Oracle Database Exadata Express Cloud Service (EECS) EOL (Doc ID 2925396.1)

Last updated on MARCH 04, 2023

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The purpose of this document is to inform you that the End-of-Life (EOL) for Oracle Database Exadata Express Cloud Service(EECS) has been reached. This service has been deprecated on Dec 2022 and it is recommended to move to other target services to which EECS customers can migrate 

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 Customers of EECS should move to another service before the EECS instances are turned off.Multiple database services available in OCI are excellent migration targets. These services run recent hardware and software providing many new and expanded capabilities.

Recommended Migration Targets are:

1. Oracle Autonomous Database

2. Oracle APEX Application Development

3. Oracle Database Service

Details of each Service

Oracle Autonomous Database

Many EECS migrations will be to Oracle Autonomous Database (ADB). This OCI service provides Oracle Database Enterprise Edition, Oracle Net Services (SQL*Net) connectivity, Oracle APEX, Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS), and SQL Developer. ADB supports three main workload types–Autonomous Transaction Processing (ATP), Autonomous Data Warehouse (ADW), and Autonomous JSON Database (AJD) –all of which come with fully managed APEX and ORDS. Because the base service is autonomous, tasks such as database patching and upgrade are taken care of for you by Oracle.

ADB is available to Universal Credits Model (UCM) customers in OCI. There are required Compute (billed per hour) and Exadata Storage (billed per month) components, which can be scaled up or down elastically as needed. Details about ADB pricing are here. Note that a special Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) plan enables Oracle customers to remit a previously acquired on-premises Oracle Database license as part of their ADB purchase in exchange for significantly reduced pricing .

In addition, EECS customers can experiment with a small Always Free ADB database before making a migration decision. It is easy to sign up for Oracle Cloud Free Tier and create an Always Free ADB database in approximately 10 minutes. Please note that, as an Always Free service, users do not receive a Service Level Agreement (SLA) or ongoing access to Oracle Support. The service also has restrictions on its available Compute resources, Exadata Storage, and simultaneous connections. To obtain an SLA, access to Oracle Support, and/or its affiliates and the ability to scale resources as needed, use the full (paid) version of ADB .Always Free ADB instances can be upgraded in-place to paid ADB with a single click

Oracle APEX Application Development

For EECS workloads consisting only of APEX applications and corresponding ORDS REST endpoints,consider Oracle APEX Application Development (aka APEX Service). Much like ATP, ADW, and AJD, this service is a workload type of ADB. It comes with an adapted ATP database for transactional or mixed workloads and includes fully managed Oracle APEX and ORDS.

Importantly, APEX Service is available to UCM customers in OCI at a fraction of the regular ADB price. It has similar components as ADB for Compute and Exadata Storage and can easily scale resources up or down. Note that, due to its already low price, no additional BYOL discounts are available. A small Always Free version of APEX Service in Oracle Cloud Free Tier enables free usage for an unlimited time with similar restrictions as Always Free ADB. If you outgrow such restrictions, an in-place upgrade makes it easy to switch to a scalable, paid version of APEX Service or to full ADB.

Note that APEX Service does not support SQL*Net database clients and is not suitable if you are planning to connect directly to the database from programming language drivers, client utilities, or SQL Developer(Desktop). However, customers can use the included SQL Developer Web environment,Oracle’s free SQLcl utility, and Oracle APEX. Please review APEX Service limitations to determine if this service is right for you.

Oracle Database Service

EECS customers who want full administrative access to their cloud database and are willing to perform certain manual management tasks should consider migrating to Oracle Database Service (DBCS). This co-managed(not autonomous)service delivers a pre-installed and pre-configured Oracle Database running in OCI with shell access to the host machine. It provides similar administrative privileges and capabilities to a manually installed Oracle Database.

DBCS supports SQL*Net client connections to the database, Oracle APEX, and ORDS. Manual steps are required to periodically patch and upgrade the database. When Oracle APEX and ORDS are used with DBCS, customers must create and maintain a separate middle-tier in OCI–which requires additional steps to install, configure, patch, and upgrade. DBCS is more suited to customers who prefer hands-on management of their Oracle Database environments.

The price of core DBCS running Oracle Database Standard Edition in a VMis similar to EECS X20. Required block storage for the host VM and network data transfer both are sold separately. The middle tier for Oracle APEX and ORDS also is sold separately. Note that Enterprise Edition(s)are available in DBCSfor extra cost. Optional BYOL plans can significantly reduce DBCS pricing, and there are no Always Free DBCS shapes.

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