Migrate Single-Instance Oracle Databases Protected by Oracle Data Guard

In this configuration option, you migrate an application and a single-instance Oracle Database. Oracle Data Guard replicates the database into a second on-premises region for data protection and disaster recovery. A local database backup is created in each region. You deploy the configuration in both regions on VMware. Oracle Data Guard management and operations are usually manual and your full responsibility.

The following architecture diagram shows a single-instance Oracle Database with Oracle Data Guard across data centers deployed on-premises:

Description of the illustration migrate-single-instance-premises-oracle-data-guard-arch.png

You have the following options to ensure database high availability when migrating this deployment to OCI:

• Migrate to Oracle Base Database Service
• Migrate to Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless
• Migrate to Oracle Cloud VMware Solution

Migrate to Oracle Base Database Service

Oracle Base Database Service runs Oracle Database Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition workloads on flexible virtual machine (VM) shapes in OCI. The service provides automated database lifecycle management that reduces administration, built-in low-code application development that accelerates new application deployment, and compute scaling with pay-as-you-go pricing that lowers costs.

Oracle Base Database Service complies with the MAA Bronze Level by default.

The following architecture diagram shows a single-instance Oracle Database on Oracle Base Database Service with Oracle Data Guard across regions:

Description of the illustration migrate-basedb-service-oracle-data-guard-regions-arch.png

This architecture consists of the following components:

• In each region, a VCN with two subnets and a Service Gateway to access OCI-managed services.
• A DRG in each VCN and a Remote Peering Connection (RPC) between the VCNs.
• Primary application on OCI Compute VM running in the application subnet in the Primary region.
• Standby application on OCI Compute VM running in the application subnet in the Standby region.
• Primary single-instance Oracle Database deployed on Oracle Base Database Service in the database subnet in the Primary region.
• Standby single-instance Oracle Database deployed on Oracle Base Database Service in the database subnet in the Standby region.
• Oracle Data Guard replicates data from the Primary to the Standby database.
• OCI Full Stack DR orchestrates the switchover and failover operations.
• Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service for database automatic backups.
• (Optional) OCI Object Storage service as an alternative solution for database automatic backups.
• (Optional) OCI Vault for TDE key management.

This architecture benefits from:

• High availability with Oracle Grid Infrastructure.
• Data protection and (near) zero data loss with Oracle Data Guard standby database.
• Orchestrated switchover and failover of application and database with OCI Full Stack DR.
• Application protection from interruptions during outages and maintenance operations with Application Continuity.
• Reduced backup workload on primary and standby with Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service.
• Automated database provisioning and lifecycle operations.
• Automated Oracle Data Guard setup.
• TDE is enabled by default with the option to use OCI Vault for key management.
• Automated migrations using ZDM.
• Oracle Cloud licensing models.

Recommendations

• Set up automatic backup to Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service even though the data is protected by Oracle Data Guard to minimize the backup workload on the database by implementing the incremental forever backup strategy that eliminates weekly full backups.
• Enable backups from standby to achieve backup replication across regions.
• Use Active Data Guard for comprehensive data corruption prevention with automatic block repair, online upgrades and migrations, offload workload to standby with read-mostly scale-out, and enable Application Continuity to mask database outages during planned and unplanned events from end-users and ensure uninterrupted applications.

Migrate to Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless

Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless complies with the Oracle MAA Gold Level by default (certified for Local Oracle Autonomous Data Guard).

The following architecture shows Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless with Oracle Autonomous Data Guard across regions:

Description of the illustration migrate-autonomousdb-serverless-data-guard.png

This architecture consists of the following components:

• In each region, a VCN with two subnets and a Service Gateway to access OCI-managed services.
• Primary application on OCI Compute VM running in the application subnet in the Primary region.
• Standby application on OCI Compute VM running in the application subnet in the Standby region.
• Primary Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless with private endpoint access through the database subnet in the primary region.
• Standby Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless with private endpoint access through the database subnet in the standby region.
• Cross-region Oracle Autonomous Data Guard to replicate data from the primary to the standby Autonomous Database.
• OCI Full Stack DR orchestrates the switchover and failover operations.
• (Optional) OCI Vault for TDE key management.

