5/17/2016 Chapter1.

DatabaseasaServiceConcepts360Degrees

Chapter1.DatabaseasaServiceConcepts360Degrees

TounderstandthebasicprinciplesandconceptsofDatabaseasaService(DBaaS),wemustunderstand
themeaningofbothdatabaseandserviceandhowthetwointeract.Wealsomustunderstandthe
relationshipbetweencloudcomputingandDBaaS.CloudcomputingencompassestheITinfrastructure
resources,whichincludenetworks,storage,servers,applications,andservices.DBaaSisasubsetofthe
overallcloudconcept,specificallyfocusedonthelasttworesources,applicationsandservice.

ThegoalofthischapteristoexplainthecloudcomputingimplementationasitrelatestoDBaaS.Although
theconceptofDBaaSisgeneric,thisbookfocusesonusingOracletechnologiestoimplementDBaaS.

CloudComputing:DefinitionandClassicalView

TheNationalInstituteofStandardsandTerminology(NIST)definescloudcomputing1asfollows:

1.http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800145.pdf,p.2.

Cloudcomputingisamodelforenablingubiquitous,convenient,ondemandnetworkaccesstoashared
poolofconfigurablecomputingresources(e.g.,networks,servers,storage,applications,andservices)that
canberapidlyprovisionedandreleasedwithminimalmanagementeffortorserviceproviderinteraction.
[emphasisadded]

Thisdefinitionarticulatestheservicegoalsthatacloudcomputingenvironmentisexpectedtodeliver:

Ubiquitous:Theresourcesareavailableandreadyforconsumption.

Convenient:Theconsumerhaseasyaccesstotheresources.

Ondemand:Resourcerequestsneednotinvolveresourceapprovalandacquisitiontasks.

Sharedpool:Theresourcesareshared,notdedicated,whichprovidesmobilityandflexibilityintermsof
assigningresources.

Rapid:Thetimewindowbetweenaresourcerequestanditsfulfillmentisshortenedoreliminated.

Theseservicegoalsdrivethephysicalimplementationofanycloudcomputingmodel.Specifically,they
providethebasisforthefollowingcoreaspectsofanycloudcomputingmodel,whicharealso
interdependentoneachother:

RolesapplicablewithincloudcomputingWhoissharingtheresourcepool?

CloudtypefromainfrastructurepersepctiveWhatisthesharedresourcepool,andhowisitdeployed?

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ThesecurityframeworkwithinacloudcomputingmodelWhatarethebasicrulesthatgovernhowthe
resourcepoolisshared?

Letusfirstlookatroleswithinacloudcomputingmodel.Thereareprimarilytworoles:enduserand
provider.Theenduseristheentitythatusesthehardwareresourcesandassociatedservicesthatexistin
acloudenvironment.Theprovideristheentitythatownsthephysicalhardwareandinfrastructure
resourcesandisresponsiblefortheservicesassociatedwithdeliveringtheseresourcestotheenduser.

Next,welookatthethreetypesofcloudcomputingmodelsprevalent:private,public,andhybrid.

Privatecloud:Acloudinfrastructureprovisionedforexclusiveusebyasingleorganizationorentity,
maintainedbytheentityandwithintheentitysnetwork.Therolesofproviderandenduserare
representedbydifferentgroupswithintheentity.

Publiccloud:Acloudinfrastructureprovisionedinthepublicspacesuchthatmultipleentitiescanuse
theinfrastructuresimultaneously.Theproviderisathirdpartyserviceproviderthatsupportsmultiple
clientsorentitiesintheenduserrole.

Hybridcloud:Acombinationoftheprivateandpubliccloudmodels.

Thesecuritymodelinacloudenvironmentmustincludethecapabilitytodefineroles,responsibilities,and
separationofdutiesforboththeproviderandendusers.Asapartoftheoverallclouddeploymentmodel,
theprovidermustdevelop,implement,andsupportasecuritysystemwithproperaccessandprivileges
grantsandadministrationinplace.

Thesecurityrequirementsonallcloudenvironmentsfollowthesamebasicmodel,withthedifferencethat
inapubliccloud,thesecuritycontrolshavetobemuchwiderandmorestringentthaninaprivatecloud.
Thesecurityframeworkinboththepublicandprivatecloudmodelsmustalsoaddressdatasecurityand
privacyprotectionbetweentheproviderandendusers.

Forpublicclouds,however,securityusuallyrequiresamuchstrongerencryptionalgorithmthanusedina
privatecloudaswellassufficientnetworkingbandwidthtomeetpublicneeds.Furthermore,the
administratorroleataproviderisfocusedonmanagingtheunderpinninginfrastructureoftheprivatecloud
itself.

