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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