Oracle Database Reviews

The solution is primarily used for the core banking system, for cloud disaster recovery, for business continuity planning, and lots of other business cases. We use it for the core banking system and card system for applications.

The Oracle BI, Business Intelligence, is its most valuable aspect. Oracle BI has been very helpful for me during my career. To have business analytics and to deal with big data with the multiple organizations I've worked for has been great.

The solution is very stable. 

We've found the solution to be scalable.

The initial setup isn't too complicated.

The pricing isn't too bad. 

Their cloud services should be improved and expanded. 

The quality of technical support could be better. They could respond faster.

I've been using the solution for 12 to 15 years at this point. It's been well over a decade. I've used it for quite a while. 

The stability is very good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.

The scalability is there if you need it. It expands quite well.

Technical support is okay, however, sometimes it takes a while for them to respond It would be nice if they were faster. We aren't 100%v satisfied with the level of service we get from them.

I also use Microsoft.

While it depends on the testing scenarios, depends on the application that we're going to serve, and depends on the hardware you're using, it's not hard. I wouldn't describe the process as complex. 

We're fine with the licensing and costs. 

We are simply customers and end-users. We don't have a business relationship with Oracle. 

I use various versions of the solution, however, every year, they release a new version and I end to install it. 

I use multiple deployment models, including on-premises and cloud. 

I'd give the solution a perfect ten out of ten rating. It really is a fantastic product. We've been very happy with its capabilities and reliability.

We are a hotel and the use the database for many things. It's connected to an API, and we use that to connect directly to the database. 

This is a powerful solution. It offers us a lot of backup security and we can make an image and a backup of the database every day. It's also very responsive so that when information is updated, it takes less than five seconds to update everything.

I think this solution could be a little more user friendly and they could include a graphic interface for the monitoring of the system. The current monitoring system is not very user friendly. 

I've been using this solution for five years. 

Stability is solid and powerful. 

The scalability is fine, we have about 50 people who have access to the interface - we have a front office team, managers, housekeeping team, finance, sales and others. There are lot of users eligible to connect and update information.

The technical support is very good, they are very responsive.

The initial setup is fine, it took about a day for deployment and some extra time for configuration. We use it for the hotel and that requires creating rooms, codes, things like that. It depends what you need to do. We were able to deploy the solution ourselves but for specific tasks you need support.  

We pay an annual license fee to Oracle. 

I would recommend this product. 

I rate this solution a 10 out of 10. 

Our backend Database is for JDE. Complete enterprise system runs on JDE Oracle Database. But the original, older v9 does support JDE the older platform because all our financial data, as well as sales, revenue and all other data is there, and it's easily accessed.

Everything, because we are the customer for database ... all our applications not only JDE, ERP or some third party applicants APK's also have the backend for Oracle. Because of the flexibility as well as performance wise and as well as data volume, we have huge volume stored. So, other databases cannot provide that kind of flexibility.

Right now, we are very happy. I mean, I don't know what R&D are doing. We are not any looking specifically for anything else. As right now what is available is great.

So far we didn't find any demerits, I mean false reproductions in the database.

So, it's running very well for us.

I've used it for 16 years.

It's very good because Oracle supports very nice and releases some versions and as well as technical support from Oracle itself is very good.

There was no issue with scalability. If you talk about database size it can store high volumes of data.

They are very responsive and as well as knowledgable. If you have any questions or issues, you can search the questions and find the answer yourself, without even talking to a representative. If there is something else they need to know, they call immediately.

It's easy.

There's no other database that supports us like Oracle. My recommendation is, if you are starting a new system for example, I recommend a backend database because it's a universal support. Any applications you can use in the Oracle Database. For example, if you go for iSeries, it supports only db2. Oracle is not like that. It supports SAP, it supports JDE, it supports any. So, it's a universal database.

The high availability and the performance are the top-most valuable features.

Because we are servicing the end clients, I need to meet the SLA. The performance is the key prize for us. When a customer comes in and logs into the website, that needs to happen within a few seconds for the SLA. That's how it's helped us; improved performance and, ultimately, gain the customer’s satisfaction.

