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Getting Started with Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure Deployment

After completing the preparation tasks in Preparing for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure, get started with deploying your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure system following these procedures.

Tagging Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure Resources

Tagging is a powerful foundational service for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) that enables users to search, control access, and do bulk actions on a set of resources based on the tag.

Importance of Tagging

Using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) tagging system, you can tag resources in accordance with your organizational scheme, which enables you to group resources, manage costs, and give insights into usage. Tags also help you to build a governance model around security and Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA). As your organization expands its cloud footprint, it can become challenging to keep track of the deployment architectures, security best practices, MAA, application tier, and so on. Using metadata tags to identify workload attributes can help keep up with the security and availability of your tenancy without cost overruns.

To enable customers to manage OCI resources securely and cost-effectively, Oracle provides a set of predefined tags in line with best practices for tagging resources. These tags are grouped into two namespaces, the oracleStandard namespace, and the OracleApplicationName namespace. You can think of a tag namespace as a container for your tag keys.

Consider a scenario where your organization has multiple cloud resources such as Exadata Infrastructure, VM Cluster, DB Home, Oracle Database and VM Cluster Networks across multiple compartments in your tenancy. Suppose you want to track these cloud resources for specific purposes, report on them, or take bulk actions. In that case, you will need a system that lets you group these resources based on different criteria such as environment, criticality, target users, application, and so on. You can achieve this by applying appropriate tags to these resources.

For example, you can tag all resources in your development stack with Oracle-Standard.Environment=Dev or for a business-critical application stack set Oracle-Standard.Criticality=High or Extreme. In the event of service disruptions due to various reasons, you would then be able to quickly identify all OCI resources associated with an application or business function, or be able to separate critical and non-critical workloads.

Tagging can also help you to deploy optimized configurations based on workload attributes identified via tags. For example, database deployments for the PeopleSoft application require a specific configuration. Setting the ApplicationName and AppMajorVersion tags while deploying an Oracle Database can ensure that the database is configured and ready for the particular application (in this case, PeopleSoft) out of the box.

Moreover, integration with the Cloud Advisor OCI service can provide you with direct, deep insight into how well your cloud services adhere to the corporate guidelines and help your management govern with a vision. See Cloud Advisor Overview for more details.

Adding Tags

You can tag resources using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) console, command-line interface, or SDK.

There are many cloud resources that can be tagged in an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure deployment. Exadata Infrastructure, VM Cluster, DB Home, Oracle Database, Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster, Autonomous Container Database, Autonomous Database, and VM Cluster Networks are some of them. Tags can either be applied while creating the resources or modified later. For example, you can apply tags to an Autonomous Container Database (ACD) while provisioning the ACD or add them later from its Details page.

See How Tagging Works for more details on using tags. Tagging integrates with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure authorization system. You can use IAM policy controls to enable delegation or restriction of tag manipulation. See Authentication and Authorization to learn about the permissions required to work with defined and free-form tags. (Required) Enter introductory text here, including the definition and purpose of the concept.

Tip:

For a "try it out" tutorial that demonstrates implementing tags in Oracle Autonomous Database, refer to Lab 14: Oracle Standard Tags in Oracle Autonomous Database Dedicated for Fleet Administrators Workshop on Oracle LiveLabs.

Your tenancies come with a library of standard tags that would apply to most resources. These tags are currently available as a set of Tag Namespaces that your governance administrators can deploy. OCI best practices recommend applying these tags to all resources a standard tag can be applied to. Besides reporting and governance, OCI service automation can deliver workload-specific optimizations based on standard tag values.

For example, database deployments for the PeopleSoft application require a specific configuration. By setting the appropriate application tag key in the Oracle-ApplicationName tag namespace while deploying an Autonomous Database, can ensure that the database is configured ready for the particular application (in this example, PeopleSoft) out of the box.

Figure 4-1 Tagging Example

Setting an appropriate application tag key in the Oracle-ApplicationName tag namespace.

Oracle Standard Tags

Your tenancy governance administrators can deploy the standard tags at the tenancy level. Your administrators can also mark certain tags as required, thereby enforcing tags on resources in those compartments. The following are the standard tags defined in the namespace called OracleStandard. For more information about importing standard tags, see To import standard tags under the Managing Tag Namespaces section.

