What can Oracle GoldenGate software do for you?

At BLUEPRINT 4D 2023, in Dallas, TX, Oracle’s Alexandre Lima shared how Oracle GoldenGate, can help manage your data integration, availability, and migrations across multiple platforms.

What’s the business case for using GoldenGate Software?

There are three main business cases GoldenGate customers use the product for.

1. GoldenGate can empower your business continuity. With 99.999% data availability, there’s no downtime during migrations for most customers. If zero downtime is impossible, GoldenGate will diminish the downtime considerably.
2. Customers leverage GoldenGate for continuous integration between sites, partners, vendors, or within their organization. This is advantageous from ground to Cloud to Multi-cloud environments and applies event-based data integration.
3. GoldenGate can deliver timely insights. Customers can stream analytics via the real-time data warehouse, data lake, and data lakehouse.

History of GoldenGate 

Oracle acquired GoldenGate in 2009.

Here’s a look at the before of GoldenGate:

After acquiring the application, Oracle invested heavily in improving the product.

Below is a look at the after (what’s available today):

 Layers of Oracle GoldenGate Software

The GoldenGate family of products is reliable, consistent, secure, and fast-moving.

There is an integration layer that includes GoldenGate OnPrem, GoldenGate Big Data, GoldenGate Stream Analytics, and GoldenGate SaaS.

At the governance layer, you’ll find GoldenGate OEM Plug-in, GoldenGate Veridata, and GoldenGate Studio, or the GoldenGate Foundation Suite.

Oracle GoldenGate software is the any-Cloud solution for data with options for decentralized multi-vendor, decentralized single-vendor, partly decentralized/partly converged, and centralized converged. It was built with a Cloud mindset.

Empowering Modern Data Architecture

You can use GoldenGate to empower modern data architecture.

Below are examples of such:

GoldenGate software does not replicate applications, but it does replicate data. It supports the application as long as it supports the data underneath the application.

The updated support timeline for GoldenGate is illustrated below:

GoldenGate software has moved from a classic architecture to a monolithic architecture.

In the classic architecture, it was command line only, no remote connection, and limited security to the OS user. Additional challenges existed such as in transit security not being available and complex automation and monitoring.

This was not practical moving forward, especially in the multi-cloud world.

Therefore, Oracle GoldenGate moved to microservices by de-supporting classic features.

Here are the details of the de-support of Classic Extract in 21c:

• Deprecated as of 18c and de-supported as of 21c
  • This means that any customer that is using Classic Extract must convert to Integrated Extract BEFORE they upgrade to OGG 21.3
    • How to upgrade from GoldenGate Classic Extract to Integrated Extract (Doc ID 1484313.1)
  • Customers using Classic Extract to capture from an ADG Standby should switch to Downstream Integrated Extract
    • Oracle GoldenGate Best Practices: Configuring Downstream Integrated Extract (Doc ID 1485620.1)

Next, Classic Architecture is de-supported in 23c. It will not ship with 23c. Here are the details:

• Classic Architecture was marked deprecated in 19c
• For both OGG for Oracle, most other Non-Oracle and Big Data Platforms
• All prior releases that shipped with Classic Architecture will follow the standard Lifetime Support policies (e.g. existing/older CA deployments are still okay!)
• Migrate to Microservices ASAP!

While the de-support may not be received well by all customers, GoldenGate Microservices is the strategic direction.

Under GoldenGate Microservices Architecture, microservices are fully encapsulated with C-based services and no additional app service or database required.

It is important to note is that everything you have as an extract or replica with Microservices is exactly the same as it was on Classic.

While there are differences to observe at a high level between Classic Architecture and Microservices Architecture, the capture and apply does not change.

Data integration works with Microservices (with a local HUB).

You have the option to run GoldenGate software as a Mesh or as a Hub.

Mesh is suitable for large enterprises and multi-cloud. It distributes events between Microservices with GoldenGate Distribution Services (paths).

The advantage of Hub is that you don’t have to maintain as much. It’s suitable for single projects and single org ownership. This consolidates all GoldenGate runtimes to a single host and can work for most combinations of sources and targets.

In terms of Microservices AdminClient, there are important architecture distinctions. It does employ the same commands as ggsci, though, and the learning curve is very easy. Every call is a REST call.

Below is an example of microservices customized API monitoring with REST calls:

Additional Features

Remote development and administration means you can deploy from different locations. In the example below, there are deployments in Portland, Fort Collins, Boston, and Charlotte:

You can deploy on the hub with a physical host, VM, or on-prem.

Another great feature of the new architecture is the simplified function of Lifecycle Management.

There are new security roles that can be applied for user privileges:

• Security
• Administrator
• Operator
• User

Additionally, Oracle GoldenGate deployments are secure, and the services are compatible with reverse proxy services. This was based on customer requests.

In summary, the benefits of key microservices include:

• Easy to use Web interface experience, automate, and debug
• Unchanged industry leader Capture and Apply process
• Flexible remote administration
• More secure with users, roles, encryption, and certificates
• Simple to patch and upgrade
• Can be deployed OnPrem, OCI (as a service), and 3^rd party Cloud

If you’re on Classic, there is a migration utility to get to Microservices. You can download the GoldenGate Migration Utility 21c with Patch 33565581. It is in-place only.

The Classic to Microservices Migration Utility demo is available here.

GoldenGate with Microservices is ready for you to tackle multi-cloud distribution databases. From a survey, 98% of enterprises either use or plan to use multi-cloud. They are not staying on OCI or Azure. They’re going multi-cloud.

GoldenGate already serves customers who are multi-cloud.

With GoldenGate software, you’re getting the max availability for Oracle Database. An Oracle strength, GoldenGate powers thousands of mission-critical, globally distributed applications with zero data loss and extreme High Availability requirements. It’s crucial for systems that can never go down.

There are three deployment options for max availability, as indicated below:

It is important to note that there is a solution for detecting and resolving multi-master conflicts. It’s an out-of-the-box solution called Auto CDR. The first release was in 12.3. It’s easy to implement with existing packages and no change in the database to add columns.

What’s coming in 23c?

The top features on the horizon for Oracle GoldenGate software are:

1. Industry first, CDC/Replication using AsyncAPI
2. Observability unlocked with StatsD and Telegraf
3. Innovative new HA/MAA topology for the GoldenGate Mesh
4. Simplified and easier to use WebUI

For more information, consider watching the full BLUEPRINT 4D Session Recording: Data Integration with Oracle GoldenGate.