Tobeabledefineandcreatesuchasecurityframework,itisimportanttounderstandtherolesassociated
withwhoisusingthecloud.Onceweunderstandwhoisusingthecloud,wecantranslatetheminto
requirementsaroundaccesslevels,roles,responsibilities,andseparationofduties.Followingare
examplesoftheserequirements:

Theroleofaproviderscloudadministratoristomanagetheunderpinninginfrastructureofthecloud
offeringitself.

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Thesubscriberadministratorroleisfilledindividuallybyeachsubscriberentityonacloud.Thesubscriber
administratormanagesresourcesandprivilegesforhisorherownorganization.

Theenduserroleappliestoaspecificuserwithinasubscriberentitythatrequestsandusesasubsetof
theresources.

Note

Totheprovidercloudadministrator,thesubscriberadmnistratorroleistheequivalentofanenduserrole
withelevatedprivilegesandrights.

Tounderstandtheimpactandimplementationsofthesecurityframeworkinacloudenvironment,wealso
needtounderstandthemodelsinwhichcloudservicesmaybedeployed.Therearethreemainmodels:

Softwareasaservice(SaaS):SaaSallowstheconsumertousetheprovidersapplicationsrunningon
cloudinfrastructure.Theapplicationsareaccessiblefromvariousclientdevicesthrougheitherathinclient
interface,suchasawebbrowser(e.g.,webbasedemail),oraprograminterface.Theconsumerdoesnot
manageorcontroltheunderlyingcloudinfrastructurenotthenetwork,servers,operatingsystems,
storage,orevenindividualapplicationcapabilitieswiththepossibleexceptionoflimiteduserspecific
applicationconfigurationsettings.

Platformasaservice(PaaS):PaaSallowstheconsumertodeployanysoftwareorapplicationonto
serversdeployedoncloudinfrastructure.Theseapplicationsmaybeconsumercreatedapplicationsor
consumeracquiredapplicationscreatedusingprogramminglanguages,libraries,services,andtools
supportedbytheprovider.Theconsumerdoesnotmanageorcontroltheunderlyingcloudinfrastructure
buthascontroloverthedeployedapplicationsandpossiblyconfigurationsettingsfortheapplication
hostingenvironment.

Infrastructureasaservice(IaaS):Thecapabilityprovidedtotheconsumeristoprovisionprocessing,
storage,networks,andotherfundamentalcomputingresourceswheretheconsumerisabletodeployand
runarbitrarysoftware,whichcanincludeoperatingsystemsandapplications.Theconsumerdoesnot
manageorcontroltheunderlyingcloudinfrastructurebuthascontroloveroperatingsystems,storage,and
deployedapplicationsandpossiblyhaslimitedcontrolofselectnetworkingcomponents(e.g.,host
firewalls).

DBaaSASpecialCaseofCloudComputing

DBaaSisaveryspecificimplementationofthebroaderandgenericcloudcomputing.Nowthatwehave
definedcloudcomputingatagenerichighlevel,letsexaminethecharacteristicsthatdistinguishDBaaS.

Tounderstandtheprinciplesofdatabaseasaservice,itshelpfultolookatthetermsdatabaseand
serviceindividuallyandthenlookathowtheyinteract.

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TheMerriamWebsteronlinedictionaryprovidesadefinitionofdatabasethatweareallfamiliarwith:a
usuallylargecollectionofdataorganizedespeciallyforrapidsearchandretrieval(asbyacomputer).

Thetermserviceisalsoonethatwearefamiliarwith.MerriamWebsterhasquiteafewdefinitionsforthis
word,andfollowingaresomeoftherelevantonesthatapplyeveninthespecificcaseofDBaaS:

Theoccupationorfunctionofserving

Theworkperformedbyonethatserves

Afacilitysupplyingsomepublicdemandsuchastelephoneserviceorbusservice

Butthesedefinitionsaregenericinnatureandcontext.Thecoreconceptsofthedefinitionsstillapplyin
termsofanITinfrastructureaswellbutwithafewcontextsensitivetweaks.Inthissection,wefurther
explorethemeaningsandimplicationsofdatabaseandservice.

First,justtobeclear,theconceptwearediscussingisnotcalledOracledatabaseasaserviceitisjust
databaseasaservice.Conceptuallyspeaking,wecandeployDBaaSusingMicrosoftSQLServer,DB2,
PostGres,MySQL,orOracle.Theyareallsoftwaretechnologiesthatwecanusetobuildanddeploy
DBaaS.ThedesignandimplementationofDBaaSincludeschoosingtheunderlyingtechnologiesthatwe
usetoimplementtheservice.Oracleisaleaderindatabasetechnology,andOracle12cfocuseslargely
onfeaturesets,utilities,andfunctionalitythatenablecloudcomputing,makingOracle12caleading
contenderintermsofimplementingDBaaS.

