ORACLE DATABASE

Modern enterprises increasingly require centralized identity management and seamless single sign-on (SSO) across cloud platforms. Oracle addresses this need by enabling Microsoft Entra ID (MS‑EI) integration for Oracle Databases running on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure . This blog walks through how MS‑EI authentication and authorization works , key prerequisites , networking and TLS requirements , and the supported authentication flows - from a DBA and cloud architect perspective. Why Integrate Microsoft Entra ID with Oracle Exadata? By integrating Oracle Database with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), organizations can: Centrally manage database users and access policies in MS‑EI Enable SSO-based database authentication Eliminate local database passwords Use modern OAuth2 token-based authentication Align Oracle access controls with enterprise identity governance This integration is supported for: ...

Auditing is a crucial component of any enterprise database security strategy. It helps organizations track user activity, detect suspicious behaviour, and comply with regulatory requirements such as GDPR, SOX, HIPAA, and PCI‑DSS. With Oracle Database 12c, Oracle introduced Unified Auditing , a major enhancement that consolidates auditing configuration and improves performance. If you're still relying on traditional auditing, now is the perfect time to understand what Unified Auditing offers and how it can simplify audit management. In this blog, we will explore: What Unified Auditing is Benefits over traditional auditing Modes of unified auditing Key components How to configure and manage unified auditing Best practices for Oracle DBAs What Is Unified Auditing? Unified Auditing is Oracle’s auditing framework that centralizes all auditing configurations into a single unified audit trail . Instead of storing audit records in multiple...

  In today’s landscape, protecting a database is no longer just about keeping people out, it’s about monitoring everything they do once they are in. Oracle AVDF is a comprehensive security platform that manages your entire database security posture, ensuring that your most sensitive information remains both private and compliant. What is Oracle AVDF? Oracle AVDF is a "software appliance" that combines two powerful security tools into one unified management console. Audit Vault: Acts as a secure, central "vault" for audit data. It collects logs from databases, operating systems, and even custom files, storing them in a tamper-proof repository. Database Firewall: Acts as a real-time "shield". It sits on the network, inspecting every SQL command before it hits your database to block unauthorized activity. Core Pillars of Modern Database Security 1. Database Security Posture Management (DSPM) Beyond just watching ...

Many businesses use a Primary Database for their main work and a Standby Database (Active Data Guard) for reports and data backups. This keeps the primary system fast and clear of extra chores. In the past, checking the performance of these standby databases was difficult and required a lot of manual setup. With the new Oracle AI Database 26ai , that has changed. Performance tracking is now automatic and easy. The Old Way vs. The New Way Previously, setting up performance tracking (called AWR) on a standby database was a headache. The Old Challenges - Problems with the Old Method (UMF) Before the new 26ai update, database administrators had to use a system called Unified Management Framework (UMF) . It was difficult to use for several reasons: Too Much Manual Work: Admins had to manually link every single primary database to its standby database. If you had many databases, this took a long time and was easy to mess up. Constant Monitoring Needed: If the sy...

Starting with Oracle AI Database 26ai, Release Update 23.9 , Oracle introduced a new initialization parameter called ALERT_LOG_MAX_SIZE . This parameter gives DBAs more control over the size and management of the alert log - one of the most important diagnostic files in an Oracle environment. In this post, we’ll break down what the parameter does, how it behaves, and what you need to know before setting it in your database. What Is ALERT_LOG_MAX_SIZE? ALERT_LOG_MAX_SIZE specifies the maximum size of the XML alert log , expressed in bytes. It helps prevent the alert log from growing indefinitely and consuming unnecessary disk space. Property Description Parameter Type Big integer Syntax ALERT_LOG_MAX_SIZE = integer [K,M,G] Default Value 1000M Modifiable Yes (via ALTER SYSTEM) Modifiable in PDB No Range 0, and 50 MB up to OS-depe...