# Tessell > Tessell is a unified database management platform: AI-enhanced conversational management that unifies every aspect of your data and databases across clouds and database engines. ## Main - [Home](https://www.tessell.com/): What Tessell is and does. - [Blog](https://www.tessell.com/blog): Articles on databases, cloud, and Tessell product updates. - [Customers](https://www.tessell.com/customers): Customer stories and case studies. - [Events](https://www.tessell.com/events): Upcoming and past events. - [Webinars](https://www.tessell.com/webinars): Live and on-demand webinars. - [Ebooks](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks): Downloadable ebooks. - [Whitepapers](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers): Technical whitepapers. - [Videos](https://www.tessell.com/videos): Product and technical videos. - [Book a Demo](https://www.tessell.com/book-demo): Schedule a personalized Tessell demo. - [About Us](https://www.tessell.com/about-us): Company background, mission, and team. - [Contact Us](https://www.tessell.com/contact-us): Get in touch with Tessell. - [Analyst Recognition](https://www.tessell.com/analyst-recognition): Industry analyst coverage and recognition. ## Platform - [Data Access Policies](https://www.tessell.com/platform/data-access-policies): Govern what data flows where and who can access it, same-region, cross-region, or cross-subscription, masked or as-is, enforced by architecture, not policy documents. - [Operational Lifecycle Management](https://www.tessell.com/platform/operational-lifecycle-management): Keep every database current. See the impact of a patch, upgrade, or resize in real time, with fleet-managed operations across your entire estate. - [Security and Compliance](https://www.tessell.com/platform/security-and-compliance): PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and ISO 27701 certified. Bring your own keys, network, and images, with your data always inside your own cloud account. - [Tessell on AWS](https://www.tessell.com/platform/tessell-on-aws): Run Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL as fully managed databases on AWS, inside your own account, with your own keys and no vendor lock-in. - [Provisioning](https://www.tessell.com/platform/provisioning): Every database provisioned to the same standard in minutes, not weeks. Self-service provisioning with monitoring and governance built in from the start. - [Tessell on Google Cloud](https://www.tessell.com/platform/tessell-on-gcp): Run Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL as fully managed databases on Google Cloud, inside your own project, with your own keys and no lock-in. - [Cost Visibility](https://www.tessell.com/platform/cost-visibility): Per-database cost attribution across compute, storage, licensing, and backup, so you can see and optimize spend across your entire multi-cloud database estate. - [High Performance (NVMe)](https://www.tessell.com/platform/high-performance-nvme): NVMe-backed storage delivering up to 2 million IOPS and 10x better performance than standard cloud storage, with predictable instance-based pricing. - [Tessell on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/platform/tessell-on-azure): Run Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL as fully managed databases on Azure, inside your own subscription, with your own keys and no vendor lock-in. - [Business Continuity - HA/DR](https://www.tessell.com/platform/business-continuity): Multi-AZ high availability with automatic failover and cross-region disaster recovery. Near-zero RPO/RTO, quarterly DR drills, and a 99.99% uptime SLA. - [Policy Enforcement](https://www.tessell.com/platform/policy-enforcement): Governance enforced at provisioning, not after. Every database inherits your configuration, backup, and access standards automatically, consistent across every cloud. - [Dataflix](https://www.tessell.com/platform/dataflix): Browse, clone, and restore from any snapshot or point in time in minutes. Self-service data access built on the Availability Machine, no ticket required. - [Exadata](https://www.tessell.com/platform/exadata): Move Oracle Exadata to AWS, Azure, GCP, or OCI without the risk. Fully managed migration, HA/DR, and licensing visibility, backed by 1,200+ Oracle databases moved. - [Database Monitoring and Observability](https://www.tessell.com/platform/monitoring-and-observability): Infrastructure metrics on every database from day one, deeper performance insights on demand, and native integrations with Datadog, Splunk, New Relic, and more. - [Tessell Availability Machine - Platform Capability](https://www.tessell.com/platform/availability-machine): Automatic, continuous data protection for every database. Snapshots, transaction logs, and native backups captured across every engine and cloud, no setup required. - [Tessell for MySQL](https://www.tessell.com/platform/mysql): Your MySQL, your account, your keys. Tessell runs fully managed MySQL with automated HA, backups, and patching on NVMe, with no data leaving your perimeter. - [Tessell for SQL Server](https://www.tessell.com/platform/sql-server): Tessell runs SQL Server databases in your cloud tenant, fully managed, enterprise-grade, with 99.99% uptime SLA. Cut TCO by 50% and eliminate DBA toil. - [Support & SLA](https://www.tessell.com/platform/support-sla): Tessell takes the first call - 15-minute Sev-1 response, dedicated engineering from POC through production, and 99.99% uptime SLA across all clouds and engines. - [Cloud Database Architecture | Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/platform/architecture): Tessell separates a metadata-only control plane from a data plane that runs in your own cloud account. Choose where both planes run, connect privately, and deploy single-instance, multi-AZ HA, or cross-region DR across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Database@Cloud. - [Data Ecosystem](https://www.tessell.com/platform/data-ecosystem): Connect your databases to modern analytics and AI tools in real time, with CDC integration to Microsoft Fabric, BigQuery, and Vertex AI. No rewrites, no data movement overhead. - [Tessell for Oracle](https://www.tessell.com/platform/oracle): Tessell runs Oracle databases in your cloud tenant - fully managed, enterprise-grade, with 99.99% uptime SLA. Cut TCO by 50% and eliminate DBA toil. - [Security](https://www.tessell.com/platform/security): Tessell runs your databases inside your own cloud account and VPCs, under your keys. Your data never leaves your perimeter and the control plane holds only metadata. Backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and PCI DSS v4.1, Tessell supports your compliance posture across every cloud. - [Platform Overview](https://www.tessell.com/platform/overview): See how the Tessell platform works. A unified control plane that operates Oracle, SQL Server, and open-source databases across all major clouds, running inside your own cloud account and secured with your keys, so your teams get their time back. - [Proven Performance](https://www.tessell.com/platform/performance-proven): Tessell runs your databases on patented NVMe-backed infrastructure with up to 2 million IOPS, no metering and no throttling. Sustained speed for