Database as a Service (DBaaS) is becoming more and more in demand as a cloud-based approach to storage as well as management of data. It’s been gaining converts especially from well-established businesses as it enables them to securely and easily install new databases. According to a description by Javier Puerta, from from his blog as Oracle’s director of core-technology EMEA partner programs, “Database as a Service offers organizations accelerated deployment, elastic capacity, greater consolidation efficiency, higher availability, and lower overall operational cost and complexity.”

Similarly, DBaaS delivers database functionality that is as good as what is found in relational database management systems (RDBMS). And since it’s hosted on the cloud, it also provides a scalable and flexible platform that is self-service. Unlike companies who prefer to go down the do-it-yourself databases route, DBaaS solutions guarantee a high level of data layer performance, which eliminates the risk of service delivery failure even with multiple-layered projects. Moreover, DBaaS can automate database administration.

Advantages and disadvantages of DBaaS

There are many reasons as to why database as a service is becoming a trend. One of the most important of these is the rapid growth of database infrastructure, where over time, companies have created thousands of hardly used copies which only end up sitting idle on servers, costing millions. With database infrastructure growth comes the need for a management that has become complicated and posing a lot more risks. More than this, there is also the risk that the IT department became overworked and the infrastructure easily outpaces the IT’s ability to deliver.

Then there is also the huge savings, as virtualization cuts millions of dollars of overhead IT costs. With the huge savings, you can allot more of your financial resources on other projects and tasks. Scaling of data layer would also improve. The latter is especially significant, as the infrastructure-database model has proven to be too expensive to scale.

On the other hand, as with everything else, there are also disadvantages to the DBaaS model. Primary to this would be the lack of control of network performance issues. For example, there might be some latency issues and application failures. Furthermore, there are some known DBaaS products that don’t have the capabilities to support typical RDBMS features, such as data compression and table partition creation. It is important, therefore, that before committing to any type DBaaS, one should assess the specific requirements of the company.

Service offerings of Oracle DBaaS

Oracle DBaaS manages, scales as well as supports database needs so businesses can stay focused on the development and growth of their enterprise. Oracle DBaaS offers instance services like Virtual Image and Database Cloud Service.

• Virtual Image involves the database and the Disk Image. It is similar to the Azure Image (AMI), which is extracted on disk and is same as on premise.
• The Database Cloud Service, on the other hand, involves the virtual machine and the database. Some of its useful features include constant backup and the recovery and upgrade automation. It also includes patching and a data guard setup, with monitoring and management of its portals with some local management console. Both are done on Oracle Linux 6.4, with on-demand storage and with choice of editions from SE1 to EE. Bundles include EE High Performance (having the most options) and EE Extreme Perf (having all the options).

Apart from these, Oracle DBaaS also offers Database Schema Service, which is a shared schema service that can be fully managed, and is a fully dedicated with storage sizes ranging from 5GB, 20GB, to 50GB. Data access can be done using Java services, Oracle RESTful Web Services or Oracle Application Express. There is also an Oracle Database Cloud Service Managed Database, which is going to be offered soon.

Streamlining Oracle Database Cloud with several useful tools

Oracle is focused on accelerating database automation. Oracle made several enhancements to Oracle Database Cloud. These improvements lead to decreased hardware costs and increase in application quality and efficiency. More importantly, it simplified database provisioning through the Oracle Cloud provisioning tool. The key benefits? You’ll have a centralized record of all your web-based activities, more rapid development and deployment of your managed services, and it can be easily applied to your existing on premise directory.

Normally, through the manual database provisioning, one has to go though several rigorous processes before the database is ready to use. Oracle restructured all these steps with its Oracle Cloud provisioning. No more hassle for your IT team. More time for them to work on the more pressing tasks.

Furthermore, Oracle also offers a Self Service Console, which is a tool that is based on the delegated administration services. It enables both administrators and end users some control over the operations, depending on the privileges they are granted. The self-service console also allows various directory operations. It has several features, which includes but is not limited to centralized compute cloud management, networking, virtual machines, centralized dashboard, storage, database instances as well as the ability to create new instances. It also features users management, notifications and a web-based compute user interface.

The other tools that can help you streamline Oracle Database Cloud include the DBaaS Monitor, REST Listener, database session monitoring, and the disk and CPU version viewer.

If you need help with Oracle Database as a Service, contact Four Cornerstone. We have a dedicated team that can handle several Oracle Cloud issues. We also offer Oracle Cloud consulting services. Our support staff can help you with migrations (moving workloads and business-critical applications to the cloud), custom integration, new environment configurations and cloud deployments (both for app and database technologies). If you’re developing or planning to create custom cloud applications, Four Cornerstone can help you with that too. We can give you assistance developing custom applications using Java, PL/SQL, ADF and APEX. For more information regarding this service, please click this link.

You can call us at 817-377-1144. You can also send an email to info@fourcornerstone.com.

Photo by Oracle.