Planning Database as a Service Implementation Project

By Nilesh Agrawal

People, process and planning are the three key elements to success in a private cloud journey. Some common questions i hear from field/customers often relates to tasks involved in setting up Database-as-a-Service(DBaaS) using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c from scratch and how these tasks are mapped to current IT roles and responsibilities - overall list of activities that needs to be performed to setup and achieve DBaaS and who does what during the implementation process.

In terms of roles, responsibilities and users, you will map to these categories

• Project Manager is responsible for working with all stakeholders, project team and coordinating in planning and delivering DBaaS implementation project
• EM Admin sets ups Cloud management infrastructure and is responsible for overall EM 12c installation/configuration and Administration
• Cloud Admins are responsible for managing the Cloud infrastructure(Servers, Network, Storage) and related Administration
• SSA Admins or Cloud DBAs are responsible for Self Service portal setup, managing quotas, policies, target DBs S/W provisioning/ongoing Administration
• SSA Users or End users of Cloud who actually requests for DB instances to be rapidly provisioned on-demand from Self Service portal

Here is a sample Work-breakdown structure(WBS) listing down tasks involved and with individual owners mapped. Note - we have all type of use cases covered in the plan (DBCA, RMAN, Schema as a Service, Snap Clone) and you can pick up any or mix or all of these tasks in your plan depending on your use cases and requirements for implementing DBaaS -