your most demanding workloads, inside your own cloud account, with benchmarks you can reproduce. - [Integrations](https://www.tessell.com/platform/integrations): Tessell connects to the identity, observability, security, and automation tools you already run, using your own accounts. Datadog, New Relic, Sumo Logic, Splunk, Qualys, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Slack, Terraform, and a full REST API. Because Tessell runs in your cloud, your data flows to your tools. - [Tessell for PostgreSQL](https://www.tessell.com/platform/postgresql): Run fully managed, open-source PostgreSQL inside your own cloud account, keep full superuser access, every extension and version, plus 99.99% HA and lower costs. ## Solutions - [Migrate Oracle to Cloud](https://www.tessell.com/solution/migrate-oracle-to-cloud): Move your Oracle estate to AWS, Azure, GCP, or OCI in phases, with no application rewrites, no forced cutovers, and zero data loss at cutover. - [Migrate to Cloud | SQL Server](https://www.tessell.com/solution/migrate-to-cloud-sql-server): Migrate SQL Server to AWS or Azure with Standard Edition HA, BYOK encryption, and full DBA control - no application rewrites, fully managed after cutover. - [multi-cloud-management](https://www.tessell.com/solution/multi-cloud-management): Manage Oracle, SQL Server, and open-source databases across AWS, Azure, and GCP from one control plane, in your own accounts, with no lock-in. - [Migrate to Cloud](https://www.tessell.com/solution/migrate-to-cloud): Tessell helps you migrate and manage your database estate to the cloud. Move, manage, and modernize any database engine on any cloud. - [Self managed to Managed](https://www.tessell.com/solution/self-managed-to-managed): Stop self-managing Oracle and SQL Server on cloud VMs. Tessell runs them as a fully managed service in your own cloud account, with no re-platforming. - [Reduce Database Costs](https://www.tessell.com/solution/reduce-database-costs): Cut total database costs without re-platforming - eliminate IOPS-based pricing, right-size infrastructure, and consolidate tooling, proven 25 to 50 percent lower TCO. ## Partners - [Channel](https://www.tessell.com/partner/channel): Become a Tessell channel or reseller partner. Sell a multi-cloud DBaaS platform for Oracle, SQL Server, and open source databases to your customer base. - [GSI](https://www.tessell.com/partner/gsi): Global System Integrators - [hyperscaler](https://www.tessell.com/partner/hyperscaler): hyperscaler ## Blog - [Tessell to Power Enterprise Oracle Workloads on Next-Generation M4N Compute Infrastructure with Google Cloud](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-powers-enterprise-oracle-workloads-on-next-generation-m4n-with-google-cloud): Tessell now runs fully managed Oracle databases on Google Cloud's new M4N memory-optimized instances, with Hyperdisk storage, zero RPO/RTO, and BYOC control. - [Beyond Native Partitioning: Managing Time-Based Data on Oracle SE2](https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-se-partitioning-without-enterprise-edition): Oracle Standard Edition 2 does not include native partitioning, so time-based tables that grow continuously have to be split by hand. This post covers a framework we built for a utilities customer: monthly child tables exposed through a single UNION ALL view, with INSTEAD OF triggers routing DML to the correct table and a PL/SQL package handling creation, privileges, synonyms, and retention. It delivers most of the operational benefit of partitioning without an Enterprise Edition upgrade, but without optimizer-level partition pruning. - [Cost-Effective Disaster Recovery Strategy with Tessell’s Data Access Policies (DAP)](https://www.tessell.com/blog/cost-effective-disaster-recovery-strategy-with-tessells-data-access-policies-dap): Cut DR infrastructure and licensing costs with Tessell's cross-region PITR. Replicate to object storage with zero data loss and no live DR database. - [It's official: Tessell's DBaaS is Co-Sell Ready with Microsoft Azure](https://www.tessell.com/blog/azure-tessell-ip-co-sell): Tessell's DBaaS platform is now IP Co-Sell Ready with Microsoft Azure, making it easier for joint customers to procure and deploy through Azure Marketplace. - [The Tessell Alternative to Oracle Database Services for Microsoft Azure](https://www.tessell.com/blog/the-tessell-alternative-to-oracle-dbaas-on-azure): Oracle Database Services for Azure reduces OCI latency but isn't true multi-cloud. See how Tessell runs managed Oracle on Azure with up to 2M IOPS. - [Benchmark Tessell for PostgreSQL against Aurora PostgreSQL](https://www.tessell.com/blog/benchmark-postgresql-tessell-against-aurora): We benchmarked Tessell HPC PostgreSQL against Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL with SLOB. See why Tessell delivered 70% higher IOPS at a lower cost. - [PostgreSQL at Tessell in 2023](https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-at-tessell-in-2023): Tessell looks back at PostgreSQL's standout 2023: named DBMS of the Year, rise as a vector database, time series support, and PostgreSQL 16. - [6 Step MySQL Migration from RDS to Tessell using DMS](https://www.tessell.com/blog/6-step-mysql-migration-from-rds-to-tessell): A step-by-step guide to migrating from MySQL RDS to Tessell using AWS DMS, covering source and target setup, schema migration, and replication tasks. - [Unlock the Potential: Migrate Your Oracle Databases to the Cloud](https://www.tessell.com/blog/unlock-the-potential-migrate-your-oracle-databases-to-the-cloud): See why enterprises run Oracle in the cloud with Tessell: stronger security, seven-nines resiliency, 10x IOPS, consolidation, and cost savings. - [Unlocking Cloud Potential: How Tessell on Azure Supports Government Organizations](https://www.tessell.com/blog/unlocking-cloud-potential-how-tessell-on-azure-supports-government-organizations): Tessell on Azure helps government agencies modernize Oracle with predictable costs, data sovereignty, BYOK encryption, and 24/7 support. - [Real-Time Data Sync with Tessell Change Data Capture (CDC) and Microsoft Fabric‍](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-cdc-and-microsoft-fabric): At Tessell, we’ve reimagined how data moves across systems with our Change Data Capture (CDC) platform — and through our collaboration with Microsoft Fabric, we’re making it easier than ever for businesses to tap into fresh, trustworthy data for current analytics and training AI models. - [Data Migration Risks in 2026: 10 Critical Threats and Proven Ways to Avoid Them](https://www.tessell.com/blog/data-migration-risks): The 10 risks behind most enterprise migration failures — data loss, corruption, compliance gaps, downtime — and how to prevent each one. - [How to Migrate Oracle Database to Cloud (Lift & Shift): The Practitioner's Guide](https://www.tessell.com/blog/how-to-migrate-oracle-database-to-cloud): The fastest path to Oracle in the cloud, done right. A practitioner's guide to choosing your method, avoiding the licensing and Day 2 traps, and getting to production-ready. - [Lift. Shine. Modernize.](https://www.tessell.com/blog/lift-shine-modernize): Modernization doesn't always start with transformation. A pharmacy chain's entire operation