Shared versus dedicated architecture
Each database system comprises the physical data files forming the database and the instance itself, delimited by the memory structures and background processes. During the session creation process, the client contacts the database listener for interconnection and direct access. The client cannot access the database directly. It is operated by the background processes, stored in the memory, forming the result set or processing the data that has been modified.
There are two types of infrastructure options:
- With a shared deployment, all resources of Exadata Cloud Infrastructure are shared by users. This allows environments to be set up very quickly by provisioning resources and databases. Thus, the storage and instance are shared. Do not be afraid – naturally, data is not shared across users and applications.
- By contrast, a dedicated deployment allows you to separate your applications in a cloud environment in your own dedicated Exadata Cloud Infrastructure. This option is available in customers’ data centers (Exadata Cloud@Customer) or a dedicated public cloud can be used.
To provide an overview of the principles and complexity involved in the Oracle Cloud technology, it is necessary to reference the basic terms related to the Oracle Cloud environment. In the next section, we will introduce the main terms related to Oracle Cloud, especially concerning geographical location, resources, and storage management.