Table 4-1 Oracle Standard Tags

Tag Key Tag Value Options Description

OracleStandard.Criticality
  • Extreme
  • High
  • Medium
  • Low

Enables tiering of resources in line with corporate application classification standards. Customer governance can use this tag for reporting and ensuring resources are configured as per the guideline for the tier they belong to.

For example, a database resource with OracleStandard.Criticality set to Extreme or High may require the highest availability SLA and may need to be configured with Autonomous Data Guard.

OracleStandard.Environment
  • Dev
  • Test
  • Prod
  • Pre-Prod
  • Staging
  • Trial
  • Sandbox
  • User Testing

Denotes a resource lifecycle. In the case of databases, it helps determine consolidation density, database distribution across containers, set maintenance plans, and manage clones.

OracleStandard.Sensitivity
  • Public
  • Internal
  • Sensitive
  • Highly Sensitive
  • Extremely Sensitive

An application or database classification tag. OracleStandard.Sensitivity set to Highly Sensitive may indicate that an access control list or certain Network Security Group (NSG) enforcement is mandatory to restrict access.

OracleStandard.Regulation

Refer to List of Compliance Regulations for values.

Denotes one or more compliance regulations that a resource must adhere to.

Tag administrators may add values to the list from the OCI Governance and Administration console. Refer to Using Predefined Values for more details.

OracleStandard.TargetUsers
  • Public
  • Customers
  • Partners
  • Company
  • Division
  • Department
  • Workgroup

Denotes the end users of a resource. Another form of resource classification that helps determine target users and allows governance teams to set corporate standards based on user or application type.

OracleStandard.EndUserCount
  • 1
  • 10
  • 100
  • 1000
  • 10000
  • 100000
  • 1000000
  • 1000000
  • 10000000

An approximate count of end-users. This tag helps determine the number of users impacted or the blast radius during an availability or security event. This also helps prioritize recovery efforts in the event of major outages affecting a large number of cloud resources.

OracleStandard.OwnerEmail

Free form tag. For example john.smith@example.com or app_support_grp@example.com

Denotes the email address of the resource owner.

OracleStandard.Org
  • HR
  • Finance
  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Legal
  • R&D
  • Customer Suppport
  • Internal Support
  • Manufacturing

Identifies the customer's line of business or department that owns or uses the resource. This may help with cost aggregation reports and determining usage across business units.Tag administrators may add relevant values to the list from the OCI Governance and Administration console. Refer to Using Predefined Values for more details.

OracleStandard.CostCenter
  • 12345
  • WebMarketing

Freeform field for cost center.

OracleStandard.RecoveryTimeObjectiveMinutes

0-10080

Time in minutes. Denotes the maximum time within which the resource is required to recover from a failure.

OracleStandard.RecoveryPointObjectiveMinutes

0-1440

Time in minutes. Maximum data loss tolerance for a data store resource such as a database or a storage device.

To facilitate maintenance of Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure virtual machines (VM), Oracle notifies you of planned VM restarts.

The Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VMs use underlying physical hosts that periodically must undergo maintenance. When such maintenance is required, Oracle schedules a restart of your VM, and notifies you of the upcoming restart. The restart enables your VM to be migrated to a new physical host that is not in need of maintenance. Stopping and starting the node will also result in the migration to a new physical host. The only effect to your VM is the restart itself. The planned maintenance of the original physical hardware takes place after your VM has been migrated to its new host, and has no effect on your VM. If you do not restart your VM during the notification period, then Oracle will restart the VM at the end of the notification period.
Note

When Oracle schedules a restart of your VM, other VMs in that VM Cluster will not be affected by the planned maintenance. The other nodes in your cluster continue to stay available as part of your high availability (HA) strategy.

Connecting to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VM

Learn how to connect to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure virtual machine (VM) using SSH or SQL Developer.

How you connect depends on how your cloud network is set up. You can find information on various networking scenarios in Networking Overview, but for specific recommendations on how you should connect to a database in the cloud, contact your network security administrator.

Note

Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure servers cannot be joined to Active Directory domains, and the service does not support the use of Active Directory for user authentication and authorization.

Parent topic: Getting Started with Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure Deployment

Prerequisites for Accessing Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure

To use SSH to access a compute node in an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure (ExaDB-XS) instance, you need this information.

Note

Before you can access ExaDB-XS, you must have configured Exadata Database service on Exascale Infrastructure.

  • The full path to the file that contains the private key associated with the public key used when the system was launched.

  • The public or private IP address of the Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure instance.

