Exadata

AWR reports are simultaneously the most powerful and most misread performance tool in Oracle’s arsenal. Most DBAs jump straight to Top SQL, copy the SQL_ID, and start tuning — skipping the sections that tell them why that SQL became a problem in the first place. This case study walks through a realistic AWR from a production Exadata system, section by section, using a deliberately constructed problematic scenario. Every number is fabricated for illustrative purposes; every diagnostic conclusion is grounded in real Oracle internals. ...

When multiple VM Clusters share the same Exadata storage cells on ExaCC, storage I/O becomes a shared resource that can interfere between workloads. Oracle’s I/O Resource Manager (IORM) is the mechanism for controlling how storage I/O is distributed across VM Clusters, databases, and consumer groups. Without IORM configuration, a single runaway workload on one VM Cluster can starve others. IORM Architecture on ExaCC IORM operates at two levels: Inter-VM Cluster IORM (configured via OCI): Controls storage I/O allocation between VM Clusters sharing the same physical Exadata infrastructure. Intra-database IORM (configured via DBCA or DBRM): Controls I/O between databases within a single VM Cluster and between consumer groups within a database. Because ExaCC does not give customers cellcli access, inter-VM Cluster IORM is configured through the OCI Console or API — Oracle’s management layer pushes the configuration to the storage cells. ...

Exadata Cloud@Customer (ExaCC) delivers the Oracle Cloud control plane experience on Exadata hardware that physically resides in the customer’s data centre. For organisations with data residency requirements, latency-sensitive applications that cannot tolerate public cloud networking, or regulatory constraints that prohibit off-premises data, ExaCC is the path to Autonomous Database and managed Exadata without public cloud. Understanding ExaCC’s architecture — particularly the control plane / data plane separation and the VM Cluster model — is essential for architects sizing, operating, and troubleshooting the platform. ...

Migrating from Exadata X7 to X11M is not a simple hardware swap — it is a generational architectural shift. The X11M introduces RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) replacing InfiniBand, PCIe Gen5 NVMe replacing earlier NVMe tiers, and a new compute architecture with AMD EPYC processors. This article provides an in-depth, end-to-end playbook for architects and senior DBAs planning this migration. Reference Environment All commands in this article use the following concrete hostnames and roles. Every code block identifies which server and user account the command runs from. ...

Oracle Autonomous Database (ADB) is often described in marketing terms: “self-driving, self-securing, self-repairing.” For architects and senior DBAs, the more useful question is: what does it actually do automatically, how does it do it, and where do you need to intervene? This article peels back the automation layers. The Infrastructure Foundation Every ADB instance runs on Exadata Cloud Service (ExaCS). This is not incidental — it is the technical prerequisite for the automation that ADB delivers. The Smart Scan offload, HCC compression, and storage index features described elsewhere in this blog are all active beneath every ADB workload. ...

Oracle Database Vault (DBV) restricts highly privileged database accounts (DBA, SYSDBA) from accessing application data. On Exadata, this is particularly important: Exadata DBAs have elevated OS access (root on compute nodes, cellcli on storage cells), making privilege separation inside the database itself critical for compliance frameworks such as SOX, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA. This guide implements DB Vault entirely via command line — no OEM Cloud Control. All steps apply to Oracle Database 19c on Exadata in both CDB and non-CDB deployments. ...

The Oracle Exadata Deployment Assistant (OEDA) is the mandatory tool for configuring and deploying Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database on Exadata hardware. It generates the configuration XML that drives the automated install.sh deployment script, eliminating manual installation error. This article covers the full OEDA workflow — from GUI configuration through XML generation to deployment execution — with real-world examples. What OEDA Does and Does Not Do OEDA does: Configure networking (public, private/InfiniBand/RoCE, management/ILOM, admin) Define cluster nodes, ASM disk groups, and storage configuration Configure Grid Infrastructure (GI) and Oracle Database parameters Generate the install.sh script and all supporting XML/config files Validate the configuration before deployment (via --check) OEDA does not: ...