NowletuslookattheserviceelementofDBaaS.Wemustunderstandwhatservicetheenduserexpects
andwhatcomponentstheprovidermustmanageandmaintaininordertodelivertheexpectedservices.

LetsstartwiththeendusersexpectationsofDBaaS.BasedonNISTsdefinitionofcloudcomputing,we
takethegenericexpectationsimpliedbyservicesandframethemaroundDBaaSspecificexpectations.

ResourceUtilizationUsageInstrumentationandSelfService

Oneofthefundamentalconceptsofcloudcomputingistoprovideendusersofthecloudservicethe
capabilitytomonitorcloudresourceusageandconsumption.Therefore,agoodcloudserviceshould
provideendusersvisibilityintotheirresourceusage,analytics,andchargeback.

WithDBaaSspecifically,thecloudserviceshouldprovidethefunctionalityorselfservicecapabilitiesto
viewresourceusageandconsumptionasitappliestodatabases.TheresourceswouldincludeCPU
consumption,storageconsumptions,backupserviceconsumption,andnetworkbandwidthconsumption.

BroadNetworkAccess

Byitsdefinition,acorecomponentofacloudserviceisnetworkaccess,orbandwidth.Thecloudservice
networkshouldbeaccessibleovermultipledevicesandheterogenousplatforms.

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FromaDBaaSperspective,thefocusisontheprotocols,quality,andefficiencyofnetworkaccesstothe
database.Networkaccessconcernsareapplicablefromanapplicationstandpointaswellasfroman
administrationandmanagementstandpoint.

ResourcePooling

Thereasonacloudserviceprovidesresourceutilizationstatisticsandanalyticsistoallowendusersto
tuneconsumptionspecificallytotheirneeds.Remember,inacloud,alltheresourcescomeoutofapool.
Endusersshouldthereforebeabletorequestadditionalresourceswhenneededandreduceresource
allocationandusageasneeded.Remember,acloudservicemustbeabletooptimizeresourcesacross
theentireplatformandatthesametimemaintainperformanceandavailabilityaccordingtoservicelevel
agreements(SLAs)betweentheproviderandenduser.

Consequently,theserviceprovidermustenableenduserstoprovisionanddecommissionresourcesas
neededwithouthavingtorequestresourceincreasesorreductionsthroughtheprovider.Basedon
resourceusagestatisticsandbusinessneeds,endusersshouldbeabletomanageandadministerall
resources,including,CPU,network,storage,andbackups.

Multitenancyisakeyconstructoftheimplementationofanycloudservice.Theserviceprovidersupports
multipleclientswithinacloudsolution.Thetypeofthecloudsolution(private,public,orhybrid)determines
whotheallowedclients(endusers)are.

InaDBaaSenvironment,multitenancymeansthatthecloudsolutionsupportsmultipledatabasesacross
multipleclients,andeachclienthasoneormoredatabases.

FromaDBaaSperspective,theendusers,asconsumersofservices,donotmanagetheavailabilityof
resourcesorcapacityrelatedissues.Theseconcernsfallundertheserviceprovidersresponsibility.The
serviceprovidermustmanagetheresourcesataholisticlevelacrossalltheclientsitsupports.

However,thereisacaveathere.Theprecedingstatementistrueaslongastheenduserrequirements
aroundsecurity,privacy,andcompliancearemet.Theproviderhastoensurethatthesolutiondesign
meetstheendusercriteria.

RapidElasticity

Rapidelasticityisthelogicalnextstepandevolutionofresourcepooling.Thecloudsolutionmustbeable
todynamicallyallocateordeallocateresourcesasrequestedbytheenduser.Theserviceprovided
includestheabilitytodynamicallyaddorremoveresourcebasedonworkloadvolumeandnature.Inother
words,thesolutionneedstobeadaptiveandflexibleinnaturebybeingabletoadjustresource
requirementsonthefly.

MeasuredService

Theculminationofalloftheprecedingconceptsofresourceusageintrumentation,pooling,andelasticityis
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theabilitytomeasureresourcesacrossanentireserviceandateachindividualcloudsubscriberlevel.
Therefore,resourceusageshouldbemonitored,controlled,andreportedupon,providingtransparencyfor
boththeproviderandtheconsumersoftheutilizedservice.

Anotherwaytoputthisisthatthecloudsolutionisbasedonmultitenancymultipleclientsbeing
supportedfromasinglecloudsolution,whichleadstothequestionofwhoshouldbechargedfor
resources.Obviously,thecostshouldbebasedonwhatresourcesareactuallyused.Inotherwords,the
cloudsolutionmustbeabletosupportchargebackcapabilities.Thechargebackcanbebasedonwhatis
provisionedor,morepopularly,onwhatresourcesareactuallyused.