This architecture benefits from:

• Built-in high availability and redundancy provided by Oracle Exadata and Oracle RAC.
• Data protection and near zero data loss with Oracle Autonomous Data Guard standby database.
• Orchestrated switchover and failover of application and database with OCI Full Stack DR.
• Application protection from interruptions during outages and maintenance operations with Application Continuity.
• Online and automatic scalability of compute and storage resources.
• Automated database provisioning and autonomous lifecycle operations.
• Automated Oracle Autonomous Data Guard setup.
• TDE is enabled by default with the option to use OCI Vault for key management.
• Automated migrations using ZDM.
• OCI licensing models and Enterprise Edition options are included at no additional cost.

Recommendation

Enable Application Continuity to mask database outages during planned and unplanned events from end-users and ensure uninterrupted applications.

Migrate to Oracle Cloud VMware Solution

Compute VMs use a local file system without restart capabilities provided by Oracle Grid Infrastructure. Oracle Data Guard setup between the two regions must be set up manually.

The following architecture diagram shows a single-instance Oracle Database on OCVS with Oracle Data Guard across regions:

Description of the illustration migrate-single-oci-odb-ovcs-dg-regions.png

This architecture consists of the following components in each region:

• VCN with a Service Gateway to access OCI-managed services.
• A Dynamic Routing Gateway (DRG) in each VCN and a Remote Peering Connection (RPC) between the VCNs.
• OCVS Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC).
• Primary application on OCI Compute VM provided by OCVS in the Primary region.
• Standby application on OCI Compute VM provided by OCVS in the Standby region.
• Primary single-instance Oracle Database on OCI Compute VM provided by OCVS in the Primary region.
• Standby single-instance Oracle Database on OCI Compute VM provided by OCVS in the Standby region.
• Oracle Data Guard to replicate data from the Primary to the Standby database.
• OCI Object Storage for database backups.

Recommendation

• Use the Oracle Database Cloud Backup Module to configure database backups to OCI Object Storage and benefit from three-way mirroring across Availability Domains or Fault Domains.

• Use Active Data Guard for comprehensive data corruption prevention with automatic block repair, online upgrades and migrations, to offload workload to standby with read-mostly scale-out.

• Enable Application Continuity to mask database outages during planned and unplanned events from end-users and ensure uninterrupted applications.

Options Comparison

OCI provides various options for your VMware-based workloads with different features for high availability, disaster recovery, migration, automation, and more.

The following table compares single-instance Oracle Database with Oracle Data Guard migration options with Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless, Oracle Base Database Service, and Oracle Cloud VMware Solution:

Feature	Oracle Base Database Service	Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless	Oracle Cloud VMware Solution
Database deployment	Comanaged	Autonomous	Manual
Lifecycle operations	Automated	Autonomous	Manual
Data Guard setup	Automated	Automated	Manual
Failover operation	Automated with Fast-Start Failover	Automatic (if zero data loss guaranteed)	Automated with Fast-Start Failover
Licensing	BYOL and license included	BYOL and license included	BYOL
TDE encryption	Default and included	Default and included	Manual, paid option
TDE Key Store	Local wallet and OCI Vault	Local wallet and OCI Vault	Local wallet
Database migration	Automated with Oracle ZDM	Automated with Oracle ZDM	Manual
Oracle MAA Level	Bronze + Oracle Data Guard	Gold (Local Oracle Autonomous Data Guard Standby)	Bronze + Oracle Data Guard (customer responsibility)
High availability	Oracle Data Guard	Oracle Exadata and Oracle RAC	Oracle Data Guard
Disaster Recovery (DR)	Oracle Data Guard	Oracle Autonomous Data Guard	Oracle Data Guard
DR Operations	OCI Full Stack DR	OCI Full Stack DR	Manual
Backup operations	Automated	Autonomous	Manual
Restore operations	Automated	Automated	Manual
RPO (regional outage)	(Near) zero	Up to 1 minute	(Near) zero
RTO (regional outage)	Time to failover	15 minutes	Time to failover
Application Continuity	Yes	Yes	Yes