How Oracle Cloud (OCI) is Built Different

The fully shared architecture of a hyperscaler have many downsides, such as network collisions, resistance to vertical scale, and effort-intensive enterprise app migrations.

 Oracle’s second-generation cloud infrastructure solves these downsides. Unique from the deepest layers of cloud architecture — Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) pioneers support for cloud-native and enterprise applications, at scale, atop industry-dominating security. Thereby, materially resulting in:

• Ensuring reliable performance and simplified deployment of security measures
• Facilitating the seamless adoption of a multi-cloud strategy
• Enabling the deployment of cloud solutions within enterprise data centers to meet latency and data residency demands
• Empowering the utilization of all available data for driving revolutionary AI applications
• Maximizing the use of existing skills and technological investments during the transition to the cloud

But what are the steps exactly that Oracle has taken to make OCI a turning point in the history of cloud computing? Let us find out.

AI Vector Search and RDMA Network Take the Lead

Oracle released the AI Vector Search at the Oracle CloudWorld 2023, capacitating businesses to keep the semantic content in images, documents, and a variety of unstructured data as vectors, and utilize them to run similarity queries exceptionally faster. Logical enough to embed data integrity and security — it fosters the union of semantic and business data for the most capable AI implementations via Database 23c in OCI. Here’s more in Oracle Press Release.

At the other end, Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) — the champion of high-throughput and low-latency networks — is connecting NVIDIA GPUs with superclusters in OCI for 2-times faster data deliveries at half the cost incurred with other cloud providers. Even Microsoft is using OCI Supercluster for Bing conversational searches.

A Robust Cloud, Public or Private, Supporting All Workloads

At the ideation to execution, OCI is built out of innovations with incredibly huge impact radiuses. Among these, five of the most prominent ones are [discussed in more detail in the successive sections]:

• Enhanced network hypervisor isolation at hardware and software levels to prevent compromised instances from impacting the network, ensuring stronger security and better VM performance
• A network backbone built using CLOS architecture, guaranteeing a flat, non-blocking topology with maximum two-hop connectivity in a region, leading to predictable performance and an exclusive network performance SLA
•  Layer 2 network virtualization support enablement, allowing seamless migration of on-premises applications to the cloud without modification, making OCI the only platform compatible with RAC, Exadata, and Vmware workloads
• Exclusive RDMA over converged ethernet offering, facilitating direct memory access across multiple nodes for microsecond latency, high performance, and scalability, especially for HPC and AI training workloads
• Introduction of flexible shape capability, enabling precise CPU, memory, and IOPS selection for workloads without over-provisioning or waste

OCI Solved Control Plane Glitch in Most Hyperscalers

Oracle spotted the unnecessary vulnerability of running the control plane on the servers for customer tenancy workloads. It offered a freeway for unauthorized entities to exploit a privilege or misconfiguration within the operating system or application within a given tenancy. This exploitation could potentially lead to unauthorized access to the shared control plane software. Plus, the practice of running the control plane on the same hardware as the server had limitations like hindering the ability to allocate the complete server performance to a client and preventing secure encryption that would grant the client control over the entire system, including the VM’s keys.

To tackle this challenge, Oracle introduced the off-box control plane DPU responsible for managing service provisioning on OCI. This innovative approach not only empowers Oracle to provide customers with automated access to complete bare-metal servers but also grants customers ownership of encryption keys for the entire server infrastructure. Importantly, this off-box control plane also securely administers VMs, containers, serverless instances, and various PaaS services. Oracle made all of that possible for the first time since the cloud’s inception.

Network Collision and Stateless Database Sorted in Oracle Cloud

Another driver behind Oracle’s fast rising status in the cloud arena today — is the addressing of conflicts among tenancy traffic in hyperclouds. These conflicts resulted in one of the most critical issues of the pre-OCI era, called the ‘noisy neighbor’. It also severely limited the scalability and performance of stateful database services. To rectify this, Oracle developed a unique hardware-based virtualization device that isolates and virtualizes traffic at the data frame layer (Layer 2 in the OSI model).

Complementing further, Oracle created a three-layered impact:

•  A folded leaf and spine topology for their network switches, establishing a non-blocking Clos architecture as the standard networking model across the entire infrastructure
• The trailblazing approach enabled OCI to be the first public cloud provider capable of guaranteeing network performance through a financially backed service level agreement
• Third, the network isolation methodology allowed seamless integration of other Layer 3 technologies, such as VMware's NSX, to operate natively on Oracle’s network minus modifications

Oracle Cloud Solved Vertical Scaling in Hyperclouds

Finally, Oracle’s rack design strategy converged on advancing the vertical scalability of systems via cluster networking. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s seamlessly integrated remote direct memory access (RDMA) over converged Ethernet backplanes into their Intel and AMD server systems, empowering automated clustering capabilities between servers.

Furthermore, Oracle Cloud’s capacity to provide automated clustered bare-metal services, coupled with Layer 2 network virtualization, positions Oracle as the sole provider offering a complete VMware service with native support for, vRealize, NSX, and vSAN. This compatibility extends to third-party tools and hypervisor versions, ensuring seamless integration with on-premises VMware environments and swift migrations. In essence, this approach has engendered a cloud architecture that adeptly caters to the demands of both contemporary horizontally scaling cloud-native systems and the performance prerequisites of finely-tuned, unified, stateful enterprise applications and environments at zero trade-offs.

