Oracle Data Guard Reviews

We have a primary database and a secondary database. Both databases are on different sites, which are geographically distant. One site is used as the primary site, and the other one is used as the secondary site. We have configured Oracle Data Guard to instantly replicate the data from one database to the other database on a different site. That's what we do with the Oracle Data Guard at this point. It's about business continuity.

We have found the replication feature the most useful. We use this feature the most. 

The ability to recover a database with less effort and the use of Oracle Data Guard Broker to administer the complete environment are also very useful features.

One thing that can be improved is the GUI. It would be good to have a very nice GUI to easily configure and administer, providing different presentations to the database administrator. 

The feature that can be included is the integration with third-party monitoring systems, that is, monitoring systems from other vendors, not only from Oracle.

We have been using Oracle Data Guard since 2010. Currently, we are using the latest version. 

We didn't have any incidents that caused any major problems with this implementation. There aren't any concerns regarding the stability of this solution. 

Once implemented, we can administer the whole environment with no downtime. We can switch over between sites and keep on using Oracle Data Guard like this. Until now, there aren't many things to do. It has been very good. That's why we keep on using this solution.

It was a good experience when we had to replicate it to more than one database and use it for new database creations and all such things. It was very simple, and until now, there are not many problems or gaps in the usability of this solution. It works very well.

We didn't have many problems and much experience with technical support. 

Once implemented, we only have to monitor and take care of the gaps in the solution. Most of them happen because of the connectivity, either bandwidth or something else, or because of the growth of the database or the data being migrated from one database to another.

The initial setup was quite complex, but it was because of a different implementation approach. It's not so complex as such. 

When it was the manual version 9, we migrated it to version 11, and now we migrated again to version 19, which is a different approach for implementing it. In the beginning, it was new and quite complex, but not so much to be done later.

It's mandatory in order to be ready for any incident when someone has a similar environment. 

When we talk about Oracle, we are talking about the venue database, translation of database, online translation of database, and atomic translations. When we need to guarantee the stability of the database, we have to be careful. 

In financial enterprises that use Oracle as a secure relational database management system, the data that you have is very important, and it is the asset that brings the most value to the company. I would recommend that every implementation that goes to the production environment must be done together with Oracle Data Guard. Even small databases can be powered by this solution. 

I would rate Oracle Data Guard a nine out of ten. During all these times and all these years, if I can count the number of times that we had to intervene or we had to do something by ourselves, I can't count more than three times.

The primary use case of this solution is for data protection, disaster recovery, and it's used as a backup database to restore the primary databases.

It gives the client comfort in case of any incidents, disaster or any catastrophic situation because it maintains, manages, and monitors the database and keeps a backup.

The most valuable features are the backup and restore. With this in place along with the clustering, the database is safe from hacking, hardware failure, power failures, and system crashes. 

If anything were to happen you can immediately recall your data and bring your production server back to business.

It's flexible and easy to maintain because you are configuring your primary database and a standby database in one or more locations.

When the data replicates into the standby database there is a possibility of having a microsecond amount of data loss. 

The data loss occurs when there is a network disconnection between the primary and secondary standby database located in the data centers or if there is a crash in the primary database.

The data is generated on the primary database which is configured to the standby database to duplicate it on a real-time basis. So if there is a system crash or disconnection and in the time it takes to get it back up, you can lose a microsecond amount of data.

When I experienced a small crash, I compared the data between the primary database and the standby database and found that there was a small difference in the amount of data. Not all of it was replicated or backed up.

It creates issues with synchronizing the data.

Because the focus in Data Guard is in the backup and restore, there hasn't been much with the interface. 

In the next release, if there could be more focus on the interface to include add-on features that would be an added advantage going forward.

I have been using Oracle Data Guard for almost six years.

This solution is stable. We haven't experienced any issues with it.

The initial setup is straightforward. It's not complex.

The time it takes to deploy depends on how long it takes to replicate the primary database and to configure the standby database, but on average it can take a couple of hours.

You only need one or two people to maintain the system.

We are integrators and we implement the solution for our clients.

This solution is for small to medium-sized businesses, who can't afford to have two data centers or two servers.

Oracle Data Guard has many features to ensure that the database is in place. In case the primary database goes down or is corrupt in any way, you can recall the data immediately to restore the primary database.

It's important to know that backup is in place at any given time.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

The primary use of this solution is for the high availability. If the database or server crashes, the switches go over to the standby database becoming the primary database. We use Data Guard in order to have a high-availability solution and high-availability configuration in our data center.

