New Feature Announcements (2022)

Announcements for the noteworthy changes made to Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure.

December 2022

Feature Description

Documentation Update: Availability Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure

Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure documentation is updated with the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Service Level Objectives (SLOs) for the Oracle Public Cloud and Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer deployments.

Refer to Availability Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for complete details.

Multiple VM Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure

On Oracle Public Cloud deployments, you can now:
  • Create both Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters and Exadata Database VM Clusters on a common Exadata Infrastructure resource.

  • Create multiple Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters on an Exadata Infrastructure resource.

  • Support for multiple VM Clusters lets you:
    • Schedule separate maintenance runs for each Autonomous VM Cluster on the same Exadata Infrastructure.

    • Choose different license models for Autonomous Databases on the same Exadata Infrastructure.

    • Create and test Autonomous Data Guard between Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters on the same Exadata Infrastructure.

    • Customize compute, storage, and memory of each Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster configuration for the intended workload.

    • Implement network isolation of Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters to provide security and performance guarantees for specific workloads (Dev-Test, Staging, and Production).

Note:

You can only create a Multiple VM - Autonomous VM Cluster (AVMC) on Exadata Infrastructure resources created in Oracle Cloud after the launch of the multiple VM Autonomous Databases feature. Please create a service request in My Oracle Support if you need to address this limitation and want to add an Autonomous VM Cluster to older Exadata Infrastructure resources. For help with filing a support request, see Create a Service Request in My Oracle Support.
Documentation Update: IAM Policy Details for Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure

Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure documentation is updated with the details for writing policies to control access to Autonomous Database resources.

Refer to Policy Details for Oracle Autonomous Database for complete details.

November 2022

Feature Description

SCAN listener port and TLS authentication mode

On Exadata Cloud@Customer deployments, you can now choose:

  • A SCAN listener port for TLS and non-TLS from a range of available ports.

  • Between one-way TLS and mTLS for database TLS certificates.

The above choices are available only while provisioning an Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster (AVMC) resource. Refer to Create an Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster for detailed instructions.

Connect Python applications using the python-oracledb driver.

On Exadata Cloud@Customer deployments, you can now connect Python applications to your database instance using the python-oracledb driver.

Refer to Connect Python Applications Using mTLS for more details.

October 2022

Feature Description
Oracle LogMiner

You can now use LogMiner with your Autonomous Database. LogMiner, which is part of Oracle Database, enables you to query online and archived redo log files through a SQL interface.

For limitations on using LogMiner with Autonomous Database, see Limitations on the Use of LogMiner.

Oracle Database API for MongoDB

Using MongoDB commands, you can now use Oracle Database API for MongoDB to build applications that interact with collections of JSON documents in an Autonomous Database.

Refer to Oracle API for MongoDB Support for the requirements and procedure involved in using Oracle Database API for MongoDB with an Autonomous Database.

August 2022

Feature Description
New events for Autonomous Data Guard associations.

You can now get notified when an Autonomous Database changes its role from standby to primary or primary to standby as a result of manual failover, switchover, or automatic failover.

To subscribe to event notifications, see Use Events and Notifications to Watch Resource Activity.

Refer to Events for Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure for a complete list of events emitted by the Autonomous Database resources.

Create a new Autonomous Database instance from backup.

You can now create a new Autonomous Database by cloning from a backup on the same or another Exadata Infrastructure in the same or a different region.

In the case of dedicated databases that use Autonomous Data Guard, you can create a new database instance using the backup of either primary or standby databases.

Clone a database instance across regions and Exadata Infrastructure resources.

You can now clone an Autonomous Database to an Autonomous Container Database on another Exadata Infrastructure in the same or a different region.

For step-by-step instructions, see Clone an Autonomous Database Instance.

Fast Ingest Support

You can now optimize the processing of high-frequency, single-row data inserts into Autonomous Database using fast ingest.

To learn more about using fast ingest with Autonomous Database, see Limitations on the Use of Fast Ingest.

July 2022

Feature Description
Oracle Operator Access Control for Autonomous Database on dedicated exadata infrastructure.

Operator Access Control is now expanded to provide controls for client virtual machines deployed on Oracle Autonomous Database on dedicated exadata infrastructure.

Similar to Operator access control for Exadata Cloud@Customer Infrastructure, customers may now impose Oracle operator access controls on their Autonomous Virtual Machine clusters deployed on Oracle cloud.

See Auditing Oracle Operator Activities for more details.

Documentation addition about Operations Insights.

A new article is added to the Autonomous Database documentation that describes how you can use Operations Insights to monitor databases.

Refer to Use Operations Insights on Dedicated Autonomous Database for more details.

