Oracle 11g - Categories of Innovation

This is a continuation of yesterday's post about the Oracle 11g launch last week in NYC. Chuck Rozwat, Executive Vice President of Server Technologies was the next speaker, and he took up most of the remainder of the presentation. He gave some more details about some of the exciting features of 11g and grouped them into 4 "Categories of Innovation". During each category discussion, a customer was brought out to discuss what they are or plan on using 11g for to help their business innovate in their industry. I will follow Chuck's grouping and which features were discussed during each segment.

Categories of Innovation

1. Better integration of all data types
1. Oracle Fast Files - faster than linux/ntfs filesystem for accessing unstructured data
2. Binary XML - 15x faster than XML LOBS in 10g
3. Several new data types:
1. RFID
2. DICOM
3. 3D Spatial
2. Managing data growth
1. Advanced partitioning - Partition Advisor
1. Automated partitioning by interval
   
1. Continue to create partitions on the fly
2. Automated partitioning by reference
1. Automatically maintains references when partitions are created
3. Business driven partitioning by new composite
1. Maintain partitions based on business rules
2. Compression - Advanced Compression
1. Typical 2-3x compression, up to 10x in some cases
3. Highest quality of service at lower cost
1. Faster performance (some examples)
   
1. RAC up to 70% faster
2. Java JIT compiler up to 11x faster
3. Secure Backup 25% faster
4. Query caches 25% faster
5. Stats collection 10x faster
   
2. OLAP based Materialized Views
1. merge OLAP cache with MView
3. Security and Compliance
1. Transparent Data Encryption
2. Secure (encrypted) Backup and Compression
3. Advanced Security
1. Kerberos authentication
2. Strong password
   
4. Multi-factor DBA authentication
1. Data Vault
2. Audit Vault - consolidate and monitor audit information
4. Availability
1. Protect against data loss
1. RMAN
2. Secure Backup
2. Protect against disk failure
1. ASM
3. Protect against server loss
1. RAC
4. Protect against human error
1. Flashback transaction
2. Total Recall
5. Protect against site failure
1. Data Guard
4. Ability to manage change
1. Real Application Testing

Over the coming weeks and months, I will give some overview of some of the features mentioned above, and what impacts they may have on the real world.