Oracle Exadata

• First, get the database on Oracle. If you are in an Oracle stack, it would be much better to use the Oracle products. If you are driving a Ferrari, you wouldn’t put a Mercedes engine in it. If you are writing a query, you cannot rely on other brands. Since I'm an architect, when I look for a product, I look for performance.
• The installation is easy because it comes out-of-the-box and you just start using it.
• Previous to Oracle Exadata, we were using a normal Oracle RAC service. We were just waiting for this product to come out.
• I'm currently writing a data warehouse on Exadata. Before this solution, we were aiming for this to be completed by 8 a.m., when our ETLs would finish. With the help of Exadata's special features, this was reduced to 3 a.m. This solution allows us to bring more data within the same time period. It provides us with more subject areas that provide more reports to our users. Our ETL times reduced to 65%, then to 50%.

Incentivized

• Customize-able for specific functionality optimized for combination of online transaction or analytical processing.
• Ability to serve mix workloads with resource management feature enables prioritizing allocation for certain workload.
• Scale-able on-premise with compatibility for cloud deployment offers flexible solution for organization considering to transition from on-premise solution.

Incentivized

• Patching can often become quite involved and convoluted. It should be more transparent and straightforward.
• Storage metrics can be difficult and time consuming to obtain.
• Basic administrative functions can be hard to repair when discovered.
• Vendor support can take a while to obtain. Generally several attempts are necessary to reach the right area of vendor expertise.

Incentivized

I am comparing Exadata with the Oracle RAC database experience. In addition to Oracle RAC features, Exadata provides automatic performance optimization through Smart Scan and storage indexes. Deep integration with the Oracle ecosystem and tight coupling with Oracle Enterprise Manager
for monitoring and management. Some downsides of Exadata are: a steep learning curve, concepts like cell offloading, IORM, and flash cache behavior aren’t intuitive initially. Operating
Exadata requires specialized DBA skills.

Incentivized

I couldn’t find all the options listed here, so I’m
summarizing the ones we considered during our evaluation before selecting
Oracle Exadata Service on AWS:


Continuing
to use the Oracle RAC on‑premise database
Running
Oracle Database on AWS EC2
Using
Oracle Database through the AWS RDS service


Since we wanted to retain Oracle RAC capabilities while
achieving high performance and maintaining our presence in the AWS public
cloud, we selected the Oracle Database @AWS Exadata service.

Incentivized

• One of the central critical systems was migrated from a large 4-node Oracle RAC running on legacy hardware. This application was experiencing severe performance issues literally causing loss of service for numerous customers. Once it was migrated to a 2-node Exadata server, its average performance improved almost by a level of magnitude, therefore eliminating any signs of application slowness.
• Numerous application databases were migrated to Exadata servers which reduced the overall cost of hardware due to Exadata's price structure.

Incentivized