ServicesApplicabletoDBaaS

WenowhaveasolidfoundationalunderstandingofwhatcloudcomputingisandhowitappliestoDBaaS.
Inthissection,weoutlinethespecificsaroundservicesastheyrelatetoDBaaSandwhattheymeanto
endusersaswellastotheproviderinacloudcomputingenvironment.

TheservicesofferedbytheDBaaSprovidertotheenduserfallintothreemaincategories:provisioning,
administrative,andreporting.Someoftheseservicesareoptional,andothersaremandatory.

Provisioningservicesprovidedtoendusersincludesomeorallofthefollowing:

Theabilitytorequisitionnewdatabases.

Theabilitytochoosedatabaseoptionsasneeded(partitioning,advancedsecurity,RealApplication
Cluster,etc.).

Theabilitytoaddresources(storage,CPU,networkbandwidth,etc.)toexistingdatabases.Thisincludes
theabilitytoscaleupaswellastoscaledown.

Databasebackupcapabilityusingprovidedbackupresources.

Administrativeservicesincludesomeorallofthefollowing:

Theabilitytoperformondemanddatabaserestoresandrecoveries.

Theabilitytoperformdatabaseclonesusingexistingdatabasebackups.

Databasemonitoringcapabilities,includingbasic24/7incidentreportingmanagementcapabilities.

Reportingservicesincludesomeorallofthefollowing:

Performancemanagement,whichistheabilitytolookatadatabasefromaperformanceandtuning
standpoint,whetherintheformofreportingorintheformofapplicationandGUIdatabaserestoreand
recoverycapability.

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Resourceconsumptionandusagereports,whichletenduserscomparetheresourcesprovisionedand
theactualusagesotheycanfinetuneresourceneedstoaccommodateworkload.

Theabilitytoviewresourcechargebackbasedonresourceallocationandconsumption.

TheabilitytotrackprovidercompliancetotheSLAs.

TheabilitytotrackprovidercompliancetotheSLAsisanespeciallycriticalpointtounderstand.To
ascertainwhetherornottherequestedservicesarebeingprovidedatanappropriatelevel,endusersmust
firstdefinewhatappropriatelevelmeans.Foreachservice,theremaybemorethanoneSLA.Thehigher
theSLA,themoretechnologyandresourcesareneededtosatisfytheSLA.Pricingisalsoaffectedbythe
levelofservicedetailedintheSLA.

Forexample,forI/Operformanceguarantees,theSLAwouldspecifytheinput/outputoperationsper
second(IOPS)andmegabytespersecond(MBps)wouldspecifyI/Oservicetimes.BasedontheSLA,the
providerdeterminestheactualstoragelayerprovidedtotheenduser.Itistheprovidersresponsibilityto
ensurethattheservicedeliveredtotheenduseriswithintheacceptedlimits.

IfwelookatI/Operformanceasanexample,theSLAscouldbestructuredasfollows:

Bronzestandard:SmallblockaverageI/Oservicetimesequaltoorunder15ms.

Silverstandard:SmallblockaverageI/OServicetimeequaltoorunder10ms.

Goldstandard:SmallblockaverageI/Oservicetimesequaltoorunder5ms.

Platinumstandard:SmallblockaverageI/Oservicetimesequaltoorunder1ms.

BasedontheseSLAs,theprovidermaychooseto

Placebronzecustomersonalowendstoragearraysusingprimarilyserialadvancedtechnology
attachment(SATA)disks.

PlacesilvercustomersonhighperformancestoragearraysusingserialattachedSCSI(SAS)drives.

PlacegoldcustomersonahighendstoragearrayswithacombinationofSASandsolidstatedrive
(SSD).

PlaceplatinumcustomersonahighendstoragearraybasedentirelyonSSDorflashmemory.

Thekeyisthat,onceendusersmaketheirchoice,theproviderhasto

Definetheexactkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)requiredtomeettheservicelevelexpectation.

EnsurethattheKPIsrequiredfortheSLAaremeasuredandmonitored.
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PlanforexpansiontocontinuetobeabletomeetandprovidetheexpectedKPImetricsbothnowandin
thelongterm.

Provideenduserswithreportsthatsupportor,ifnecessary,justifytheprovidersserviceperformance
capabilities.