Activity	Description	Owner
A. Initiation and Startup
Determine scope of implementation	Determine and document scope of DBaaS Cloud implementation together with customer and end users. Determine requirements and goals. Introduction meeting implementation team.	Project Manager
Coordination and quality management	Coordination and quality management on throughout all phases of the implementation	Project Manager
Define High availability Needs	Determine the level of High availability required	Project Manager
Technical intake	Technical intake meeting; Infrastructure requirements (Hardware, OS, network/firewall, s/w requirement) for cloud setup	Project Manager
Functional intake	Functional intake meeting; Monitoring /Reporting/Alerting requirement. User/Roles/Groups/Rules model	Project Manager
Deliver implementation plan	Document requirements and goals. Document required functional and technical configuration. Build architecture Diagram. Update estimate planning based on implementation plan.	Project Manager
B. Infrastructure Setup
Install hardware systems	Plan EM12c compatible hardware systems	EM Admin
Operating system installation	Installation of certified OS platform [Refer Certify on MOS]	EM Admin
Network configuration of hardware systems	General network configuration of hardware systems I.e. TCP/IP, routing, NTP, firewall access, SSH, HTTP and HTTPS access. Set up network access between systems and work place of end users. Optionally implementation of remote access	EM Admin
C. Production EM 12c Cloud Control Installation
Install of Oracle Database 11gR2	Installation of Oracle Database 11gR2 for Repository	EM Admin
Installation of EM 12c Cloud Control Release 2 Update 1 and latest PSU	Installation of EM 12c Cloud Control OMS/Agents	EM Admin
Review HA, Security, Sizing Best practices	Setup as per EM 12c Admin guide	EM Admin
Review recommended patches	Review latest PSU and DBaaS patches as per MOS Note 1549855.1	EM Admin
D. Setting up High Availability
Configure Repository For High Availability	Enable Repository as per database high availability best practices. Configure Standby database @ DR site for EM cloud control repository. Configure repository database as RAC database with 2 or more nodes Configure OMS for RAC/standby repository	EM Admin
Configure OMS for High Availability	See Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Administrator's Guide for Configuring OMS for high availability	EM Admin
Configure Agents for High availability	See Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Administrator's Guide for Configuring Agents for high availability	EM Admin
Test failover strategy	Test the Repository and OMS failover to standby site	EM Admin
Setup backups	Setup back ups for Repository, OMS and agents	EM Admin
E. EM 12c Cloud Control Functional configuration
Defining Roles and assigning users	Setup Cloud, SSA Admin and SSA User roles and users	EM Admin
Setup S/W Library	Setup S/W Library for self update/plug-ins/cloud functionality	Cloud Admin
Setup Self Update	Setup self update to get new and updated capabilities when they become available between official releases	EM Admin
Setup required plug-ins on OMS	Oracle Cloud Application, Database, Chargeback and Capacity planning, Storage Management Framework (SMF) and Virtualization (VT) plug-ins are required	EM Admin
Customize SSA Login Page (Optional)	Configure Self Service Portal to customize the login page (eg option to have company brand image/service provider and tenant brand)	EM Admin
Define/setup Notification methods	Setup mail server for Notification. Setup email address for yourself and other administrators. Test and setup other notification methods if required	EM Admin
Add Host targets which are going to be used for Cloud	Push Agents on Servers part of PaaS Infrastructure. Push plug-ins on hosts	Cloud Admin
Configure Hosts for Privilege Delegation	Configure Hosts for Privilege Delegation. Setup Privilege delegation settings in Cloud Control. Setup named credential for cloud self service	EM Admin
Provisioning Oracle RDBMS s/w on Hosts	Provision/Configure and add Oracle Home as target in EM12c - Refer to EM 12c Lifecycle Management Admin guide for DB provisioning details. Optional - If planning to use GI/RAC for cloud services, provision/configure GI/RAC Oracle Homes as targets in EM12c In case of Exadata, Grid Infrastructure and RAC Database software is  already deployed on compute nodes via OneCommand from Oracle, so SSA  Administrator just needs to discover Oracle Homes and Listener as EM  targets. Databases will be created as and when users request for databases from cloud.	SSA Admin
Configure Listener	Configure and add Oracle Database Listener as target in EM12c	SSA Admin
F. Exadata Targets Monitoring Configuration in EM (Optional - in case DBaaS setup is on Exadata)
Deploy Agents on compute nodes	Deploy Agents on Exadata compute nodes	EM Admin