    Use the private IP address to connect to the system from your on-premises network, or from within the virtual cloud network (VCN). This includes connecting from a host located on-premises connecting through a VPN or FastConnect to your VCN, or from another host in the same VCN. Use the public IP address to connect to the system from outside the cloud (with no VPN). You can find the IP addresses in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console. On the Exadata VM Cluster Details page, click Virtual Machines in the Resources list.

    The values are displayed in the Public IP Address and Private IP Address & DNS Name columns of the table displaying the Virtual Machines or Nodes of the Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure instance.

SCAN Listener Port Setting

When creating a cloud VM cluster, you can optionally designate a different SCAN listener port number.

The default SCAN listener port for cloud VM clusters is 1521. With the console, you have the option to designate a different SCAN listener port number at VM Cluster provisioning. In the OCI Console, this option appears under Advanced Options when creating the cluster.

Note

Manually changing the SCAN listener port of a VM cluster after provisioning using the backend software is not supported. This change can cause Data Guard provisioning to fail.

Connecting to a Virtual Machine with SSH

You can connect to the virtual machines in an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure system by using a Secure Shell (SSH) connection.

Most Unix-style systems (including Linux, Oracle Solaris, and macOS) include an SSH client. For Microsoft Windows systems, you can download a free SSH client called PuTTY from the following site: "http://www.putty.org".

Related Topics

Parent topic: Connecting to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VM

Connecting from a Unix-Style System

To access a virtual machine on an Oracle ExaDB-XS system from a Unix-style system using SSH, use this procedure.

  • Enter the following SSH command to access the virtual machine:
    ssh –i private-key user@node

    In the preceding syntax:

    • private-key is the full path and name of the file that contains the SSH private key that corresponds to a public key that is registered in the system.
    • user is the operating system user that you want to use to connect:
      • To perform operations as the Oracle Database software owner, connect as as opc and su oracle. The oracle user does not have root user access to the virtual machine.
      • To perform operations that require root access to the virtual machine, such as patching, connect as opc. The opc user can use the sudo -s command to gain root access to the virtual machine.
    • node is the host name or IP address for the virtual machine that you want to access.
Connecting to a Virtual Machine from a Microsoft Windows System Using PuTTY

Learn how to access a virtual machine from a Microsoft Windows system using PuTTY.

Before you use the PuTTY program to connect to a virtual machine, you need the following:
  • The IP address of the virtual machine
  • The SSH private key file that matches the public key associated with the deployment. This private key file must be in the PuTTY .ppk format. If the private key file was originally created on the Linux platform, you can use the PuTTYgen program to convert it to the .ppk format.

Before you begin

To connect to a virtual machine using the PuTTY program on Windows:

  1. Download and install PuTTY.

    To download PuTTY, go to http://www.putty.org/ and click the You can download PuTTY here link.

  2. Run the PuTTY program (putty.exe).

    The PuTTY Configuration window is displayed, showing the Session panel.

  3. In the Host Name (or IP address) field, enter the host name or IP address of the virtual machine that you want to access.
  4. Confirm that the Connection type option is set to SSH.
  5. In the Category tree, expand Connection if necessary and then click Data.

    The Data panel is displayed.

  6. In the Auto-login username field, enter the operating system user that you want to use to connect.
    • To perform operations that require root, connect as the user opc.
    • To access to the virtual machine for user operations (for example, to run backups), connect as the user oracle. (This user can also use the the sudo command to gain root or oracle access to the VM.
  7. Confirm that the When username is not specified option is set to Prompt.
  8. In the Category tree, expand SSH and then click Auth.
    The Auth panel is displayed.
  9. ClickBrowse next to the Private key file for authentication field. In the Select private key file window, navigate to and open the private key file that matches the public key that is associated with the deployment.
  10. In the Category tree, click Session.

    The Session panel is displayed.

  11. In the Saved Sessions field, enter a name for the connection configuration, and click Save.
  12. Click Open to open the connection.

    The PuTTY Configuration window closes and the PuTTY terminal window displays.

    If this is the first time you are connecting to the VM, then the PuTTY Security Alert window is displayed, prompting you to confirm the public key. Click Yes to continue connecting.

Accessing a Database After You Connect to the Virtual Machine

After you connect to a virtual machine, you can use the following series of commands to identify a database and connect to it.

