Inside O-Zone

Inside the Oracle Cloud - Graham Keitch examines Oracle’s approach to Software as a Service.

As one of the world’s leading software innovators, Oracle has many of the components already in place for cloud computing. Oracle was the first to enable its applications for the Internet a decade ago and since then, has pioneered grid computing. Oracle’s cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings are built around an extensive and well proven portfolio of database, applications and middleware products. The relevant technologies have been brought together to form the Oracle SaaS Cloud Backup

Backing up your Oracle Database in the Cloud, with help from Recovery Manager (RMAN).Platform. This is a single, integrated platform for both public and private clouds.

Cloud computing places high demands on the provider in terms of scalability and availability. Oracle’s support for grid computing, virtualisation and integrated cross-platform management enables in-house developers and ISVs to deliver highly available services with the ability to scale as requirements dictate. Oracle also has the breadth of solutions coupled with a hot-pluggable, standards-based architecture that provides flexibility too. These solutions include Oracle Database, SOA Suite, BI Foundation and Enterprise Manager, to name but a few. Some of the solutions result from recent acquisitions, such as WebLogic Application Server which came from the BEA stable.

Oracle technologies can now be deployed in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. Customers can use their existing licenses in the Amazon Elastic Compute (EC2) environment with no additional fees to run Oracle Database 11g, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Enterprise Manager. For Database Standard Edition One and Standard Edition, up to 4 virtual cores hosted in the cloud are considered equivalent to one processor (or ‘socket’). Above this, each additional 4 cores is counted as another occupied socket. Standard Edition One and Standard Edition can only be licensed on EC2 instances up to 8 and 16 virtual cores respectively. In the case of the Enterprise Edition, each

Developing Oracle in the Cloud

The free Oracle Database XE is an excellent choice for developing your first cloud application. It provides a relatively encapsulated and uncomplicated installation along with an embedded Web listener and an Oracle Application Express front-end. The latter also provides a simple browser-based environment for application development. You will need to sign up for a central Amazon Web Services (AWS) account, an Amazon Simple Storage Service account (where your Amazon image will be stored) and an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud account. To use the AWS command line tools, you will require an SSH client (such as PuTTY for Windows) and an installation of a Java 5 compatible Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

You start by implementing Oracle Database XE on a small EC2 instance, using a pre-built Amazon Image (AMI). This is provided by Oracle so that you don’t have to install and configure an operating system. Having selected your image, you invoke the ec2-run-instances command line tool, using the reference to the AMI and a security key that is created within the EC2 environment. This starts a server instance so that you can install your free copy of Oracle Database XE. Once installed, you configure and save the environment parameters, and switch the computing resource on and off as required.

For detailed step by step instructions and to download Oracle Database XE, please visit either the ISV Resource Centre or Oracle on Windows Zone. With Oracle’s support, Grey Matter runs both portals to provide information resources for ISVs and developers working Oracle technologies. virtual core is counted as a physical x86 core which is subject to the usual multi-core 0.5 discount factor.

For in-house Oracle installations, AWS provides a dependable and secure off-site backup location that integrates seamlessly with Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) tools. Enterprises that traditionally relied on tapes for off-site backups can now use cloud storage to make backups more accessible and reliable. The newly introduced Oracle Secure Backup Cloud module makes it possible to move backups to Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) for off-site storage. This functionality can also be used to stream backups directly to the cloud, especially if the live database is also running on Amazon EC2.

Oracle provides a set of free Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) for developers deploying Oracle solutions on Amazon EC2. Developers can take advantage of the provisioning and automated software deployment in these AMIs to build applications using Oracle’s popular development tools such as Oracle Application Express, Oracle JDeveloper, Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, Oracle Workshop for WebLogic and Oracle Developer Tools for Visual Studio.

The Oracle SaaS Platform is also being adopted by Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to build solutions and provide cloud services for their customers. The Oracle SaaS Platform offers a new channel for ISVs to reach untapped opportunities and exploit new areas of growth. ISVs, hosting service providers and system integrators also receive business and technology support via a designated Oracle SaaS program for partners.

GRAHAM KEITCH

Graham manages the Oracle on Windows O-Zone portal for Grey Matter and has worked in IT for over 20 years. He also helped co-ordinate the European ground-based efforts that supported the space missions to Comet Halley. In his spare time, Graham uses computer sampling technology for music composition.

grahamk@greymatter.com

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External Links

Visit the Oracle on Windows Zone at www.oracleonwindows.co.uk and the Oracle ISV Resource Centre at www.oracleisv.com. For assistance with licensing, call
01364 655129.