Exadata System Discovery and Configuration	Specify host from which Exadata server is being discovered. Specify discovery parameters for Infiniband switches. Specify discovery parameters for associated subsystems, such as ILOM, KVM, Cisco switch. Complete discovery and confirm that all targets have been discovered. Verify that cell groups have been created for cells associated with each database. Verify the targets in the topology view of the Exadata Database Machine system. Navigate the topology and verify the configuration of the each of the targets in the Exadata Database Machine system.	EM Admin
Exadata System Alerts, Metrics, Performance Monitoring and Actions	This use case will demonstrate the different alerts, metrics monitoring and actions available	EM Admin
Database to Exadata drilldown and IORM	Demonstrate the ability to drill down from the database I/O to Exadata and then control the database I/O on Exadata using IORM	EM Admin
G. DBaaS Functional configuration (RMAN, DBCA)
Creating PaaS Infrastructure zone	Create Database zones. Add Hosts in PaaS Infrastructure zones	Cloud Admin
Create Database Pool	Setup a pool of Oracle homes. The Oracle homes should be of the same version, platform	SSA Admin
Configuring Request settings	Configure the database request settings by specifying when a request can be made, its duration and its retention period	SSA Admin
Configure Quotas	Configure Quota as aggregate amount of resources that can be granted to each self service user belonging to a certain role	SSA Admin
Create DBCA/RMAN based Profiles	Configure Profile that capture source database information as RMAN backup or DBCA template	SSA Admin
Setup Service Templates in Catalog	Create service templates as standardized service definition that is offered to self service users to create databases	SSA Admin
Configure Chargeback	Defining a Universal Charge Plan. Create Extended Charge Plan. Create a Business Hierarchy of Cost Centers	SSA Admin
Provisioning Oracle database	Provisioning Oracle database instances using SSA	SSA User
Verify Chargeback Reports	Verify Chargeback Reports	SSA Admin
H. Schema-as-a-Service Functional configuration
Discover/Provision Oracle Database as Managed Target	Provision/Configure and add source database and Databases where Schema is going to provisioned as targets in EM12c	SSA Admin
Creating PaaS Infrastructure zone	Create Database zones. Add Hosts in PaaS Infrastructure zones	Cloud Admin
Create Database Pool	Setup a pool of databases. The databases should be of the same version, platform	SSA Admin
Configure Schema export based Profiles	Create a database provisioning profile using Export Schema objects	SSA Admin
Setup Service Templates in Catalog	Create service templates as standardized service definition that is offered to self service users to create schemas	SSA Admin
Configure Quotas	Configure Quota as aggregate amount of resources that can be granted to each self service user belonging to a certain role	SSA Admin
Configure Chargeback	Defining a Universal Charge Plan. Create Extended Charge Plan. Create a Business Hierarchy of Cost Centers	SSA Admin
Provision Schemas	Provisioning Oracle schema/service instances using SSA	SSA User
Verify Chargeback Reports	Verify Chargeback Reports	SSA Admin
I. Snap Clone Functional configuration
Creating PaaS Infrastructure zone	Create Database zones. Add Hosts in PaaS Infrastructure zones	Cloud Admin
Create Database Pool	Setup a pool of databases. The databases should be of the same version, platform.	SSA Admin
Register and Manage Storage servers	Configure and setup ZFS/Netapp storage servers in EM 12c	SSA Admin
Configure Snap Clone based Profiles	Create Database Provisioning Profile Using Snapshots	SSA Admin
Setup Service Templates in Catalog	Create service templates as standardized service definition that is offered to self service users to create instances	SSA Admin
Configure Quotas	Configure Quota as aggregate amount of resources that can be granted to each self service user belonging to a certain role	SSA Admin
Configure Chargeback	Defining a Universal Charge Plan. Create Extended Charge Plan. Create a Business Hierarchy of Cost Centers	SSA Admin
Provision using Snap Clone template	Provisioning Oracle database instances using SSA	SSA user
Verify Chargeback Reports	Verify Chargeback Reports	SSA Admin
J. Knowledge transfer
DBaaS Cloud setup demo/presentation	session to deliver overview of the implemented system and usage	Cloud/SSA Admin
K. Delivery
Delivery meeting	Delivery meeting initiated and organized by PM	Project Manager
Delivery of final implementation rollout	Update of implementation plan to reflect latest implementation changes	Project Manager
L. Post implementation tasks
Periodic health checks	Health check of the EM12c system, EMDiag	EM Admin
Periodic Cloud infrastructure usage analysis	Cloud infrastructure monitoring periodic basis and realigning quotas/policies and pool infrastructure with business priorities	EM Admin
DBaaS Workshop for Administrators/end users	Periodic training sessions for end users and Admins on DBaaS and EM 12c Monitoring/Administration capabilities	Cloud/SSA Admin
Post implementation assistance	Periodic reviews of Cloud and Management infrastructure and expansion planning with stakeholders and project  team	EM/Cloud/SSA Admin