Data Guard adds an extra layer of a high-availability platform. The database minimizes the outage of applications in case something goes wrong with the primary database, allowing us to resume activities, losing minimal time.

We chose this solution for the availability of the databases. Since we can't afford Oracle Grid, this is the best solution if you want something similar that's less expensive.

A disadvantage is that the available disk space must be doubled. This is because Data Guard is made of two databases, one primary and one as a standby running permanently. We must pay the Oracle license on the second server. For every standby server you have, you must pay a licensing fee, which is the main disadvantage.

The stability is quite stable and it's reliable. From time to time I have had some issues, where I get an error message saying that both databases stopped synchronizing for a while. It doesn't mean that the problem comes from Data Guard. The problem could come from other areas like the network, a slow network for example.

I don't have an opinion about scalability. I have always followed the same kind of installation.

There is no specific Data Guard support in place. You either pay for the support or for an Enterprise edition giving you support for features that are included in this edition of Oracle. If you don't pay then you don't get support.

I am satisfied with the support.

Data Guard was already in place with this company.

As far as the installation, you should have an understanding of Data Guard. I am experienced with it and didn't require the script for the whole configuration and connection. If you don't have experience with Data Guard, then you must read the installation and configuration instructions.

I implemented this solution.

This is the best solution if you want something similar that's less expensive than Oracle Grid. We pay once per year.

We use a cluster for some customers instead of Data Guard, but it is a different concept. However, it is more or less the same.

They could enhance their GUI or they should have a cloud control tool. They should have Data Guard tools in order to troubleshoot whenever there is a problem. There isn't anything in place for the configuration. Everything has to be done manually within the standard guide in Data Guard-related commands. Having a GUI with Data Guard is something that would be appreciated.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The primary use case of this solution is on disaster recovery. this software is reliable and is suited for long distances.

One of my customer's sites was a database made with Data Guard specifically because of some issues that were on the network. We found we could switch to Oracle Data Guard and it took less than one minute to switch over, which was fantastic. 

I'm constantly looking for the best solution for protecting my data in data filters, and most are powerless in terms of protecting our Oracle database. The Oracle Replication Solutions and Oracle Data Guard are the best in this area, however. The stability and resiliency are closely monitored, and you cannot find the same protection solution outside of Data Guard or Oracle RAC for protecting your data. 

It's a very good solution if you want to protect your data across two data centers, or you have a middle man or many administrators who use these solutions for protecting their data. It's very reliable compared to other solutions that are most often not storage-based.

Oracle is not easy to implement, and you cannot find clear documentation on the internet or, unfortunately, on the Oracle website. You have to do a lot of research yourself and spend a lot of time seeking out all of the best documents that are related to Oracle on other websites. If they could create more documentation and improve their library of resources, it would be very helpful.

The IP implementation and maintenance are a little bit hard to manage across Oracle solutions, including Oracle Data Guard.

I have been using the solution for more than eight years.

Oracle Data Guard is quite stable but you do need to check on it every day to ensure functionality. You have to define some of the operating system stabilities yourself and you need to be sure to deal with any problem in your operating system because good functionality really depends on the operating system. 

Scalability is good because you can cluster your Oracle Data Guard and Oracle RAC. That way you can switch to Oracle Data Guard gives you scalability, and, in comparison with other solutions, it is very stable and scalable because of these features. Most engineers prefer to use Oracle Database. Compared with other solutions, Oracle is a little bit hard to implement and maintain but as a technology, it's very good.

In terms of the number of users on the solution, it varies by project. On one of our latest projects, we had more than 10,000 people directly on the database.

Unfortunately, because of sanctions, we can't directly contact Oracle or use Oracle's knowledge base. I've indirectly contacted them because, in some cases, it's a must to have Oracle support. Sometimes you can't solve problems and you need to have accessibility to support to solve them. Support is very important in many cases because the information is crucial for many companies that want to avoid facing disasters in their data centers.

We didn't previously use a different solution. We exclusively use Oracle products.

The initial setup is very complex. Users need to be familiar with the operating system, as well as how their network and Oracle Concepts as a network, work.  

In our last implementation, deployment took between five and eight hours. There were some problems in correcting each solution on the network and then we wanted to test for its stability and we wanted to simulate the environment quality before pushing it online. 

Ultimately, we found some problems and discovered how to resolve them after a few hours. We just needed to figure out how to connect the database directly on S08 LAN. We had many issues. In one case the link of S-storage was disconnected for example. 

