Providing the highest levels of availability is the main goal of Oracle's Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA), which has been available for more than two decades. This presentation looks at Oracle MAA from a slightly different angle, as MAA should really be considered by the DBA as well as by developers and even by non-Oracle customers.

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Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture
Best Practices Blueprints for High Availability – Applications Considerations
Markus.Michalewicz@oracle.com
@OracleRACpm
http://www.linkedin.com/in/markusmichalewicz
http://www.slideshare.net/MarkusMichalewicz
Markus Michalewicz, Senior Director of Product Management,
Database High Availability & Scalability Solutions, ST Development
April 9, 2019

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Safe Harbor Statement
The following is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for
information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a
commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon
in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or
functionality described for Oracle’s products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.
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Program Agenda
An Updated MAA Overview
MAA Blueprints with the Application in Mind
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2
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Program Agenda
An Updated MAA Overview
MAA Blueprints with the Application in Mind
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2
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Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture
Best Practices Blueprints for High Availability
Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture
(MAA) is Oracle's best practices blueprint
• based on proven Oracle high
availability technologies,
• 30+ years of “lessons learned”
expert recommendations
• and customer experiences.
The goal of MAA is to achieve optimal
high availability for Oracle customers at
the lowest cost and complexity.
https://oracle.com/goto/maa

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For Oracle Customers wanting to
improve their system availability
to reduce costs caused by downtime.
For non-Oracle Customers to get an
idea what failure scenarios need to
be covered and how Oracle can help.
For Application Developers to
understand which failure scenarios
should be tackled by the application.
Oracle MAA is for Everybody!

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MAA Reference Architectures
Meet Downtime (RTO) and Data Loss (RPO) SLAs
Downtime&DataLoss
BRONZE Single Instance + Backup Dev, Test, Prod
SILVER HA Clustering + Backup Prod/Departmental
GOLD HA Clustering + Disaster Recovery + Backup Mission Critical
PLATINUM Zero Data Loss & Zero Downtime Extreme Critical
MAA Reference
Architectures Topology Suitable Databases
Addresses SLAs for Data Loss and Downtime during Planned & Unplanned Outages
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MAA Evolution – From On-Premises into the Oracle Cloud
On-Premises
On-Premises Exadata and
Recovery Appliance
Database /
Exadata
Cloud
Autonomous
Database
MAA Blueprints and Best Practices
MAA integrated Engineered Systems
(config practices, Exachk, lowest
brownouts, HA QoS, data protection)
Adding MAA Configuration and Life
Cycle Operations, Shifting admin
ownership to Oracle with MAA SLAs

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MAA Evolution – From On-Premises into the Oracle Cloud
On-Premises
On-Premises Exadata and
Recovery Appliance
Database /
Exadata
Cloud
Autonomous
Database
MAA Blueprints and Best Practices
MAA integrated Engineered Systems
(config practices, Exachk, lowest
brownouts, HA QoS, data protection)
Adding MAA Configuration and Life
Cycle Operations, Shifting admin
ownership to Oracle with MAA SLAs
More work on Oracle

11. Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. | 11
MAA Evolution – From On-Premises into the Oracle Cloud
On-Premises
On-Premises Exadata and
Recovery Appliance
Database /
Exadata
Cloud
Autonomous
Database
MAA Blueprints and Best Practices
MAA integrated Engineered Systems
(config practices, Exachk, lowest
brownouts, HA QoS, data protection)
Adding MAA Configuration and Life
Cycle Operations, Shifting admin
ownership to Oracle with MAA SLAs
Application
More work on Oracle

