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.

This is one of the most stable products to support critical DR sites.

It provides us with online replication.

I would like to see replication/fail-over sites.

We have been using this for over five years.

There were not many deployment issues.

There were not many stability issues.

We sometimes had scalability issues with read only.

I would give customer service a rating of 8/10.

I would give technical support a rating of 7/10.

There were no previous solutions.

It was a self-driven setup. It was not too much trouble.

We implemented in-house.

We are under ULA.

We did not evaluate many other solutions.

It simply works.

We use Data Guard for online replication from data center to data center for high availability. This is the most important feature.

I'm not really sure about what needs improvement because we use all Data Guard's features successfully.

Pricing is expensive and can use improvement. 

I have been using Oracle Data Guard for about eight years. 

Over the course of eight years, I do think this solution is very stable. 

It is scalable. 

We also use Active Data Guard. We use it to clone the production environment. We constantly use it. 

I have contacted their support. We have been using their support more. We open cases one to five times a month. We use a lot of Oracle databases and because of that, we contact their support a lot. 

The quality of support will depend on the support engineer. If we speak to an agent from the Asian department, it could be a little difficult to understand the terminology. If it's with somebody from the US, Canada, or Europe, they're easier to understand.  

We also use a real application cluster rack database. I have experience with IBM. 

The initial setup was not complex. At first, many years back it was complex, but it's getting easier to set up in the last couple of years. It's been easier in the last few years and has been easier than past versions. 

We had somebody help us with the deployment. 

It is a very useful administrative IT tool. It saves on costs.

I strongly recommend Data Guard. I've been using it for eight years and I would strongly recommend it. 

I'd rate Oracle Data Guard a seven out of ten. To make it a ten, the core base license could be cheaper. The cloud environment would also make it cheaper. 

We use it for application disaster recovery. It is deployed on-prem, and one side is our side, and the second side is Microsoft Azure.

Backup and application continuity are most valuable.

The usage of block storage devices in the cloud or migration of a type of storage from one site to another site can be improved. Currently, we have to use multi-node to single node because of the lack of storage support on the Azure side. It did not really work. Our DBA had to spend a lot of time tweaking the Data Guard tools, or the underlying Oracle VMs, to make sure that Data Guard would run on top of different types of storage. So, if it can support transporting or getting from one type of storage to another type of storage in a different site or a different technology, it would be very helpful.

Its support should also be improved.

I have been working with this solution for the last two years.

If one is most stable, I'd rate it a two out of five. We were facing some issues. It isn't something that you set up and then go to sleep for two years. We have to maintain it and tweak it several times, but it is still very good in terms of stability.

It is very scalable and reliable. 

I would rate it a two out of five. It is not very good. There are a lot of community guides, but Oracle documentation is not straightforward, specifically when you use one site as the cloud site and one site as your on-prem site. If one is the best, in the cloud arena, I would rate them a two out of five. There is some community support, and there is some Oracle support, but they still have room to improve.

It was complex. My DBA had a difficult time. If five represents the most complex, I would rate it a five out of five in terms of complexity. 

It required multiple experts. It required Microsoft support, our own system experts, and an external DBA to make the transition work. It took us two weeks to move from one Data Guard replication to another Data Guard replication.

It is not a cheap product, but if you look at the price, features, availability, scalability, and maturity, it is a very good product. 

Involve Oracle as early as you can and do a version upgrade to the latest DB version before you try to migrate to the cloud. First, do all the migrations that you need to do locally in your Oracle database, and only after that, do a cloud migration.

I would rate it an eight out of 10. It is quite reliable, but there are problems. It is not perfect. There is a monopoly of technology, and this is the only cost-sensitive product around. The other products are either very expensive or not reliable.

The deployment cost is expensive. 

I have been using the product for ten years. 

Oracle Data Guard is scalable. I rate it a ten out of ten. 

I use Oracle Data Guard as a DR (disaster recovery) solution. Usually, I use the free license Data Guard, which is called the physical Data Guard.

Oracle Data Guard has a nice feature called the DataGuard snapshot to open the solution in the read-write mode and make some changes to the database. When you finish your work, you can do a rollback to the point that you started the snapshot and continue working.

Sometimes, the technical support team takes time to respond.

I have been using Oracle Data Guard for ten years.

I rate Oracle Data Guard a nine out of ten for stability.

I rate Oracle Data Guard a nine out of ten for scalability.

Sometimes, the technical support team responds quickly; other times, they take time to respond. Usually, the first response or action from the Oracle site on my service request is rapid.

The solution’s initial setup is straightforward.

The solution's deployment time may vary according to factors like the database, storage, size, network facilities, and security. On average, the deployment takes three days.

Oracle Data Guard provides DR and acts as a high-availability solution in case of a crisis in the primary database.

Overall, I rate Oracle Data Guard a nine out of ten.

My primary use case is to cache our monthly data and ensure that same data is copied for DR (disaster recovery) side. This solution is deployed on-premises. 

One of the most valuable features is real-time replication. The version we're using is reliable and easy to deploy.

Oracle could be improved by the ability to manage it on the cloud. This on-premises version is secure and reliable, but I'm sure that they will soon provide a cloud solution that will be even better. In one to two years, we will probably move to the cloud—we have already moved to the cloud with Microsoft Exchange, but our databases are still on-premises. I would prefer managing a cloud version of Oracle.

I have been using Data Guard for about five years. 

This is a stable solution. We have one person who is responsible for maintaining and working on the database. 

In our organization, we have over thirty to forty people using Oracle ERP solutions. 

We have Oracle's Extended Support. Whenever an issue arises, we log in to the portal and our queries are resolved with the help of Oracle's technical support. The support could be better, but we are still using the support offering of our old version of Oracle and the legal portion normally suggests an early upgrade to the newer release. 

The installation is straightforward. It's not complex at all, and our IT guy managed it easily. 

We implemented through an in-house team. 

We work for a non-profit organization, so we have a discounted rate on licensing and other purchasing agreements. 

I rate this solution a nine out of ten. We are currently running version 11g, but we are planning on upgrading to 12c. I always recommend Oracle Data Guard for anyone considering implementing it in their organization.