Study guide
13.1 Base Database Service: DB Systems, RAC, Data Guard, Cloning & Maintenance
OCI 2026 Architect Professional 1Z0-997-26
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1 Chapter 1: Exam Overview & Architecture Foundations
1.1 Exam Logistics, the 2026 Blueprint & How to Use This Guide 1.2 The OCI Well-Architected Framework & Architectural Tradeoffs
2 Chapter 2: High Availability & Resilient Design
2.1 Availability Domains, Fault Domains, Instance Pools & Load Balancers 2.2 OCI DNS Traffic Steering, Geolocation & Health Checks 2.3 Block Volume Replication, Volume Groups & Backup Policies 2.4 Object Storage Replication, Versioning & Retention Rules (WORM)
3 Chapter 3: Full Stack Disaster Recovery
3.1 Full Stack Disaster Recovery: Protection Groups, Members & Permissions 3.2 DR Plans: Switchover, Failover, Prechecks & Plan Execution 3.3 DR Drills, Plan Customization & Operational Readiness
4 Chapter 4: Container Instances, OCIR & OCI DevOps
4.1 Containerization, Microservices & OCI Container Instances 4.2 OCI Container Registry: Repositories, Push & Pull, and Image Management 4.3 OCI DevOps: Code Repositories, Build Pipelines & Deployment Strategies
5 Chapter 5: OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE)
5.1 OKE Cluster Types, Node Options & Cluster Creation 5.2 OKE Networking: VCN-Native Pod Networking vs. Flannel, Subnet Sizing & Load Balancers 5.3 OKE Workload Identity, Secrets & Persistent Storage
6 Chapter 6: Serverless Functions & API Gateway
6.1 OCI Functions: Concepts, Invocation Modes, Integrations & Image Security 6.2 API Gateway: Authentication, JWT Validation, Rate Limiting & Usage Plans
7 Chapter 7: Messaging & Event-Driven Design
7.1 OCI Streaming, OCI Queue & Messaging Patterns for Microservices 7.2 OCI Events, Event Rules & OCI Notifications Fan-Out
8 Chapter 8: Infrastructure as Code with Terraform & Resource Manager
8.1 Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and the OCI Provider 8.2 OCI Resource Manager: Stacks, Jobs, Drift Detection & Private Endpoints
9 Chapter 9: Identity & Multi-Tenancy Governance
9.1 IAM Policy Design: Verbs, Conditions, Dynamic Groups & Principals 9.2 Organizations Management, Governance Rules & Compartment Quotas
10 Chapter 10: Security Posture with Cloud Guard & Security Zones
10.1 Cloud Guard: Detector Recipes, Problems, Scores & Responders 10.2 Security Zones & Vulnerability Scanning
11 Chapter 11: Secure Access & Network Protection
11.1 Layered Network Security: Security Lists, NSGs & Private Access to Services 11.2 OCI Bastion: Managed SSH, Port Forwarding & SOCKS5 Sessions 11.3 Zero Trust Packet Routing (ZPR): Security Attributes & Intent-Based Policy 11.4 OCI Network Firewall: Policies, Inspection Routing, Tunnel Inspection & Private NAT
12 Chapter 12: Application & Data Protection: WAF, Certificates & Vault
12.1 OCI Web Application Firewall: Policies, Modules, Actions & Enforcement Points 12.2 OCI Certificates: Private CAs, TLS Certificates, Renewal & Integrations 12.3 OCI Vault Key Management: Vault Types, Protection Modes, Dedicated KMS & External KMS 12.4 Vault Secrets: Versions, Rotation States, Automatic Generation & Rotation
13 Chapter 13: Base Database Service & Autonomous AI Database
13.1 Base Database Service: DB Systems, RAC, Data Guard, Cloning & Maintenance 13.2 Autonomous AI Database: Workload Types, Deployment Options, Services & Connectivity 13.3 Operating Autonomous AI Database: Scaling, Cloning, Backups, Patching & Self-Tuning 13.4 Autonomous Data Guard & Backup-Based Disaster Recovery for Autonomous AI Database
14 Chapter 14: Recovery Service, Global Distribution & OCI Cache
14.1 Autonomous Recovery Service: Protection Policies, Real-Time Protection & Retention Lock 14.2 Globally Distributed Autonomous AI Database: Sharding, Data Placement & Replication 14.3 OCI Cache: Valkey and Redis Clusters, Sharding, Security & Cross-Region Replication
15 Chapter 15: Monitoring, Alarms & Notifications
15.1 OCI Monitoring: Metrics, Namespaces, Custom Metrics & Monitoring Query Language 15.2 Alarms & Notifications: Trigger Rules, Absence Alarms, Split Messages, Suppression & Delivery
16 Chapter 16: Logging, Audit, Connector Hub & Search
16.1 OCI Logging: Log Groups, Service Logs, Custom Logs & the Unified Monitoring Agent 16.2 Logging Search, the Logging Query Language & OCI Audit 16.3 Connector Hub: Moving Logs, Metrics, Queue Messages & Streams Between Services 16.4 OCI Search with OpenSearch & Resource Search for Observability
13.1 Base Database Service: DB Systems, RAC, Data Guard, Cloning & Maintenance
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
Oracle Base Database Service offers DB systems on virtual machines as single-node systems or multi-node RAC systems.
