 or, for example, 5500 to use EM Express can be opened using the predefined access rules in combination with Security IP lists, which allows to configure something like a firewall.

The Creation Process

• I use my oracle.com account to connect to Oracle Cloud My Services. 
• From there I select the Create Database Cloud Service. 
• The creation starts when you click on the create service link and continues with the choice of the service level: Oracle Database Cloud Service or Oracle Database Cloud Service – Virtual Image with pre-installed Oracle software. 
• The first possibility: Oracle Database Cloud Service creates the VM, including a Database Cloud Service and this is my choice.

The Billing Frequency decision is the next step, but I am relaxed here because for me, it’s just a test case.

Next, I need to choose between the database versions 11gR2 (11.2.0.4) or 12cR1 (12.1.0.2). Standard Edition is only possible in the 11ggR2 version. 

Beside Enterprise Edition 12c, Enterprise Edition 12c – high Performance or Enterprise Edition 12c – Extreme Performance is also offered, which includes all database options. So I take this.

All 12c Editions are Container Databases. Oracle Database 12c includes the Oracle Multitenant option for managing Pluggable Databases in the cloud. 

Now I have to determine the configuration for the service: My Service_name is MYDBCS, for the shape (predefined pairs of OCPU and RAM) I take the pair : 1 OCPU, 15 GB RAM. 

Then I select the correct time zone and now – very important – I need a public key.

I can generate a private / public key pair with e.g. puttygen saving the keys in file mykey.pub for the public key and in file mykey.ppk for the private key. 

The easiest way is to copy the public key value from the open puttygen application directly (I am using Windows) and paste the value into the opening window of the database console. 

The private key file will later be used to connect passwordless to the Database Cloud Service. Moreover, I provide the database and data file storage size, admin user password, DB name and PDB name. By default, every non-system tablespace is encrypted using TDE.

Regarding the Backup Recovery Configuration: it's easier to choose NONE, but in this case no backup can be created. If I want to run backups of my DBCS, I must first create a Cloud Storage Container. 

But before I am able to use the Oracle Storage Cloud Service, I have to select a replication policy for the service instance in case my domain spans multiple data center.

To create the storage container, I use the utility Curl, which is installed on my windows laptop. Oracle Storage Cloud Service requires authentication for any operation against the service instance. 

Therefore, I need to get authentication tokens from the service as a first step, using the curl command get provided with my Cloud Services user credentials. 

During the second step, these authentication tokens are used as part of the curl command put to create the Cloud Storage Container. There are more possible configurations like creation based on backup, setting character sets, RAC, Data Guard and more options to use.

Now I am ready to start the creation process. The duration depends on the data center resources. 

I finally get this:

Summary

Using the Cloud technology, I still feel I'm working as a database administrator, but with changing tasks. 

The Tools EM Express, SQLPLUS etc. can be used as before. But in any case, the Database Cloud Service (DNCS) concept is really something new. I think it’s important to go on working with the Tool Oracle Cloud My Services to realize all possible features. 

It's important to note the Oracle Cloud technology we have experiences very rapid development of new features, which makes it necessary to actualize frequently. 

Take Oracle Database Cloud for Oracle DBAs Ed 1 if you want to go further with the DBCS. This interactive, hands-on course offered through Oracle University gives you the opportunity to really practice DBCS.

Dr. Christoph Burandt developed software for controlling and data analysis in the medical technical area before joining Oracle University in 1999. Working as training consultant, he is an Oracle Database Administration, SQL and PL/SQL Development, SQL Tuning, Performance Tuning, Data Guard and New Features expert.