About Exadata Cloud Service Instances
Exadata System Configuration
Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service is offered in the following system configurations:
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Quarter Rack: Containing two compute nodes and three Exadata Storage Servers.
-
Half Rack: Containing four compute nodes and six Exadata Storage Servers.
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Full Rack: Containing eight compute nodes and 12 Exadata Storage Servers.
Exadata Cloud Service configurations were first offered on Oracle Exadata X5 systems. More recent Exadata Cloud Service configurations are based on Oracle Exadata X6 or X7 systems.
Each system configuration is equipped with a fixed amount of memory, storage, and network resources. However, you can choose how many compute node (database server) CPU cores are enabled. This choice enables you to scale an Exadata Cloud Service configuration to meet workload demands and only pay for the processing power that you require. Each database server must contain the same number of enabled CPU cores.
System Specifications
The following table outlines the technical specifications for each Exadata Cloud Service system configuration based on Oracle Exadata X5 hardware.
| Specification | Quarter Rack | Half Rack | Full Rack |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Number of Compute Nodes |
2 |
4 |
8 |
|
— Total Maximum Number of Enabled CPU Cores |
68 |
136 |
272 |
|
— Total RAM Capacity |
480 GB |
960 GB |
1920 GB |
|
Number of Exadata Storage Servers |
3 |
6 |
12 |
|
— Total Raw Flash Storage Capacity |
19.2 TB |
38.4 TB |
76.8 TB |
|
— Total Raw Disk Storage Capacity |
144 TB |
288 TB |
576 TB |
|
— Total Usable Storage Capacity |
42 TB |
84 TB |
168 TB |
The following table outlines the technical specifications for each Exadata Cloud Service system configuration based on Oracle Exadata X6 hardware.
| Specification | Quarter Rack | Half Rack | Full Rack |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Number of Compute Nodes |
2 |
4 |
8 |
|
— Total Maximum Number of Enabled CPU Cores |
84 |
168 |
336 |
|
— Total RAM Capacity |
1440 GB |
2880 GB |
5760 GB |
|
Number of Exadata Storage Servers |
3 |
6 |
12 |
|
— Total Raw Flash Storage Capacity |
38.4 TB |
76.8 TB |
153.6 TB |
|
— Total Raw Disk Storage Capacity |
288 TB |
576 TB |
1152 TB |
|
— Total Usable Storage Capacity |
84 TB |
168 TB |
336 TB |
The following table outlines the technical specifications for each Exadata Cloud Service system configuration based on Oracle Exadata X7 hardware.
| Specification | Quarter Rack | Half Rack | Full Rack |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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 Raw Disk Storage Capacity |
360 TB |
720 TB |
1440 TB |
|
— Total Usable Storage Capacity |
106.9 TB |
213.8 TB |
427.6 TB |
Exadata Storage Configuration
As part of configuring each Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service instance, the storage space inside the Exadata Storage Servers is configured for use by Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM). By default, the following ASM disk groups are created:
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The DATA disk group is primarily intended for the storage of Oracle Database data files.
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The RECO disk group is primarily used for storing the Fast Recovery Area (FRA), which is an area of storage where Oracle Database can create and manage various files related to backup and recovery, such as RMAN backups and archived redo log files.
In addition, you can optionally create the SPARSE disk group. The SPARSE disk group is required to support Exadata Cloud Service snapshots. Exadata snapshots enable space-efficient clones of Oracle databases that can be created and destroyed very quickly and easily. Snapshot clones are often used for development, testing, or other purposes that require a transient database.
For Exadata Cloud Service instances that are based on Oracle Exadata X6 hardware or Oracle Exadata X5 hardware, there are additional system disk groups that support various operational purposes. The DBFS disk group is primarily used to store the shared Oracle Clusterware files (Oracle Cluster Registry and voting disks), while the ACFS disk groups underpin shared file systems that are used to store software binaries (and patches) and files associated with the cloud-specific tooling that resides on your Exadata Cloud Service compute nodes. You must not remove or disable any of the system disk groups or related ACFS file systems. You should not store your own data, including Oracle Database data files or backups, inside the system disk groups or related ACFS file systems. Compared to the other disk groups, the system disk groups are so small that they are typically ignored when discussing the overall storage capacity.
For Exadata Cloud Service instances that are based on Oracle Exadata X7 hardware, there are no additional system disk groups. On such instances, a small amount of space is allocated from the DATA disk group to support the shared file systems that are used to store software binaries (and patches) and files associated with the cloud-specific tooling. You should not store your own data, including Oracle Database data files or backups, inside the system related ACFS file systems.