Additional information -

• Video : Meet Growing IT Demand for Databases with Private DBaaS
• Private Cloud Setup and Administration guide
• Zero to Cloud Resource Center
• Schema as a Service for Extreme Consolidation 
• Delivering Database as a Service using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c
• Best Practices for Database Consolidation in Private Clouds
• Demo - Oracle Cloud Management
• Demo - Setting up Database Clouds for Schema as a Service
• Oracle Database Resource Manager 
  

Schema-as-a-Service implementation using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c

By Nilesh Agrawal

Schema-as-a-Service capability was released few months back as part of Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Release 2 Plug-in Update 1 and is one of the widely talked about deployment models in a database cloud environment enabling deepest level of consolidation density possible and in turn driving maximum ROI. Schema consolidation also requires careful planning in terms of identifying the right mix of applications and business case and also meeting up with isolation requirements at operational, security and workload management levels. The following video presents Schema as a Service and other features supported by EM 12c Database as a Service.




In this post, I will go through the steps required to setup a Schema cloud service using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Release 2.This note is chalked down based on a recent customer experience and can be referred to by Administrators who are planning to or in process of setting up Schema-as-a-Service using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c.

• Project Planning - Define scope of implementation, engage end users/cloud consumers in the planning process and get the project plan approved from all stakeholders.
• Setup Cloud Management infrastructure
• Review the EM 12c Sizing paper before you get started with EM 12c Release 2 install
• Refer to EM 12c Administrator’s guide for High Availability, Security, Network/Firewall best practices and options
• Deploy EM 12c site using EM 12c Release 2 Installation guide
• Oracle Cloud Application, Database, Chargeback and Capacity planning, Storage Management Framework (SMF) and Virtualization (VT) plug-ins are required for enabling overall Database-as-a-Service capabilities
• Install latest EM PSU [MOS note 822485.1] and also recommended patches for Database-as-a-Service [MOS Note 1549855.1]
• Setup Roles and Users - Cloud Administrator (EM_CLOUD_ADMINISTRATOR), Self Service Administrator (EM_SSA_ADMINISTRATOR), Self Service User (EM_SSA_USER) are the important roles required for cloud lifecycle management and different users can be created and mapped to their respective roles as per their functional responsibility. Roles and users are managed by Super Administrator via Setup –> Security option. For Self Service/SSA users custom role(s) based on EM_SSA_USER should be created and EM_USER, PUBLIC roles should be revoked during SSA user account creation.
• Setup Software Library - Cloud Administrator configures Software library via Enterprise –> Provisioning and Patching option and the storage location provided is OMS shared filesystem. Software Library is the centralized repository that stores all software entities
• Setup Self Update – Self update can be configured via Setup -> Extensibility option by Super Administrator and is the unified delivery mechanism to get all new and updated entities (Agent software, plug ins, connectors, gold images, provisioning bundles etc) in EM 12c.
• Setup Schema Cloud
• Identify candidate servers to be pooled together into database cloud and deploy agents on those servers
• Next step is to pool these server resources into a 'PaaS Infrastructure Zone'. As Cloud Administrator user, Create PaaS Infrastructure Zone via Enterprise -> Cloud -> Middleware and Database Cloud option
• Deploy Oracle Database and Configure listener - As SSA Administrator user, setup target database(s) for Schema pool using Provision Oracle Database deployment procedure Refer to EM 12c database provisioning section in EM 12c Lifecycle Management Administrator's guide. Ensure listener is configured and discovered in EM for all the servers part of the Schema Cloud.
• Setup Database Pool for Schema Cloud - As SSA Administrator user, create database pool via Setup -> Cloud -> Database option. you can specify max workload allocated to each database and also can enable Resource manager at this stage
• Setup Service Catalog
  There are two distinct use cases here. you can either have SSA user get a) reference schema(s) imported or b) empty schema(s) provisioned . In case of empty schema(s) use case you can directly create service template and skip first step of configuring profile
• Configure Profile - Profile captures required information from reference database including metadata and actual schema(s) content. As SSA Administrator, create profile via Setup -> Cloud -> Database and select 'Profiles and Service Templates' under Database cloud SSA portal and use 'Export Schema Objects' option.
• Create Service template - Service template defines the standardization and actual flow that will be run when SSA user requests for Schema(s) from service catalog. As SSA Administrator, create a new service template via 'Profiles and Service Templates' option. you can select the related profile using which schema should be auto-imported when SSA user requests for schema. Important Tip - As part of Service template creation flow, there is this option of including standard custom scripts that can run part of service request flow before or after self-service schema(s) are provisioned.
• Setup governance rules and policies
• Configure Request Settings - As SSA Administrator, configure request settings via Setup -> Cloud -> Database and select Request settings tab under Database cloud SSA portal. you can define maximum duration of requests, how far in advance requests can be made etc and other request associated settings
• Configure Quotas - As SSA Administrator, configure quotas via Quotas tab in Database cloud SSA portal and define total amount of memory, storage, no of Schemas that can be granted to each user. Quotas are assigned at role level and only the roles that has EM_SSA_USER privilege assigned can be selected.
• Configure Chargeback/Showback - Chargeback is all about accountability and here you can track and meter resource usage and related costs in shared resource model and provide IT and business some powerful reports related to resource utilization and consumption costs. As SSA Administrator, Refer to Setting up Chargeback flow for defining charge plans and cost centers, chargeback settings. Important tip - Cost Center name is set by default as SSA user name for any new schema service provisioned by SSA users. Cost center can be changed via the Setup -> Cloud -> Database ->  Chargeback tab,  select 'Configure targets' and here the schema service target can be assigning to a different cost center.
• Rollout Self-Service Portal to SSA Users
•  Requesting Schema service - SSA Users at this stage can login to the Database cloud SSA portal and select the service template to request for schema service. During schema service request you can provide schema prefix to be added, workload size of service, schema passwords etc
• Access Schema service - SSA users can access provisioned schema service from SSA portal and they can use the connection details from summary. There are performance and usage graphs provided for schema service monitoring by SSA users. There is also option to export/import data for all Schemas part of this Schema service.
• Monitor and Manage Schema Cloud
• SSA Administrator can monitor the schema service requests via request dashboard via Enterprise -> Cloud -> Middleware and Database request dashboard.
• Refer to Private Cloud Administrator's guide for additional details to monitor the infrastructure at service, pool and zone levels. Important tip - Services Instances UI provides lot of useful detail in a single screen as you get to see all types of services along with their pool, zone association and also with related service template details.

More information -

• Private Cloud Setup and Administration guide
• Schema as a Service for Extreme Consolidation 
• Delivering Database as a Service using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c
• Best Practices for Database Consolidation in Private Clouds
• Demo - Setting up Database Clouds for Schema as a Service
• Oracle Database Resource Manager

The Enterprise Manager: Episode 8 - Database as a Service

Our intrepid hero Ed Muntz is back after a short stint in marketing to rescue the CIO Felix from IT challanges created by virtualization sprawl and management challanges for his enterprise databases.  



Spinning VMs for database deployment is creating VM sprawl. Ed Muntz explains how Oracle Enterprise Manager enables rapid deployment of private database as a service and provides total control over the Database as a Service cloud.

By Anand Akela

Test Drive Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Today

  

Are you looking for a place to test Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c features? Amazon Web Services new Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c – Monitoring Essentials Test Drive is the perfect solution for anybody who’s interested in testing out Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c before upgrading or deploying! Through a partnership with Apps Associates, AWS will provide 5 hours free access to an Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c environment with database and middleware targets for a look into the new features and abilities of Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c. A step-by-step guided workflow is provided to introduce the monitoring framework, including an overview of navigation, auto discovery, monitoring, management and reporting features.

By Courtney Llamas