ArchitectureofanOracleBasedDBaaSImplementation

DBaaSstartedprimarilyasaconsolidationexerciseforreducingcapitalexpenditures(CAPEX),butasit
evolved,organizationsstartedlookingintootherkeydrivers,suchasselfservice,showback,and
chargeback.BeforewelookatthedetailsofhowtoimplementDBaaS,weneedtohavesome
understandingoftheunderlyingconsolidationmodelsanddeploymentissuesthatarecommontoall
DBaaSflavorsandsomeoftheterminologythatweusewhendefiningDBaaS.

ConsolidationModels

ThevariousconsolidationmodelsthatcanbeusedtoprovideDBaaSareshowninFigure1.1.The
simplestandmostprevalentformofconsolidationexistsaroundservervirtualization.Servervirtualization
offersasimplewayofrunningmultipleoperatingsysteminstancesonthesamehardware.Abettermodel,
platformconsolidation,consolidatesmultipledatabasesonthesameoperatingsystem,oracluster.
However,inbothcases,databasesprawlisstillanissuethatinvariablyleadstolargeradministrative
overheadsandcompliancechallenges.Anevenbetterconsolidationmodelisthecapabilitytohost
multipleschemasfromdifferenttenantswithinthesamedatabase,usingOracleDatabase12cs
multitenantarchitecture.

Figure1.1.Consolidationmodels

Beforewedescribesuchmethodologies,however,itisimportanttohaveacommonunderstandingofthe
componentsthatmakeuptheunderlyingarchitecture.

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ArchitectureandComponents

InOracleterminology,hostscontainingmonitoredandmanagedtargetsaregroupedintologicalpools.
ThesepoolsarecollectionsofoneormoreOracledatabasehomes(usedfordatabaserequests)or
databases(usedforschemarequests).Apoolcontainsdatabasehomesordatabasesofthesameversion
andplatformforexample,apoolmaycontainagroupofOracleDatabase12.1.0.1containerdatabases
onLinuxx86_64.

Poolscaninturnbegroupedintozones.IntheDBaaSworld,azonetypicallycomprisesahost,an
operatingsystem,andanOracledatabase.Inasimilarvein,whendefiningmiddlewareasaservice
(MWaaS)zones,azoneconsistsofahost,anoperatingsystem,andanOracleWebLogicapplication
server.Collectively,theseMWaaSandDBaaSzonesarecalledplatformasaservice(PaaS)zones.Users
canperformafewadministrativetasksatthezonelevel,includingstartingandstopping,backupand
recovery,andrunningchargebackreportsforthedifferentcomponentsmakingupaPaaSzone.

IntheDBaaSviewofaPaaSzone,selfserviceusersmayrequestnewdatabases,orelsenewschemas
inanexistingdatabasecanbecreated.ThedatabasescanbeeithersingleinstanceoraRealApplication
Cluster(RAC)environment,dependingonthezonesandservicecatalogtemplatesthatausercan
access.

Diagrammatically,thesecomponentsandtheirrelationshipsareshowninFigure1.2.

Figure1.2.ComponentsofaPaaSzone

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DeploymentIssues

Nowthatweunderstandthearchitectureandcomponentsthatareusedinthedifferentconsolidation
models,letsexaminesomestandarddeploymentissuesthatneedtobeaddressed.Theseinclude
security,operational,resourceandfaultisolationissuesaswellasscalabilityandhighavailability.Itisvery
importanttounderstandthatdeliveryservicesandtheSLAsaroundthoseserviceswilldrivetheactual
architecture,design,andimplementation.Therefore,architecture,design,andimplementationalsoplay
directlyintothechargebackandmeteringaspectoftheservices.

SecurityIsolation

Securityisolationisoftenthefirstpointthatmanagementworriesaboutinanycloudmodel.Ismydata
safe?WhatoptionsdoIhaveforsecuringmyconsolidatedinfrastructure?HowcanIpreventthecloud
databaseadministratorfromaccessingandviewingmydata?HowcanIensurethatmynetworktrafficis
secure?CanIensureImeetcomplianceregulations?

Withallofthesequestions,securityisolationhasbecomeanessentialcomponentofanycloud
deployment.Securitybreachescanarisenotonlyexternallybutalsointernally,soallaspectsofyourcloud

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infrastructuremustbesecure.

OperationalIsolation

OperationalisolationinaDBaaScloudrequiresthatanymaintenancebeingperformedonadatabaseor
ontheenvironmentthedatabaseoperatesinaffectsthesmallestnumberofotherdatabasesinthesame
pool.Meetingthisrequirementclearlybecomesmoreproblematicforoperatingsystemorgrid
infrastructuremaintenance,thoughtheimpactcanbeminimizedbyrollingupgradeswhereallowed.
IsolationforpatchinganOracledatabasekernelcanbeprovidedbyminimizingthenumberofdatabases
perOraclehome,butaddingOraclehomesalsoincreasesmanagementoverheads.Databasestartupand
shutdownwouldnormallybeconsidereddatabasedependentoperations,butadministrativeerrorssuchas
settingthewrongORACLE_SIDcanleadtounforeseenimpactsonotherdatabases.Again,isolationcanbe
providedattheORACLE_HOMElevelandbyhavingdifferentuserIDsandgroupIDsatthekernellevel,but
thisalsoleadstomoremanagementoverhead,and,itmustbesaid,morelikelihoodofhumanerror.