Although the disk groups are commonly referred to as DATA, RECO and so on, the ASM disk group names contain a short identifier string that is associated with your Exadata Database Machine environment. For example, the identifier could be C2, in which case the DATA disk group would be named DATAC2, the RECO disk group would be named RECOC2, and so on.
As an input to the configuration process, you must make decisions that determine how storage space in the Exadata Storage Servers is allocated to the ASM disk groups:
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Database backups on Exadata Storage — select this configuration option if you intend to perform database backups to the Exadata storage within your Exadata Cloud Service environment. If you select this option more space is allocated to the RECO disk group, which is used to store backups on Exadata storage. If you do not select this option, more space is allocated to the DATA disk group, which enables you to store more information in your databases.
Note:
Take care when setting this option. Depending on your situation, you may have limited options for adjusting the space allocation after the storage in configured. -
Create sparse disk group? — select this configuration option if you intend to use snapshot functionality within your Exadata Cloud Service environment. If you select this option the SPARSE disk group is created, which enables you to use Exadata Cloud Service snapshot functionality. If you do not select this option, the SPARSE disk group is not created and Exadata Cloud Service snapshot functionality will not be available on any database deployments that are created in the environment.
Note:
Take care when setting this option. You cannot later enable Exadata Cloud Service snapshot functionality if you do not select the option to create the SPARSE disk group.
The following table outlines the proportional allocation of storage amongst the DATA, RECO, and SPARSE disk groups for each possible configuration:
| Configuration settings | DATA disk group | RECO disk group | SPARSE disk group |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Database backups on Exadata Storage: No Create sparse disk group?: No |
80 % |
20 % |
0 % The SPARSE disk group is not created. |
|
Database backups on Exadata Storage: Yes Create sparse disk group?: No |
40 % |
60 % |
0 % The SPARSE disk group is not created. |
|
Database backups on Exadata Storage: No Create sparse disk group?: Yes |
60 % |
20 % |
20 % |
|
Database backups on Exadata Storage: Yes Create sparse disk group?: Yes |
35 % |
50 % |
15 % |
IP Networks
Configuring IP networks in association with Exadata Cloud Service enables you to specify the IP addresses that are used to access your Exadata Cloud Service environment.
Using IP networks allows you to create a network architecture that mirrors and extends your corporate network architecture. This provides network administrators with greater flexibility and control over the Exadata Cloud Service environment.
Note:
IP network configuration is only possible on environments where it is required when creating an Exadata Cloud Service instance. See Creating an Exadata Cloud Service Instance.
If you are not prompted to configure IP networks when you create an Exadata Cloud Service instance, then the Exadata system supporting the service instance is not equipped for IP network configuration. In this case, the only way to get the functionality associated with IP networks is to use another Exadata Cloud Service instance that resides on an Exadata system where IP network configuration is enabled.
On Exadata Cloud Service environments where IP network configuration is enabled, you must specify IP network definitions for the following networks:
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Client Network — this network is primarily used for client access to the database servers. Applications typically access databases on Exadata Cloud Service through this network using Oracle Net Services in conjunction with Single Client Access Name (SCAN) and Oracle RAC Virtual IP (VIP) interfaces.
-
Backup Network — this network is similar to the client network and is typically used to access the database servers for various purposes, including backups and bulk data transfers.
Note:
-
You must associate the client network and the backup network with separate IP network definitions. You cannot use one IP network definition for both networks.
-
For environments where IP network configuration is enabled there is no separate administration network interface. All network communications must be done using the client network or the backup network.
An IP network definition consists of two mandatory attributes:
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Name — identifies the IP network definition.
-
IP Address Prefix — specifies a range of IP addresses, in CIDR format.
When an Exadata Cloud Service instance is associated with an IP network definition, the IP addresses for the specified network are allocated from the address range corresponding to the IP Address Prefix.
Optional attributes control how an IP network interacts with other IP networks.
Before you can associate IP network definitions with your Exadata Cloud Service instance, you must first create the required IP network definitions. To create an IP network you must use the network management Web console that is associated with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute Classic. You can navigate directly to the required network management Web console by clicking Create New IP Network on the Instance Details page of the Create New Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service Instance wizard.
See About IP Networks and Creating an IP Network in Using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute Classic.