Badging the features exclusive to either Oracle cloud or Exadata Cloud@Customer deployments.
Articles discussing the features that are exclusive to either Oracle cloud or Exadata Cloud@Customer deployments have been updated with the following badges, as appropriate:
  • APPLIES TO: Applicable Oracle Public Cloud only
  • APPLIES TO: Applicable Exadata Cloud@Customer only

For a glance at the features supported exclusively by Oracle cloud or Exadata Cloud@Customer deployment choices, refer to Feature Parity Between Oracle Cloud and Exadata Cloud at Customer.

June 2022

Feature Description
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD ) Integration

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD ) users can now connect to an Autonomous Database instance using Azure OAuth2 access tokens.

See Authenticate and Authorize Microsoft Azure Active Directory Users for Autonomous Database for more information.

New events for Cloud Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster and Autonomous Database resources.
You can now get notified when:
  • An SSL certificate is rotated either manually (using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure console or API) or automatically on its expiry.
  • Your Autonomous Database wallet has been rotated and must be downloaded.

To subscribe to event notifications, see Use Events and Notifications to Watch Resource Activity .

Refer to Events for Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure for a complete list of events emitted by Autonomous Database resources.

Time zone selection for Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters on Oracle Cloud.

You can now set a time zone other than UTC or the browser-detected time zone while provisioning an Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster on Oracle Cloud.

For more details, see Create an Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster.

May 2022

Feature Description
Elastic provisioning for X8M-2 and X9M-2 systems on Oracle Cloud.

While provisioning X8M-2 and X9M-2 systems on Oracle Cloud, you can now choose a server configuration that is different from the default configuration.

See Create an Exadata Infrastructure Resource for specific details.

Documentation addition about monitoring databases with Autonomous Database metrics.

A new article is added to the Autonomous Database documentation that describes how you can use Autonomous Database metrics to monitor databases. The complete list of available metrics for the Autonomous Database is also documented for reference.

See Monitor Databases with Autonomous Database Metrics for more details.

Character set selection.

You can now choose a character set of your choice from a list of supported character sets while provisioning an Autonomous Database.

Even though you are allowed to choose any supported combination of database and national character sets for an Autonomous Database, the Autonomous Container Database continues to use AL32UTF8 as the database character set and AL16UTF16 as the national character set. Oracle supports different database and national character sets inside an Autonomous Container Database for each database.

See Character Set Selection for Dedicated Autonomous Database for more details.

Oracle standard tagging for Autonomous Database cloud resources on Exadata Cloud@Customer.

You can now use Oracle Standard tags to tag your Cloud@Customer cloud resources as per your organizational scheme. Tagging allows you to group resources, manage costs, and give insights into usage.

For more details on tagging your cloud resources, see Tagging Dedicated Autonomous Database Cloud Resources.

Support for resource usage tracking.

You can now monitor and manage your resource consumption easily with the help of OCPU and storage details displayed on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure console for your Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster (AVMC) and Autonomous Container Database (ACD) resources.

As part of this feature release, the following details are displayed on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure console for your Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster and Autonomous Container Database resources:
  • Total OCPUs
  • Available OCPUs
  • Reclaimable OCPUs
  • Available Storage in TB
  • Total Storage in TB
  • Memory per OCPU
  • Total number of ACDs that you can provision in this resource in an AVMC resource.
  • Remaining (available) ACDs that you can provision in an AVMC resource.

Understanding and knowing these details can help you effectively track and manage the OCPU and storage resources in your Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters and Autonomous Container Databases.

See OCPU Management and Billing for more details.

Increase in Database Name length from 14 characters to 30 characters.

You can now enter a value of up to 30 characters for Database Name while creating or cloning an Autonomous Database.

Review the following guidelines when selecting a database name while creating or cloning an Autonomous Database:
  • Maximum 30 characters in length
  • Contain only alphanumeric characters
  • Begin with an alphabetic character
  • Not contain spaces

April 2022

Feature Description
Oracle standard tagging for Autonomous Database cloud resources

You can now use Oracle Standard tags to tag your cloud resources as per your organizational scheme. Tagging allows you to group resources, manage costs, and give insights into usage.

For more details on tagging your cloud resources, see Tagging Dedicated Autonomous Database Cloud Resources.

Documentation addition listing API to manage the Autonomous Data Guard configuration.

A reference article is added to the Autonomous Database documentation to provide a list of REST API endpoints to manage Autonomous Data Guard configuration.

See API to Manage Autonomous Data Guard Configuration

Documentation update consolidating the service maintenance concepts and related how-to guides.

The existing documentation explaining the concepts related to Service Maintenance of an Autonomous Database is improvised and consolidated into a single article. This new article references all the related how-to guides that explain how to view and manage service maintenance for the different infrastructure resources.