Enterprise Edition Extreme Performance is required for multi-node RAC DB systems on Base Database Service.
Oracle has announced the retirement of the VM.Standard.x86 shape, the EE-Extreme Performance edition, and OCPU-metered SKUs for Base Database Service, effective July 31, 2026, for new provisioning.
RAC nodes are placed in different fault domains of one availability domain, while a Data Guard standby can be in another availability domain or region.
Cloning a DB system that has a Data Guard association must start from the primary, and the clone does not copy the Data Guard association.
Last updated: October 2026
Where Base Database Service Fits
Oracle Base Database Service runs Oracle AI Database on DB systems that you manage with more control than Autonomous AI Database allows. You get operating system access to the DB system, choose the database version and edition, and decide when to apply updates, while OCI automates provisioning, backups, and patch workflows. It suits applications that need specific database options, custom configurations, or software installed alongside the database.
Base Database Service supports Oracle AI Database 26ai, Oracle Database 21c, and Oracle Database 19c , and it bills OCPU (or ECPU) and storage per second with a one-minute minimum.
DB System Types
Oracle Base Database Service offers DB systems on virtual machines :
Type Description Availability characteristics
Single-node DB system One VM running one database instance A host failure or maintenance requires a restart or a failover to a standby
Multi-node RAC DB system Two or more VMs running Oracle Real Application Clusters on shared storage Instances are active-active; if one node fails, the others keep serving
RAC node placement: the nodes of a RAC DB system sit in different fault domains within one availability domain , because RAC needs a low-latency private interconnect. To survive the loss of a whole availability domain or region, add a Data Guard standby in another AD or region.
Editions and the 2026 Retirement Notice
- Edition Notes
- Standard Edition Departmental workloads
- Enterprise Edition Core enterprise features, including Data Guard
Enterprise Edition – High Performance Adds options such as Multitenant, Partitioning, Advanced Compression, Advanced Security, and the Diagnostics and Tuning packs
Enterprise Edition – Extreme Performance Adds RAC, Database In-Memory, and Active Data Guard; required for multi-node RAC DB systems
Enterprise Edition – Developer Free database license for development on Ampere A1, single node, LVM storage; no Data Guard and not for production
Important
Oracle has announced the retirement of the VM.Standard.x86 shape , the Enterprise Edition – Extreme Performance edition, and OCPU-metered SKUs for Base Database Service, effective July 31, 2026 . Existing deployments continue to run, but new provisioning and contract renewals are affected. Oracle directs customers to VM.BaseDB.x86 with the ECPU metric , or to Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure (ExaDB-XS) for workloads that need Extreme Performance features such as RAC.
Storage Management
When you create a DB system you choose how storage is managed:
Logical Volume Manager (LVM) : faster provisioning; used for single-node systems (and the only option for some preview and developer configurations).
Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) : required for RAC, with separate disk groups for data and recovery files.
Block storage for VM DB systems can be scaled up without recreating the system.
Data Guard and Active Data Guard
Oracle Data Guard maintains a synchronized physical standby of a primary database:
Maximum Availability with synchronous redo transport targets zero data loss for a nearby standby, such as one in another AD.
Maximum Performance with asynchronous transport suits distant standbys in another region.
Switchover reverses roles with no data loss for planned events; failover activates the standby during an outage.
Active Data Guard (included with EE-Extreme Performance, or licensed separately) opens the standby read-only while redo is applied , so reports and backups can run on the standby. A standard physical standby cannot be queried while redo apply is running.
Base Database Service manages the Data Guard association through the Console, and Full Stack DR can include these databases as members, verifying during prechecks that the primary and standby are Data Guard peers with the correct roles.
Backups and the Recovery Service
OCI supports automatic daily backups and on-demand full backups . Backup destinations include Object Storage and Autonomous Recovery Service , which Oracle recommends for Oracle-managed automatic backups because it adds incremental-forever backups, validation, and optional real-time protection (Chapter 14). You can create a new DB system from:
A daily automatic backup or an on-demand full backup.
The last archived redo log backup , for the most current recovery point.
A point in time within the automatic backup retention.
A standalone backup.
Creating and Cloning DB Systems
Easy Create provisions a DB system with minimal input (database name, edition, administrator credentials, and network) and applies predefined compute, storage, and licensing settings that you review first.
Cloning a DB system creates a copy of the source system, including its storage configuration and database volumes. The clone can use a different VCN and subnet, a new SSH key, and its own license type. To clone a system that has a Data Guard association, start from the primary ; the clone does not copy the Data Guard association. When the source uses customer-managed keys, the clone uses the same key version.
Updates and Maintenance
With Base Database Service, you decide when to apply updates :
Update the operating system of the DB system periodically, after taking a backup.
Update the DB system (grid infrastructure) and then the database ; Oracle recommends updating the DB system before the database within it.
Upgrade to newer database versions when needed.
Customers bringing their own licenses must keep a valid support contract and are responsible for applying updates in a timely manner. This responsibility is a key difference from Autonomous AI Database, where Oracle applies patches automatically.