Right now, we are on the version that is just one lower than what's available. I'm looking forward to upgrading to that version, especially the container-based database. That's what I'm looking forward to.

It is a very stable product, especially the RAC node clusters. If one goes down, it's very seamless; you have other nodes backing up.

It's easy to scale; you can add more memory or more storage if you need to scale. Horizontally, you can add one more node. It's a pretty scalable product.

We have used technical support when we have had some issues. It's pretty good; a very good support model. You create a service request and they, depending on the priority, call us back. It's pretty good support.

I did not previously use a different solution; we've been using this one.

Initial setup was complex; it's very complex work.

We decided to choose this product because it is a very solid, robust product, and because of the better features and so on; that's why.

I definitely encourage checking out this solution. Work with Oracle; they're pretty good at coming to your site, giving demos and so on.

The top-most important criteria when I’m choosing a vendor such as Oracle is the support model and the willingness to work with us.

So what happened is that today IT is facing a lot of challenges, because the data has grown so fast. They have to find a way to manage the cost, the performance, and the capacity. So that's why we have this strategy called information management: a strategy to manage this data within a reasonable cost.

Oracle 12C introduced these two new features, called ADO, Automatic Data Management, and Heat Map and combine together to implement information management in the database. We found that it is very useful to implement a tiered storage strategy. Today, we all know that SSD, (which) stands for Solid State Drives, really can help improve database performance by reducing a lot of storage IO bottlenecks. But it is not very cost-effective to put a large amount of non-active data into SSD because they  are not seriously impacting the performance, and also they tend to be in a large volume, and it can be very costly to put them in the SSD. That's why we introduced (the) tiered storage. 

The idea is we put (the) active data in the tier one storage and put (the) non-active data in the tier two or three storage. We want to use ADO and the Heat Map together, to implement this tiered storage strategy. We found that it's very useful, because these features allow the database administrator to write a policy, and then, this feature will automatically move the data around you don't have to physically copy it, and the feature will do this for you. Your only manual work is to write policies. We already implemented this in one of our tiered storage solutions. We have this one, with the PCI storage, as the tier one storage. We also have the tier two storage using the traditional spinning disk. We used this ADO and Heat Map features to manage the data around the tired storage, and it turned out to work very well.

So this is a very good tool, but I would like to add some more features. One thing I would think about is that, the database lets me write some new rules. Right now, the data moving is mainly based on how much this tier one storage is full. Like, if 80 percent of full? Then it starts moving the data. What I really want is, based on how much the data has been used. So it's possible to do that, but today, the database administrator has to manual write up the custom solution to check that. So I would like it to allow us to use plain English like, no modification in 30 days, and so instead of writing the complex PL/SQL procedure to do that this is already implemented in data compression. There is another feature for ADO that is to compress data, instead of moving data.

And it's not moving data. That condition is already implemented in the compression. But I would like to implement the same way in the data movement. Another thing is that right now, currently, when they check data, they only check data the last time the data was used, instead of frequency. So I want to have some way to go and say this data has not been used, has been used only one time, Even data was used yesterday I still want to move, but (according to today’s ADO implementation) even if they use it (data) one time, as long as in recently like yesterday, it is equal to 1000 times usage, (so the data will not be moved.) So I would like to have some way to do that (to tell the difference). 

Another feature is that this ADO, currently does not apply to multi tenant databases, which is a very important part of a database. I would like to implement that. by adding this feature, to support that (the multitenant database)

It's a very, very stable product. It's part of our 12C new features, I didn't see or feel a lot of issues, but I do recommend it because the data moving could serious impact to your database performance - so test it, before you move the production. So this comes to, not exactly how stable the product is, but how stable your rules are.
If you write the wrong rule, you move the active data to tier two storage, you will suffer your performance. And also, another thing is, when moving data, be careful because all DBAs know that, if you move data across the storage, potentially your index becomes invalidated. Then all your database query will go to the full table scan. Then you actually get a worse problem than ever.

So ADO, they tried their best to re-enable the indexes. But just be careful because in our experience, it's not 100 percent covered. So my advice is, check that. So after they move, use single query to check the index's status. If you found some index not valid, rebuild it (with) another single command, you can do that. That will ensure that you only get a good part of it, not the issue.