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Program Agenda
An Updated MAA Overview
MAA Blueprints with the Application in Mind
1
2
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13. Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. |
MAA Reference Architectures
Meet Downtime (RTO) and Data Loss (RPO) SLAs
Downtime&DataLoss
BRONZE Single Instance + Backup Dev, Test, Prod
SILVER HA Clustering + Backup Prod/Departmental
GOLD HA Clustering + Disaster Recovery + Backup Mission Critical
PLATINUM Zero Data Loss & Zero Downtime Extreme Critical
MAA Reference
Architectures Topology Suitable Databases
Addresses SLAs for Data Loss and Downtime during Planned & Unplanned Outages
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Is Bronze Tier Acceptable For This Application?
• Planned Outage Downtime Window
– A couple of minutes to a few hours to apply DB/OS patches and upgrades
– A couple of minutes to a few hours to make application (schema) changes
– Taking the system down for a weekend for a major change is acceptable
• Unplanned Outage Downtime During Business Hours
– A few minutes to recovery from a database instance failure
– A few minutes to a few hours after a recoverable server or database failure
– A few hours to a few days to rebuild after a site loss or corrupted data
• Data Loss Tolerance – zero data loss in all but the most severe disasters
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Single
Instance
Database
Database
Files
Low Cost MAA Solution for customers that can tolerate longer recovery times or outages
Bronze : Single Instance Database with Backups
Replicated
backup
Bronze
Summary
• Single instance database
with auto-restart capabilities
• MAA backup and restore best practices
• Restore from backup to resume service
following unrecoverable outages
Features • Oracle Restart Capabilities (enabled with Oracle clusterware)
• Multitenant Database with PDB features
• Online Maintenance
• Corruption Protection (DB parameters, ASM)
• Flashback Technologies
• Recovery Manager (RMAN)
• Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance
Primary
Datacenter
Remote
Datacenter
Local
backup
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Online Operations
11.2 & Prior Create index online, rebuild index online, rebuild index partition online
Add Column, Add Constraint enable novalidate
12.1 Online move partition
Drop index online
Set unused column online, alter column visible/invisible, alter index unusable online, alter index visible/invisible
alter index parallel/noparallel
12.2 Alter table move online for non-partitioned tables
Alter table from non-partitioned to partitioned online
Alter table split partition online
Create table for exchange (usable for online partition exchange)
Move/merge/split partition maintenance operations can now do data filtering
18.1 Alter table modify partitioned table to a different partitioning method (e.g., hash to range)
Alter table merge partition/sub-partition online
All Partition Maintenance Operations are now Online
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Rewind Button for Oracle Databases
Flashback Technologies
• Fast point-in-time recovery (PITR)
without expensive restore operation
• Error investigation
– View data as of previous point in time
• Error correction
– Back-out a transaction
– Incorrect table updates
– Rewind the entire database
@T2 Col-1 Col-.. Col-n
Row-1 tom 1234 vp
Row-2 ben 8834 vp
Row-3 charlie 9837 vp
Row-n tom 8793 vp
@T1 Col-1 Col-.. Col-n
Row-1 abby 1234 officer
Row-2 ben 8834 mgr
Row-3 Charlie 9837 officer
Row-n tom 8793 vp Wrong
Update
Flashback
Table
DB @ T1 DB @ T2
Batch
Update
Flashback
Database
Wrong Update
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Bronze: Key Takeaways
• Differentiated Oracle Technologies
– RMAN for backup/restore validation, for advanced backup/restore features
– Flashback for fast logical repair
– Online Redefinition
– Multitenant for best database consolidation
• Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance
– Oracle’s strategic backup/recovery solution for all Oracle databases
– Delivers potentially zero data loss DR
– Scalable, reliable with built-in data protection
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Is Silver Tier Acceptable For This Application?
• Planned Outage Downtime Window
– Zero downtime to apply some DB/OS patches and upgrades (RAC Rolling applicable)
– A couple of minutes to a few hours to make application (schema) changes
– Taking the system down for a weekend for a major change is acceptable
• Unplanned Outage Downtime During Business Hours
– Zero downtime to recovery from a database instance failure
– A few minutes to a few hours after a recoverable server or database failure
– A few hours to a few days to rebuild after a site loss or corrupted data
• Data Loss Tolerance – zero data loss in all but the most severe disasters
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RAC /
RAC One
Database
Database
Files Local
backup
Silver : Active/Active Database Clustering
Replicated
backup
Silver
Summary
• RAC or RAC One with remote backups
• Fast Instance failovers for planned/unplanned outages
• Backups replicated to remote site for DR
• Restore from backup to resume service following
unrecoverable outages
Features • Multitenant
• Online Maintenance
• Flashback Technologies
• Corruption Protection
• Recovery Manager (RMAN)
• Recovery Appliance or Cloud Backup
• Real Application Cluster / RAC One
• Application Checklist for Continuous Service
Primary
Datacenter
Remote
Datacenter
R
R
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What Needs to be Configured for Continuous Availability?
• RAC or RAC One, Active Data Guard, GoldenGate, GDSWhich Server Stack for me?
• All databases on Flex ASMFlex ASM
• Services for Location TransparencyServices
• Connections appear continuousContinuous Connections
• FAN or 18c Database for drainingDraining
• Application ContinuityInflight work continues
• Drain in a timely mannerSLA’s
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What Needs to be Configured for Continuous Availability?
• RAC or RAC One, Active Data Guard, GoldenGate, GDSWhich Server Stack for me?
• All databases on Flex ASMFlex ASM
• Services for Location TransparencyServices
• Connections appear continuousContinuous Connections
• FAN or 18c Database for drainingDraining
• Application ContinuityInflight work continues
• Drain in a timely mannerSLA’s
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Node Failure, Instance Failure, Rolling Maintenance
Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC)
• Utilizes two or more instances of an
Oracle Database concurrently
• Very Scalable
– All instances active; Add capacity online; Ideal for
database consolidation
• Highly Available
– Auto-failover of services to an already running
instance; Outage is transparent to user, in-flight
transactions succeed; Zero downtime rolling
maintenance
• Continuous Availability -Application Checklist for
Continuous Service for MAA Solutions
23
Oracle GI
DBA
DBA
DBB
DBB