ResourceIsolation

InaDBaaScloud,resourceisolationdealswiththeallocationandsegregationofresourcessuchasCPU,
memory,network(publicandprivate),andstorage(I/Opersecondandoverallcapacity).Management
concernsincludequestionssuchasHowdoestheCPUusageofmydatabaseaffectotherdatabasesin
theDBaaScloud?HowmuchmemoryshouldIallocatetoaspecificdatabase?CanIrestrictthenetwork
utilization,bothatthepublicnetworkandinterconnectlevels,tonotimpactotherdatabases?Likewise,
howcanIguaranteestoragecapacityandIOPSformydatabases?

FaultIsolation

FaultisolationinaDBaaScloudisnormallyprovidedatthedatabaselevel,sincethatistheunitof
granularityinthemultitenantarchitecture.Eachdatabaseanditsassociatedinstance(orinstances,in
RACenvironments)needtobeisolatedfromotherdatabases.Evenwhenalldatabasesarerunfroma
singleORACLE_HOME,databasefaultsarenormallyisolatedtoafailinginstance,sofaultisolationis
maintainedbyfencingofftheoffendinginstance.However,otherfailuresmayrequirehandlingatdifferent
levels.Forexample,concernsincludehowtodealwithaserver,network,orstoragefailure.Suchfailures
arenormallyhandledbysomeformofredundancysuchasmultinodesetups,active/passiveswitches,
bondednetworks,orredundantstoragesuchasAutomaticStorageManagement(ASM)redundancy.

DBaaSScalability

ScalabilityisafundamentalcharacteristicofDBaaSarchitecturesbyvirtueoftheirsupportforselfservice,
elasticity,andmultitenancy.Oraclesdatabasetechnologiesprovideanumberofwaystosupport
scalabilitywhendeliveringdatabaseservices,includingresourcemanagementandqualityofservice,
additionofextrastoragethroughsuchfunctionalitysuchasmultipleExadataDatabaseMachineframes,
horizontalscalingviaRACswhenservicedemandsincreasebeyondthecapabilitiesofasinglemachine,
andscalablemanagementresourceswhereOracleEnterpriseManagercanaddmanagementnodesas
thenumberoftargetsundermanagementgrows.

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DBaaSHighAvailability

Notallconsumersrequirethesamelevelofavailabilityinacloudenvironment.OraclesDBaaSself
servicecatalogallowsthecapabilitytoincludedifferentlevelsofavailabilityusingametalsmodel,as
showninTable1.1.

Table1.1.AvailabilityLevels

Forexample,thebronzestandardprovidesasingleinstancedatabaseservice(possiblyviaRACOne
Node),whereastheotherextreme,platinum,wouldnormallyincludeaRACdatabasewithmultiple
standbys.ThesestandbysmightincludeanearstandbyinthesamedatacenterasyourRACdatabase
andafarstandbyinacompletelyseparateremotedatacenter.Thesemeasureshelptoimprovethehigh
availabilityanddisasterrecoverygoalsyouhaveforthatdatabase.InOracleEnterpriseManager12.1.0.4,
withtheaddedsupportforDataGuard,younowhavetheabilitywithjustafewclickstoprovisionthe
primaryandmultiplestandbysacrossdifferentdatacenters.Thestandbyscanbeeithersingleinstanceor
aRACconfiguration.

BusinessandTechnologyBenefitsofHavingDBaaSEnabled

DBaaS,oradatabasecloud,isbecomingaverypopularconceptwithorganizationsofallsizesacrossthe
spectrumofindustry.PlacingdatabaseinfrastructureconcernswiththeDBaaSproviderfreesan
organizationsITandtechnologydepartmentstofocusatanorganizationlevelratherthanatan
applicationordepartmentlevel.Withthefocusatanorganizationallevel,theITandtechnologyteamsare
morecloselyalignedwiththeorganizationalandbusinessneeds.Thefundamentalrequirementsofan
organizationhaveneverreallychangedtheyhavealwaysaimedforloweredoperationalexpenses
(OPEX)andtotalcostofownership(TCO).Whathaschangedistheemergenceofnewplatform
architectureandsoftwaretechnologiesthat,workingtogether,deliveronthoseneeds.Theopportunityto
reduceOPEXandTCOispreciselywhatisdrivingtheimprovedacceptanceandadoptionrateofDBaaS.

