Oracle recently announced a new free base level for the Oracle Database In-Memory Option, their real-time analytics capability. With the base level, you can allocate up to 16GB of memory to the In-Memory column store, per instance without having to have an addition In-Memory license. Larger column stores will still need the additional license. Continue reading “How to use Oracle Database In-Memory for free!”
Tag: Database
Oracle Database 19c Upgrade Virtual Classroom
Over the last couple of months, the wonderful folks from Oracle Australia have been running a FREE virtual training event on what to expect from Oracle Database 19c and how to prepare to upgrade to the latest long-term support release of the Oracle Database.
The first 5 sessions covered everything you would want to know about how to upgrade and what you can expect from Oracle Database 19c including an in-depth look at the new Multitenant architecture. The sessions so far have been presented by some of the best Oracle speakers around including Mike Dietrich, Julian Dontcheff, Martin Bach, Richard Agnew, and Alex Blyth. All of the sessions so far have been recorded and are available for replay.
Under the Hood of an Autonomous Database
The final session in series is scheduled for August 11th at 10am AEST ( August 10th at 5 pm PST) and will be presented by Alex Blyth and myself. In our session, we plan to give you a peek under the hood of the Oracle Autonomous Database and provide you with a clear understanding of how this unique autonomous database works. We’ll share details on the exclusive combination of Oracle Database 19c features, best practices, and machine-learning algorithms used to deliver this family of cloud services. We’ll use live demos to show you how it can simplify your approach to data management with Oracle Database 19c and accelerate your transition to the cloud.
You can registers for this session here. Hope you can join us!
Data-Driven Apps – What are they and the easiest way to develop them
At the moment, we hear a lot about how businesses need to become data-driven to remain competitive, how business need to understand their customer’s needs and quickly deliver value to those customers.
But how do you do that?
You take advantage of data-driven apps that allow users to create value or insights from data in real-time.
What are Data-Driven Apps?
Data-driven apps operate on a diverse set of data (spatial, documents, sensor, transactional, etc.) pulled from multiple different sources, often in real-time and create value from that data in very different ways to traditional applications. For example, they may use Machine Learning to make real-time recommendations to customers or detect fraudulent transactions. Or use Graph analytics to identify influencers in a community and target them with specific promotions or perhaps use spatial data to keep track of deliveries.
These apps are also frequently deployed on multiple platforms, including mobile devices as well as standard web browsers, which means they need a flexible, scalable and reliability deployment platform. Given the demands on these apps, they need to be continuously developed to adapt to new use cases or user needs, and all updates must happen online as they have to be available 24×7.
When building data-driven apps, developers need to leverage an ever-increasing set of data processing and machine learning algorithms to meet these requirements.
So how should you go about developing and deploying data-driven apps quickly, efficiently, and more importantly, in a maintainable way?
Data-Driven Techniques and Technology
You take a data-first approach, or as A. Neil Pappalardo put it ‘A Minimize Code, Maximize Data‘ approach. In other words, you bring the algorithms to the data, not the data to the algorithms.
In the video below, I explain how to take advantage of the built-in features and functionality of the Oracle Database to develop and deploy data-driven apps efficiently. I also share some easy to follow code examples to demonstrate how much simpler your application code can be if you use this approach! Continue reading “Data-Driven Apps – What are they and the easiest way to develop them”
OpenWorld 2019 Wrap Up
I can’t believe Oracle Open World is done for another year.
But what a great conference it was for those interested in the Oracle Database. We saw the introduction of Oracle Database 20c and of course the continuing evolution of the Oracle Autonomous Database with details on new deployment option (Dedicated) and new flavors (Document Store).
If you weren’t able to make it to OOW in person, don’t panic as a lot of the session presentations are now available for download in the OOW session catalog. You can download the slides by clicking the down arrow on the right-hand side of each session title as shown below.
Oracle Database 18c Released
Today Oracle officially released Oracle Database 18c on the Oracle Public Cloud and Oracle Engineered Systems. This is the first version of the database to follow the new yearly release model and you can find more details on the release model change in the Oracle Support Document 2285040.1 .
Before you freak out about the fact you haven’t even upgraded 12.2, so how on earth are you ever going to get to 18c – Don’t Panic!
Oracle Database 18c is in fact “Oracle Database 12c Release 2 12.2.0.2”, the name has simply been changed to reflect the year in which the product is released.
So, what can you expect?
As you’d imagine a patchset doesn’t contain any seismic changes in functionality but there are lots of small but extremely useful incremental improvements, most of which focus on the three key marquee features in Oracle Database 12c Release2:
More details on what has changed in each of these areas and other improvements can be found in the Oracle Database blog post published by Dominic Giles this morning or in the video below with Penny Avril.
You can also read all about the new features in the 18c documentation and you can try out Oracle Database 18c on LiveSQL.