Some countries try to persuade that you should use all of the networks, but in some cases, you have to find your own best way forward. In this case, we found we had to connect the storage models directly through the user feature on the Oracle Database.

Implementation is not easy. Going forward, I'm going to make a script for implementation for this database, and I think it's going to be easier for implementation in the future.

For most projects, we have two people that handle the implementation of the solution. One as a solutions engineer and the other was DBA administrator. Sometimes you also may need to use a network administrator as well. At minimum, you need two experts and maybe three in some cases. You want accurate maximum availability in-network, especially on the network.

I implement this solution for some of my clients and I consult on the best way to implement the solution. Most of the information on the net is not reliable, but at this point, I'm an expert. I could write my own book on how to implement this solution for my customers. Most of the time I prefer dealing with user experience. Some firms also use ADEO to ensure my implementations are good and stable.

It is not easy to calculate of ROI of this software.

In some cases, some costumers chose to buy a lot of licenses to have software - at least at first. I'm not happy and okay with some policies of Oracle. In some cases, you have to pay extra money for some features. It's very hard to have access to software directly in comparison to buying some licenses. You can adjust them for some Oracle software, however, if you want to develop or expand your features, it's typically hard to do so in my country.

Based on my friend's and colleague's experience, they find it a little bit tricky to use Oracle for buying certain software or getting extra features, and based on my experience, most free and open-source projects are already pretty good. 

There is no redundant software as stable, and resilient data guard.

Most of my projects are on-premise, and most of them are based on low-cost engineers and information on the internet.

Right now, the cloud is really good if you change units. There is a direct limitation on some solutions because of the cost being high for this type of software and I chose not to use the cloud. 

The solution is quite functional, however, I do find that some features are not great in real production. You need to have the software to ensure the continuity in the case of using Oracle.

I'd rate the solution six out of ten due to its difficulty in terms of maintenance and audio problems. I'm also looking for CTCT maintenance and implementation and wish is was a bit easier.

I have found its switchover functionality to be most useful using which you can perform disaster recovery within no time. Its feature of FAL is also pretty useful that helps to keep both sites (primary and standby) synchronized. Logical standby database is also a pretty handy feature for reporting purposes.

Active Data Guard has helped us a lot in achieving the real time reporting by offloading our heavy reports from Production to Standby database. 

Limited functionality to exclude any schema/table from replication would be helpful.

Currently Data Guard replicates whatever DML operation is performed on primary database is replicated to standby database as it is. To improve it bit further, if Oracle can provide some kind of feature in which user can select any schema or 5-10 collection to tables in some schema that user doesn't want to replicate. Because this kind of feature is available in Oracle Golden Gate which a separate licensed product with a lot of features like that one that I mentioned for limited replication, heterogeneous replication, cross database replication.

The solution is quite complete. The entire package, and all the features that come with it, is very good.

The pricing of the solution is quite high. They should do what they can to bring it down so that it is more reasonable for customers like us.

The response times for technical support can be quite slow. They should work to lower these wait times so there are fewer delays in assistance.

We've been using the solution for eight years.

The solution is quite stable. We haven't experienced any bugs, glitches, or crashes. We find it to be quite reliable.

The solution is scalable. If a company needs to expand it they can.

We typically work with enterprise-level clients.

We've only reached out to technical support maybe one or two times. The technical support response times can be a bit long. However, overall, we've been satisfied with their level of assistance.

The initial setup is quite simple. I would describe it as straightforward. It's not complex.

We're Oracle partners. We've worked with databases 11G and 12C.

If a company is planning to implement Oracle solutions, I would suggest they also implement Data Guard.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

We use it for backing up our data, so from the standby instance.

Data Guard has been around for a very long time and a lot of big companies are using it. I don't see that it needs any improvement or anything like that. I think it's pretty solid.

I've been using it for more than 15 years.

We've experienced no issues with performance.

When you open up SR Oracle has a list of things which they ask for. Being an end customer, when we open SR, we give as much as information as we want and again the support person comes into the picture, and without reading what we have put through, they just has the same question over and over. What version, what product, all that kind of things, which is not at all fair.

It’s the backbone. Nobody interacts with it, it's only the DBAs who use it I think. Once you set it up it's pretty much done. You don't deal with it on a daily basis.

Maybe not all products are up to the speed or like any product you take, there is space to improve. I think for our company, the way we use it, we are very happy with it and the end customer is very happy with it.