Oracle Database Service for Azure FAQ

FAQ topics

General

How does Oracle Database Service for Microsoft Azure simplify using both clouds?

Oracle Database Service for Azure reduces the complexity of connecting your clouds, networks, identities, and data by

  • Automatically creating the network plumbing between the cloud environments (over Oracle Interconnect for Microsoft Azure)
  • Managing Domain Name System (DNS) settings so Oracle Database Service for Azure provisioned resources are available to Azure applications using standard Azure connection strings
  • Delivering an administration portal that looks and feels like the Azure portal, removing the need for Azure administrators and developers to learn another tool/platform
  • Streaming database metrics and events to Azure so administrators and developers can view them alongside information from other applications
  • Delivering a single support path for customers

Why not just use Oracle Cloud and Oracle Interconnect for Azure?

Oracle Database Service for Azure does more and is easier to use.

You can use Oracle Interconnect for Azure to connect your Azure and OCI environments today. To do this, you must configure network connections in both environments. Your administrators and developers must also learn how to work in the OCI Console.

Oracle Database Service for Azure automatically sets up and manages the network connections between the cloud environments (using Oracle Interconnect for Azure), setting up a private data pipe between your Azure and OCI tenants.

Oracle Database Service for Azure uses a user’s Azure credentials to access the Oracle Database Service for Azure portal. For access to the OCI Console, Oracle Database Service for Azure can automatically configure identity federation between the two cloud environments, so Azure users use a single set of credentials to access both environments.

The Oracle Database Service for Azure management console matches the look and feel of the Azure portal. Oracle Database Service for Azure automatically creates an Azure dashboard for each database we provision in Oracle Database Service for Azure. This allows developers and administrators to view and monitor Oracle Database Service for Azure database components right inside the Azure portal. We feed standard Oracle Database metrics to Azure App Insights, so the database metrics appear beside the other data for your application. We log Oracle Database events in Azure Log Analytics for the same reason.

You can federate your Azure Active Directory user identities with OCI so users have a single set of credentials for both cloud environments. If you don’t do that (or use Oracle Interconnect for Azure alone), you must create and maintain separate credentials in each cloud environment.

There is also a cost difference. The Interconnect used for Oracle Database Service for Azure is limited to Oracle Database use but has no associated charge. Oracle Interconnect for Azure can be used for any traffic between the two clouds but has a per-port charge.

Why not just run my Oracle Database(s) in Azure?

Oracle and Microsoft have expanded their partnership to deliver Oracle database services on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in Microsoft Azure. To learn more, please visit the Oracle Database@Azure product page.

What if I don’t want to create OCI accounts for my Azure users?

You don’t have to. Authorized users log in to Oracle Database Service for Azure using their Azure credentials.

If a user must do something in OCI, you can configure identity federation between your Azure and OCI tenancies so the user can log in to OCI using their Azure credentials.

Are all features of the underlying Oracle Database services exposed via Oracle Database Service for Azure?

No. For simplicity, Oracle Database Service for Azure exposes only the most-frequently used capabilities through the Oracle Database Service for Azure portal. If you need a capability that’s not exposed through the portal, you can access the database resource in OCI (we provide the link) and use the needed capability there.

Most database usage will occur entirely in Azure.

Which Azure regions does Oracle Database Service for Azure support?

Oracle Database Service for Azure currently supports the following Azure regions and corresponding OCI regions:

  • Brazil South
  • Canada Central
  • East US
  • Germany West Central
  • Japan East
  • Korea Central
  • Southeast Asia
  • UK South
  • West Europe
  • West US
  • West US 3
  • South Africa North

The corresponding OCI regions are: Vinhedo, Toronto, Ashburn, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, London, Amsterdam, Phoenix, San Jose, and Johannesburg.

Provisioning

I want to provision a database, how do I increase or set service limits in Oracle Database Service for Azure?

Submit a Service Request from the Oracle Database Service for Azure portal. To do this, navigate to the Oracle Database Service for Azure portal, then click the Support icon on the page or select it from the portal’s hamburger menu.

How do my Azure applications access my Oracles Database(s) provisioned in Oracle Database Service for Azure?

The same way you do in Azure today. Each database resource created by Oracle Database Service for Azure gets an Azure connection string you can use to connect to the database from any Azure application.

During onboarding, Oracle Database Service for Azure creates network connections between the cloud environments. During database provisioning, Oracle Database Service for Azure defines the DNS entries and connection strings needed to access the resource from Azure. Azure developers (and applications) don’t need to know anything about Oracle Database Service for Azure—all they need is the connection string. We publish the connection string on the custom dashboard we create for the database in Azure, so developers don’t have to leave the Azure portal to get what they need to access the database from their applications.

Operations and support

How do I monitor the status and performance of my Oracle Database Service for Azure databases from Azure?

Oracle Database Service for Azure streams Oracle Database metrics to Azure App Insights so you can view database metrics using the same Azure tools you use for other application metrics. We also create a custom dashboard in Azure for each database we provision. This dashboard displays graphs for the most common database metrics (with the data pulled from Azure App Insights).

Oracle Database Service for Azure streams Oracle Database events to Azure Log Analytics so you can view database events using the same Azure tools you use for other application events.

Can I set up alerts for my Oracle Database Service for Azure database’s metrics and events in Azure?

Yes. Use Azure Monitor alerts. Oracle Database Service for Azure ensures that the metrics and events you need to monitor and set up alerts on database performance and status are available to any application or service running in Azure.

How do I get support for Oracle Database Service for Azure?

You request help directly from within the Oracle Database Service for Azure portal; this allows you to create an OCI Service Request and get the help you need from OCI.

Customers can also raise issues through either Microsoft or Oracle. The support organization will request the customer’s permission to engage the other company and will then use a joint resolution model to address issues.

More details are available at https://www.oracle.com/cloud/azure/interconnect/.

Can Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) be used on non-Oracle public cloud environments?

No, Oracle doesn't support Oracle RAC on non-Oracle public cloud environments. For more information, visit My Oracle Support document 2688277.1.

How can I use Oracle RAC for Azure workloads?

Customers can leverage Oracle Database Service for Azure and run split-stack architecture workloads with the application tier in Azure and Oracle RAC as part of an Oracle Cloud database.

Economics

What does Oracle Database Service for Azure cost?

There’s no additional cost for using Oracle Database Service for Azure. There are no charges for the Interconnect ports or data ingress/egress over the interconnect. You will be billed normally for use of other Azure and OCI services by Microsoft and Oracle, respectively.

How am I billed?

Customers are billed by Microsoft for the Azure resources they use. They are billed by Oracle for the Oracle Database services they deploy on OCI.

Oracle Database Service for Azure does not change or replace ordinary contracts and billing processes.