Monday, October 1, 2012

CDB-PDB-PDB-PDB

Say it real fast and it sounds like Twiki of Buck Rogers. (At least that was part of the discussion with some other Oracle ACE Directors.) The other part of the discussion was that this can provide a great way to consolidate, patch/upgrade and maintain Oracle databases.

So what do these new acronyms mean? CDB - Container database. The container database is the global area for the database and contains the main system information. PDB - Pluggable databases. The pluggable database is the user/application information and has the user tables and system information about all of objects in the pluggable database. This is a key new feature of the Oracle 12c database.

Just start to think about what this can mean. It means I can have a few container databases (CDB) and multiple pluggable databases (PDB) in each container. I can backup and recover a PDB to a point in time, I can clone a PDB in seconds and I can plug a database into a patched CDB and have that PDB now on the patched version as well. The PDB is isolated to other PDBs and now there are security options for access to a CDB and different logins for PDBs to keep access separate. The current databases, previous versions are now non-CDBs. There are also non-CDBs available in 12c, that behave like the current database instances with schemas and shared system information. They are easy to manage in the database tools, like database creation database, Oracle Enterprise Manager and SQL Developer.
The rest of the week at OOW should provide more information about CDBs and PDBs. This is a nice new feature of Oracle 12c and provides an easy way to manage different applications in one CDB. Faster too! Another bonus.

Oracle Technology

Why is technology fun? It is always changing and providing new solutions and new innovations. If you want
have a simple career then technology is not for you. Especially DBAs we have new things happening all of the time. More data, big data, faster hardware!

Yes, OOW does speak loud and proud about the Oracle technology and things that they are doing well and how they have the best of breed in the technology stack. It does also give motivation to see how to look at things differently, provide value to the businesses.

As a DBA, some things get simpler, while there are other opportunities in our jobs to keep us challenged. Cloud offerings, Engineered Systems, better performance with software and hardware are a few things that make things simpler. DBAs have the opportunity to look at managing these engineered systems, working with cloud offerings and database as service, and even developing more in the role of a Database Machine Administrator (DMA).

There are still challenges of data, what data business needs, integration of data, securing data for the business. Is this an emerging role as well for the DBA? Do we need Big Data DBAs? What is coming out that is a new feature that are benefits and should be implemented. Even if things haven't worked in the past or seen as something important, is it now?

That might be one interesting thought here, that even with previous years at OOW not seeing cloud as important, but willing to come back and see it with a new set of eyes and how there are benefits there now, are ways we should be looking at our database environments. Take a new look, take advantage of new technology, maybe look at a direction that was rejected in the past that might be worth it now. Same with the role of the DBA, not just creating database, adding users but new tools and new opportunities.


OOW 2012 - Keynotes

Oracle Cloud and Engineered Systems mentioned already last night, and today is going to be a good day for the database. More details on the latest version of the database should be provided.

Even though the keynotes are a high level about Oracle products and the stack, they give a a good picture of what is currently important to the Oracle executives and direction that the Oracle products are heading. Get the big picture first and then follow up with sessions to dive into more details.

The other great opportunity is to network with the user community and see who is looking forward to implementing new features and what products have been game changers in their company.