For more details, see Service Maintenance of Dedicated Autonomous Database.

Documentation addition listing the IP requirements to create an Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster on Oracle Cloud.

A reference article is added to the Autonomous Database documentation to list the minimum required subnet sizes for Autonomous Database deployments on Oracle Cloud to create an Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster successfully.

For more details, see IP Requirements for Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster.

X9M-2 systems available for Autonomous Database on Oracle Public Cloud deployments.

When you create Autonomous Database deployments on Oracle Public Cloud, you can now deploy to X9M-2 Exadata Database Machine systems.

For details about the capacities and characteristics of the X9M-2 systems supported by the Autonomous Database, see Exadata X9M-2 Systems.

Create a new Autonomous Database instance from backup.

You can now create a new Autonomous Database by cloning from a backup on Exadata Cloud@Customer.

In the case of dedicated databases that use Autonomous Data Guard, you can create a new database instance using the backup of either primary or standby databases.

For more details, see Clone an Autonomous Database.

New event for Cloud Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster resources. You can now get a reminder to rotate an SSL certificate when it is older than 365 days.

To subscribe to event notifications, see Use Events and Notifications to Watch Resource Activity.

For a complete list of events emitted by Cloud Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster resources, see Cloud Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster Event Types.

March 2022

Feature Description
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Integration with Autonomous Database

With the latest Release Update (RU Version 19.14.0.1), you can now configure Autonomous Database to use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Identity and Access Management (IAM) authentication and authorization to allow IAM users to access an Autonomous Database with IAM credentials.

As of this release, (IAM) authentication and authorization:
  • Will be enabled on all the newly provisioned Autonomous Container Databases (ACDs) and Autonomous Databases by default.
  • Can not be used with Autonomous Databases configured with Autonomous Data Guard.

See Use Identity and Access Management (IAM) Authentication with Autonomous Database for more details.

Direct Data Pump Export to Cloud Object Store

With the Release Update (RU Version 19.13.0.1), you can now export data from Autonomous Database to Cloud Object Store directly.

See Export Data From Autonomous Database to Object Store Directly for more details.

Multiple VM Autonomous Database On Exadata Cloud@Customer deployments, you can now:
  • Create both Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters and Exadata Database VM Clusters on a common Exadata Infrastructure resource.

  • Create multiple Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters on a single Exadata Infrastructure resource.
  • Support for multiple VM Clusters lets you:
    • Schedule separate maintenance runs for each Autonomous VM Cluster on the same Exadata Infrastructure.

    • Choose different license models for Autonomous Databases on the same Exadata Infrastructure.

    • Create and test Autonomous Data Guard between Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters on the same Exadata Infrastructure.

    • Customize compute, storage, and memory of each Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster configuration for the intended workload.

    • Implement network isolation of Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters to provide security and performance guarantees for specific workloads (Dev-Test, Staging, and Production).

See Create an Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster for more details.

February 2022

Feature Description
Blockchain Tables Support

Blockchain tables are insert-only tables that organize rows into a number of chains. Blockchain tables protect data that records important actions, assets, entities, and documents from unauthorized modification or deletion by criminals, hackers, and fraud. Blockchain tables prevent unauthorized changes made using the database and detect unauthorized changes that bypass the database.

See Managing Blockchain Tables for more information.

Immutable Tables Support

Immutable tables are read-only tables that prevent unauthorized data modifications by insiders and accidental data modifications resulting from human errors.

See Managing Immutable Tables for more information.

New events for Cloud Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster and Autonomous Database resources.

You can now get notified of new events emitted by the Autonomous Exadata VM Cluster, Autonomous Container Database, and Autonomous Database infrastructure resources.

Refer to the following topics for a complete list of events emitted by these infrastructure resources:

January 2022

Feature Description
Documentation addition to list the event types supported by Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure. A reference article is added to Autonomous Database documentation to provide a list of different event types supported by Autonomous Database on Oracle Cloud. Using the Events service, you can create rules to capture these events and perform actions such as sending you emails using the Notifications service.

See Event Types for Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure for more information.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure is now compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a set of requirements intended to ensure that all companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

See Regulatory Compliance Certification to view the complete list of international and industry-specific compliance standards met by Autonomous Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure.

Automatic Failover or Fast-Start Failover Autonomous Database deployments with Autonomous Data Guard can now failover to their standby Autonomous Container Databases automatically whenever the primary Autonomous Container Database becomes unavailable. This automatic failover is also known as Fast-Start Failover.

For more details about fast-start failover, see Autonomous Data Guard to Protect Critical Databases from Failures and Disasters.