Oracle has made some huge changes to the standard edition of 19c version.
The changes made are big and we can believe that Oracle is trying to push standard edition users towards enterprise edition.
Let’s take a look at some of the changes in the standard edition 19c onward:
CPU Cores
The major changes from SE to SE2 are primarily the limitation in the total number of CPU sockets and the maximum number of 16 CPU threads per database instance that can be used at any time. In the past SE allowed the utilization of 4 sockets (2 sockets for SE1) with no limitation on the amount of CPU threads.
In SE2, the amount of sockets was reduced to only 2. In observe, this suggests that we tend to may still set up RAC (Real Application Cluster), however with just 1 CPU socket per server and no more than eight CPU threads which will be used by the database instance.
The decline in CPU cores isn’t a show stopper, within the last range of years, the processor modules have improved drastically. The advances within the chip technology perpetually have increased their thread / cores power. There’s currently an enormous process power on only 1 CPU core. The SE2 limitation to 2 sockets servers ought to thus not hinder your database performance.
RAC
Effectively from Oracle version 19c, the usage of Oracle RAC will not be allowed anymore within Standard Edition Two (SE2). The “Database Licensing Information User Manual” shows more information: https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/19/dblic/Licensing-Information.html#GUID-B6113390-9586-46D7-9008-DCC9EDA45AB4 (see Table 1.9 Scalability).
The Real Application Cluster (RAC) option is no longer available, SE2 still capable of providing standby database functionality with a third party tool such as DB Visit standby. The Oracle Linux clustering can also provide for active-passive configuration. This feature is explained later on.
Note – If you know that Oracle 19c enjoys ‘Premier Support’ for the longest time and is, therefore, preferable for an upgrade.
However, if your database platform is made of Oracle Linux, you are entitled to use Oracle clusterware free. This product requires an external shared storage and is very similar to the Oracle Grid installation. The database can then be registered as a resource at the clusterware level. This configuration does not require Oracle RAC component.
Performance Monitoring
The Oracle SE 2 does not have Automatic Workload Repository, performance and tuning diagnostic packs options. However, there are still a fair amount of information available through the use of Stats pack utility and various third party applications. The support DBAs can also generate stats pack report on a frequent hourly basis and examine the reports to ascertain any performance issues.
Other changes
As with previous versions of the Oracle SE, some options like RMAN and Flash knowledge Archive area unit still available and enabled.
Some RMAN features like parallel backups, quick progressive backups with Block modification chase and block-level media recovery weren’t available within the previous version of SE and this rule still applies.
Reasons for choosing Oracle19c SE2
This version of the database can be considered for a strategic platform as its build on a very stable & mature database technology (although with some limited features). The important factors to consider when looking a SE2 are
- SE2 is built on a proven Oracle database technology
- The total cost of ownership
- SE2 pricing is very competitive and economical
- AWR reports, performance diagnostics and tuning options are not available for SE2 but there is still Statspack reporting. There are also performance specific tools such as Solarwind database performance monitoring tools are excellent for these type of databases.
- Disaster Recovery with SE2 is still possible with standby databases through DB Visit Standby.
- High Availability with SE2 is possible through Oracle clusterware
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