Exadata
Definition
Oracle's high-performance database machine optimized for running Oracle databases, providing enhanced speed, reliability, and scalability for enterprises.
Use Cases
- Oracle: Running Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Database services that require high throughput, low latency, and strong consolidation for many Oracle Database workloads. — Oracle operates Exadata infrastructure as the underlying platform for Exadata Database Service in OCI, combining Exadata storage servers, RDMA networking, and Oracle Database features such as Real Application Clusters (RAC) and Automatic Storage Management (ASM). (Enables customers to run mission-critical Oracle Database workloads with high performance and availability while using a managed cloud service model.)
- Zoom: Supporting business-critical enterprise systems (including large-scale Oracle Database workloads) with strong performance and reliability requirements. — Zoom has publicly discussed using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure for certain enterprise workloads; OCI offerings include Exadata Database Service for customers needing Exadata-class Oracle Database performance. (Helps meet demanding performance and availability needs for enterprise database workloads while leveraging managed cloud infrastructure.)
Provider Equivalents
- OCI: Oracle Exadata Database Service
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between Exadata and Oracle Autonomous Database?
- Exadata is the high-performance platform (engineered hardware and software) optimized for Oracle Database. Autonomous Database is a managed database service that automates tasks like patching, tuning, backups, and scaling. In OCI, Autonomous Database commonly runs on Exadata infrastructure, but you consume it as a database service rather than managing the database environment yourself.
- When should I use Exadata?
- Use Exadata when you have Oracle Database workloads that are performance-sensitive or consolidation-heavy, such as large OLTP systems, mixed OLTP + analytics, high concurrency workloads, or databases with strict availability requirements. It’s also a fit when you want Oracle Database features like RAC and need predictable low-latency I/O and high throughput at scale.
- How much does Exadata cost?
- Cost depends on where and how you deploy it: (1) Exadata Database Service in OCI is typically priced based on database compute (OCPUs), storage, and enabled options/features, plus licensing approach (license-included vs bring-your-own-license). (2) Exadata Cloud@Customer and on-prem Exadata involve infrastructure capacity, support, and (often) longer-term commitments. Key pricing factors include required CPU cores, storage capacity/performance, high availability configuration (e.g., RAC), and Oracle Database licensing/edition and options.
Category: data
Difficulty: advanced
Related Terms
See Also