  1. Access the VM using SSH as the opc user.

  2. Log in as the Oracle user. For example: sudo su oracle

  3. Use the srvctl utility located under the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home directory to list the databases on the system. For example: 

    /u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid/bin/srvctl config database -v
nc122   /u02/app/oracle/product/12.2.0/dbhome_6 12.2.0.1.0
s12c    /u02/app/oracle/product/12.2.0/dbhome_2 12.2.0.1.0

  4. Identify the database instances for the database that you want to access. For example:

    /u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid/bin/srvctl status database -d s12c
Instance s12c1 is running on node node01
Instance s12c2 is running on node node02

  5. Configure the environment settings for the database that you want to access. For example:

    . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [oracle] ? s12c
The Oracle base has been set to /u02/app/oracle
    export ORACLE_SID=s12c1

  6. You can use the svrctl command to display more detailed information about the database. For example: 

    srvctl config database -d s12c
Database unique name: s12c
Database name:
Oracle home: /u02/app/oracle/product/12.2.0/dbhome_2
Oracle user: oracle
Spfile: +DATAC4/s12c/spfiles12c.ora
Password file: +DATAC4/s12c/PASSWORD/passwd
Domain: example.com
Start options: open
Stop options: immediate
Database role: PRIMARY
Management policy: AUTOMATIC
Server pools:
Disk Groups: DATAC4
Mount point paths:
Services:
Type: RAC
Start concurrency:
Stop concurrency:
OSDBA group: dba
OSOPER group: racoper
Database instances: s12c1,s12c2
Configured nodes: node01,node02
CSS critical: no
CPU count: 0
Memory target: 0
Maximum memory: 0
Default network number for database services:
Database is administrator managed

  7. You can access the database by using SQL*Plus. For example:

    sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 12.2.0.1.0 Production ...

Copyright (c) 1982, 2016, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 12c EE Extreme Perf Release 12.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production

Using Oracle Net Services to Connect to a Database

Oracle Database Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure supports remote database access by using Oracle Net Services.

Because Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure uses Oracle Grid Infrastructure, you can make Oracle Net Services connections by using Single Client Access Name (SCAN) connections. SCAN is a feature that provides a consistent mechanism for clients to access the Oracle Database instances running in a cluster.

By default, the SCAN is associated with three virtual IP addresses (VIPs). Each SCAN VIP is also associated with a SCAN listener that provides a connection endpoint for Oracle Database connections using Oracle Net Services. To maximize availability, Oracle Grid Infrastructure distributes the SCAN VIPs and SCAN listeners across the available cluster nodes. In addition, if there is a node shutdown or failure, then the SCAN VIPs and SCAN listeners are automatically migrated to a surviving node. By using SCAN connections, you enhance the ability of Oracle Database clients to have a reliable set of connection endpoints that can service all of the databases running in the cluster.

The SCAN listeners are in addition to the Oracle Net Listeners that run on every node in the cluster, which are also known as the node listeners. When an Oracle Net Services connection comes through a SCAN connection, the SCAN listener routes the connection to one of the node listeners, and plays no further part in the connection. A combination of factors, including listener availability, database instance placement, and workload distribution, determines which node listener receives each connection.

Note

This documentation provides basic requirements for connecting to your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure databases by using Oracle Net Services.

Parent topic: Connecting to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VM

Prerequisites for Connecting to a Database with Oracle Net Services

Review the prerequisites to connect to an Oracle Database instance on Oracle Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure using Oracle Net Services.

To connect to an Oracle Database on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure with Oracle Net Services, you need the following:
  • The IP addresses for your SCAN VIPs, or the hostname or IP address for a virtual machine that hosts the database that you want to access.
  • The database identifier: Either the database system identifier (SID), or a service name.
Connecting to a Database with SQL Developer

You can connect to a database with SQL Developer by using one of the following methods:

  • Create a temporary SSH tunnel from your computer to the database. This method provides access only for the duration of the tunnel. (When you are done using the database, be sure to close the SSH tunnel by exiting the SSH session.)
  • Open the port used as the Oracle SCAN listener by updating the security list used for the cloud VM cluster or DB system resource in the Exadata Cloud Service instance. The default SCAN listener port is 1521. This method provides more durable access to the database. For more information, see Updating the Security List.

After you've created an SSH tunnel or opened the SCAN listener port as described above, you can connect to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure instance using SCAN IP addresses or public IP addresses, depending on how your network is set up and where you are connecting from. You can find the IP addresses in the Console, in the Database details page.

