Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) Software

ODA 19.12 Release

ODA 19.12 Release is now available for bare metal deployments of all supported models (ODA X8, X7, X6, and X5).  See the ODA 19.12 Release Notes for a complete list of New Features, Patch Reference, and Known Issues. 

Summary: 

• Support for Oracle Database 21c. Supports creation of Oracle Database 21c databases in DB systems only. 
• Enhancements for KVM-based Database System (DB systems):
  • Patching of DB systems
  • Scale up and scale down of database shapes within the DB system
  • Adding and modifying virtual networks
• Support for STIG Compliance. Support for Oracle Linux 7 Security Scripts (OLSS) to assist with documenting and aligning with the DISA Oracle Linux 7 STIG. 
• NUMA support on Oracle Database Appliance. NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) facilitates efficient use of the underlying NUMA hardware. 
• Support for Registering TDE-Enabled Databases. You can migrate and register TDE-enabled databases created outside the Oracle Database Appliance framework into your Oracle Database Appliance deployment. 
• Optimizing Oracle ASM Disk Group Rebalance Operations. Oracle Database Appliance ensures rebalancing of Oracle ASM disks to complete as quickly as possible, without overloading the system and the disks at the same time.
• Diagnostics Data Collection Using the Browser User Interface (BUI). Oracle Database Appliance BUI supports collection of diagnostics data to troubleshoot the appliance.
• Support for Oracle Enterprise Manager Plug-in with Oracle Database Appliance Release 19.12. 
• Access the Oracle Database Appliance documentation, FAQ, and Blogs from the Browser User Interface (BUI). Click on the Resources tab (upper right hand-side in the BUI).
• ODA 19.12 includes July 2021 Database Release Update and Clone Files for 21c, 19c, 12.2.0.1, and 12.1.0.2.
• For bare-metal deployments: supports both fresh provisioning and patching from the ODA 19.11, 19.10, 19.9, and 19.8 Releases. 
• For DB Systems: supports provisioning of 19.12 and 21.3 databases. Support patching from DB Systems 19.10 and 19.11 to 19.12.

ODA 19.11 Release

ODA 19.11 Release for bare metal deployments of all supported models (ODA X8, X7, X6, and X5).  See the ODA 19.11 Release Notes for a complete list of New Features, Patch Reference, and Known Issues. 

Here is a summary: 

• Out-of-place patching model. When patching an Oracle Database, instead of changing the existing database home, a new database home is created to enhance the reliability and stability of the patching process.
• Oracle Database Homes on Oracle ACFS (on data disks). Starting with ODA 19.11, Oracle Database homes are no longer created on the local system disk. New Oracle Database homes are created on an Oracle ACFS-managed file system residing on data disks. This will help free up space in the local system disk and provide a larger storage capacity for additional database homes.
• Enhancements for KVM-based Database System (“DB System”). The following DB Systems operations are now supported with ODA 19.11: Backup and restore; setting up Oracle Data Guard; scale-up DB system shapes; a new type of CPU pool for DB Systems; separate virtual network for DB system; flex disk group.
• FIPS 140-2 Compliance on Oracle Database Appliance. Starting with ODA 19.11, the Linux kernel used by Oracle Database Appliance running on bare metal and KVM Database Systems is compliant with the United States Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 (FIPS 140-2) level one. 
• Support for Adaptive Classification and Redaction (ACR). ACR sanitizes sensitive information such as IP address, MAC address, hostname, database name, etc., from the diagnostic collections collected using Oracle Trace File Analyzer (Oracle TFA). Oracle Database Appliance supports enabling and disabling ACR across all nodes, using ODACLI commands and Browser User Interface.
• ODA 19.11 includes April 2021 Database Release Update and Clone Files for 19c, 18c, 12.2.0.1, and 12.1.0.2.
• For bare-metal deployments: supports both fresh provisioning and patching from the ODA 19.10, 19.9, 19.8, and 19.7 Releases. 

For more information, review the Oracle Database Appliance 19.11 Release documentation

ODA 19.10 Release

ODA 19.10 Release for bare metal deployments of all supported models (ODA X8, X7, X6, and X5). See the ODA 19.10 Release Notes for a complete list of New Features, Patch Reference, and Known Issues. 

Here is a summary: 

• Integrated Support for KVM-based Database Systems on Oracle Database Appliance (ODA). You can create and manage KVM-based Database Systems. Supports hard-partitioning for Database licensing. Available for both HA and single-node systems.
• Support for Database Security Assessment Tool (in Browser User Interface only). You can generate Database Security Assessment reports from the Browser User Interface to assess the security risks for your databases.
• Support for Restore Archivelog (ODACLI only). Oracle Database Appliance supports restore of archivelog for a database (archive logs . You can choose to restore archivelog from one SCN to another SCN, or from one timestamp to another timestamp.
• MySQL Server for Storing DCS Agent Metadata. Starting with Oracle Database Appliance release 19.10, DCS Agent uses MySQL server as its metadata store. MySQL server is automatically installed and configured, during provisioning, when creating the appliance. 
• January 2021 Database Release Update and Clone Files for 19.10, 18.13, 12.2.0.1, 12.1.0.2, 11.2.0.4
• For bare-metal deployments: supports both fresh provisioning and patching from the ODA 19.9, 19.8, 19.7, and 19.6 Releases. 