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Use Services for Location Transparency
• Regardless of location, application
keeps the name
• Moving, reshaping, prioritizing
controls how a service is offered
• Batch and OLTP separated
• DB and PDB names for admin only
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Node 1
RAC instance
Node 2
RAC instance
OLTP
service
Batch
service
Services provide a “dial in number” for your application

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Application does not see errors during outages
Transparent Application Continuity (TAC)
• Uses Application Continuity and
Oracle Real Application Clusters
• Transparently tracks and records session
information in case there is a failure
• Built inside of the database, so it works
without any application changes
• Rebuilds session state and replays in-flight
transactions upon unplanned failure
• Planned maintenance can be handled by TAC
to drain sessions from one or more nodes
• Adapts as applications change:
protected for the future
Request
Errors/Timeouts hidden
Transparent
Application
Continuity
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Normal Operation
• Client marks requests:
explicit and discovered.
• Server tracks session
state, decides which calls
to replay, disables side
effects.
• Directed, client holds
original calls, their inputs,
and validation data.
Failover Phase 1:
Reconnect
• Checks replay is enabled
• Verifies timeliness
• Creates a new connection
• Checks target database is
legal for replay
• Uses Transaction Guard
to guarantee commit
outcome
Failover Phase 2: Replay
• Restores and verifies
the session state
• Replays held calls,
restores mutables
automatically
• Ensures results, states,
messages match original.
• On success, returns
control to the application
Transparent Application Continuity Explained
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Silver : Key Takeaways
• Bronze Capabilities +
• Scalability, high availability and fault tolerance with Oracle RAC
• Hardware failures reduced from hour(s) to seconds of downtime
• Zero Downtime for most common software and hardware updates
• Easier to tune and troubleshoot
– one vendor vs multi-vendor custom solution
• First level to introduce application considerations
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Is Gold Tier Acceptable For This Application?
• Planned Outage Downtime Window
– Zero downtime to apply some DB/OS patches and upgrades
– A few seconds of downtime to apply complete upgrades
– A couple of minutes to a few hours to make application (schema) changes
– A few seconds to perform platform migrations
• Unplanned Outage Downtime During Business Hours
– Zero downtime to recovery from a database instance failure
– A few seconds after a recoverable server or database failure
– A no downtime* or a few seconds to rebuild after a site loss or corrupted data
• Data Loss Tolerance – zero data loss in all situations
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Local backup
Gold: Physical Replication, Zero Data Loss, Fast Failovers
Gold
Summary
• RAC cluster provides HA within the primary data center
• Active Data Guard replication to remote data center for DR and
comprehensive data protection. Optional replication (instead) to a
local standby in another availability domain for automatic database
and application role transitions. Read-only workloads and other
activities are offloaded to the standby databases
Features • Multitenant
• Online Maintenance
• Exadata & Basic Corruption Protection
• Flashback Technologies
• Real Application Cluster
• Application Checklist for Continuous Service
• Recovery Manager
• Recovery Appliance / ZFS / Tape or Cloud Archive
• Active Data Guard with optional Far Sync
Remote
Standby
Local backup
Primary
Datacenter
Remote
Datacenter
Primary
Local
Standby
* Local standby or remote standby or both is required for Gold
R
R
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Included with Oracle Database Enterprise Edition
Data Guard: Real-time Data Protection and Availability
Primary Data Center DR Data Center
Automatic Block Repair
Data Guard Broker
(Enterprise Manager Cloud Control or DGMGRL)

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A licensable option to the Oracle Database Enterprise Edition
Active Data Guard: Advanced Capabilities
Zero data loss at any distance
Primary Data Center DR Data Center
Automatic Block Repair
Data Guard Broker
(Enterprise Manager Cloud Control or DGMGRL)
Offload Fast
Incremental
Backups
Offload read-only
workload to open
standby database

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Getting most of your Active Data Guard DR site
Active Data Guard: Advanced Capabilities
Zero data loss at any distance
Primary Data Center DR Data Center
Automatic Block Repair
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DML Redirection
Offload Fast
Incremental
Backups
Offload read-
mostly workload
to open standby
database
Data Guard Broker
(Enterprise Manager Cloud Control or DGMGRL)

