Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Overview of Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure

This topic describes the database system architecture, features, user roles and hardware shapes for Autonomous Database on dedicated Exadata infrastructure. For a general overview of Autonomous Databases that covers the basics common to both infrastructure options, see Overview of Autonomous Databases.

Database System Architecture Overview

Autonomous Databases on dedicated Exadata infrastructure have a three-level database architecture model that makes use of Oracle multitenant database architecture.

Database System Resource types

Each level of the architecture model corresponds to one of the following resources types:

  • An Autonomous Exadata Infrastructure resource. This is a hardware rack which includes compute nodes and storage servers, tied together by a high-speed, low-latency InfiniBand network and intelligent Exadata software. On dedicated Exadata infrastructure, you have exclusive use of the Exadata infrastructure and hardware on which your Autonomous Transaction Processing databases run.

    For a list of the hardware and Oracle Cloud resource characteristics of Autonomous Exadata Infrastructure resources, see Characteristics of Autonomous Exadata Infrastructure Resources.

  • An Autonomous Container Database, which provides a container for multiple user databases. This resource is sometimes referred to as a CDB, and is functionally equivalent to the multitenant container databases found in Oracle 12c and higher databases.

    Multitenant architecture offers many advantages over non-CDB architecture. For example, it does the following:

    • Allows you to easily manage multiple individual user databases
    • Makes more efficient use of database hardware, as individual databases may use only a fraction of the server hardware capacity
    • Allows for easier and more rapid movement of data and code
    • Allows for easier testing, as development databases can be housed within the same container as production databases
    • Allows for the separation of duties between database administrators, who manage only the individual Autonomous Database instances to which they are granted privileges, and fleet managers, who manage infrastructure resources and container databases.
  • An Autonomous Database. You can create multiple Autonomous Databases within the same container database. This level of the database architecture is analogous to the pluggable databases (PDBs) found in non-Autonomous Exadata systems. Your Autonomous Database can be configured for either transaction processing or data warehouse workloads.

User Roles

Your organization may choose to split the administration of the Autonomous Database on dedicated Exadata infrastructure into the following roles:

  • Fleet Administrator. Fleet administrators create, monitor and manage Autonomous Exadata Infrastructure and Autonomous Container Database resources. A fleet administrator must have permissions for using the networking resources required by the dedicated Exadata infrastructure, and permissions to manage the infrastructure and container database resources.

    See Fleet Administrator’s Guide to Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure for a complete overview of the fleet administrator role.

  • Database Administrator. Database administrators create, monitor and manage Autonomous Databases. They also create and manage users within the database. Database administrators must have permissions for using container databases, for managing Autonomous Transaction Processing databases and backups, and for using the related networking resources. For manual backups, they must have permissions to use the designated Object Storage bucket. At the time of provisioning an Autonomous Database, the administrator provides user credentials for the automatically created ADMIN account, which provides administrative rights to the new database.

    See Using Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure for a complete overview of the database administrator role.

  • Database User. Database users are the developers who write applications that connect to and use an Autonomous Database to store and access the data. Database users do not need Oracle Cloud Infrastructure accounts. They gain network connectivity to and connection authorization information for the database from the database administrator.

CPU Provisioning, CPU Scaling, and Storage Scaling

You can scale the CPU count and the storage capacity of the database at any time without impacting availability or performance. Autonomous Database on dedicated Exadata infrastructuredoes not currently support over-provisioning, the ability for multiple Autonomous Databases to share a single CPU core. Therefore, an Autonomous Exadata Infrastructure resource can currently support, across all its Autonomous Container Databases, up to as many Autonomous Databases as it has CPU cores. This maximum number will increase when Oracle Autonomous Database supports over-provisioning.

Available Exadata Infrastructure Hardware Shapes

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure currently offers Autonomous Database with the following dedicated Exadata infrastructure system models and configurations:

  • System Models: X7 and X8
  • Configurations: quarter rack, half rack, and full rack

The subsections that follow provide the details for each shape's configuration.

Exadata X8 Shapes

Property Quarter Rack Half Rack Full Rack
Shape Name Exadata.Quarter3.100 Exadata.Half3.200 Exadata.Full3.400
Number of Compute Nodes 2 4 8
Total Maximum Number of Enabled CPU Cores 100 200 400
Total RAM Capacity 1440 GB 2880 GB 5760 GB
Number of Exadata Storage Servers 3 6 12
Total Raw Flash Storage Capacity 76.8 TB 179.2 TB 358.4 TB
Total Usable Storage Capacity 149 TB 298 TB 596 TB

Exadata X7 Shapes

Property Quarter Rack Half Rack Full Rack
Shape Name Exadata.Quarter2.92 Exadata.Half2.184 Exadata.Full2.368
Number of Compute Nodes 2 4 8
Total Maximum Number of Enabled CPU Cores 92 184 368
Total RAM Capacity 1440 GB 2880 GB 5760 GB
Number of Exadata Storage Servers 3 6 12
Total Raw Flash Storage Capacity 76.8 TB 153.6 TB 307.2 TB
Total Usable Storage Capacity 106 TB 212 TB 424 TB

Using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console to Manage Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure

For information on provisioning, managing, and backing up dedicated Exadata infrastructure resources in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console, see the following topics: