Pubudu: Data and Decisions

  “Oracle Deep Data Security” was discussed recently at the Oracle AI World Singapore and it interested me to further study on how data security is evolving in the age of AI. The way data is accessed, processed and protected is changing dramatically with the rapid adoption of AI among the organizations. That’s why I thought it would be useful to explore Oracle Deep Data Security in a simple and practical way. In today’s world, data is everywhere. Businesses store customer data, financial transactions, employee records and much more inside databases. Earlier time, security was mostly handled at the application level. But this approach is no longer strong enough. With AI tools generating queries dynamically and multiple systems interacting with the same database, relying only on application level security creates risks. This is where Oracle introduces a new approach, moving security directly into the database itself. Oracle Deep Data Security is built on the idea that data shou...

  “Bring AI to Data” is a term I recently heard during the Oracle AI World in Singapore last week and it really caught my attention. It sounded simple but the idea behind it is quite powerful. So I thought it’s worth exploring a bit more! Normally, working with data and AI meant one thing, which is, moving data around. We would extract data from databases, send it to external tools or platforms, build machine learning models and then push the results back into the database. But this approach adds complexity, increases costs and introduces security risks. But now, Oracle is changing that model by bringing AI to where the data already is ! The concept of “Bring AI to Data” is straightforward but powerful. Instead of moving large volumes of data across systems, Oracle allows you to run AI and machine learning directly inside the database. This means that data do not have to leave its secure environment. This results faster processing, reduced data duplication, improved security ...

Performance tuning in Oracle Database often focuses on obvious areas like indexes, SQL rewrites etc. But some of the most impactful improvements can come from lesser known techniques. Here are 5 such tuning tricks that can make a real difference in production environments.   Use SQL Plan Baselines to Stabilize Performance Even properly tuned queries in Oracle Database can suddenly degrade when execution plans change due to statistics refreshes or system upgrades. Using SQL Plan Baselines helps maintain stable and efficient execution plans, preventing unexpected performance regressions especially in highly changing workloads. SELECT * FROM DBA_SQL_PLAN_BASELINES; So, don’t just capture baselines, but periodically change them to allow the optimizer to adopt better plans when appropriate. Use Automatic Indexing Automatic Indexing is a useful feature in Oracle Database that can improve performance with minimal effort.  It was introduced in Oracle Database 19c and enhance...

SQL injection is one of the most common security risks in database driven applications. Normally, protection is implemented in the application layer using input validation and parameterized queries. However this approach depends heavily on developers and code quality. The SQL Firewall feature in Oracle Database introduces a different approach by adding protection directly at the database layer. This allows the database itself to identify and block unauthorized or suspicious SQLs before they are executed. How SQL Firewall Works The SQL Firewall works by learning the normal SQL patterns used by an application and then allowing only those approved statements to run. Any new or unexpected SQL is treated as a potential threat and can be blocked. This is especially useful for production environments where code changes are difficult and applications that are exposed to the internet. By implementing security at the database level, organizations gain an additional defense layer without modi...

Today I'll discus on how we can build continuous data trust with Oracle GoldenGate Veridata 26c! As we accelerate towards hybrid and multi cloud architectures , one challenge keep coming up. That is "H ow do you trust your data across all these platforms?" With increasing data movement, replication, and transformation, even small changes can lead to major business risks. This is where Oracle GoldenGate Veridata 26c comes in handy! Rather than just validating data occasionally, the focus now is on continuous data trust . What is Veridata? It is a tool to compare data across different systems. It ensures source and target databases are in sync. It works during , Data migration, Replication setups, Ongoing operations. What’s new in Veridata 26c? 1. Support for Modern Architectures Built for hybrid, multi-cloud, and lakehouse environments with support for heterogeneous databases. 2. Continuous Data Validation Enables ongoing validation to detect data drift and inconsisten...

Modern cloud applications are moving toward serverless architectures because they reduce infrastructure management and allow developers to focus on code. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) provides a powerful serverless service called “Oracle Functions”. It allows developers to run code without managing servers. In this post, I’ll go through how to create a simple serverless API using Oracle Functions and expose it through an HTTP endpoint. Oracle Functions provides several advantages, No server management Automatic scaling Pay only for execution time Easy integration with other OCI services   The process of flow is as below, User sends an HTTP request OCI API Gateway triggers a Function Function processes the request Response is returned Lets see how to create a simple function. 1.       First create a function using the 'Fn Project CLI' supported by OCI. fn init --runtime python myhello-function cd myhello-function 2. ...

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) follows a security first approach that is different from many other cloud providers. In OCI, security is built into the platform from the beginning.  When you create resources in OCI, they start in a secure state by default. For example: compute instances do not receive a public IP automatically, network access is blocked unless you explicitly allow it, and all storage is encrypted without requiring extra configuration. This design helps reduce common security mistakes caused by misconfiguration. OCI also stands out because of its strong isolation model. It offers true bare metal servers where customers get full control of the hardware, and Oracle does not have access to customer memory. Even virtual machines are designed with strong tenant isolation. This is different from many other cloud platforms where workloads often share underlying infrastructure. Strong isolation reduces the attack surface and makes OCI a good choice for industries with str...

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a modern cloud platform designed to help businesses run their applications faster, safer, and at lower cost. It supports companies of all sizes in moving their workloads to the cloud with confidence. OCI is built for high performance. Its advanced architecture allows applications, databases, and workloads to run smoothly with low latency. This makes it suitable for business critical systems, data analytics, and enterprise applications. Security is a core feature of Oracle Cloud. Data is encrypted by default, and strong identity and access controls help protect systems from threats. OCI also meets global compliance standards, making it a trusted choice for regulated industries. Oracle Cloud works especially well with Oracle databases and applications, offering better performance and efficiency. At the same time, it supports open source tools and technologies, allowing organizations to use the platforms and frameworks they already know. Oracle Cloud...

Full stack developers work across the frontend, backend, and database. This often means using many tools just to build one application. Oracle Database 23ai reduces this complexity by bringing modern features like JSON support, AI capabilities, and better SQL directly into the database. This allows developers to focus more on building features and less on managing infrastructure. Oracle 23ai supports multiple data types in a single database. Modern applications deal with relational data, JSON documents, and sometimes AI related data like vectors. Earlier, developers had to use separate systems for these. With Oracle 23ai, everything can live in one place, making applications easier to design and maintain. One of the biggest improvements for developers is JSON support . Full-stack developers often prefer JSON because it fits naturally with APIs and frontend frameworks. Oracle 23ai lets developers read and write data as JSON while storing it internally in relational tables for better p...

Oracle Database 23ai marks a significant shift in Oracle’s database strategy.  Rather than being just another incremental release, it positions itself as an AI native database , bringing artificial intelligence capabilities directly into the core of the database engine. For organizations already running Oracle,lets see whether  upgrading to Oracle Database 23ai actually worth it? Traditionally, databases focused on storing and retrieving structured data efficiently. AI workloads, such as semantic search, were handled outside the database using separate vector stores or search engines. Oracle Database 23ai changes this model by introducing native vector data types and vector search capabilities . With 23ai, embeddings generated by AI models can live in the same database as the transactional data. This removes the need for complex synchronization pipelines between systems and allows developers to query AI driven data using familiar SQL. For example, storing vector data is straig...

For many years, databases were mainly used to store and retrieve data. Today, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), databases are expected to do much more. Oracle Database is evolving to meet this demand by becoming an AI ready data platform, where data storage, analytics, and AI capabilities are incorporated together. Traditional databases required data to be moved out to external tools for machine learning and AI processing. This often caused performance issues, higher costs, and security concerns. Oracle Database changes this by allowing AI and machine learning to run directly inside the database, close to the data, which is known as "in-database machine learning". Oracle Machine Learning (OML) provides built-in machine learning algorithms. These algorithms can be used with SQL, making it easy for database developers and analysts to adopt AI without learning complex new tools. Below is a simple example. Step 1: Creating the Model BEGIN   DBMS_DATA_MINING.CREATE_MO...

In today’s digital landscape, where sensitive data is the backbone of every organization, database security isn’t just a feature, it’s a strategic imperative. Among the many database platforms available today, Oracle Database stands out as a clear leader in data security, especially in its modern versions like Oracle Database 23ai and the upcoming Oracle AI Database 26ai releases. Here’s why Oracle remains ahead of the competition when it comes to protecting critical enterprise data: 1. Latest Security-Focused Releases Oracle’s most recent flagship release, Oracle Database 23ai, builds on decades of security innovation but adds modern capabilities that address current and future threats. This version includes: Native SQL Firewall built into the database engine to thwart SQL injection attacks. TLS 1.3 support out-of-the-box, which enhances encryption of data in transit. Schema privileges that improve granular access control, reducing the risk of over-per...

Oracle True Cache is a read-only, consistent cache for Oracle Databases. It allows applications to read data from a cache instead of hitting the primary database every time, without sacrificing data accuracy. Oracle True Cache is available starting with Oracle Database 23ai . True Cache is useful when your application; Has read-heavy workloads Experiences high latency accessing the database Needs to scale reads without scaling the primary database How True Cache Works When an application sends a query, Oracle first checks the True Cache to see if the requested data is already available and still valid. If the data is found in the cache, it is returned immediately, allowing the application to get results with much lower latency and without putting load on the primary database. If the data is not present in the cache, Oracle retrieves it from the primary database, returns it to the application, and stores a copy in the cache for future requests. Whenever the data changes in the primary ...