ran on legacy Oracle, held together by one overworked DBA. Here's how a phased "Lift and Shine" approach - stabilize first, transform next moved them to the cloud without breaking what already worked, and gave their team room to plan what's next. - [10 Best Oracle Database Management Tools in 2026](https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-oracle-database-management-tools): Ten tools, seven criteria, one comparison - covering DBaaS, monitoring, development IDEs, and DevOps suites for Oracle teams in 2026. - [Provision Tessell for Oracle with Terraform](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-oracle-terraform): A step-by-step guide to provisioning Tessell for Oracle using the Tessell API and Terraform, from generating an API key to running terraform apply. - [Benchmark Azure Tessell Oracle performance using SLOB](https://www.tessell.com/blog/azure-oracle-benchmark): A SLOB benchmark of Oracle database performance on Tessell running on Microsoft Azure, with results and methodology for evaluating throughput and latency. - [Bringing the Art and Science of Tessellation to Data](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessellation-of-data): From M.C. Escher's art to math and GPUs, explore what tessellation means and how Tessell brings the concept to modern data management. - [Benchmark Tessell RDS MySQL performance using Sysbench](https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-benchmark): A Sysbench benchmark comparing MySQL performance on Tessell against Amazon RDS, with results on throughput and latency under realistic workloads. - [Benchmark Tessell RDS Oracle performance using SLOB](https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-benchmark): We benchmarked Tessell RDS Oracle against AWS RDS with SLOB. See why Tessell produced 1,103% higher IOPS for the identical workload at the same cost. - [Manage Data on Your Multi-tenant SaaS Environment with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/manage-multi-tenant-saas-metadata): Multi-tenant hosting cuts costs but brings noisy-neighbor and scaling challenges. See how Tessell helps SaaS teams manage tenant databases at scale. - [Choose the Right Database Deployment Option](https://www.tessell.com/blog/choose-the-right-database-deployment-option): Compare Tessell's four deployment options, Professional, Business, VPT, and VPT @ Customer, to pick the right control and data plane for your needs. - [Introducing Tessell Airdrop: Seamless Zero Downtime Migration for Oracle Exadata to Azure](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-airdrop): Tessell announces AirDrop for zero-downtime Oracle migration to Exadata@Azure and a unified control plane across Exadata and Azure IaaS. - [Announcing Tessell for Milvus](https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-for-milvus): Tessell now offers managed Milvus, letting you run relational, NoSQL, and vector databases from one control plane with enterprise-grade security. - [Announcing Tessell for MongoDB](https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-for-mongodb): Tessell enters NoSQL with fully managed MongoDB Community Edition, deployed in your own cloud account with backups, PITR, patching, and monitoring. - [Tessell for SQL Server Benchmark](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-for-sql-server-hammer-db-benchmark): We benchmarked Tessell HPC SQL Server against Azure SQL Managed Instance with HammerDB. See why Tessell delivered 20x higher IOPS with no metering. - [PostgreSQL 16 What's New - Part 1](https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-16-whats-new-part-1): Part 1 of our PostgreSQL 16 guide explores developer features: parallel hash joins, SQL/JSON functions, incremental sort, and custom collation rules. - [Announcing Tessell Database Lifecycle Management (DBLM) for Exadata@Azure](https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-database-lifecycle-management-dblm-for-exadata-azure): Tessell DBLM brings backup, cloning, patching, HA/DR, and zero-downtime migration to Oracle Exadata@Azure in a single Marketplace offering. - [Tessell Hosting Choices](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-hosting-choices): Explore Tessell's control plane deployment models, dedicated versus shared and Tessell- versus customer-hosted, plus the security behind each. - [Lift and Shine Oracle to Azure with Tessell PaaS](https://www.tessell.com/blog/lift-and-shine-oracle-to-azure-with-tessell-paas): Tessell helps you lift and shine Oracle databases on Azure with zero downtime, zero data loss, flexible licensing, and DBaaS for Exadata and ANF. - [Patching and Upgrading Oracle Applications Made Easy with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/patching-and-upgrading-oracle-applications-made-easy-with-tessell): How Tessell delivers seamless Oracle patching, infrastructure upgrades, and failover using multi-AZ DataGuard HA and the switchover process. - [Automated Production to Development Refresh for your Cloud Databases](https://www.tessell.com/blog/automated-production-to-development-refresh-for-your-cloud-databases): Learn how Tessell automates data refresh across environments using a source-to-clone model with scheduled snapshots, PITR, and API automation. - [Building a Highly-Available PostgreSQL System with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/building-a-highly-available-postgresql-system-with-tessell): A look at Tessell PostgreSQL high availability: a three-node Patroni setup, automated failover with zero data loss, and low-downtime patching. - [Tessell at Microsoft Ignite 2024 - Recap](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-at-microsoft-ignite-2024---recap): Tessell recaps Microsoft Ignite Chicago: 750+ connections, 200+ live demos, an Azure NetApp session, and customer meetings. Next stop, AWS re:Invent. - [Tessell Named a Strong Performer in Gartner® Peer Insights™ "Voice of the Customer" for Cloud DBMS 2025](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-named-a-strong-performer-gartner-cloud-dbms): Gartner names Tessell a Strong Performer in the 2025 Peer Insights Voice of the Customer for Cloud DBMS, based on verified customer reviews. - [PostgreSQL 17 and 18 Now Supported](https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-17-and-18-now-supported): Tessell now supports PostgreSQL 17 and 18, giving customers access to the latest engine features and performance improvements on day one. - [TimescaleDB with Tessell for PostgreSQL](https://www.tessell.com/blog/timescaledb-with-tessell-for-postgresql): TimescaleDB is a time-series database built on top of PostgreSQL. It is designed to handle large volumes of time-stamped data and provide efficient and scalable query performance for time-series data. - [Oracle BYOL Explained: Licensing Rules, Cloud Options, and How to Maximize Your Investment](https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-byol-licensing-rules): How Oracle BYOL works across OCI, AWS, Azure, and GCP — licensing rules, vCPU-to-license math, compliance risks, and how to maximize savings. - [Simplify Your Database Management with Tessell Data Apps](https://www.tessell.com/blog/simplify-your-database-management-with-tessell-data-apps): Discover