Many Oracle customers wonder if Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) can support more than just databases. The answer is yes—and that’s exactly what it’s designed for. ODA is an integrated platform that not only runs Oracle Database exceptionally well but also supports the full stack of Oracle applications, including Oracle E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, and custom enterprise workloads.

Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) has long been recognized as the smart choice for running Oracle Databases, offering simplified management, high reliability, and security at low cost. But what if you’re looking for a robust, reliable, and easily managed platform for your other critical applications? ODA is more than just a database powerhouse – it’s a versatile virtualization platform ready to host your application workloads.

ODA’s x86-based architecture and integrated virtualization make it an ideal platform for consolidating application workloads alongside database services. It enables the deployment of business-critical applications in virtual machines, regardless of whether they directly interact with Oracle Database. This unified infrastructure simplifies operations, reduces administrative overhead, and ensures consistent performance across diverse workloads.

The Oracle Database Appliance family offers models tailored to different requirements:

  • For High Availability: ODA X11-HA: If continuous availability is paramount for your applications, the ODA X11-HA is an ideal choice. This model features a two-server shared storage architecture with integrated cluster management software. This built-in redundancy provides automatic VM restart and failover capabilities, ensuring your applications remain accessible even in the event of hardware issues.
  • For Right-Sized Scalability: ODA X11-S and X11-L:
    • The ODA X11-S offers a compact and cost-effective solution for smaller application deployments and consolidation needs.
    • The ODA X11-L provides a larger footprint with increased resources, perfect for hosting a greater number of virtual machines and more demanding application workloads.

Here’s what makes ODA a smart choice for your application workloads, across all models:

  • Integrated Virtualization: ODA comes equipped with integrated tooling that simplifies the creation, deployment, and management of virtual machines (KVMs). ODA’s intuitive interface and simplified system infrastructure management streamlines the entire virtualization lifecycle.
  • Scalable Resources on Demand: Depending on the model, ODA offers impressive scalability, with configurations supporting up to 128 cores, a massive 3TB of memory, and a substantial 792TB of storage. This provides ample resources to consolidate multiple applications and scale as your needs evolve.
  • Future-Ready Foundation: While your immediate need might be application hosting, choosing ODA gives you the flexibility to easily introduce Oracle Database workloads in the future. The platform is inherently optimized for it, making expansion seamless.
  • Appliance Benefits for All Your Workloads: Even without running Oracle Database, you benefit from ODA’s appliance advantages: simplified infrastructure management and updates, and a single point of support for the entire system. This translates to reduced administrative overhead and increased uptime for all your hosted applications.
  • Investment Protection: By leveraging ODA for your application VMs, you’re investing in a platform known for its reliability and performance, backed by Oracle’s renowned engineering and support.

Embrace the Versatility of Oracle Database Appliance

As you navigate the evolving IT landscape, consider the Oracle Database Appliance family as a powerful and versatile platform for your databases and critical applications. With models tailored for different needs, including high availability with the X11-HA and right-sized scalability with the X11-S and X11-L, ODA offers a compelling alternative for your x86 server requirements. Maximize the value of your investment with a solid infrastructure built to support both database and application workloads.

 

FAQ:

Q: Can customers run applications on Oracle Database Appliance?
A: Yes, customers can run business-critical applications on Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) using its built-in virtualization capabilities. While ODA is optimized for Oracle Database, its powerful x86-based architecture and integrated KVM support make it an ideal platform for deploying application workloads. Customers benefit from the appliance’s enterprise-grade infrastructure, which simplifies application deployment and management:

  • Simplified procurement, deployment, and lifecycle management of infrastructure components such as Oracle Linux, firmware, and Grid Infrastructure 
  • Built-in redundancy in the storage using Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
  • Built-in security – hardened Oracle Linux image and all other ODA security features such as a small RPM footprint and enablement of only the essential security services
  • Built-in high availability on HA models, including automatic VM failover
  • Integrated KVM lifecycle management using command line interface (CLI), odacli
  • Web-based interface
  • CPU cores can be turned off(on) for licensing purposes and power-saving
  • Quarterly infrastructure updates tested by Oracle
  • Single vendor support (Oracle)


Q: Does ODA support virtualization?
A: Yes, ODA has integrated virtualization (KVM) support.  Customers can easily create, modify, and delete application VMs with the ODA built-in CLI or a web-based tool. ODA supports all the guest operating systems that Oracle Linux KVM supports, including Oracle Linux, Red Hat, and Windows.  On the ODA HA system, ODA automatically protects application VMs with auto-restart or failover (from one server to the other). Customers can also manage VM resources and isolation with CPU pools and VLANs, and they can also create storage-efficient VM clones in a few minutes.

Q: Do customers need an Oracle Database license to use ODA for application VMs?
A: No. An Oracle Database license is not required if the sole purpose of using the Oracle Database Appliance is to run application virtual machines.

Q: What is Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI)?
A: Oracle Grid Infrastructure is the software that provides the underlying infrastructure for Oracle databases, including features like volume management (Oracle ASM), automatic restart and failover capabilities, and high availability (HA) management for applications.

Q: For customers who run applications on an Oracle Database Appliance, is it fully supported?
A: Yes. Customers are entitled to Oracle Linux and KVM support with the ODA Premier Support contract.  They can continue to download updates to maintain their system infrastructure, including firmware, Oracle Linux, and Grid Infrastructure updates.  It is fully tested by Oracle.

Q: Are there any constraints on running applications on an Oracle Database Appliance?
A: Yes.  ODA is designed as an appliance with the following bare-metal requirements:

  • Fixed hardware configuration. memory and storage can be expanded on ODA L and HA models
  • Support Oracle Linux and ACFS cluster file system (on DATA disk group) only
  • Support for 1-3 network cards per server (10 or 25 Gb/s Ethernet, up to 12 ports)
  • No additional PCIe card allowed, such as a Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter
  • ODA protects its OS RPMs via Version Lock and will issue a warning if the user attempts to override ODA RPMs


Q: How do customers keep an ODA server and appliance manager up to date?
A: Customers can continue to download the quarterly server patch (pre-tested by Oracle) and Grid Infrastructure clone file and patch the ODA server with the easy-to-use CLI or web-based tool to keep the ODA infrastructure up to date. Customers can also download the latest ODA bare-metal ISO to completely re-image and redeploy the ODA to the latest version.

Q: How do customers keep an application in a VM up to date?
A: ODA treats an application VM as a black box, so customers are responsible for installing and maintaining the application in the VM.

Q: Can customers just re-image ODA with a standard Oracle Linux ISO image?
A: No, we do not recommend that customers do that as ODA is an Oracle engineered system with fixed configurations. ODA hardware CSI will route the service request (SR) to the dedicated ODA support team. If the ODA has been reimaged with a non-ODA ISO, customers may be asked to reimage and redeploy it with a supported ISO.

Q: Does ODA support external storage?
A: Yes.  ODA supports external NFS storage for user files.

Q: Can customers add Oracle databases to the ODA at any time?
A: Yes, with the proper Oracle Database licensing in place, customers can create, manage, and delete databases in the ODA (bare-metal or in a KVM) with built-in CLI or web-based tools at any time and take advantage of all the benefits of the database appliance.

Q: How many VMs can customers create in an ODA?
A: There is no hard limit on the number of VMs that can be created, but it depends on the resource (CPU cores, memory, and storage) availability and the VM workloads.