Oracle Database Patching: Scale and Secure Your Databases

During database patching, many businesses face the challenges of increased manual work and human errors, and many things need standardization.

You can overcome these challenges with Oracle Database Patching service that provides automation and Enterprise Manager (EM). It will help you to get the most out of the Enterprise Manager to automate your regular tasks like provisioning, cloning, patching, upgrades, and more.

In addition, Oracle will help you to consolidate databases on some of the systems and standardize on fewer database configurations. One of the major concerns about Database Patching is security because not working on security patches has resulted in an increased number of data breaches.

Why do you need Database Patching?

Let’s examine the significant points emphasizing the need for Database Patching.

• As data breaches are increasing around the world, privacy and security regulations are also increasing globally.
• 60% of data breaches involve vulnerabilities for which a patch is available but not applied.
• 36% of the error-related breaches happen due to misconfigurations.
• In terms of scalability, manual database patching for 100s of data will likely make errors.
• Regarding complex environments, the absence of uniformity can lead to uncertain patching success.
• Guesswork is a time-consuming task as it involves what patches you need to implement.

Oracle Database Patching: Classification and Features

After analyzing Oracle Database architecture, here are the different types of patching in Oracle Database.

• Patch Set Updates (PSUs): It works on security fixes and critical bug fixes.
• Critical Patch Updates (CPUs): It includes security patches and vulnerabilities.
• Interim Patches: It works according to the requirement for separate issues.

Here are the features of Oracle Database Patching.

• Automated Patch Management
  This feature identifies, downloads, and applies required patches through automated tools.
• Customized Patching Strategy
  It includes patching schedules and strategies to minimize downtime and work according to business requirements.
• Testing and Validation
  It checks the efficiency of testing patches in a controlled environment before it goes into production databases.
• Risk Management
  It includes an assessment to analyze the impact of individual database patches. In addition, it offers backup and recovery plans for data integrity.
• Monitoring and Reporting
  It offers post-patch monitoring and compliance reporting.

Benefits of Oracle Database Patching

Let’s discover the beneficial factors of using Oracle services for database patching.

• It offers patch recommendations and Gold-image development.
• My Oracle Support (MOS) helps in automatic patch recommendations and eliminates the guesswork of what patches need to be applied.
• Ease the work of creating and managing gold images that include recommended patches and help to make sure to get all of the patches.
• Gold images and subscription-based patches assist in the standardization of database estate.
• It enables for self-service patching.
• Oracle Database Patching offers an intuitive user interface that helps to simplify the patching of Oracle Database and Oracle Grid Infrastructure.
• It makes it possible to patch thousands of databases with minimal downtime.
• It offers a quick process to identify, debug, and recover from patching issues.
• Oracle's Fleet Maintenance offers automated and scalable database patching. The process involves scanning the fleet and providing recommendations for standardization.
• It has a single pane of glass to monitor and manage the patching operations.
• Through exact logs, it can quickly analyze if anything wrong happens.
• There will be complete control over the deployment procedures such as Stop, Suspend, Resume, Retry, Delete, and Reschedule.

Why choose Astute for Oracle Database Patching?

Astute Business Solutions is an Oracle-certified partner, which makes it stand out from other service providers. It helps businesses with different Oracle services, including Oracle Database Patching as a Service (DBPaaS). Let’s discover some more reasons.

• Expertise and Experience
  Our skilled professionals are experts in Database administration, security, and maintenance. They have in-depth knowledge of Oracle Database architectures in several projects.
• Customized Patching Strategies
  Each business works with their specific needs and we respect their requirements. That’s why we assist companies with customized patching solutions that meet their needs while minimizing business disruption.
• Comprehensive Service Offerings
  We can help you with different aspects of database patching service, whether it's about cost-efficiency, security, or any other thing. We will help you to minimize the downtime and maintain the compliance standards.
• Proactive Security Measures
  To maintain the security of your databases, we focus on reducing risks and preventing critical vulnerabilities that happen during business operations.

You can reach out to us to discuss more about Oracle Database Patching Service.