Tessell's consumer-grade data apps: Availability Machine for automated data protection and Dataflix for policy-driven data consumption. - [Database Data Masking & Automated Sanitization: A 2026 Enterprise Guide](https://www.tessell.com/blog/data-masking-and-automated-sanitization): How database data masking works — techniques, compliance drivers, and a step-by-step workflow to automate snapshot-based sanitization across clouds. - [Zero Downtime Migration Strategies for Global Enterprises](https://www.tessell.com/blog/zero-downtime-migration-strategies): Five proven strategies to migrate mission-critical databases without downtime — replication, blue-green, CDC, and automated DBaaS, compared side by side. - [High-Performance Database with NVMe Storage (2026)](https://www.tessell.com/blog/high-performance-database-with-nvme-storage): How NVMe storage delivers 2M IOPS for modern databases, how it compares to EBS and SAN, and how to solve the durability gap in production. - [Unlocking Cloud Potential: How Tessell DBaaS Empowers Government Organizations](https://www.tessell.com/blog/how-tessell-empowers-government-organizations): Tessell helps government agencies migrate Oracle to the cloud with predictable costs, data sovereignty, built-in security, and 24/7 support. - [AI-led Transformation of Modern Data Management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/ai-led-transformation-of-modern-data-management): The future of data management isn’t just about managing data better—it’s about empowering organizations to innovate and thrive. - [Fully Managed Oracle Database Service on Google Cloud with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-gcp-tessell): Tessell delivers a fully managed Oracle DBaaS on Google Cloud, automating backups, patching, HA, DR, and migration with BYOL flexibility. - [Tessell raises $60M in Series B funding to fuel AI-driven cloud data management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-raises-60m-in-series-b-funding-to-fuel-ai-driven-cloud-data-management): We’re thrilled to announce our $60 million Series B funding round, led by WestBridge Capital, with continued support from Lightspeed Venture Partners. This round also saw investments from B37 Ventures and Rocketship.vc. - [Gartner Validates What We've Known All Along: Tessell Is Changing the Open-Source Database Game](https://www.tessell.com/blog/gartner-validates-what-weve-known-all-along-tessell-is-changing-the-open-source-database-game): Gartner's 2024 open-source database research names Tessell among specialists optimizing OSS DBMS cost and performance. See the key survey insights. - [Why Data Lineage is the Backbone of Trusted Data Management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-data-lineage-is-the-backbone-of-trusted-data-management): In the era of AI, cloud computing, and real-time analytics, data lineage is no longer optional. It’s the foundation for data trust, compliance, and competitive advantage. - [Tessell Named a Gartner® Cool Vendor in Data Management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-named-a-gartner-cool-vendor): Tessell is named a 2025 Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management for its unified multicloud DBaaS, patented NVMe storage, and proven cost savings. - [Tessell achieves PCI DSS v4.1 certification: Raising the bar for cloud-native database security, and accelerating risk reviews for regulated teams](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-achieves-pci-dss-v4-1-certification): Tessell achieves PCI DSS v4.1 Level 1 validation, strengthening cloud database security with encryption, IAM, MFA, and continuous compliance. - [How Tessell Handles Transaction Log Retention for SQL Server Backups](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-transaction-log-retention-for-sql-server-backups): Tessell now offers configurable transaction log retention on its SQL Server DBaaS, keeping logs on disk for AWS DMS with threshold-based cleanup. - [Tessell Featured in S&P Global’s 451 Research’s Dedicated Report](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-featured-in-s-p-globals-451-researchs-dedicated-report): Our north star remains clear: to make databases cloud-easy, cost-efficient, and AI-ready — across any cloud, for every enterprise. - [Exadata for AWS is now available in Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/exadata-for-aws-is-now-available-in-tessell): Tessell now supports Oracle Exadata on AWS, extending fully managed Exadata database services to a third major cloud alongside Azure and OCI. - [New SQL Server Permissions and Script Management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/new-sql-server-permissions-and-script-management): Tessell adds finer-grained SQL Server permission controls and script management capabilities, giving database teams more precise access governance. - [Tessell 2025 Year in Review](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-2025-year-in-review): A look back at Tessell's product launches, customer milestones, and company growth in 2025, from new engine support to enterprise wins. - [Technology Magazine features Collectors CTO on scaling database infrastructure with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/collectors-digitising-collectibles-with-tessell-a-technology-magazine-feature): Technology Magazine features Collectors' CTO discussing how the company scaled its database infrastructure on Tessell to support rapid growth. - [SQL Server High Availability in 2026: Complete Guide to Methods, Setup & Best Practices](https://www.tessell.com/blog/sql-server-high-availability-best-practices): The five SQL Server high availability methods compared — Always On AGs, FCI, Log Shipping, Mirroring, and Replication — with setup and cloud guidance. - [MySQL Audit Logs: How to Enable, Configure & Secure Your Database](https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-audit-logs): Complete guide to MySQL audit logs: installation, configuration, cloud platform setup (AWS/Azure/GCP), filtering, and compliance tips. - [Oracle Performance Benchmarking with HammerDB](https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-performance-benchmarking-with-hammerdb): How to benchmark Oracle with HammerDB TPROC-C — tool comparisons, step-by-step setup, metrics, best practices, and multi-cloud testing. - [Tessell Recognized in the 2026 Gartner® Peer Insights™ "Voice of the Customer" for Cloud DBMS, for the Second Consecutive Year](https://www.tessell.com/blog/gartner-peer-insights-voice-of-the-customer-2026): For the second year running, Tessell is recognized in the Gartner® Peer Insights™ Voice of the Customer for Cloud Database Management Systems, rated 4.6 out of 5 by verified enterprise customers. What matters most is who left the reviews: teams in banking, insurance, and government running systems they cannot afford to break. - [What Is MySQL? Benefits, Features & Use Cases (2026)](https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-benefits-features-and-use-cases): A complete 2026 guide to MySQL, how it works, key features and benefits, top use cases, and how it compares to PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and MongoDB. - [Rethinking FinOps with