For more information, review the Oracle Database Appliance 19.10 Release documentation

ODA 19.9 Release

The ODA 19.9 Release supports Oracle Database 19.x, 18.x, 12.2.0.1, 12.1.0.2, 11.2.0.4 database versions for all supported ODA models. For bare-metal deployments, the ODA 19.9 Release supports both fresh provisioning and patching from the ODA 19.5, 19.6, 19.7, and 19.8 Releases.  For virtualized platform deployments, the ODA 19.9 Release is coming in the second half of November 2020 and it will support both fresh provisioning and patching from the ODA 19.8 Release.

For more information, review the Oracle Database Appliance 19.9 Release documentation

ODA 19.8 Release

The ODA 19.8 Release supports Oracle Database 19.x, 18.x, 12.2.0.1, 12.1.0.2, 11.2.0.4 database versions for both bare metal and virtualized platform deployments on all supported ODA models. For bare-metal deployments, the ODA 19.8 Release supports patching from the ODA 19.5, 19.6, and 19.7 Releases. For Virtualized Platform deployments, the ODA 19.8 Release supports upgrading from ODA 18.8 Release only.

For more information, review the Oracle Database Appliance 19.8 Release documentation

ODA 19.7 Release

The ODA 19.7 Release supports Oracle Database 19.x along with 18.x, 12.2.0.1, 12.1.0.2, and 11.2.0.4 database versions on all supported ODA models. The ODA 19.7 Release supports both fresh provisionings and patching from the ODA 19.5 and 19.6 Release of bare-metal deployments.

For more information, review the Oracle Database Appliance 19.7 Release documentation

ODA 19.6 Release

The ODA 19.6 Release supports Oracle Database 19.6 along with 18.x, 12.2.0.1, 12.1.0.2, and 11.2.0.4 database versions on all supported ODA models. The ODA 19.6 Release supports both fresh provisioning and upgrading from the ODA 18.8 Release of bare-metal deployments. The operating system will be upgraded to Oracle Linux 7 and the Grid Infrastructure will be upgraded to 19.6 when upgrading to this release. 

Note: as of Aug 2020, a new ODA DCS-agent 19.6.0.1.0 patch number 31723973 (approx. size is 600MB) is available. Refer to the ODA 19.6 Release Notes section “Availability of New DCS Agent Patch for this Release” for details.

For more information, review the Oracle Database Appliance 19.6 Release documentation.

ODA 19.5 Release

The ODA 19.5 Release supports fresh provisioning of Oracle Database 19.5 bare-metal deployments on all supported ODA models (X5, X6, X7, and X8). Upgrading to the ODA 19.5 Release from an ODA 18.x Release is not supported. This release also cannot be patched to the ODA 19.6 Release. It is possible to patch the ODA 19.5 Release to the ODA 19.7 Release.  

For more information, review the Oracle Database Appliance 19.5 Release documentation.

ODA Release Matrix (patching from previous releases)

source: https://blogs.oracle.com/oda/post/oracle-database-19c-support-for-oracle-database-appliance

Oracle Database Appliance X8

Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) has experienced broad adoption around the world in all industries across a wide range of customers, from SMBs to Fortune 100 corporations. As a result, we continue to invest in Oracle Database Appliance by offering the latest generation hardware along with ongoing software enhancements for all supported models.  We are committed to maintaining Oracle Database Appliance as the database platform of choice for customers looking to realize the benefits of:

• Simple, Optimized, Affordable Database System with Built-in Automation
• Integrated full-stack patching
• Pay As You Grow, Capacity-On-Demand Oracle Database Licensing 
• Cost-effective Consolidation Platform for Databases and Applications
• On-premises Database Platform Offering a Path to the Cloud 

Key Enhancements:

• More Powerful
  • New Intel Xeon Gold 5218, 16-core, 2.3GHz processors with fixes for Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, provide CPU performance improvements. 
• Higher Storage Capacity
  • ODA X8-2M supports up to 76.8TB NVMe storage, 50% more than X7
  • ODA X8-2-HA base configuration includes 46TB SSD storage (140% more than X7), expandable to 369TB SSD (174%+ more than X7) or 596TB SSD+HDD (76%+ more than X7)
• Improved Network Connectivity
  • Support for up to 3 network cards per server: 25GbE SFP28 (Fiber) or 10GBase-T (copper) options
  • Flexibility to separate customer database client network traffic from backup, management, or other traffic.
• Oracle Database 19c Support
  • Run Oracle Database 19c Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition 2, the latest long-term support releases, in addition to 18c, 12g, and 11g.

Recent ODA Software Enhancement for All Supported Models:

• Simplified backup and restore
  • The Brower User Interface enables backup and restore for both on-premise and Oracle cloud. Supports backup to local storage, NFS storage, or Object Store in Oracle Cloud.
• Backup and restore system configuration
  • ODABR – A new backup and restore utility is available for administrators to create a local disk snapshot for ODA bare-metal systems.
• Patching enhancements to improve security and availability
  • Out of Cycle Database and OS Patching uncouples Critical Database Patches from the ODA Bundle Patch so that critical database updates and kernel RPMs can be installed independently of the current bundle patch. This allows users to implement the most current critical patches to meet security and compliance requirements as soon as they become available.
  • Rolling patching has been enhanced to include shared storage and eliminate the need for planned outages for storage updates. Individual drives are patched without disruption, allowing the system to continue to run during firmware updates.
• Monitoring enhancements to improve operability
  • The ODA Brower User Interface (BUI) allows users to display per node metrics for data collection, detailed diskgroup storage utilization, feature usage and high-water marks, and software bill of materials tracking for richer system management.

Reference: https://blogs.oracle.com/oda/post/oracle-database-appliance-x8-more-powerful-higher-capacity-improved-connectivity