Businesses which depend on high database availability often turn to Oracle databases, one of today’s standards. Major corporations in banking and the automotive industry, for instance, benefit in particular thanks to endto- end functions and the ability to support large numbers of users at any given time. And for the last few years, Oracle has been advocating ‘Grid Computing’, using diverse resources for one or more tasks as well as distributing the load to all available resources. The Steinbeis Transfer Center Innovative Systems and Services will train the Lower Saxony Regional Computing Center in how to use the new Oracle 11g.
Oracle 11g features self-managing ‘clusters’ which consist of automation algorithms and 14 new database processes. These come into play during data management, data queries and backing up enterprise grid data.
Oracle 11g stores and reads large binary files within the database as fast as the server’s underlying file system does. Grid Computing also supports new files types such as RFID tags, DICOM standard (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) medical images and 3D geometry data (spatial) – all saved in compact, binary form. For 11g, Oracle also developed a unique storage process which compresses sizeable database files by two-thirds, ultimately boosting performance and availability.
Oracle 11g also features an SQL module which first checks and optimizes database queries before they are executed. For audits and oversight, users can also record and replay SQL queries (Total Recall). As a result, information stays readily available. Or take the Real Application Testing Cluster – thanks to online upgrades, it helps accelerate the launch of new applications in the production database, thus saving time, slashing costs and decreasing risk. The Capture & Replay Workload Cluster automates processes to transfer a production database to a test environment under the exact same conditions. As well as adopting database structures and files, this procedure generates a like-for-like test environment based on stored information (also known as Snapshot Standby).
By automating work processes, the new self-managing clusters significantly simplify Enterprise Grid Computing for database administrators and developers – something which will truly benefit the Lower Saxony Regional Computing Center at Leibniz University, according to experts at the Steinbeis Transfer Center Innovative Systems and Services. With good reason: they’ll be leading introductory courses in Oracle 11 for Center employees, university staff and faculty as well as the student body.