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Extend the Footprint of Active Data Guard Applications
• DML Re-direction is automatically performed from
an Active Data Guard standby to the primary without compromising ACID
– New documented parameter ADG_REDIRECT_DML controls DML Redirection
– New alter session ADG_REDIRECT_DML allows for per-session override
– New ADG_REDIRECT_PLSQL commands
• Supported with Oracle Database 19c
– Targeted for “Read-Mostly,
Occasional Updates” applications
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Support for DML Re-direction

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The TNS Connector String for Continuous Availability
ALIAS =(DESCRIPTION =
(CONNECT_TIMEOUT=90) (RETRY_COUNT=20)(RETRY_DELAY=3)
(TRANSPORT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=3)
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(LOAD_BALANCE=on)
( ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST=primary-scan)(PORT=1521)))
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(LOAD_BALANCE=on)
( ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST=secondary-scan)(PORT=1521)))
(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME = gold-cloud)))
34
Standard for All Drivers from 12.2

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Gold: Key Takeaways
• Differentiated Oracle Technologies
– Multitenant Architecture
– Make use of Disaster Recovery infrastructure and hardware
– Superior to 3rd party disk mirroring
– Application considerations across data centers with GDS
• Active Data Guard
– More utilization of standby and better ROI
– Reduce failover and switchover times (hour to seconds)
– Read mostly or read only activity can be performed on the Standby
– Better Data Protection and Auto Block “Corruption” Repair
35

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Is Platinum Tier Acceptable For This Application?
• Planned Outage Downtime Window
– Zero downtime to apply some DB/OS patches and upgrades
– Zero downtime to apply complete upgrades
– Zero downtime to make application (schema) changes
– A few seconds to perform platform migrations
• Unplanned Outage Downtime During Business Hours
– Zero downtime to recovery from a database instance failure
– A few seconds after a recoverable server or database failure
– A no downtime* or a few seconds to rebuild after a site loss or corrupted data
• Data Loss Tolerance – zero data loss in all situations
36

37. Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. |
Platinum: Highest Uptime for all Outages, Zero Data Loss
Platinum
Summary
• All benefits of Gold +
• Zero application downtime with GoldenGate
and Edition Based Redefinition
• Oracle Sharding for certain applications
Features • Multitenant
• Online Maintenance + Corruption handling
• Flashback Technologies
• Recovery Manager
• Recovery Appliance / ZFS / Tape or Cloud Archive
• Real Application Cluster
• Active Data Guard with Far Sync
• Checklist to enable continuous service for application
• GoldenGate
• Edition-Based Redefinition
• Oracle Sharding
Local
backup
Primary
Datacenter
Remote
Datacenter
Remote
Standby
Local
backup
Availability
Domain
Availability
Domain
Local ADG Standby/
GoldenGate
App Cont, EBR
R
R
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Continue with traditional MAA,
add EBR and optimize the use of
Application Continuity
38
Use Oracle Golden Gate Use Oracle Sharding
Three Alternatives to Continue from an App-Perspective

39. Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. |
Continue with traditional MAA,
add EBR and optimize the use of
Application Continuity
39
Use Oracle Golden Gate Use Oracle Sharding
Three Alternatives to Continue from an App-Perspective

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Edition-Based Redefinition
• Enables application upgrades to be performed online
• Code changes installed in the privacy of a new edition
• Data changes are made safely by writing only to new columns or new
tables not seen by the old edition
• An editioning view exposes a different projection of a table into each
edition to allow each to see just its own columns
• A crossedition trigger propagates data changes made by the old edition
into the new edition’s columns, or (in hot-rollover) vice-versa
Online Application Upgrade
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41. Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. |
Continue with traditional MAA,
add EBR and optimize the use of
Application Continuity
41
Use Oracle Golden Gate Use Oracle Sharding
Three Alternatives to Continue from an App-Perspective

42. Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. |
Continue with traditional MAA,
add EBR and optimize the use of
Application Continuity
42
Use Oracle Golden Gate Use Oracle Sharding
Three Alternatives to Continue from an App-Perspective

43. Copyright © 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. |
• Intelligent partitioning of data across a
farm of independent databases using a
common key (i.e. shard key)
• Some Web-scale OLTP applications use
database sharding
– Avoid scalability or availability edge cases of a
single large system image database
– Willing to customize data model and
applications to enable transactions to be
automatically routed to the right shard
• Oracle Database can shard without losing
all the advanced database technologies
Oracle Sharding – A Database Architecture Pattern
One giant database partitioned into
many small independent databases (shards)
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Major Benefits of Using Oracle Sharding
Oracle Database Sharding
Linear Scalability
Add shards online to increase
database size and throughput.
Online split and rebalance.
Fault Tolerant
Shared-nothing hardware
architecture. Fault of one shard
has no impact on others.
Geographic Distribution
User defined data placement for
performance, availability, DR or to
meet regulatory requirements.
…
…
…
…
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