1. Administering Oracle Database Exadata Cloud at Customer (Gen 1/OCI-C)
  2. Managing the Exadata Cloud at Customer Life Cycle
  3. Creating an Exadata Cloud at Customer Instance

Creating an Exadata Cloud at Customer Instance

When you create an Oracle Database Exadata Cloud at Customer instance, you provision the Exadata Database Machine that hosts your Exadata Cloud at Customer database deployments. To create an Exadata Cloud at Customer instance, use the Create New Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service Instance wizard as described in the following procedure.

Before You Begin

Before you create an Exadata Cloud at Customer instance, ensure that you have an active Exadata Cloud at Customer subscription in place.

If you do not have a valid subscription in place, then the Create New Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service Instance wizard does not show the options required to create and provision an Exadata Cloud at Customer instance.

Procedure

To create an Exadata Cloud at Customer instance:

  1. Open the My Services dashboard.

    For detailed instructions, see Accessing the My Services Dashboard and the Oracle Database Cloud Service Console.

  2. Click Create Instance, and then click the Create button associated with Exadata Cloud at Customer in the All Services list.

    The Create New Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service Instance wizard starts and the Instance Details page is displayed.

  3. On the Instance Details page, specify configuration details for your Exadata Cloud at Customer instance. Then, click Next.

    1. In the Instance Details section, specify the following attributes associated with your Exadata Cloud at Customer instance.

      • Name — enter a name for your service instance.

      • Region — select the region (data center) that hosts your Exadata Cloud at Customer instance.

      • Plan — select the available plan from the list. A plan is associated with a set of attributes that apply to a service. For Exadata Cloud at Customer, only one plan is available.

      • Rack Size — select the rack configuration for your service instance. See Exadata System Configuration for a description of the available rack configurations. Your subscription may impose limits on the available rack sizes that are displayed.

        In addition to selecting the correct rack configuration, ensure that you select the appropriate configuration option for your situation:

        • If the service instance uses Exadata X6 hardware, ensure that you select Eighth Rack, Quarter Rack, Half Rack, or Full Rack.

        • If the service instance uses Exadata X7 hardware, ensure that you select a Rack Size that is associated with Exadata X7.

        • If the service instance uses Oracle Database licenses that are provided by you rather than licenses that are provided are part of the service subscription, ensure that you select a Rack Size that is associated with the bring-your-own-license (BYOL) option.

        • If the service instance uses Exadata infrastructure that is billed separately from the database server OCPUs, ensure that you select a Rack Size that is associated with Exadata X7 Infrastructure.

      • BYOL enabled — check this option to indicate that the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance uses Oracle Database licenses that are provided by you rather than licenses that are provided are part of the service subscription.

        This option does not display if it is incompatible with your subscription. It only affects the billing that is associated with the service instance, and has no effect on the technical configuration of the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance.

      • Additional Number of OCPU (Cores) — enter the number of additional CPU cores that you want to enable. (Optional)

        Ensure that you only use this field for service instances based on Exadata X6.

        Use this field to specify the number of additional CPU cores to enable for the service instance. This number is in addition to the minimum number of enabled CPU cores for each rack size. The additional CPU cores specified in this setting are allocated evenly among the compute nodes associated with the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance.

        See Exadata System Configuration for details about the maximum number of CPU cores that are available for each Exadata rack size. Your subscription may impose more limits on the number of CPU cores that you can enable.

        This option does not display if it is incompatible with your subscription.

      • Additional Number of OCPU (Cores) X7 — enter the number of additional CPU cores that you want to enable. (Optional)

        Ensure that you only use this field for service instances based on Exadata X7 hardware without the BYOL or separate infrastructure options.

        This field is functionally equivalent to Additional Number of OCPU (Cores), except that it only applies to Exadata Cloud at Customer instances that are created with a Rack Size that is associated with an Exadata X7 system.

      • Additional Number of OCPU (Cores) BYOL — enter the number of additional CPU cores that you want to enable. (Optional)

        Ensure that you only use this field for service instances based on Exadata X7 hardware with the bring-your-own-license (BYOL) option.

        This field is functionally equivalent to Additional Number of OCPU (Cores), except that it only applies to Exadata Cloud at Customer instances that are created with a Rack Size that is associated with the BYOL option.

      • Total Number of OCPU (Cores) — enter the number of CPU cores that you want to enable.

        Ensure that you only use this field for service instances based on Exadata X7 Infrastructure where the Exadata infrastructure is billed separately from the database server OCPUs.

        Use this field to specify the total number of CPU cores to enable for the service instance. The CPU cores specified in this setting must be allocated evenly among the compute nodes associated with the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance.

        See Exadata System Configuration for details about the maximum number of CPU cores that are available for each Exadata rack size.

        Your subscription may also impose limits on the number of CPU cores that you can enable.

      • Suspend On Create — check this option to suspend the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance immediately after it is created. When a service instance is suspended, the associated compute nodes are shut down and the service does not consume any compute node CPU cores.

        This option is only available for service instances that use Exadata X7 Infrastructure where the Exadata infrastructure is billed separately from the database server OCPUs.

      • CPU Oversubscription — check this option to enable CPU oversubscription on the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance. See CPU Oversubscription.

        Note:

        After it is enabled, you cannot disable CPU oversubscription.