This article presents a complete, real-world migration playbook for moving an Oracle Database from an on-premises Exadata X8 to Oracle Database@Azure Autonomous Database Serverless (ADB-S). The two data centres are 70 km apart, connected via a dedicated Azure ExpressRoute circuit. We use Oracle Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) with GoldenGate replication to achieve a sub-minute application downtime. Environment Diagram ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ON-PREMISES DATA CENTRE (Frankfurt) │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ EXADATA X8 FULL RACK │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ x8db01 │ │ x8db02 │ Compute nodes │ │ │ │ │ (RAC inst1) │ │ (RAC inst2) │ │ │ │ │ └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘ │ │ │ │ └──────── IB ─────────┘ │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ Storage Cells │ (8 cells) │ │ │ │ │ x8cel01–x8cel08 │ │ │ │ │ └──────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Database: ORCL (CDB), PDB: PDB_ERPSYS │ │ │ │ Size: 3.2 TB (data) + 400 GB indexes │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ZDM Service Host: zdmhost01.prod.example.com │ │ │ │ GoldenGate Extract: running on x8db01 (Integrated) │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ Azure ExpressRoute │ │ │ Dedicated, 10 Gbps, 70 km │ │ │ RTT: ~0.7 ms (measured) │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────-─┘ │ ┌──────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ORACLE DB@AZURE (West Europe — Amsterdam) │ │ │ │ │ ┌────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Oracle Database@Azure — ADB-S │ │ │ │ Display Name: adb-erpsys-prod │ │ │ │ DB Name: ADBERPSY │ │ │ │ Shape: 16 OCPUs, auto-scale │ │ │ │ Storage: 10 TB (elastic) │ │ │ │ TLS: mTLS (wallet-based) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ OCI GoldenGate (Managed Microservices deployment) │ │ │ │ GG Service: gg-erpsys-deployment │ │ │ │ Replicat: REP_ERPSYS (Integrated) │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Network Architecture On-Premises Exadata Azure ExpressRoute Oracle DB@Azure (Frankfurt DC) (Dedicated, 10 Gbps) (Amsterdam) 10.10.0.0/16 ───────────────────────────────────────► 172.16.0.0/16 Key Network Points: x8db01 public IP: 10.10.1.101 x8db01 SCAN IP: 10.10.1.200 (for GoldenGate source connection) zdmhost01: 10.10.5.50 OCI GoldenGate GW: 172.16.10.10 (private endpoint) ADB-S private EP: 172.16.20.5 (private endpoint in Oracle DB@Azure VNet) ExpressRoute Circuit: Provider: equinix-frankfurt Bandwidth: 10 Gbps dedicated Measured RTT (Frankfurt → Amsterdam): 0.7 ms Throughput achieved (iperf3): 9.2 Gbps (92% of capacity) Reference Environment SOURCE (On-Premises Exadata X8): RAC node 1: x8db01.prod.example.com (oracle user) RAC node 2: x8db02.prod.example.com Storage cells: x8cel01–x8cel08.prod.example.com ZDM host: zdmhost01.prod.example.com (oracle user, ZDM installed here) DB unique name: ORCL PDB: PDB_ERPSYS Data size: 3.2 TB DB version: 19.18.0.0 TARGET (Oracle DB@Azure): Region: Azure West Europe (Amsterdam) Resource Group: rg-oracle-prod ADB name: adb-erpsys-prod ADB DB Name: ADBERPSY Service name: adberpsy_high (high priority service) mTLS wallet dir: /etc/oracle/adb_wallet/ (on zdmhost01) OCI GG deploy: gg-erpsys-deployment (Microservices, managed by Oracle) OCI GG version: 21c ADMIN JUMP HOST: admin01.prod.example.com (used for OCI CLI, ZDM monitoring) Phase 1: Pre-Migration Assessment 1.1 Network Latency and Throughput Validation Before any migration work, validate the ExpressRoute circuit performance from the ZDM host: ...

If you are running workloads on Oracle Exadata, you are likely sitting on a goldmine of performance capability. The most significant differentiator between Exadata and traditional storage architectures is a feature called Smart Scan (also known as Cell Offload Processing). Instead of treating storage as dumb disks that just serve blocks to the database, Exadata pushes SQL processing down to the storage tier. This article explains how Smart Scan works, how to verify it, and how to control its behaviour for testing. ...

The Exadata X11M platform separates database compute and storage cells connected via an RDMA-capable RoCE fabric. This page summarizes hardware variants and provides practical command-line examples for common administration, troubleshooting and monitoring tasks. Architecture Overview Database Servers (Compute) These servers run the database and client-facing workloads. Standard Exadata X11M Database Server CPU: 2x 96-core AMD EPYC 9J25 (192 physical cores) Memory: 6400 MT/s DDR5, 512 GB–3 TB Local storage: 2x 3.84 TB NVMe (OS / Oracle binaries) Exadata X11M-Z Database Server (Entry) ...