Platform-Anchored Solutions: The Tessell Advantage](https://www.tessell.com/blog/rethinking-finops-with-platform-anchored-solutions-the-tessell-advantage): Tessell's unique capabilities, from multi-DB support and dynamic licensing to integrated functionalities and enhanced FTE productivity, position it as a game-changer in the FinOps space. - [What's New in Tessell: SQL Server Updates Across Dev Workflows, Data Protection, and High Availability](https://www.tessell.com/blog/sql-server-updates-across-dev-workflows-data-protection-and-high-availability): Tessell's SQL Server update delivers automated clone refresh, native backups with PITR, and Single Instance to HA conversion on AWS and Azure. - [A Year of Excellence: Tessell’s Award-Winning Journey in 2023-2024](https://www.tessell.com/blog/a-year-of-excellence-tessells-award-winning-journey-in-2023-2024): At Tessell, we are thrilled to share the remarkable accolades our company has received over the past year. These awards highlight our dedication to innovation, excellence, and leadership in cloud data infrastructure. Each recognition is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our team, and the trust and support of our clients and partners. - [Reimagine Data Management with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/reimagine-data-management-with-tessell): Tessell’s innovative data ecosystem offers a revolutionary approach to data management, enabling organizations to harness the full potential of their data assets. - [Building a Data-Driven Culture with DataOps and Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/building-a-data-driven-culture-with-dataops-and-tessell): Tessell’s suite of tools and solutions makes it an invaluable partner in implementing effective DataOps practices, driving business outcomes, and fostering a collaborative and efficient data culture. - [MongoDB Best Practices with Tessell Database Service](https://www.tessell.com/blog/mongodb-best-practices-with-tessell-database-service): Explore MongoDB management best practices on Tessell: optimized performance, automated backups, proactive monitoring, and strong security. - [Best Practices for MySQL Security and Database Management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-mysql-security-and-database-management): A practical guide to MySQL best practices: strong passwords, least privilege, encryption, indexing, query optimization, and proactive alerting. - [The Enterprise Security Conundrum](https://www.tessell.com/blog/the-enterprise-security-conundrum): The recent incidents with Snowflake and CrowdStrike are stark reminders of the importance of robust security measures, data protection, and operational resilience. Tessell stands out by providing all these features and more, ensuring that enterprises can operate securely and efficiently in an increasingly complex digital landscape. - [Data Management and Metadata Management: The Dynamic Duo](https://www.tessell.com/blog/data-management-and-metadata-management): How metadata management and modern data strategies help D&A leaders tackle multi-cloud complexity, GenAI readiness, and data observability. - [Enhancing Data Engineering Practices to Meet Growing Consumer Demand](https://www.tessell.com/blog/enhancing-data-engineering-practices-to-meet-growing-consumer-demand): The demand for usable data has skyrocketed, putting pressure on organizations to enhance their data engineering practices. - [MySQL Archive/Binary Logs: Replication, Recovery, and More](https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-archive-binary-logs-replication-recovery): A guide to MySQL Binary Logs: how they power replication, point-in-time recovery, incremental backups, auditing, and disaster recovery. - [Tessell for MySQL: Security Overview and Guidelines](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-for-mysql-security-overview-and-guidelines): Explore the security features in Tessell for MySQL: authentication, encryption at rest and in transit, network controls, and audit logging. - [Best Practices for Optimizing MongoDB Collections on Tessell DBaaS](https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-optimizing-mongodb-collections-on-tessell-dbaas): Learn best practices for MongoDB collections on Tessell: schema design, strategic indexing, query optimization, and replication management for HA. - [From Insights to Business Impact with Your Data](https://www.tessell.com/blog/from-insights-to-business-impact-for-your-data-function): The Data & Analytics (D&A) function is pivotal for business success in the contemporary landscape where data drives decisions. However, many executives still question its value. - [Best Practices for Oracle Table Design with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-oracle-table-design-with-tessell): These best practices will help you design high-performing and resilient Oracle tables on the Tessell DBaaS platform. By focusing on effective table design, query optimization, and robust data protection strategies, you can ensure that your Oracle database delivers optimal performance and data availability. - [Best Practices for MySQL Table Design with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-mysql-table-design-with-tessell): Learn best practices for MySQL table design on Tessell: normalization, primary keys, indexing, partitioning, and built-in HA, DR, and backups. - [Tessell’s Pivotal Role in Revolutionizing Cloud Database Management and TCO Savings for Global Enterprises](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessells-pivotal-role-in-revolutionizing-cloud-database-management-and-tco-savings-for-global-enterprises): See how Tessell cut database TCO across sectors: 38% for transportation, 40% for smart metering, 35% for accounting, and 45% for clinical research. - [Discover Differentiated Data Management at Oracle CloudWorld 2024 with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/discover-differentiated-data-management-at-oracle-cloudworld-2024-with-tessell): Ready to elevate your data management strategy? Join Tessell at Oracle CloudWorld 2024 and discover how to unlock the full potential of your enterprise data. - [Tessell’s Exciting Debut at Oracle Cloud World 2024](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessells-exciting-debut-at-oracle-cloud-world-2024): Tessell debuts at Oracle Cloud World 2024, meeting 1,000+ attendees and launching its DBaaS for Exadata on OCI with automated provisioning. - [How Tessell Delivers Superior Value Over Amazon RDS](https://www.tessell.com/blog/how-tessell-delivers-superior-value-over-amazon-rds): See how Tessell beats Amazon RDS with up to 72.5% TCO savings over three years and 321% higher IOPS through consolidation and license optimization. - [Tessell’s Fully Managed Database Service with AWS FSx for NetApp ONTAP](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessells-fully-managed-database-service-with-aws-fsx-for-netapp-ontap): AWS FSx for NetApp ONTAP is now generally available on Tessell, bringing managed DBaaS, high performance, and cost-efficient database storage. - [Microsoft Active Directory Authentication using Kerberos for MySQL Enterprise](https://www.tessell.com/blog/microsoft-active-directory-authentication-using-kerberos-for-mysql-enterprise): A