So, when will you be able to get your hands on 18c on-premises for non-engineered systems?
It will be some time later this calendar year. You can check the Oracle Support document 742060.1 for more details!
Using DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR to examine Execution Plans
In last week’s post I described how to use SQL Monitor to determine what is happening during the execution of long-running SQL statements. Shortly after the post went up, I got some requests on both social media and via the blog comments asking, “If it is possible to get the same information from a traditional text-based execution plan, as not everyone has access to SQL Monitor?”.
The answer is yes, it is possible to see a lot of the information shown in SQL Monitor by viewing the execution plan via the DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR function. In order to call this function, you will need SELECT or READ privilege on the fixed views V$SQL_PLAN_STATISTICS_ALL, V$SQL, and V$SQL_PLAN, otherwise, you’ll get an error message.
The DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR function takes three parameters:
- SQL ID – default null, means the last SQL statement executed in this session
- CURSOR_CHILD_NO – default 0
- FORMAT – Controls the level of details that will be displayed in the execution plan, default TYPICAL.
The video below demonstrates how you can use the FORMAT parameter within the DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR function to show you information about what’s happened during an execution plan including the bind variable values used, the actual number of rows returned by each step, and how much time was spent on each step.
Under the video you will find all of the commands used, so you can cut and paste them easily.
How do I see the actual number of rows and elapse time for each step in the plan?
Continue reading “Using DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR to examine Execution Plans”
Getting the most out of Oracle SQL Monitor
I’m often asked what is the best tool for viewing execution plans and for me, the answer is always SQL Monitor (included in the Oracle Tuning Pack). It really is the most invaluable tool if you need to determine what is happening during the execution of any long-running SQL statements.
In order to help you get the very most out of using SQL Monitor, I wanted to share with you some of the tips and tricks I‘ve learnt over the years from the original Database Manageability team, especially Cecilia Grant!
So, why do I love it so much?
There are so many reasons to love SQL Monitor; it’s hard for me to know where to begin. So, instead of giving you an exhaustive list I’ve put together a short video to demonstrate how I use SQL Monitor (be sure to set your resolution to 720p).
How do I control what statements are monitored?
Continue reading “Getting the most out of Oracle SQL Monitor”
40 years of Database innovations
June 16th 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Oracle, which actually began life as Software Development Laboratories.
Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates set out to build the worlds best relational database and what an amazing 40 years of Database innovations it has been. From availability to security, Oracle Database has got you covered and we have only just begun!
To mark this great occasion, we’ve put together a short video highlighting all of the amazing features and functionality that has been added to the database over the last 40 years.
Feel free to leave you birthday wishes or comments for the Oracle Database Engineering Team in the comments section below.
Best Practices For Large Volume or IoT Workloads
Over the last few years there has been a rapid surge in the adoption of smart devices. Everything from phones and tablets, to smart meters and fitness devices, can connect to the Internet and share data. You only have to follow @MarkRittman and his experiences with getting his kettle to boil remotely to see just how many devices within your own home can connect to the internet.
And I've finally found a use for my Google Home – if I say "time for a cuppa" it tells the Amazon Echo to put the kettle on pic.twitter.com/l87eyxOweT
— Mark Rittman (@markrittman) April 16, 2017
With all of these smart devices, comes a huge increase in the frequency and volume of data being ingested into and processed by databases. This scenario is commonly referred to as the Internet of Things or IoT.
Some people assume that a NoSQL database is required for an IoT workload because the ingest rate required exceeds the capabilities of a traditional relational database. This is simply not true.
Continue reading “Best Practices For Large Volume or IoT Workloads”
Oracle Storage Index
If you are on Exadata or taking advantage of Database In-Memory it’s possible your queries will benefit for the automatically created and maintained Storage Indexes.
But what exactly are Storage Indexes and why don’t I always see a benefit from them?
Let me start by describing what Storage Indexes are in relation to Database In-Memory but remember they behavior in exactly the same way on the Exadata storage cell.
A Storage Index keeps track of minimum and maximum values for each column in an In-Memory Compression Unit (IMCU) or 1MB chunk on the Exadata storage cells. When a query specifies a WHERE clause predicate, the In-Memory Storage Index on the referenced column(s) is examined to determine if any entries with the specified value exist.
If you are on Exadata or taking advantage of Database In-Memory it’s possible your queries will benefit for the automatically created and maintained Storage Indexes.
What are Storage Indexes?
Let me start by describing what Storage Indexes are in relation to Database In-Memory but remember they behavior in exactly the same way on the Exadata storage cell.
A Storage Index keeps track of minimum and maximum values for each column in an In-Memory Compression Unit (IMCU) or 1MB chunk on the Exadata storage cells. When a query specifies a WHERE clause predicate, the In-Memory Storage Index on the referenced column(s) is examined to determine if any entries with the specified value exist.