LetslookatsomeoftheintrinsicbenefitsofdeployingDBaaS,whichincludethebasicbenefitsassociated
withanycloudsolution:

Timetomarket:Thenimblenesswithwhichacompanyreactsandadaptstochangingmarket
conditions,competition,andconsumerneedsandexpectationsiscritical.Acorecomponentofanycloud
solutionisselfserviceandautomation.Withawellplannedcloudsolution,thereisnoneedtodeploy

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hardwarefornewprojects,andwithselfserviceandautomation,thebusinessunitsbecomemoreself
reliant.

Scalability:Thecombinationofinherentconceptsofelasticity,consolidation,andresourcepoolingata
widerorganizationalleveldrivesscalabilityinacloudcomputingenvironment.Forcustombuiltsolutions,
thevalueandbenefitofthisautomaticscalingisevenmorepotentandimpressive.

Empowerment:Cloudcomputingsolutionstypicallyhaveawebbasedinterfaceforusers.Theycanbe
accessedbyemployees,customers,andpartnersnomatterwheretheyare.Withaclouddatabase,
everyonegetstoworkwiththesamesetofinformation,andspreadsheetchaosisathingofthepast.

Availability:Combiningthebenefitsofstandardization(hardware,software,proceduralbestpractices)
andempowerment(selfservice,ondemandscalability)automaticallydeliversimprovedavailability.

Letsgoastepfurtherandlookatwhydatabasesareworthyoftheirownclassinthecloudsolutionworld.
Wedonotseephrasessuchasapplicationserversasacloudorwebserversasaserviceor
exchangeserversasaservice.Logicallyandtechnically,theseconceptscanexist,buttheydonot.Why
isthat?

Databasesareusedtostoredata.Asweareallaware,theamountofdatabeinggenerated,used,and
storedisgrowingexponentially.Thisevergrowingvolumeofdataneedstominedandanalyzedto
generateintelligent,actionableinformation.Now,morethanever,datameanseverythingitdrives
financial,operational,andtacticaldecisionsandstrategiesineverybusiness.Butalongwithallthisdata
cometheheadachesoftaskssuchasmanagingperformance,scalingcapacity,andbackupandrecovery
strategies.

Databasesareoftenconsideredthesinglepointofserializationofapplicationprocessingandlogic,usually
becauseapplicationdesignisnotfocusedonhowdatabasesworkorthebestwaytousethem.Whatthis
meansisthatdesigning,managing,andperformancetuningdatabasesrepresentsauniquesetofskills
andtalents.

Fromacomputingperspective,resourceconsumptioncharacteristicsandperformanceneedsofa
databaseareuniqueinnature.Databases,especiallyuntuneddatabases,canberesourcehogswhenit
comestostorage,CPU,andnetworkresources.

Scalingofdatabasesalsopresentsuniquechallenges.Scalingcandirectlyimpactexpenditureonmultiple
componentsoftheplatformandinfrastructure,includingonthestoragesubsystem(duetostoragevolume
orperformance)andonthroughput(inIOPSorMBps).

Databaseareacomplexcomponentoftheapplicationstack.Consequently,theunderlyingdatabase
technologycanpotentiallyhaveasevereimpact,positiveornegative,ontheoverallscalability,availability,
businesscontinuity,andperformanceaspectsofanygivenapplication.Whentheapplicationsinquestion

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arebusinesscriticaland/orrevenuegenerating,thepotentialforimpactmakesthedatabasesavery
visible,highlyscrutinizedcomponent.

Fromaneconomicsperspective,databasescanprovetobeoneofthecostliest,ifnotthecostliest,
componentofanygivenapplicationdeployment.Thedatabasesapplicationstack,forexample,candrive
theoverallsolutioncostinthefollowingways:

Databaselicensingcostsandannualsupportcosts.

Databasespecificinfrastructurecosts,especiallythosedrivenbyperformanceinitiatives,suchashigh
performancecomputeservers,highperformancestorage,andinsomecasesevenhighperformance
networking.

Staffingandresourcingcostsformaintainingthedatabase(design,administration,performancetuning,
etc.).

Costofhighperformancebackupmanagement,storagesystems,andinfrastructurebasedonthe
uptime,recoverypointobjectives(RPOs),andRTOexpectations.(Intodaysageofdataexplosion,
databasestendbequitelarge,anddatabasebackupandrecoverybecomeskey.)

Cloudcomputing,asaconceptandasolution,isaimedatresolvingtheseeconomicconcerns.Whenyou
addtheuniquenessofdatabasestothemix,youcanseethevalueofdeployingadatabasecloud,orin
otherwords,deployingaDBaaSsolution.