step-by-step guide to integrating Microsoft Active Directory with MySQL Enterprise Edition using Kerberos authentication on Linux for SSO. - [Microsoft Active Directory Authentication using LDAP for MySQL Enterprise](https://www.tessell.com/blog/microsoft-active-directory-authentication-using-ldap-for-mysql-enterprise): Learn how to integrate AD authentication leveraging advanced security features and ease of user credential management using readily available plugins for MySQL Enterprise edition. - [Announcing Tessell Technical Advisory Board](https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-technical-advisory-board): Join Tessell's Technical Advisory Board and be at the forefront of cutting-edge technology and cloud database innovations. - [PostgreSQL 16, What's New - Part 2](https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-16-whats-new---part-ii): Part 2 of our PostgreSQL 16 guide covers load_balance_hosts, require_auth, EXPLAIN GENERIC_PLAN, logical replication from replicas, and pg_stat_io. - [Tessell Awarded AWS Migration and Modernization Competency](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-awarded-aws-migration-and-modernization-competency): Tessell has achieved AWS Migration and Modernization Competency status, recognizing its DBaaS for accelerating database modernization at scale. - [Tessell Awarded ISO 27001 and 27701 Certifications](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-awarded-iso-27001-and-27701-certifications): Tessell’s new ISO 27001 and 27701 certifications ensure the highest level of databases-as-a-service technology data security protections - [CRN Honors Tessell With a Spot on Its 2024 Big Data 100 List](https://www.tessell.com/blog/crn-honors-tessell-with-a-spot-on-its-2024-big-data-100-list): Tessell, The Next Generation Cloud Database-as-a-Service, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company®, included Tessell on its 2024 Big Data 100 list in the Coolest Database System Companies Of The 2024 Big Data 100 category. This annual list recognizes technology vendors committed to delivering continuous innovation across their big data portfolios in areas such as business analytics; data warehouse and data lake systems; database systems; management and integration tools; systems and platforms; and DataOps and data observability. - [Revolutionizing Customers' Open-Source Database Journeys with Tessell's Leading-Edge DBaaS Platform](https://www.tessell.com/blog/open-source-dbaas-success-stories): See how Forbes, Aurionpro, and Lightning eMotors used Tessell's DBaaS to migrate open-source databases, cut costs, and boost performance. - [Enhancing Oracle Migration to Azure with Tessell DBaaS](https://www.tessell.com/blog/enhancing-oracle-migration-to-azure-with-tessell-dbaas): Tessell DBaaS simplifies Oracle migration to Azure with zero downtime, consistent licensing, consolidation, and Exadata@Azure support on your terms. - [Tessell - Data @ Your Terms](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell---data-your-terms): Tessell defies the norm, having onboarded multiple large enterprises, including Forbes, in an unprecedented nod to its innovative services—even when still in its first year of selling. - [Tessell "Lifts and Shines" Oracle Databases to Azure: A Modern Approach to Database Migration](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-lifts-and-shines-oracle-databases-to-azure-a-modern-approach-to-database-migration): Tessell "lifts and shines" Oracle databases, offering superior performance, scalability, and data management capabilities compared to the conventional approach. - [Considerations for Successful Database Migrations](https://www.tessell.com/blog/considerations-for-successful-database-migrations): DBMS migrations often run over time and budget. Learn a structured, phased approach covering preparation, assessment, execution, and cutover. - [Five Ways for SaaS Companies to Stand Out by Leveraging FinOps](https://www.tessell.com/blog/saas-companies-to-stand-out-by-leveraging-finops): At its core, FinOps unites finance, engineering and product teams to optimize cloud costs and enhance financial decision-making. - [What's Your Multi-Cloud Strategy?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/whats-your-multi-cloud-strategy): With 81% of organizations using multiple clouds, D&A leaders need a plan. Learn to track usage, pick deployment tiers, and integrate ISV capabilities. - [Is Your Data AI-Ready?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/is-your-data-ai-ready): AI-ready data is more than clean data. Learn what defines it, the common misconceptions, and how to align, qualify, and govern data for AI use cases. - [Unleashing the Potential of Cloud Database Migration: Key Success Factors](https://www.tessell.com/blog/unleashing-the-potential-of-cloud-database-migration-key-success-factors): Ten expert strategies for migrating legacy databases to the cloud, covering TCO analysis, performance, high availability, security, and DR. - [What is Milvus?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/what-is-milvus): Milvus is an open-source vector database built for similarity search on high-dimensional data. Learn its key concepts, indexing methods, and use cases. - [What is MongoDB?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/what-is-mongodb): MongoDB's flexibility, scalability, high performance, and document-oriented structure make it a preferred choice for modern applications. - [PostgreSQL - concepts, benefits and use cases](https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-concepts-benefits-and-use-cases): PostgreSQL, often referred to as Postgres, stands as a powerful open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) renowned for its robustness, extensibility, and adherence to SQL standards. - [Fortifying Oracle databases: Unrivaled protection and resilience](https://www.tessell.com/blog/fortifying-oracle-databases-unrivaled-protection-and-resilience): As the digital landscape evolves, Tessell remains steadfast, ensuring databases are not just protected but fortified against any adversity. - [Maximizing Efficiency: Consolidating Oracle Databases on the Cloud](https://www.tessell.com/blog/maximizing-efficiency-consolidating-oracle-databases-on-the-cloud): Hosting multiple Oracle databases on one cloud server cuts costs and licenses. See how Tessell enables consolidation with resource pooling. - [Embracing the Data Cloudscape: The Journey to Multi-Cloud Database Management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/embracing-the-data-cloudscape-the-journey-to-multi-cloud-database-management): Explore the journey from on-premises to multi-cloud: the migration stages, why enterprises go multi-cloud, and how to build an effective strategy. - [Navigating the Skies: Multi-Cloud Database and Data Management](https://www.tessell.com/blog/navigating-the-skies-multi-cloud-database-and-data-management): Multi-cloud creates complexity and redundancy. Learn how super cloud and sky computing add a compatibility layer for centralized, simpler control. - [Tessell Earns Spot on the CRN® 2023 Stellar Startups List](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-earns-spot-on-the-crn-r-2023-stellar-startups-list): Tessell, a