OCI Database Services Professional key terms

A fully managed Oracle database that automates provisioning, tuning, patching, backups, and scaling. It comes in Serverless and Dedicated deployment options and is tuned for transaction processing, analytics, or both.

A deployment where Oracle owns and operates the underlying infrastructure, and compute and storage are billed on consumption. You do not manage hosts, and scaling is largely automatic and elastic.

A deployment where the database runs in an Exadata infrastructure that is isolated from other tenants. It offers more control over patching schedules, networking, and encryption keys than the serverless option.

A feature that automatically increases compute resources for an Autonomous Database when workload demand rises, then returns them when demand falls. It avoids manual resizing while capping the base CPU allocation for billing.

A shared pool of Exadata compute and storage resources in Autonomous Database Dedicated from which autonomous container databases and databases draw capacity. It enables consolidation and pay-for-use allocation across many databases.

A container that hosts one or more pluggable databases in the Autonomous Database Dedicated architecture. It sits between the Exadata infrastructure and individual databases and defines the maintenance and resource boundary.

A self-contained, named database that runs inside a container database and shares its instance and background processes. In OCI it is the unit you connect to and manage for schemas and data.

A directory that contains the Oracle software installation and its associated configuration for a database. Multiple databases can share one home, and patching is applied at the home level on managed services.

A managed compute and storage resource that hosts an Oracle Database on OCI. You choose the shape, edition, and storage, and Oracle handles host provisioning, patching, and backups within the service.

A DB System built on a flexible or fixed VM shape, offering a balance of cost and performance for many production and non-production workloads. Storage uses block volumes attached to the compute instance.

A DB System that runs on a dedicated physical server with no hypervisor layer, giving predictable performance and direct access to local NVMe storage. It suits high-throughput and latency-sensitive database workloads.

A managed Exadata offering on OCI that provides scale-out database servers and intelligent storage cells with smart scan and flash acceleration. It supports single-instance and RAC deployments for demanding workloads.

The underlying Exadata hardware and software stack that hosts Exadata Cloud Service and Autonomous Database Dedicated. You provision it as a unit, then create VM clusters or container databases on top.

A group of database VMs created on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure that runs the Oracle Grid Infrastructure and database software. It is the compute layer on which you create databases and define node count and shape.

An Oracle architecture where multiple instances on separate nodes share one database, providing high availability and horizontal scaling. On OCI it is available on Exadata deployments, not on single-node DB Systems.

A named compute configuration that fixes the number of OCPUs and the amount of memory allocated to a database resource. Choosing a shape determines performance capacity and the base price.

Oracle's unit of compute capacity equal to one physical CPU core, which typically maps to two hardware threads. Billing and sizing for database services are expressed in OCPUs.

A shape whose OCPU and memory allocation you configure within allowed limits rather than accepting a fixed size. It lets you right-size a DB System or Exadata VM cluster to workload needs.

The Oracle Database license level selected for a DB System, such as Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. The edition determines which features are available and affects licensing cost.

A licensing model where you apply existing Oracle Database licenses to OCI resources instead of paying the included license price. Eligibility depends on edition, support status, and the service used.

An Oracle feature that maintains a synchronized standby database for disaster recovery and read offload. On OCI it can be configured across availability domains or regions to meet recovery objectives.

A copy of a primary database kept current by redo apply, used for failover or read-only reporting. It can be physical, block-for-block identical, or logical, containing the same data in a different structure.

An Oracle Data Guard capability where an observer automatically promotes the standby if the primary fails. It reduces recovery time without manual intervention when configured with a failover target.

A strategy that places standby or backup copies in a different OCI region so a regional outage does not destroy both copies. It typically combines Data Guard with object storage backups.

An isolated data center group within an OCI region with independent power and network. Distributing database and standby resources across availability domains protects against a single-site failure.

A grouping of hardware within an availability domain that shares a common failure risk. Placing resources in different fault domains reduces the chance that one hardware fault affects all of them.

A backup destination where database backups are written to OCI Object Storage buckets rather than local disk. It provides durable, low-cost retention and can be combined with lifecycle policies.

The policy that defines how long database backups are kept before automatic deletion. It balances recovery point objectives against storage cost and compliance requirements.

Restoring a database to an exact earlier moment using backups plus archived redo logs. It is used to undo accidental changes such as a dropped table or a bad batch update.

A set of Oracle features that rewinds a database or table to a prior state without restoring from backup. Flashback Database and Flashback Table are common recovery options for logical errors.

An Oracle feature that encrypts data at rest in tablespaces and redo logs without changing application code. Keys are managed in a keystore, which on OCI can be an external key management service.

The secure repository that holds the master encryption keys used by Transparent Data Encryption. On OCI it can be a local wallet or an external key management service integrated with the database.

An OCI service that creates and manages encryption keys and secrets in hardware security modules. Database services can use it as the external key store for TDE and as a source of credentials.

A named configuration that tells clients and tools how to reach a database, including its service name, host, port, and network access path. It is used by applications, SQL clients, and cloud tooling.

A downloadable credential bundle containing connection strings and certificates that lets a client connect securely to an Autonomous Database. It is required for TLS and mutual authentication connections.

A database access configuration that gives the database an IP address inside a customer VCN instead of a public one. Traffic stays on the private network and access is controlled by security rules.

A virtual firewall applied to a set of VNICs that allows or denies traffic by rule. It is used to restrict which application subnets may reach a database endpoint.

A VCN gateway that lets private subnets reach supported OCI services without traversing the internet. It is commonly used so databases can reach Object Storage for backups privately.

An OCI console view that consolidates database performance data such as AWR reports, active sessions, and SQL monitoring. It helps diagnose bottlenecks without connecting to the database directly.

An Oracle repository that periodically captures performance statistics and active session history for analysis. Its snapshots underpin AWR reports used to compare workload periods and find tuning targets.