GreatFirstStepforTransitioningintotheCloud

MovinganorganizationsITinfrastructurefromtheoldserverbasedmodeltoacloudbasedmodelcanbe
adauntingtask,regardlessofwhetherthedestinationisaprivatecloudorapubliccloud.Implementa
cloudsolutiononaveryfocused,selfcontainedtechnologystack,suchasdatabasetechnology,canbea
veryusefulfirststepintocloudcomputing.

Thetoolkitavailablefordatabasetechnologiesiswide,extensive,mature,andmultivendorinnature.The
sameistruefortheinfrastructurecomponents,suchastheserver,storage,andbackupinfrastructures.
Dedicated,fullycontained,engineeredapplianceshavebeenapartofthedatabasetechnologystackfora
whilenow.

Anotherkeyaspecttoconsideristhesignificantamountofautomationthatexistsinthedatabasearena.
Thisisprimarilyduetotheuniqueandcomplexnatureofdatabasesplusthesizesofthedatabasesthat
arecommonnowadays.

Securityisanimportantaspectofanycloudsolutionandisyetanotherconsiderationthathaslongbeena
partofanyoveralldatabasesolution.Databaseshavetheirowndedicatedsecuritymodelthatisvery
matureandcanfairlyeasilyintegrateintothelargerorganizationmodel(singlesignon[SSO]and
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LightweightDirectoryAccessProtocol[LDAP]basedauthenticationandintegration,etc.).Database
securitymodelshavematuredtoincludedataencryptionfordatabackups,dataatrest,aswellasdatain
flight.

Finally,theamountofdataexistingwithinorganizationsishuge,anditsrateofgrowthisexponential.
Almosteveryapplicationdeployedwillneedadatarepositoryordatastoreofsometype.Thisgrowthin
datamustbesupportedbycorrespondinggrowthininfrastructure.

Thecombinationofthematuretoolkit,theengineeringinherenttodatabasesolutions,thepreexisting
automationespeciallyintheadministrationaspectsofdatabases,andtheexistenceofamaturesecurity
modelprovideasolidfoundationuponwhichorganizationscanbuildanddeploytheirfirstcloudsolution.

Theexistingdomainknowledgeandthehighlyexperiencedskillsetavailableprovidethetechnicalbasis
forlearningandfinetuningthevariousaspectsofcloudcomputing.

Accordingtosomereportsandsurveys,databasetechnologyrelatedexpenditureformidsizetolargesize
companiescanbeupto40percentormoreoftheannualITbudget.Havingadefinedorganizationwide
strategyfordatabaseswillhelporganizationsmanagethegrowthofdataandatthesametimekeep
databasecostsdown.Consideringthatdatabasescandriveupto40percentoftheITbudgetmakesthe
databaseaveryattractivefocusareatousetokickoffcloudcomputingasalongtermITstrategy.

Summary

Cloudcomputingisagenericarchitecturalconceptthatencompassestheentiregamutoftechnologyasit
relatestoinfrastructure.Cloudcomputingismorethanjustanotherfancytermforvirtualization.Allofthe
newasaservicemodelsareimplementationsofcloudcomputing.Infrastructure,platform,database,
software,network,andstorageasaserviceallareimplementationsfocusingonspecificconceptsofthe
technologystackwithininfrastructure.Thesetermsaresometimesusedinterchangeably,butinreality,
cloudcomputingisaconcept,whereastheasaservicemodelsareimplementations.

Theverydefinitionofcloudcomputinghasintroducedafundamentalchangeinthinkingwhenitcomesto
ownership,roles,responsibilities,andexpectations.Thisisnottosaythatownership,roles,
responsibilities,andexpectationsweremissingorlackingbeforetheadventofcloudcomputing.They
havealwaysexisted,butcloudcomputinghaschangethelensthroughwhichtheyareseen.

Introducingthecoreconceptofserviceintotheoverallarchitecturebringsaboutthesechanges.Wesaw
thatinordertodeliveraservicethatismeaningful,cloudcomputinghadtointroduceelasticity,flexibility,
andrapidandeasydeploymentintoitscoreconceptandarchitecture.

DBaaSimplementationsarenotmuchdifferentfromothercloudimplementations.Databasecloudshave
someuniquechallengeswhenitcomestocloudimplementations,drivenbytheircomplexand
temperamentalnature.Weneedtounderstandthesecoreconceptsspecificallyastheyapplyto

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databasesinordertodeployasuccessfulandmeaningfulDBaaS.

Thischapteristhebeginningofunderstandingthecloudcomputingframework,specificallywhenitcomes
todatabasecloudsorDBaaS.

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