Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Overview of the Always Free Autonomous Database on Shared Exadata Infrastructure

The content on this page has moved to Always Free Autonomous Database.

Always Free Autonomous Database versions

Always Free Autonomous Databases support only a single Oracle Database version.

  • You can see only the installed Always Free database version on the details page.
  • If your Always Free database is not the latest version, Oracle automatically migrates it to the latest version at a preselected date about which you will be notified several weeks in advance. You can also update the database by selecting the version on the database details page.
Note

  • You can provision Autonomous Databases only in your Home Region.
  • Not all regions support the same database version. The supported version may be 19c-only or 21c-only, depending on the region.
  • You cannot create an Always Free Autonomous Database in any Home Region where Always Free Autonomous Databases are not supported. To learn which regions support them, see Data Regions for Platform and Infrastructure Services.

Always Free Autonomous Database Specifications

  • Processor: 1 Oracle CPU processor (cannot be scaled)
  • Database Storage: 20 GB storage (cannot be scaled)

  • Workload Type: Your choice of workload type:

    • The Autonomous Database for Transaction Processing and Mixed Workloads workload type configures the database for a transactional workload, with a bias towards high volumes of random data access.

      For a complete product overview of Autonomous Database for Transaction Processing and Mixed Workloads, see Autonomous Transaction Processing. For Autonomous Database for Transaction Processing and Mixed Workloads tutorials, see Quick Start tutorials.

    • The Autonomous Database for Analytics and Data Warehousing workload type configures the database for a decision support or data warehouse workload, with a bias towards large data scanning operations.

      For a complete product overview of Autonomous Database for Analytics and Data Warehousing, see Autonomous Data Warehouse. For Autonomous Database for Analytics and Data Warehousing tutorials, see Quick Start tutorials.

    • The JSON workload type is configured for JSON-based application development.

      For a complete product overview of Autonomous JSON Database, see Using Oracle Autonomous JSON Database. Also available in the Oracle Help Center are Autonomous JSON Database tutorials and the JSON Developer's Guide.

    • The APEX workload type is used for Oracle APEX Application Development. This workload type is optimized for application developers who want a transaction processing database for application development that uses Oracle APEX. The APEX service enables creation and deployment of low-code applications, including databases. See Oracle APEX Application Development Documentation for more information about the APEX service and Oracle APEX Application Development Specific Limitations for a list of use restrictions.
      Note

      You can use the APEX service with each of the other workload types.
  • Database Version: Oracle Database 19c or Oracle Database 21c.
  • Infrastructure Type: Shared Exadata infrastructure
  • Maximum Simultaneous Database Sessions: 20

Lifecycle for Always Free Autonomous Databases

After provisioning, you can continue using your Always Free Autonomous Database for as long as you want at no charge. You can terminate the database at any time.

Lifecycle Management for Inactive Always Free Autonomous Databases

If your Always Free Autonomous Database has no activity for a period of 7 consecutive days, the Database service will stop the database automatically. If this happens, restart the database and continue using it. If your Always Free Autonomous Database remains in a stopped state for 3 consecutive months, the database will be reclaimed (automatically terminated) by the Database service.

Using Events and Notifications to Stay Informed About Inactive Always Free Autonomous Databases

You can use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure's Events service to send structured JSON messages about your Always Free Autonomous Database lifecycle events to applications used for automation. For example, you can create automatic email, Slack, PagerDuty, or HTTPS notifications (using the Notifications service) to be alerted if a database is going to be stopped or terminated in the next 48 hours. You can also set up notifications to be alerted when a database is automatically stopped or and terminated.

See the following topics for more information: