Table of contents
1.
Introduction  
1.1.
Database
1.2.
Introduction to Oracle
1.3.
Features of Oracle database
1.4.
Disadvantages of OracleDB
2.
FAQs
3.
Key Takeaways
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

Oracle Database Introduction

Author Prashant Singh
3 upvotes
Career growth poll
Do you think IIT Guwahati certified course can help you in your career?

Introduction  

Database

A database is an organized collection of structured data stored electronically in a computer system( or any device). A Database system allows us to access the information, to manage and find the relevant information frequently. Before the invention of the database system, the flat file structure was extensively used to store the data.

The Relational Database system has become more popular than the flat-file model because it eliminates redundant data. For example, we have an employee and contact information stored in the same file. In such a case, the employee with multiple contacts will appear in multiple rows.

Introduction to Oracle

Oracle is a product that was introduced by Oracle corporation. Oracle provides a relational DBMS(Database Management System). Oracle products are secure and scalable, having high-performance ability compared to other databases available in the market.

Oracle is sometimes referred to as OracleDB. It is marketed by Oracle corporation and was created in 1997. Oracle has multiple product editions: Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition, Express Edition, Oracle lite, and Personal Edition.

Oracle was the first database designed for the enterprise grid computing and data warehousing. The Enterprise grid computing provides the most flexible and cost-effective way to manage applications and information. It also uses SQL queries as a language for interacting with the database.

Features of Oracle database

OracleDB or Oracle manages the data with the help of an open, complete, and integrated approach. The following are the features of oracle that complete the demand for an efficient and powerful database management system:

  • Availability 
  • Security
  • Scalability
  • Performance
  • Analytics
  • Management

Availability 

As the name suggests, OracleDB never goes offline, which means it supports the 24x7 availability of the database. The availability of Oracle is high because of its Oracle data guard functionality. This Oracle data guard functionality allows using the secondary database as a copy of the primary database during any failure.

Security

OracleDB has its mechanism for controlling the database and accessing it to prevent unauthorized access. OracleDB has the Oracle Advanced Security features, which provide high security. It provides two solutions to protect databases: Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and Data Redaction.

Transparent Data Encryption supports data encryption at the source and after export, while Redaction is performed at the application level.

Scalability

It provides features like Portability and Real application cluster(RAC to provide a high data availability system), making an OracleDB scalable based on usage. The database with RAC has the following benefits in comparison to traditional database servers:

  • Performing upgrades
  • Availability
  • Quality of service management

Performance

OracleDB(or Oracle) provides multiple tools for performance optimizations such as Oracle Real Application Testing, Oracle Advanced Compression, Oracle TimesTen Application-Tier Database Cache, and Oracle Database In-Memory. The main objective of all these tools is to maximize the system performance to the highest level.

Analytics

OracleDB has the following two solutions in the field of analytics:

  • Oracle Analytic Processing (OLAP): OLAP is an implementation of OracleDB for doing complicated analytical calculations on business data.
  • Oracle Advanced Analytics (OAA):  It assists customers in determining the predictive business models through data and text mining.

Management

Oracle has a data management tool named Oracle Multitenant that combines a single container database with multiple pluggable databases in consolidated design.

Disadvantages of OracleDB

The following are the significant disadvantages of the oracle database :

  • Complexity: OracleDB is recommended when the users are sufficiently technically skilled because it requires high technical knowledge to deal with the oracle database.
  • Difficulty to manage: OracleDB is often much more complex, and they are also difficult to manage specific activities.
  • Cost: The oracle databases are expensive compared to other databases. Thus, users are more likely to use less expensive databases like MySQL.

FAQs

  1. What is a Relational Database?
    A Relational Database is an assortment of relational data arranged in the form of tables, columns, and rows, along with their related properties. In a relational database, each table will have a uniquely identified key-value, called the primary key, that can be connected to other related tables with the help of a Foreign key from those tables. And the data from the Relational database can be accessed, modified, or managed by querying with the Structured Query Language(SQL) programming language.
     
  2. Why do we use Oracle?
    OracleDB is a database management software product provided by Oracle corporation. A database contains an organized collection of information. A database management system is used not only to store the data but also to manage it and provide high performance effectively, authorized access, and failure recovery features.
     
  3. What is Oracle?
    Oracle, sometimes also referred to as OracleDB, was the first database designed for the enterprise grid computing and data warehousing. Enterprise grid computing provides the most flexible and cost-effective way to manage applications and information. It also uses SQL queries as a language for interacting with the database.

Key Takeaways

In this blog, we learned about databases and Oracle databases. We study the features of the Oracle database and how it is better than other databases in some situations. We also learned the disadvantages of the Oracle database.

Visit here for the top 100 SQL problems asked in various product and service-based companies like Google, Microsoft, Infosys, IBM, etc.

Also Read - Cardinality In DBMS

You can also visit Coding Ninjas Studio to practice programming problems for your complete interview preparation. Check it out to get hands-on experience with frequently asked interview questions and land your dream job.

Live masterclass