So the scalability has something to do with how much data you move around, so that's why you need actually scale. You need to have some idea about how much data (to move). You want to schedule a good time window, so that off your peak time, so you can you do data moving. The DBA is the one who knows this most, you need to plan ahead and test it ahead.

I would rate it, eight to nine. Because, one of the areas for improvement, for me to write a PL/SQL procedure, that can be implemented for the product. They already have this for compression. Why didn't they implement in the data movement? The writing procedure was not easy to write, yes. I would like to have that, yeah.

In my opinion, it's one of the strongest databases available in the world. It's very robust and you can do the tuning. You can tune it and customize it the way that you need it.

Its RMAN backups are really complex. I'm not a DBA, there should be a better way to perform those backups.

We have had no issues with deployment.

It's been very stable, and that's one of the best features. It very rarely has bugginess.

RAC can be simplified, basically like ASM. RAC DBAs need to really follow their processes because if one thing goes down, bringing up CRS would be a nightmare, even for a DBA who specializes in RAC. It's not a regular database and you need to learn the internals of it. Troubleshooting it is very different because it's tightly integrated with the ATC process of the Linux OS.

It would be much better if there certain values available. If those values aren't available, don't bother trying to integrate it with the OS. You should run your own shell, which is something I think would be better.

It's not that easy to migrate and you can get stuck. It depends on the level of experience, but if it's for a fresh migration, it's fairly complex. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's not that difficult.

We implemented it ourselves with our in-house team.

It's expensive, that's for sure. Because if any of the other databases are compared, Oracle Database is the only expensive product out there. Open Source products like Cassandra, MongoDB, NoSQL, those are the pretty much the same job. Oracle Database, though, might be the fastest RDBMS database we've seen. That might be the reason that it's expensive. It's also the market leader and they own a large market share.

If you are using E-Business Suite, you don't have any other option to explore another database. Depending on the nature of business, if you don't need an RDBMS, go with an open source database which would be much easier to manage and, particularly, to grow vertically instead of just horizontally.

If you remember the old Saturday Night Live skit by the baseball player, Oracle's been very, very good to me. I chose to work with databases and specifically Oracle right out of college, the 80s. It was a right career decision. It took me this far. I'll probably get to my retirement on it. That's a pretty sound technology. Had I picked some other technology to bet on, I probably would've had to go through several different learning iterations. The Oracle Database scales well. Every time there's a new version they add the features that you are wishing they would add or finding that you need. They stay ahead of the game. A lot of times you'll talk to one of their product managers and you'll say, "Well, partitioning is great, but if it only did this," and they'll say, "Oh, well if you sign an NDA, I'll tell you." Legitimately, they've already thought of it and they're developing it, and a lot of times if you get into the beta program, you can participate in the development of those features. That's really unique. It's much better than say a community preview edition like other vendors would do.

The beta program, you sign up for and you're very proactive with it and you have direct access to people who are working on the beta itself. You can help drive the product direction and that's kind of fun.

Right now, one of the things I've been using a lot of is the In-Memory column store, which is a new Oracle 12c feature and it's gotten a lot of press. It's a great feature. If you remember a few years ago, Vertica and some other column oriented databases came out and it was all the hot rage. Now, lo and behold, starting in Oracle 12, I can have column oriented data storage and it makes my memory more efficient so I can fit more In-Memory. It makes the queries faster and it makes more queries faster because of the memory being more efficient, there are more queries that can benefit from the same amount of memory. It's literally you turn on a configuration parameter and you say alter database or table and say that that table was In-Memory, and you're done. The database does everything. It's very simple to use, very powerful, and it's exactly what people were asking for a few years ago.

The same is true, I attended some of the Oracle 12c R2 sort of pre-announcement sessions and while we're not allowed to talk about what we heard, I can say for a fact that some of the stuff that they talked about was exactly the same type of things where there's a feature that was introduced late in 11 or early in 12 and you thought, "Boy, I hope this is step one and they're going to do step two and step three." They have. Now it's not public yet, but it's very reassuring to know, again, they understand the database market and well enough to develop the features just in time.