leading database platform for cloud-centric enterprises, has been named to CRN's 2023 Stellar Startups list in the Big Data category - [Tessell Welcomes Oracle Database@Azure](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-welcomes-oracle-database-azure): Oracle Database@Azure brings Exadata to Azure. See how Tessell complements it today with data flexibility, Oracle PaaS, and major cost savings. - [Extensions on Tessell for PostgreSQL](https://www.tessell.com/blog/extensions-on-tessell-for-postgresql): Explore the trusted PostgreSQL extensions available out of the box on Tessell, spanning data types, indexing, auditing, observability, and pgvector. - [Seamless Operations in Any Storm: Ensuring Business Continuity with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/seamless-operations-in-any-storm-ensuring-business-continuity-with-tessell): How Tessell's high availability, disaster recovery, and security capabilities help enterprises maintain business continuity through unexpected disruptions. - [Database Backup Compliance Made Effortless with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/database-backup-compliance-made-effortless-with-tessell): See how Tessell simplifies database backup compliance with automated schedules, retention policies, encrypted storage, and audit trails. - [Navigating the Unpredictable: Disaster Recovery in Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/navigating-the-unpredictable-disaster-recovery-in-tessell): See how Tessell strengthens disaster recovery with automated backups, point-in-time recovery, multi-AZ high availability, and rapid failover. - [Resilience Redefined: Multi-AZ HA Database Service in Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/resilience-redefined-multi-az-ha-database-service-in-tessell): See how Tessell's Multi-AZ HA Database Service delivers uninterrupted access, automatic failover, and synchronous replication for resilient data. - [Securing Data with Precision: Data Masking and Sanitization in Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/securing-data-with-precision-data-masking-and-sanitization-in-tessell): Learn how Tessell's data masking and sanitization protect sensitive data while keeping it usable, helping you meet GDPR and HIPAA compliance. - [Mastering Data Management with Tessell: A Comprehensive Guide](https://www.tessell.com/blog/mastering-data-management-with-tessell-a-comprehensive-guide): Discover how Tessell unifies data provisioning, protection, transformation, governance, insights, and migration into one data management platform. - [Elevating MySQL Management with Tessell: A Comprehensive Overview](https://www.tessell.com/blog/elevating-mysql-management-with-tessell-a-comprehensive-overview): Tessell for MySQL unifies deployment, scaling, backup and recovery, performance monitoring, security, and migration into one managed platform. - [Unlocking Advanced Possibilities with Tessell for PostgreSQL](https://www.tessell.com/blog/unlocking-advanced-possibilities-with-tessell-for-postgresql): A look at the advanced PostgreSQL capabilities available on Tessell, from high availability and disaster recovery to data access and governance. - [Tessell Availability Machine: Why, What, How?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-what-how-of-tessell-availability-machine): Tessell's Availability Machine unifies data protection, automated snapshots, log backups, PITR, sanitization, and access policies in one built-in app. - [PostgreSQL 15 - What's new?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/whats-new-in-postgresql-15): Explore the standout PostgreSQL 15 features: the MERGE command, faster sorting, smarter postgres_fdw, logical replication options, and more. - [Announcing Tessellator](https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessellator): Meet The Tessellator and sidekick AM in The Tessellator Crushes Cloud Costs, a comic book that makes disruptive database technology fun to learn. - [Tessell supports AWS PrivateLink](https://www.tessell.com/blog/aws-tessell-privatelink): A step-by-step guide to configuring AWS PrivateLink for your Tessell database service, enabling secure private connectivity off the public internet. - [The Why and How of Cloud Databases …and how Tessell changes the game](https://www.tessell.com/blog/the-why-and-how-of-cloud-databases): Cloud databases face IOPS caps, costly managed services, and weak data control. See how Tessell delivers 10x performance at half the cost. - [Benchmark Tessell for PostgreSQL performance using PGIO (SLOB)](https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-benchmark): We benchmarked Tessell for PostgreSQL against AWS RDS with PGIO. See why Tessell produced 460% higher IOPS at the same cost. - [Fully Managed Oracle Database Service on Azure with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/azure-tessell-oracle-dbaas): Tessell is the only fully managed Oracle DBaaS on Azure, delivering up to 1M IOPS, automated backups, patching, multi-AZ HA, and cross-region DR. - [Announcing SOC 2 Type I Certification for Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-soc2-type1): Tessell has achieved SOC 2 Type I certification, reinforcing its security and compliance posture for enterprises managing regulated database workloads. - [Tessell is Now Available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-azure-marketplace-availability): Tessell launches Azure Tessell for Oracle, the only Oracle PaaS on Azure, in the Azure Marketplace. Run managed Oracle at up to 1M IOPS, fixed cost. - [Tessell Joins AWS ISV Accelerate Program](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-joins-aws-isv-accelerate-program): Tessell is now part of the AWS ISV Accelerate Program, deepening its partnership with AWS to support enterprise database migrations at scale. - [Tessell recognized as a finalist of 2023 Microsoft OSS on Azure Partner of the Year](https://www.tessell.com/blog/microsoft-partner-of-the-year): Tessell is a finalist for the Open Source Software on Azure 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award, chosen from over 4,200 global nominations. - [Announcing SOC 2 Type II Certification for Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-soc2-type2): Tessell has earned SOC 2 Type II certification with zero exceptions, validating its security, availability, and data protection controls. - [Why choose Tessell for your enterprise?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-tessell-for-enterprises): See how Tessell tackles the performance, cost, security, and lock-in challenges of enterprise cloud databases, at 10x performance and 7x lower cost. - [Why choose Tessell for your startup?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-tessell-for-startups): Why fast-growing startups choose Tessell over self-managed databases or hyperscaler-native services, for lower TCO and less operational overhead. - [Tessell's journey: How and why it all started?