  • To connect using SCAN IP addresses
    You can connect to the database using the SCAN IP addresses if your client is on-premises and you are connecting using a FastConnect or Site-to-Site VPN connection.
  • To connect using public IP addresses
    You can use the node's public IP address to connect to the database if the client and database are in different VCNs, or if the database is on a VCN that has an internet gateway.

Parent topic: Using Oracle Net Services to Connect to a Database

To connect using SCAN IP addresses

You can connect to the database using the SCAN IP addresses if your client is on-premises and you are connecting using a FastConnect or Site-to-Site VPN connection.

You have the following options:

  • Use the private SCAN IP addresses, as shown in the following tnsnames.ora example: 

    testdb=
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS_LIST=
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = <scanIP1>)(PORT = 1521))
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = <scanIP2>)(PORT = 1521)))
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = <dbservice.subnetname.dbvcn.oraclevcn.com>)
    )
  )

  • Define an external SCAN name in your on-premises DNS server. Your application can resolve this external SCAN name to the DB System's private SCAN IP addresses, and then the application can use a connection string that includes the external SCAN name. In the following tnsnames.ora example, extscanname.example.com is defined in the on-premises DNS server. 

    testdb =
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = <extscanname.example.com>)(PORT = 1521))
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = <dbservice.subnetname.dbvcn.oraclevcn.com>)
    )
  )
To connect using public IP addresses

You can use the node's public IP address to connect to the database if the client and database are in different VCNs, or if the database is on a VCN that has an internet gateway.

However, there are important implications to consider:

  • When the client uses the public IP address, the client bypasses the SCAN listener and reaches the node listener, so server side load balancing is not available.
  • When the client uses the public IP address, it cannot take advantage of the VIP failover feature. If a node becomes unavailable, new connection attempts to the node will hang until a TCP/IP timeout occurs. You can set client side sqlnet parameters to limit the TCP/IP timeout.

The following tnsnames.ora example shows a connection string that includes the CONNECT_TIMEOUT parameter to avoid TCP/IP timeouts. 

test=
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (CONNECT_TIMEOUT=60)
    (ADDRESS_LIST=
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = <publicIP1>)(PORT = 1521))
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = <publicIP2>)(PORT = 1521))
    )
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = <dbservice.subnetname.dbvcn.oraclevcn.com>)
    )
  )
Connecting to a Database Using SCAN

To create an Oracle Net Services connection by using the SCAN listeners, you can choose between two approaches.

Parent topic: Using Oracle Net Services to Connect to a Database

Connecting to a Database Using a Connect Descriptor that References All of the SCAN VIPs

You can set up a connect descriptor for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure System using multiple SCAN listeners.

This approach requires you to supply all of the single client access name (SCAN) virtual IP (VIP) addresses, and enables Oracle Net Services to connect to an available SCAN listener.

  1. Use the following template to define a Net Services alias, which is typically used to provide a convenient name for the connect descriptor:
    alias-name = (DESCRIPTION=
  (ADDRESS_LIST=
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=SCAN-VIP-1)(PORT=1521))
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=SCAN-VIP-2)(PORT=1521))
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=SCAN-VIP-3)(PORT=1521)))
  (CONNECT_DATA=(sid-or-service-entry)))

    Where:

    alias-name is the name you use to identify the alias.

    SCAN-VIP-[1–3] are the IP addresses for the SCAN VIPs.

    sid-or-service-entry identifies the database SID or service name using one of the following formats:
    • SID=sid-name. For example: SID=S12C1.
    • SERVICE_NAME=service-name. For example: SERVICE_NAME=PDB1.example.yourcloud.com.
    Note

    By default, Oracle Net Services randomly selects one of the addresses in the address list to balance the load between the SCAN listeners.

Connecting to a Database Use a Connect Descriptor that References a Custom SCAN Name

You can set up a connect descriptor for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure System using a custom SCAN name.

Using this approach, you define a custom single client access name (SCAN) name in your domain name server (DNS), which resolves to the three SCAN virtual IP addresses (VIPs).