I know that a lot of people like Oracle Enterprise Manager and it's capable and it's great, but for a lot of tasks it's overkill. They came out with this new tool in 12, the OEM Express. I would like to see that tool persist. Oracle does on occasion have a bad habit of developing a tool, I'll go back to Oracle 8 on Windows, they had a really cool little GUI for developing DBA and then it was gone a version later. I'm hoping OEM Express sticks around. I'm not saying that it competes with OEM, but a lot of times, if all I'm doing is going in and adding some space to a table space or creating a user or do something simple and easy, that flash interface local on my web browser runs 100 times faster and it's easier to find stuff because there's less features in it, so you don't have to look as far.

Oracle stability's a funny thing. I know companies who do not have any database administrators. Stability in those shops is sporadic, and it should be. You need a database administrator to oversee your databases, just like you need a manager to oversee your people. It's an asset. In fact, your data's your most important asset. You sure as heck should have a specialist.

Oracle's a very powerful, robust, capable database. However, in order to be powerful, capable, and robust, it's a little complex. You need a database administrator. I'm not saying you have to hire a six figure guy, but you've got to have somebody. I know a lot of SQL server shops where they also don't work with database administrators. They can get away with it because the database isn't quite as industrial. I'm not going to build petabyte databases in SQL server but I am going to build it in Oracle. If I've got that size, it helps to have a DBA around.

You can start with the basic database, so the Oracle single instance. You can scale that pretty much to whatever size, symmetric, multi-processing processor you want to put it on. If that's not going to scale large enough for you, then you can do RAC clusters and you can build basically a little database mainframe. If you've got extra money to spend, I've got this wonderful solution called Exadata. I wish that Exadata was it, that that was the only thing Oracle had to offer. It's that far superior to the standard database, but it requires both hardware and software and there's special licensing. You can't build an Exadata at your own and just get the software. It is just standard Oracle with some hardware tricks. That's impressive, that you can make a database machine that outruns anything and it's still the standard database. They didn't have to really change it.

Rating: I would give it a nine. The only reason I don't give it a ten is because they do keep inventing and adding more stuff. The stuff that they told me yesterday and today that'll be available in the next release, let's say next year, not only is it stuff I wanted, it's stuff I didn't even dream of. I'll be excited. If I had those features today it'd be a ten, but they're on top of it.

My company is using the solution as a database warehouse. Previously, when I was a vendor, they used to work with Oracle forms. They were doing databases, and we were doing a secondary backup solution, which was backing up on the cloud.

It's quite an important part of the business. Most of the core banking servers are using Oracle Database. It's the heart of the environment. It's quite an important part of the business.

The database is a quite valuable feature.

One area where the product could improve would be to have more simplified documentation. There are things which are quite difficult to find. Also, some setup videos, like a video together with the documentation, for someone who is first implementing a solution. Watching someone else doing it would make the person more confident than just having all the notes and all the possibilities.

In addition, for the DBA, Oracle could have a series of videos. Then it would be easier for a company to buy the educational content, to become a DBA, with the videos already there, rather than looking for an online instructor than trying to get the classes. What is lacking with Oracle is the availability of education to be able to work with Oracle. Oracle is not difficult, but there is a lot that you need to know. Even if you work with only the documentation, they won't help you that much. Bringing educational content that would help the individual to be able to work in real-life situations and scenarios.

It would be better to have a compilation of videos as a pack to sell to the vendors with all the information to become DBA or to become someone who can implement an Oracle system.

I have been using the solution for three years.

It's a very stable solution, especially with the hot backup, archive logs, and everything.

In terms of scalability, the solution is pretty easy to scale up and to add things and modifications. It is pretty clear.

The technical support is very good. I've learned more with support, actually, than from the documentations.

The deployment is kind of straightforward, but there are things that are not straightforward. For example, if you are on AIX, it's a lot to do before installing.

Doing all the work manually, I believe it takes three to four people to maintain Oracle Database.

I also have Oracle Cloud Backup. It took me one week to figure out how to implement it, but that was two years ago. Now the documentation is much better.

I believe the solution is quite expensive.

My advice regarding this solution is that you need a lot of practice. It would be great if Oracle could provide a platform to practice implementations.

I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.