Oracle database version with wonderful features and user friendly which helps to overcome limitations of older versions
February 15, 2019

Oracle database version with wonderful features and user friendly which helps to overcome limitations of older versions

Sukesh Nayak | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Oracle Database 12c

As a Oracle Database administrator I administrate various Oracle Database versions in my organization for my client. We have Oracle Database 12C installed in more than 35 production server environments and we are in process of upgrading our 11G databases to 12C. Oracle company introduced Oracle Database 12C with huge number of new features to overcome the limitations of its older versions like 10g ,11g etc. I do installation of Oracle 12C version databases and upgrade my database from 11g to 12c version and administrate Oracle 12c databases. It's really amazing to see Oracle come up with wonderful technologies and features like
1) OEM 12C ,using which I can monitor heterogeneous databases along with Oracle databases, host monitoring, creation of groups, One link for OEM administration whereas in older versions we used to have one OEM link per server and it is really difficult to manage OEM links in huge database server enviornment. 2) Multitenant database 3) Recover table using Rman 4) Full database caching. 5) In 12C we can move data files online. Whereas in prior database versions we had to offline of shutdown the database in order to move data files depending on type of tablespace. 6) Single node RAC, Flex ASM, Flex cluster and many more features.
I had great experience working on Oracle 12C and I highly recommend using 12C as it helps you to secure your database in many ways and gives you wonderful features hence allows easy administration.

Pros

  • OEM 12C allows cloud monitoring. We can install OEM on one server and monitor all my databases (11G R2 and above) hence I need to manage just one link. It also allows heterogeneous database monitoring, host monitoring, out offline patching.
  • We do not have an option to recover tables from Rman backup prior to 12C hence we had to be only depending on logical backups.
  • But using 12C database we can recover tables as well.
  • When we look for availability RAC comes to our mind and Oracle Database 12C came up with new features related to ASM and RAC like Flex cluster and Flex ASM using which if at all ASM instance goes down in a RAC node it can make use of asm that is running in other node hence ensuring availability. In Flex cluster we need to have Flex asm and the leaf nodes. There will be no database/ASM instances running in leaf nodes but only the application servers. The incoming connection come to leaf node and then to the actual hub server. Leaf nodes reduce the cost as there is no need for internode communication between leaf nodes. The internode connection should be there within hub nodes.

Cons

  • I don't see any such disadvantages but the multitenant structure seems bit complicated and same should be presented in simpler manner
  • Oracle Database 12C had just positive impact on our overall business objectives as we could make full use of Flex cluster, Flex ASM and it saved our transactions during node failure.
  • We have installed OEM 12C in one server using which we monitor Oracle 11g, 12C databases and we monitor hosts and goldengate which has eased the server administration
Oracle Database 12C is well suited for large organizations which likes to use RAC environment or cloud environment since we get too many features to avail availability, scalability, performance and who can afford the cost. It is less suitable for small organizations who cannot afford the license cost.

Using Oracle Database 12c

30 - They are the Oracle Database administrators and we all work as a team in our organization. We perform installation, upgradation, patching, RAC administration, goldengate creation and management together. Team lead guides us in critical issues and whenever there are critical issues we start webex TRT call and coordinate with each other. It's a great experience for all of us working on 12C.
25 - We need database administrators who can support as L1,L2 and L3 based on the issue priority. All the administrators should have a good understanding of the database architecture, instance and database administration. They need to have experience on Rman, datapump, RAC,Godengate, ASM etc
  • We used flex asm feature of Oracle 12c which helped us to achive high availability
  • We recovered table using Rman as there was a table dropped in production
  • We created CDB and PDB's for all databases which simplifies administration of databases
  • We have been able to recover tables using rman backup which was not available in prior versions
  • We have enabled full db caching which gives good performance
  • We create multiple indexes on columns which is very helpful in achieving good performance
  • We are still in process of upgrading some of our databases from 11g to 12C and once we are done with all upgradation, we will be able to include all our databases under multitenant architecture
As a Oracle Database administrator,I do installation upgradation to oracle 12C and we can make use of the new features that are introduced in this version to secure data in better ways hence I highly recommend using this database software

Evaluating Oracle Database 12c and Competitors

Yes - We replaced Oracle 11G version with Oracle12C as it gives too many new features like Flex cluster, Flex ASM, recover table from Rman, Multitenant architecture, Full DB caching,single node RAC etc and these are very helpful in achieving availability,scalability and performance
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
We have RAC database enviornment in our organization and it is implemented to achieve high availability. Oracle 12C introduced Flex asm/Flex cluster which added advantages to RAC in order to achieve better availability in case of failure
I do not want to change my selection as I am quite happy with the oracle 12c database features and we are getting full benifits out of it

Oracle Database 12c Implementation

The implementation of Oracle Database 12C was smooth and upgradation can be performed in minimum time as oracle 12C gives option to perform metadata upgrade using parallel option
  • We did not face any such issues and it was smooth installation. The up gradation from 11G to 12C also was smooth as 12C provides parallel option to upgrade which makes the medatadata upgrade faster

Oracle Database 12c Support

The ORACLE-SUPPORT gives quick responses most of the time I raised a service request. They help us resolve issues and they also come on call if required. I have resolved many issues on my production databases using their help in minimum time. If the issue is critical and the response is late from them,we initiate call to manager
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
1)I asked for help suring my multitenant migraton and ORACLE-SUPPORT guided me.
2)I face issue in oracle 12C flex cluster
3)I face issue in oracle 12C flex asm
4)We faced performance issues and we took help from ORACLE-SUPPORT
5)We took help in goldengate implementation between heterogeneous enviornments

Using Oracle Database 12c

As a Oracle Database administrator,I have installed oracle 12c databases and upgraded my databases to 12c and made use of new features that are introduced in this version. It has given us many features using which I can secure my data in a broader way hence I highly recommend usage of oracle 12c version.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Inconsistent
Lots to learn
  • Implementing Flex cluster and flex asm is quite challenging
  • Easy to monitor databases using OEM 12C and performing out off line patching reduces downtime while patching
  • I don't see many things in this category but CDB /PDM administration could be challenging

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