  1. Use the following template to define a Net Services alias that references the custom SCAN name:
    alias-name = (DESCRIPTION=
  (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=scan-name)(PORT=1521)))
  (CONNECT_DATA=(sid-or-service-entry)))

    Where:

    alias-name is the name you use to identify the alias.

    scan-name is the custom SCAN name.

    sid-or-service-entry identifies the database SID or service name using one of the following formats:
    • SID=sid-name. For example: SID=S12C1.
    • SERVICE_NAME=service-name. For example: SERVICE_NAME=PDB1.example.yourcloud.com.
    Alternatively, you can use the easy connect method to specify a connect descriptor with the following format:
    scan-name:1521/sid-or-service-entry
    For example:
    exa1scan.example.com:1521/S12C1
    Or
    exa1scan.example.com:1521/PDB1.example.yourcloud.com
Connecting to a Database Using a Node Listener

To connect to an Oracle Database instance on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure with a connect descriptor that bypasses the SCAN listeners, use this procedure to route your connection directly to a node listener.

By using this method, you give up the high-availability and load-balancing provided by SCAN. However, this method may be desirable if you want to direct connections to a specific node or network interface. For example, you might want to ensure that connections from a program that performs bulk data loading use the backup network.

Using this approach, you direct your connection using the hostname or IP address of the node.

Example 4-1 Defining a Net Service Alias That Directly References the Node

alias-name = (DESCRIPTION=
  (CONNECT_TIMEOUT=timeout)					
  (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=node)(PORT=1521)))
  (CONNECT_DATA=(sid-or-service-entry)))

Where:

alias-name is the name you use to identify the alias.

timeout specifies a timeout period (in seconds), which enables you to terminate a connection attempt without having to wait for a TCP timeout. The (CONNECT_TIMEOUT=timeout) parameter is optional.

node is the hostname or IP address for the virtual machine that you want to use.

sid-or-service-entry identifies the database SID or service name using one of the following formats:
  • SID=sid-name. For example, SID=S12C1.
  • SERVICE_NAME=service-name. For example, SERVICE_NAME=PDB1.example.oraclecloudatcust.com.
Alternatively, you can use the easy connect method to specify a connect descriptor with the following format:
node:1521/sid-or-service-entry
For example:
exa1node01.example.com:1521/S12C1
Or
exa1node01.example.com:1521/PDB1.example.oraclecloudatcust.com

Connect to the Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure Service

Learn how to connect to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure system using SSH, and how to connect to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure database using Oracle Net Services (SQL*Net).

Parent topic: Connecting to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VM

Connecting to a Database with SQL Developer

You can connect to a database with SQL Developer by using one of the following methods:

  • Create a temporary SSH tunnel from your computer to the database. This method provides access only for the duration of the tunnel. (When you are done using the database, be sure to close the SSH tunnel by exiting the SSH session.)
  • Open the port used as the Oracle SCAN listener by updating the security list used for the cloud VM cluster or DB system resource in the Exadata Cloud Service instance. The default SCAN listener port is 1521. This method provides more durable access to the database. For more information, see Updating the Security List.

After you've created an SSH tunnel or opened the SCAN listener port as described above, you can connect to an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure instance using SCAN IP addresses or public IP addresses, depending on how your network is set up and where you are connecting from. You can find the IP addresses in the Console, in the Database details page.

Connecting to a Database with Oracle Net Services

You can connect to the virtual machines in an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure system using Oracle Net Services.

Parent topic: Connect to the Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure Service

Using Oracle Net Services to Connect to a Database

Oracle Database Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure supports remote database access by using Oracle Net Services.

Because Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure uses Oracle Grid Infrastructure, you can make Oracle Net Services connections by using Single Client Access Name (SCAN) connections. SCAN is a feature that provides a consistent mechanism for clients to access the Oracle Database instances running in a cluster.

By default, the SCAN is associated with three virtual IP addresses (VIPs). Each SCAN VIP is also associated with a SCAN listener that provides a connection endpoint for Oracle Database connections using Oracle Net Services. To maximize availability, Oracle Grid Infrastructure distributes the SCAN VIPs and SCAN listeners across the available cluster nodes. In addition, if there is a node shutdown or failure, then the SCAN VIPs and SCAN listeners are automatically migrated to a surviving node. By using SCAN connections, you enhance the ability of Oracle Database clients to have a reliable set of connection endpoints that can service all of the databases running in the cluster.

The SCAN listeners are in addition to the Oracle Net Listeners that run on every node in the cluster, which are also known as the node listeners. When an Oracle Net Services connection comes through a SCAN connection, the SCAN listener routes the connection to one of the node listeners, and plays no further part in the connection. A combination of factors, including listener availability, database instance placement, and workload distribution, determines which node listener receives each connection.

Note

This documentation provides basic requirements for connecting to your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure databases by using Oracle Net Services.