The Cost Cascade in Oracle Cloud

From the layers of compute, storage, and network, to database, security, and monitoring — Oracle Cloud consistently offers lower pricing with a notable difference in pricing for block storage and network services.

By eliminating various surcharges that are typically considered standard, such as those for network load balancing, log storage, and threat scanning – which can constitute up to 15% of a bill – OCI effectively removes the legacy tax, setting itself apart as a provider that doesn’t burden users with unnecessary costs.

In contrast, other cloud service providers impose a growth tax, leading to disproportionately increasing storage and network expenses as businesses scale. OCI’s approach ensures a predictable cost trajectory, shielding users from unexpected bill shocks, and providing confidence even in the face of significant growth projections, highlighting its distinct advantage over competitors.

Oracle Cloud’s Performance Value Outweighing Rest

Oracle Makes Cloud Elastic Back Again

OCI provides a versatile range of CPU options, including Intel, AMD, and Arm, consistently available across its 45 regions, coupled with an extensive selection of cloud shapes catering to diverse workloads such as web servers, application servers, rendering, and training. These shapes can be accessed on demand, as preemptable instances, or as burstable shapes, aligning with industry standards.

However, recognizing that the essence of the cloud lies in its elasticity, OCI introduces the flex shape capability, enabling users to define custom shapes online according to specific requirements. This feature allows businesses to precisely configure the number of cores, memory, storage throughput, and network bandwidth, empowering them to tailor their cloud environment to their precise needs and thus reinstating the inherent elasticity of the Cloud.

OCI is Why Cloud is Safe

OCI realized this by powering up the fundamental security measures first, birthing security innovations next, followed by fusing with industry-leading practices. For example:

• With physically isolated tenancies and actively managed security postures, OCI offers enhanced protection
• Every compute resource undergoes a thorough cleaning process and reboots with a root of trust card, guaranteeing the absence of any lingering software remnants from previous users
• Identity and Access are seamlessly integrated across IaaS, SaaS, and multi-cloud environments, facilitated through a unified control plane for simplified management
• Customers on OCI experience a security-focused approach without compromising on cost, focusing on simplicity, integration, and comprehensive control across data and application locations

Oracle Cloud is Open and Everywhere

OCI supports a range of workloads, including major applications like Amdocs for leading companies and SAP and Netweaver instances for various organizations. Successful migrations from Azure to OCI have been observed, such as with the Diksha education platform, resulting in improved price performance. Noteworthy projects, including the India National Stock Exchange’s management of LIC’s largest IPO, have chosen OCI, while collaborations with Microsoft enable seamless integration of various Windows services.

Plus, OCI caters to diverse AI/ML workloads, serving clients with a range of applications including LLM Generative AI models, TensorFlow, CFD simulations, and more.

OCI’s distributed cloud approach meets you at every stage of your cloud journey. Whether it is for addressing latency and data residency concerns by bringing the cloud to your data center, focusing on the database tier through Exadata Cloud at Customer, or bringing the entire Oracle cloud behind your firewall via the Dedicated Region, OCI offers tailored solutions to match your specific needs and requirements.

15 Reasons to Choose Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Over Other Hyperscalers

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• Accelerating Cloud Native Services: Oracle Cloud simplifies the adoption of cloud-native services with an intuitive approach that minimizes the learning curve
• Versatile Scalability: It supports both horizontal and vertical scaling, providing flexibility in managing workloads
• Tailored Compute Services: Oracle Cloud’s compute service allows precise specifications, from processor platforms to memory allocations, ensuring your VMs match your exact requirements
• Fine-Tuned Load Balancing: Alongside automated load balancing, you have the power to adjust throughput limits based on your budget and scaling criteria
• Dynamic Block Storage: Easily boost block storage performance without the need for complex reprovisioning or data migration
• Stateful Database Support: Leveraging its low-latency, high-throughput network, Oracle Cloud empowers you to maintain stateful database systems in the cloud
• Diverse Database Solutions: Oracle offers a variety of database configurations, including autonomous databases, granting you the freedom to choose the right fit
• Multi-Modal Converged Architecture: Oracle Database accommodates multiple data models, making it adaptable for various use cases within a single service
• Open Source Database Services: Oracle Cloud extends its support to modern Open Source Software (OSS) database offerings, ensuring compatibility and seamless portability
• Complete Data Management Toolkit: Oracle Cloud provides an array of data management tools, including Data Catalog and Cloud SQL, simplifying data consolidation and management
• Seamless Tooling Integration: Oracle Cloud effortlessly integrates with existing tools, reducing the learning curve and streamlining operations
• High-Performance GPU Computing: Leveraging cluster networking and intelligent placement, Oracle Cloud offers scalable GPU environments, ideal for AI and ML workloads
• Generative AI for Competitive Edge: Oracle’s high-performance GPU environment and low-latency network make it a prime platform for generative AI services
• Diverse Infrastructure Models: Oracle Cloud’s architecture supports the efficient delivery of cloud services in various forms, such as Dedicated regions, Compute Cloud@Customer, and more
• Intercloud Connectivity: Oracle collaborates with Equinix to provide bi-directional, low-latency connections between Azure and OCI tenancies, enhancing multi-cloud interoperability

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