      • Availability Domain — specifies the infrastructure zone to place the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance. (Optional)

        Use this setting to configure Exadata Cloud at Customer instances in different infrastructure zones to facilitate high availability in an Oracle Data Guard configuration.

        This option does not display if availability domains are not supported in the Region that you selected to host the instance.

      • Exadata ID — specifies the identifier of the Exadata system rack to use for the Exadata Cloud at Customer instance. The choices in the list are based information provided during the provisioning of your Exadata Cloud at Customer systems.

    2. In the Administrator Details section, provide information about the administrator of your Exadata Database Machine environment.

      • Email — enter an email address for the Exadata system administrator.

      • User Name — enter a user name for the Exadata system administrator. Alternatively, check the Use email as user name option to copy the Email entry into the User Name field.

      • First Name — enter the first name of the Exadata system administrator.

      • Last Name — enter the last name of the Exadata system administrator.

  4. Use the VM Cluster Details section to specify configuration details for the first VM cluster on your Exadata Cloud at Customer instance. Then, click Create Service Instance.

    • Exadata System Name — enter a name for your first VM cluster. This name is also used in the cluster name for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation.

    • Database backups on Exadata Storage — check this option to configure the Exadata storage to enable local database backups.

      Note:

      Take care when setting this option because your choice has a profound effect on the storage allocation and your backup options, which cannot be easily changed. See Exadata Storage Configuration for more information about the effects of each configuration alternative.

    • Create sparse disk group? — check this option to create a disk group that is based on sparse grid disks. You must select this option to enable Exadata Cloud at Customer snapshots. Exadata snapshots enable space-efficient clones of Oracle databases that can be created and destroyed very quickly and easily.

      Note:

      Take care when setting this option because your choice has a profound effect on the storage allocation and your ability to use snapshots, which cannot be easily changed. See Exadata Storage Configuration for more information about the effects of each configuration alternative. See also Creating and Managing Snapshots of a Database Deployment.

    • Database backups on ZDLRA — check this option to enable database backups on Oracle Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance (ZDLRA) storage. If you do not select this option, then you cannot select ZDLRA as a backup location when you configure a database deployment.

    • Exadata Storage (TB) — specifies the total amount of Exadata storage (in TB) that is allocated to the first VM cluster. This storage is allocated evenly from all of the Exadata Storage Servers. Specify a value up to the total amount of Exadata storage that is associated with your selected Rack Size, factoring in any plans for more VM clusters.

    • Client Network — specifies the client network subnet that is allocated to the first VM cluster. Choose from the list of available subnets. The choices in the list are based on the network definitions that were defined during the provisioning of your Exadata Cloud at Customer system. Your choice also automatically selects the backup network subnet for the VM cluster, which is associated with the selected client network subnet.

    • OCPUs — specifies the number of CPU cores that are allocated to each active node in the first VM cluster. Specify a value within the suggested range, factoring in any plans for more VM clusters.

    • Memory (GB) — specifies the amount of memory (in GB) that is allocated to each active node in the first VM cluster. Specify a value greater than 30 GB and up to the amount of remaining unallocated memory, factoring in any plans for more VM clusters.

      Note:

      Take care when specifying the memory allocation because:
      • After the VM cluster is created, you cannot decrease the memory allocation; however, you may increase the memory allocation by using unallocated memory.
      • You cannot create another VM cluster unless there is 30 GB of remaining unallocated memory. In that case, you would need to delete an existing VM cluster before you can create another one.

    • DB Home Storage (GB) — specifies the amount of local disk storage (in GB) that is allocated to each active node in the first VM cluster. Specify a value greater than 60 GB and up to the amount of remaining unallocated local storage space, factoring in any plans for more VM clusters.

      Note:

      Take care when specifying the local disk storage because:
      • In addition to the storage specified in this attribute, each VM cluster requires 137 GB of local disk storage to support software images for the VM cluster. Consequently, the minimum amount of local disk storage consumed by a VM cluster is 197 GB (137 GB + 60 GB).
      • For Exadata Cloud at Customer configurations based on Oracle Exadata X7 systems, the total amount of local disk storage that can be allocated to VM clusters is 1237 GB. For Exadata Cloud at Customer configurations based on Oracle Exadata X6 systems, the total amount of local disk storage that can be allocated to VM clusters is 483 GB by default, or up to 1237 GB on systems with upgraded local disk storage.
      • After the VM cluster is created, you cannot modify the amount of local storage.
      • If all of the local disk storage is allocated, or if there is not at least 197 GB of remaining unallocated local disk storage, then you cannot create another VM cluster. In that case, you must delete an existing VM cluster before you can create another one.

    • The check boxes beside each node (Node 1, Node 2, and so on) enable you to specify the active compute nodes in the first VM cluster. Use the check boxes to specify the nodes that are included in the cluster.

  5. Click Create in the confirmation dialog to proceed, or click Cancel in the confirmation dialog to step back into the wizard.

    Clicking Create in the confirmation dialog starts the process to create the service instance. This process is fully automated and takes approximately one to two hours to complete. During this time, you cannot access the service instance. After the process is completed, the service instance becomes active and you can create database deployments.

    If you need to change a setting, click Cancel in the confirmation dialog to step back into the wizard. You can also click Cancel at any time to exit the wizard without creating a new service instance.