Prerequisites for Connecting to a Database with Oracle Net Services

Review the prerequisites to connect to an Oracle Database instance on Oracle Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure using Oracle Net Services.

To connect to an Oracle Database on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure with Oracle Net Services, you need the following:
  • The IP addresses for your SCAN VIPs, or the hostname or IP address for a virtual machine that hosts the database that you want to access.
  • The database identifier: Either the database system identifier (SID), or a service name.
Connecting to a Database Using SCAN

To create an Oracle Net Services connection by using the SCAN listeners, you can choose between two approaches.

Parent topic: Connecting to a Database with Oracle Net Services

Identifying IP Addresses Using the SDK or CLI

You can use the SDK or the OCI CLI to identify the IP addresses of Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure compute nodes. You can then use the IP addresses to connect to your system.

  1. Use the GetDbNode API to return the details of the Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale InfrastructuredbNode. Note the OCIDs returned for the hostIpId and backupIpId parameters of the dbNode.
  2. With the OCIDs found in the hostIpId and backupIpId parameters, you can use the GetPrivateIp API to get the private IP addresses used by the client and backup subnets. For public subnet IP addresses, use the GetPublicIpByPrivateIpId API.
Connecting to a Database Using a Connect Descriptor that References All of the SCAN VIPs

You can set up a connect descriptor for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure System using multiple SCAN listeners.

This approach requires you to supply all of the single client access name (SCAN) virtual IP (VIP) addresses, and enables Oracle Net Services to connect to an available SCAN listener.

  1. Use the following template to define a Net Services alias, which is typically used to provide a convenient name for the connect descriptor:
    alias-name = (DESCRIPTION=
  (ADDRESS_LIST=
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=SCAN-VIP-1)(PORT=1521))
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=SCAN-VIP-2)(PORT=1521))
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=SCAN-VIP-3)(PORT=1521)))
  (CONNECT_DATA=(sid-or-service-entry)))

    Where:

    alias-name is the name you use to identify the alias.

    SCAN-VIP-[1–3] are the IP addresses for the SCAN VIPs.

    sid-or-service-entry identifies the database SID or service name using one of the following formats:
    • SID=sid-name. For example: SID=S12C1.
    • SERVICE_NAME=service-name. For example: SERVICE_NAME=PDB1.example.yourcloud.com.
    Note

    By default, Oracle Net Services randomly selects one of the addresses in the address list to balance the load between the SCAN listeners.

Connecting to a Database Use a Connect Descriptor that References a Custom SCAN Name

You can set up a connect descriptor for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure System using a custom SCAN name.

Using this approach, you define a custom single client access name (SCAN) name in your domain name server (DNS), which resolves to the three SCAN virtual IP addresses (VIPs).

  1. Use the following template to define a Net Services alias that references the custom SCAN name:
    alias-name = (DESCRIPTION=
  (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=scan-name)(PORT=1521)))
  (CONNECT_DATA=(sid-or-service-entry)))

    Where:

    alias-name is the name you use to identify the alias.

    scan-name is the custom SCAN name.

    sid-or-service-entry identifies the database SID or service name using one of the following formats:
    • SID=sid-name. For example: SID=S12C1.
    • SERVICE_NAME=service-name. For example: SERVICE_NAME=PDB1.example.yourcloud.com.
    Alternatively, you can use the easy connect method to specify a connect descriptor with the following format:
    scan-name:1521/sid-or-service-entry
    For example:
    exa1scan.example.com:1521/S12C1
    Or
    exa1scan.example.com:1521/PDB1.example.yourcloud.com
Connecting to a Database Using a Node Listener

To connect to an Oracle Database instance on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure with a connect descriptor that bypasses the SCAN listeners, use this procedure to route your connection directly to a node listener.

By using this method, you give up the high-availability and load-balancing provided by SCAN. However, this method may be desirable if you want to direct connections to a specific node or network interface. For example, you might want to ensure that connections from a program that performs bulk data loading use the backup network.

Using this approach, you direct your connection using the hostname or IP address of the node.

Example 4-2 Defining a Net Service Alias That Directly References the Node

alias-name = (DESCRIPTION=
  (CONNECT_TIMEOUT=timeout)					
  (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=node)(PORT=1521)))
  (CONNECT_DATA=(sid-or-service-entry)))

Where:

alias-name is the name you use to identify the alias.

timeout specifies a timeout period (in seconds), which enables you to terminate a connection attempt without having to wait for a TCP timeout. The (CONNECT_TIMEOUT=timeout) parameter is optional.

node is the hostname or IP address for the virtual machine that you want to use.

sid-or-service-entry identifies the database SID or service name using one of the following formats:
  • SID=sid-name. For example, SID=S12C1.
  • SERVICE_NAME=service-name. For example, SERVICE_NAME=PDB1.example.oraclecloudatcust.com.
Alternatively, you can use the easy connect method to specify a connect descriptor with the following format:
node:1521/sid-or-service-entry
For example:
exa1node01.example.com:1521/S12C1
Or
exa1node01.example.com:1521/PDB1.example.oraclecloudatcust.com

Capacity Limits for Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure

To understand the scalability features and resource capacity of the ExaDB-XS service, review these tables and lists.

Minimum VM Cluster Size

  • Single-node VM cluster
  • 8 total ECPUs per VM
  • 280 GB file systsem storage per VM
  • 300 GB Exascale Vault database storage per VM cluster

VM Scalability Options

VM clusters can be scaled quickly and easily to meet your demands:

  • It is possible to enable a subset of the total ECPUs assigned to the VM.
  • When you enable more of your reserved ECPUs for the VM, you can scale the ECPUs without having to restart the VM.
  • You can scale memory at 2.75 GB per total ECPU.
  • You can perform hot additions or removals of VMs
  • You can scale VM storage (however, scaling VM storage requires a restart).
  • You can perform live, online scaling of Exascale database storag

Maximum VM Cluster Size

The following list provides maximum VM cluster configuration options

  • Number of VMs in the VM Cluster: 10 VMs.
  • ECPUs per VM: 200 ECPUs
  • File system storage per VM: 2 TB
  • Exascale Vault storage per VM cluster: 100 TB

Database Storage Vault Minimum Capacity

The total minimum capacity billed for ExaDB-XS vaults is 300 GB. Images are stored in an Oracle Advanced Cluster File System (ACFS), and the remainder of space is available for a first database, as described in the following table.

Table 4-2 ExaDB-XS Minimum Database Storage Vault Capacity for Systems and Database Use

Purpose Minimum Capacity
System use (images stored in ACFS) 50 GB
Database use (provisioning a first database) 250 GB

VM File System Storage Minimum Capacity

The total minimum capacity billed for virtual machine (VM) storage is 280 GB. File system minimum capacities are listed in the following table.

Table 4-3 ExaDB-XS VM File System Storage Minimum Billed Capacity

File System Minimum Total Capacity (GB) Minimum Usable Capacity (GB)

/boot

0.512

0.412

/ (mirrored)

30

15

/tmp

10

10

/var (mirrored)

10

5

/var/log

18

18

/var/log/audit

3

3

/home

4

4

Swap space

(/swap)

16

16

/crashfiles

20

20

/u01

82

80

/u02

84

81

Overhead

2

Not applicable

All file systems (total minimum)

280

Not applicable

Best Practices for Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VMs

Oracle recommends that you follow these best practice guidelines to ensure the manageability of your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure virtual machines (VMs).

When followed, best practice guidelines can prevent problems that can affect the manageability and performance of yourOracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VMs:

  • Wherever possible, use the Oracle-supplied cloud interfaces such as the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console, API, or CLI, or cloud-specific tools such as dbaascli to perform lifecycle management and administrative operations on your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure VM. For example, use the OCI console, API, CLI, or dbaascli to apply Oracle Database patches instead of manually running opatch. In addition, if an operation can be performed by using the Console as well as a command-line utility, Oracle recommends that you use the Console. For example, use the Console instead of using dbaascli to create databases.
  • Do not change the Guest OS users or manually manipulate SSH key settings associated with your VM.
  • Apply only patches that are available through the Database service. Do not apply patches from any other source unless you are directed to do so by Oracle Support.
  • Apply the quarterly patches regularly, every quarter if possible.
  • Do not change the ports for Oracle Net Listener.

Moving to Oracle Cloud Using Zero Downtime Migration

Oracle now offers the Zero Downtime Migration service, a quick and easy way to move on-premises databases to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Zero Downtime Migration leverages Oracle Active Data Guard to create a standby instance of your database in an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure system. You switch over only when you are ready, and your source database remains available as a standby. Use the Zero Downtime Migration service to migrate databases individually or at the fleet level. See Move to Oracle Cloud Using Zero Downtime Migration for more information.

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