Innovation across Oracle AI Database, Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA), SQL development, observability, and Autonomous Database continues to accelerate—and this month’s Product Pulse highlights the technical resources helping developers and database professionals put those innovations into practice.
In this May edition, we’re spotlighting new Oracle AI Database 26ai SQL capabilities, Ask TOM performance optimization sessions, Oracle Zero Downtime Migration 26.1 updates, Autonomous Database observability enhancements, and new resiliency and scalability guidance from the Oracle MAA team. Whether you’re simplifying SQL syntax, accelerating recovery operations, scaling AI workloads with RAC, or modernizing migration strategies with near-zero downtime, these curated resources are designed to help you move faster with confidence.
Oracle SQL and Database Development
· How to find datetime boundaries crossed with DATEDIFF in Oracle AI Database
Oracle AI Database 23.26.1 introduces the new DATEDIFF function. Chris Saxon explains the function syntax, supported units (from years down to nanoseconds), and common scenarios where DATEDIFF is useful—as well as cases where it should be avoided, such as age calculations or full-unit elapsed time logic. Read more.
· How to get the Nth row with Oracle SQL
This SQL-focused article explores techniques for retrieving the row at position N from a result set. The post walks through approaches using analytic functions and row limiting strategies to help developers better understand ordered result navigation and efficient row retrieval patterns. Read more.
· GROUP BY ALL in Oracle AI Database 26ai
Oracle AI Database 26ai introduces GROUP BY ALL, allowing Oracle to automatically group by all non-aggregated columns in a query. Connor McDonald demonstrates how the feature reduces repetitive SQL syntax and improves readability, while also discussing where explicit grouping logic may still be preferable in more complex workloads. Read more.
· SQL History in Oracle AI Database 26ai
This video walkthrough highlights SQL History enhancements in Oracle AI Database 26ai, showing how developers and DBAs can more effectively review SQL execution activity for diagnostics, troubleshooting, and performance analysis. Discover more.
Ask TOM and Performance Optimization
· Faster Materialized View Refreshes
In this Ask TOM Live session, the Oracle team explores strategies for accelerating complete materialized view refreshes. The session covers tuning considerations, refresh optimization techniques, and practical guidance for improving refresh performance in large-scale environments. Discover more.
Oracle Database Drivers and Observability
· End-to-End Database OpenTelemetry, Priority Transactions, and More
ODP.NET 23.26.2 introduces end-to-end database OpenTelemetry support, Priority Transactions, and additional developer productivity enhancements for .NET applications running on Oracle Database. The article also previews upcoming capabilities designed to improve observability and application performance management in distributed systems. Read more.
Autonomous AI Database on Dedicated Exadata Infrastructure Updates
· Unified Audit Logs Streaming to OCI Logging Service
ADB-D now supports streaming unified audit logs to OCI Logging Service, enabling centralized audit visibility, compliance monitoring, and tighter integration with OCI’s observability ecosystem. Unified audit logs provide one of the most accurate records of database activity, making this enhancement especially valuable for governance and security teams. Documentation.
· Mixed 19c and 26ai Database Software in the Same AVMC
Autonomous Exadata VM Clusters provisioned after April 7, 2026 can now support both 19c and 26ai database software versions within the same cluster. Existing clusters tagged with 23ai or 26ai can also provision Autonomous Container Databases using either release, helping organizations reduce infrastructure sprawl and simplify migration planning. Documentation 1 | 2.
· Expanded Dynamic Performance Views
ADB-D observability capabilities continue to expand with new Dynamic Performance Views exposing historical statistical summaries of system performance metrics and Exadata cell activity. These additions support trend analysis, performance baselining, and storage-layer troubleshooting directly from the database environment. Documentation.
Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA)
· Announcing Oracle Zero Downtime Migration 26.1
Oracle Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) 26.1 introduces new capabilities for simplifying database migrations to Oracle Cloud, multicloud environments, and Exadata platforms while minimizing downtime. Built around Oracle MAA best practices, ZDM automates migration workflows, supports cross-version migrations, and enables migrations for single-instance, RAC, and multitenant environments across a broad range of Oracle Database releases. Read more.
· Scaling Enterprise AI Workloads with Oracle AI Database 26ai and RAC
This MAA blog explores how Oracle RAC and Oracle AI Database 26ai work together to support scalable enterprise AI workloads. The article discusses high availability, workload scalability, and infrastructure considerations for organizations deploying AI-powered database applications in mission-critical environments. Read more.
· Accelerated Recovery for Minimal Impact with Oracle AI Database 26ai
Recovery operations are critical to maintaining application availability. This article highlights recovery enhancements in Oracle AI Database 26ai designed to reduce recovery times and minimize operational impact during outages or failures, helping organizations improve resiliency and continuity planning. Read more.
· 2X to 9X Higher Oracle Data Guard Redo Transport Throughput
This MAA post examines performance improvements that significantly increase Oracle Data Guard redo transport throughput. The article explains how the enhancements help organizations strengthen disaster recovery architectures while improving replication efficiency and reducing lag in high-throughput environments. Read more.
Whether you’re adopting new Oracle AI Database 26ai SQL features, improving database observability, accelerating migration and recovery operations, or scaling enterprise AI workloads with Oracle RAC and Data Guard, May’s Product Pulse is packed with practical resources to help you turn new capabilities into measurable outcomes.
Have ideas, best practices, or feedback you’d like featured in a future Pulse? Join our ACE Community LinkedIn group and help shape what we spotlight next month.