Information, tips, tricks and sample code for Big Data Warehousing in an autonomous, cloud-driven world
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Autonomous
October 15, 2019
Getting A Sneak Preview into the Autonomous World Of 19c
If you have been autonomous data warehouse for a while now you will know that when you create a new data warehouse your instance will be based on Database 18c. But you also probably spotted that Database 19c is also available via some of our other cloud services and LiveSQL also runs Database 19c. Which probably makes you wonder when Autonomous Data Warehouse will be upgraded to 19c?
The good news is that we are almost there! We have taken the first step by releasing a "19c Preview" mode so you can test your applications and tools against this latest version of the Oracle Database in advance of ADW being autonomously upgraded to 19c. So if you are using Autonomous Data Warehouse today then now is the time to start testing your data warehouse tools and apps using the just released "19c Preview" feature.
Where is "19c Preview" available?
The great news is that you can enable this feature in any of our data centers! We are rolling it out right now so if you don't see the exact flow outlined below when you select your data center then don't panic because it just means we haven't got to your data center yet but we will, just give us a bit more time!
If you can see the option to enable preview (I will show you how to do this in the next section) then let's work through the options to build your first 19c Preview instance.
How to Enable 19c Preview
Scenario 1 - creating a new instance based on 19c
Let's assume that in this case you want to create a completely new instance for testing your tools and apps. The great news is that process is almost identical to the existing process for creating a new data warehouse. We have just added two additional mouse clicks. So after you login to the main OCI console you will navigate to your autonomous database console:
Note that in this screenshot I am using our US, Ashburn data center. This is my default data center. Since this feature is available across all our data centers it doesn't matter which data center you use.
Click on the big blue create "Autonomous Database" button to launch the pop-up create form...
this should look familiar...I have add a display name for my new instance "ADW 19c Preview" and then I set the database name:
in this case "ADW19CP". Looks nice and simple so far! Next we pick the workload type which in my example I selected the "Data Warehouse" workload...
...now this brings us to one of our other recent additions to ADW - you can now opt for a "Serverless" vs. "Dedicated". Configuration. So what's the difference? Essentially...
- Serverless is a simple and elastic deployment choice. Oracle autonomously operates all aspects of the database lifecycle from database placement to backup and updates.
- Dedicated is a private cloud in public cloud deployment choice. A completely dedicated compute, storage, network and database service for only a single tenant. You get customizable operational policies to guide Autonomous Operations for workload placement, workload optimization, update scheduling, availability level, over provisioning and peak usage.
There is more information in one my recent blog posts "There's a minor tweak to our UI - DEDICATED"
In this demo I am going to select "Serverless"...
and we are almost there...just note that as you scroll down the "Auto Scaling" box has been automatically selected which is now the default behaviour for all new data warehouse instances. Of course if you don't want auto scaling enabled simply untick the box and move on to the next step...
Finally we get to the most important tick box on the form!
the text above the tick box says "New Database Preview Version 19c Available" and all you need to do is tick the "Enable Preview Mode" box. Of course as with everything in life you need to pay attention to the small print so carefully read the text in the yellow information box:
You can't actually move forward until you agree to the T&Cs related to using preview mode. The most important part is that preview mode is time boxed and ends on December 15th 2019.
NOTE: Obviously, we reserve the right to extend the date based on customer demand, however, the console will always show the correct date.
Once you confirm agreement to the T&Cs you can scroll down, add your administrator password and finally click on the usual big blue "Create Autonomous Database" button.
Notice that the instance page on the service console now has a yellow banner telling you when your preview period will end.
There is marker on the OCI console page so you can easily spot a "preview" instance in your list of existing autonomous database instances...
Now let's move on to scenario 2 and create a 19c clone - if you have no idea what a "clone" is then this blog post might help: "What is cloning and what does it have to do with Autonomous Data Warehouse?"
Scenario 2 - cloning an existing instance to 19c
You may already have an existing data warehouse instance and want to check that everything that's working today (ETL jobs, scripts, reports etc) will still work when ADW moves to Database 19c. Easiest way to do this to simply clone your existing instance and transform it into a 19c instance during the cloning process.
Let's assume that you are on the service console page for your instance...
click on the "Actions" button and select "Create Clone"
The first step is to select the type of clone you want to create? For testing purposes it's likely that you will want to have the some data in your 19c clone as your original data warehouse as this will make it easier to test reports and scripts. This is what I have done below by selecting "Full Clone"..
Of course if you just want to make sure that your existing tools and applications can connect to your new 19c ADW then a metadata clone could well be sufficient. The choice is yours!
The rest of the form is as per the usual cloning process until you get towards the bottom where you will spot the new section to enable "19c Preview Mode".
Click to enable the preview mode and then agree to the T&Cs and your done! Simply add your administrator password and finally click on the usual big blue "Create Autonomous Database" button.
That's it! Welcome to the new world of Autonomous Database 19c. Happy testing!
If you want more information about preview versions for Autonomous Database then checkout the overview page in the documentation which is here:
https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/paas/autonomous-data-warehouse-cloud/user/autonomous-preview.html
What's New in 19c Autonomous Database
Here is a quick summary of some of the default settings in Oracle Database Preview Version 19c for Autonomous Database:
- Real-Time Statistics:
- Enabled by default.
- Real-Time Statistics enables the database to automatically gather real-time statistics during conventional DML operations. Fresh statistics enable the optimizer to produce more optimal plans. See Real-Time Statistics for more information.
- High-Frequency Automatic Optimizer Statistics Collection:
- Enabled by default.
- High-Frequency Automatic Optimizer Statistics Collection enables the database to gather optimizer statistics every 15 minutes for objects that have stale statistics. See About High-Frequency Automatic Optimizer Statistics Collection for more information.
- High-Frequency SQL Plan Management Evolve Advisor Task:
- Enabled by default.
- When enabled, the database will assess the opportunity for automatic SQL plan changes to improve the performance for known statements every hour. A frequent execution means that the Optimizer has more opportunities to find and evolve to better performing plans. See Managing the SPM Evolve Advisor Task for more information.
- Automatic Indexing:
- Disabled by default.
- To take advantage of automatic indexing you can enable automatic indexing. When enabled automatic indexing automates the index management tasks in an Oracle database. Automatic indexing automatically creates, rebuilds, and drops indexes in a database based on the changes in application workload, thus improving database performance. See Managing Auto Indexes for more information.
Enjoy the autonomous world of Database 19c.