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Using Oracle on Google Cloud Compute Engine
Google Cloud does not offer a managed service for Oracle the way that AWS does with Amazon RDS, and Oracle offers natively with the Oracle Compute Infrastructure (OCI). Google Cloud gives developers two primary deployment options:
- Using partner-managed Oracle instances that can be picked from the Google Cloud Marketplace
- Setting up a custom Oracle instance using Google Base Metal Solutions
Note: Unlike Oracle on AWS or Oracle on Azure, Google Cloud Platform does not support running Oracle in a virtual instance. This is due to an Oracle-Google licensing limitation related to the Compute Engine hypervisor.
This is part of our series of articles on Google Cloud database offerings.
Option 1: Deploying Oracle Using GCP Marketplace Oracle Partners
Google has partnered with several technology providers to offer Oracle to their customers. You can deploy an Oracle database from the Google Cloud Marketplace, purchasing the services of a Google partner, also known as a managed service provider (MSP).
However, with this option, you are actually placing your Oracle database in a co-location facility that is adjacent to GCP. This isn’t exactly deploying Oracle on Google Cloud itself, but it provides higher performance storage in a colocation facility that is geographically close to the Google cloud data centers.
Pros of Oracle on GCP with Oracle Partners:
- Ease of deployment—all the benefits of a fully managed version of Oracle on Google cloud.
- Integration with GCP console—manage and monitor your Oracle instances directly from the GCP console.
Cons of Oracle on GCP with Oracle Partners:
- Performance—there is some minor latency with this architectural design, because database instances are not actually running in Google Cloud Platform, but in a colocated facility.
- Database version—one of the well-known limitations when it comes to deploying your Oracle instance on Google marketplace, or really any managed service, is having a limited choice on what versions you can select. This can become a major issue if you are migrating from a different version of Oracle that might not have the same syntax of SQL or features in general.
- Lack of control—when using a managed service, you cannot customize and configure your Oracle instance the way you need. You have no control of the third-party provider’s infrastructure, and you are limited to using the hardware, logging, and other configurations offered by the provider.
Option 2: Deploying Oracle Using Google Bare Metal Solution
Legacy applications often run on Oracle and other databases that might be difficult to migrate to the cloud. One of the many products GCP offers is Bare Metal Solution. This provides you an entire physical server in a Google Cloud region.
Pros of Oracle on Google Bare Metal:
- Dedicated physical machine—the same flexibility and raw power as a dedicated physical machine in your on-premise data center.
- High performance storage—the underlying storage infrastructure uses NetApp NVMe storage technology to provide enterprise-grade performance and leverage its data protection capabilities.
- Low-latency and connectivity to all native Google Cloud services—you can easily connect your Oracle workloads to other applications running on GCP. This makes migrating to GCP easier and simplifies the architecture.
- Keep your existing Oracle license—you can Bring Your Own License (BYOL) and run it on Google Bare Metal (this benefit is relevant for GCP Marketplace solutions as well). Canceling current Oracle licenses is usually expensive; ending contracts early can incur costs, often between 30-50% of the original contract value.
Cons of Oracle on Google Bare Metal:
- Additional complexity—you will need specialized skills to deploy Oracle on Google Bare Metal, the same skills as would be needed to deploy Oracle in a local data center.
- Higher maintenance overhead—just like a locally-hosted Oracle database, you need trained staff to monitor and maintain your database. Some of these maintenance tasks are assumed by the MSP in an Oracle partners marketplace offering.
Enterprise-Level Database Deployments on GCP with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP
Even though GCP does not provide a managed service, or a method to host an unmanaged Oracle database, it still gives users options to deploy Oracle via a range of managed services, with third-party providers and through its own Bare Metal Solution.
To get more for an enterprise-level database deployment, you can gain a major advantage using NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP. Cloud Volumes ONTAP works as a management layer on top of your database running in a cloud or hybrid environment, supporting up to a capacity of 368TB and providing you with additional benefits you won’t get with either of the above methods, including high availability, data protection, storage efficiencies, and Kubernetes integration.