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-tessell): Discover why Tessell was founded, what its name means, and how it disrupts cloud DBaaS with NVMe performance and unified data management. - [SQL Server Distributed Availability Group Migration Guide](https://www.tessell.com/blog/sql-server-distributed-availability-group-migration-guide): A step-by-step DAG migration playbook for SQL Server — prerequisites, T-SQL setup, seeding, failover to Tessell, and post-migration cleanup. - [What is DBaaS (Database as a Service)?](https://www.tessell.com/blog/dbaas-database-as-a-service): Database as a Service explained — architecture, benefits, deployment models, security, SLAs, pricing, and how to choose the right provider. - [PostgreSQL Vector Database with pgvector (2026)](https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-vector-database-with-pgvector): Turn PostgreSQL into a production vector database — pgvector setup, HNSW indexing, RAG architecture, and comparisons to Pinecone and Weaviate. ## Customer Stories - [Global Fortune 100 Energy Giant Chooses Tessell as its Migration and Modernization Partner](https://www.tessell.com/customers/global-fortune-100-energy-giant-chooses-tessell-as-its-migration-and-modernization-partner) - [How a Fortune 500 U.S. Bank Modernized Its Mission-Critical Data Infrastructure with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/customers/how-a-fortune-500-u-s-bank-modernized-its-mission-critical-data-infrastructure-with-tessell) - [Tessell Enables a Global Insurance Leader's Biggest Digital Transformation in Company History](https://www.tessell.com/customers/global-insurance-leaders-biggest-digital-transformation-in-company-history) - [Enabling a Global Employee Benefits Leader's Growth with a Modern, High-Performance Data Platform](https://www.tessell.com/customers/enabling-a-global-employee-benefits-leaders-growth-with-a-modern-high-performance-data-platform) - [US State IT Services Provider Modernizes Critical Database Workloads on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/customers/us-state-it-services-provider-modernizes-critical-database-workloads-on-azure) - [A Leading Healthcare Data Platform Modernizes Their Oracle Estate with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/customers/a-leading-healthcare-data-platform-modernizes-oracle-estate-with-tessell) - [Big Four Accounting Firm Modernizes Its Oracle Data Estate on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/customers/a-big-four-accounting-firm-modernizes-its-data-estate) - [Landis+Gyr Optimizes TCO with Tessell on GCP as its Digital Backbone for smart metering applications](https://www.tessell.com/customers/multinational-smart-metering-company-optimizes-tco-with-tessell-as-its-digital-backbone) - [Large Clinical Research Organization Accelerates Data Modernization with Superior Cost Savings](https://www.tessell.com/customers/large-clinical-research-organization-accelerates-data-modernization-with-superior-cost-savings) - [Forbes Revolutionizes their Data Estate with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/customers/forbes-revolutionizes-their-data-estate-with-tessell) - [Leading US Collectibles Marketplace Migrates from AWS RDS to Tessell for 53x Performance and 33% Savings](https://www.tessell.com/customers/us-collectibles-marketplace-migrates-to-tessell-achieving-better-performance-and-significant-cost-savings) - [An Arizona State Department Safeguards Oracle E-Business Suite with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/customers/a-us-state-government-agency-protects-its-oracle-workloads-with-tessell) - [How a Fortune 500 Financial Services Company in India Achieved 3X Growth After Moving from RDS](https://www.tessell.com/customers/fortune-india-500-investment-company-powered-by-tessell) - [Aurionpro Delivering 3x Ticketing Capacity @ 1/2 The Cost](https://www.tessell.com/customers/aurionpro-handling-3x-demand-at-half-the-cost) - [Lightning eMotors](https://www.tessell.com/customers/how-lightning-emotors-has-improved-efficiency-with-tessell) - [$36B AUM Investment Firm Optimizes Oracle Estate While Improving Performance](https://www.tessell.com/customers/36b-aum-investment-firm-optimizes-oracle-estate-while-gaining-performance) - [Fortune 250 Transportation Giant Halves Infrastructure Costs While Modernizing 500+ Databases](https://www.tessell.com/customers/fortune-250-transportation-giant) ## Events - [Inside Equinor’s 40% Database Cost Efficiency Playbook](https://www.tessell.com/events/tessell-equinor-database-cost-playbook) - [Executive Roundtable: The Future of Data Management](https://www.tessell.com/events/tessell-at-federal-it-summit) - [PG Conf India 2023](https://www.tessell.com/events/pg-conf-india-2023) - [Microsoft Ignite 2023](https://www.tessell.com/events/microsoft-ignite-2023) - [AWS re:Invent 2023](https://www.tessell.com/events/aws-re-invent-2023) - [PG Conf India 2024](https://www.tessell.com/events/pg-conf-india-2024) - [AWS Summit Bengaluru 2024](https://www.tessell.com/events/aws-summit-bengaluru-2024) - [Oracle Cloud World 2024](https://www.tessell.com/events/oracle-cloud-world-2024) - [Microsoft Ignite 2024](https://www.tessell.com/events/microsoft-ignite-2024) - [AWS re: Invent 2024](https://www.tessell.com/events/aws-re-invent-2024) - [Night out with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/events/night-out-with-tessell-at-citi-field) - [Google Cloud Next 2025](https://www.tessell.com/events/google-cloud-next-2025) - [Google Cloud Summit 2025](https://www.tessell.com/events/google-cloud-summit) - [Executive Roundtable: The Future of Data Management](https://www.tessell.com/events/executive-roundtable-the-future-of-data-management) ## Ebooks - [Innovate with Tessell's Data Ecosystem](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/innovate-with-tessells-data-ecosystem) - [Tessell for PostgreSQL](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/tessell-for-postgresql) - [Zero Data Loss Protection for Oracle on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/zero-data-loss-protection-for-oracle-on-azure) - [Resiliency with Tessell DBaaS](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/resiliency-with-tessell-dbaas) - [The Tessellator - Book #2](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/the-tessellator-book-2) - [Migrate, Manage, and Modernize Oracle on AWS with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/migrate-manage-and-modernize-oracle-on-aws-with-tessell) - [Tessell For Oracle & Exadata On Azure Guide](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/tessell-for-oracle-exadata-on-azure-guide) - [7 essentials for MySQL](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/seven-essentials-for-mysql) - [The Tessellator - Book #3](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/tessellator-book-3) - [Moving Oracle and SQL server to the cloud](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/moving-oracle-and-sql-server-to-the-cloud) - [The Tessellator - Book #1](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/the-tessellator) - [Oracle on Azure: Migrate Manage Modernize](https://www.tessell.com/ebooks/oracle-on-azure-migrate-manage-modernize) ## Whitepapers - [On-Premises to Tessell Managed Azure: The Government Oracle TCO Business Case](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/tessell-oracle-onprem-vs-azure-government-tco): What's inside Why government Oracle environments struggle on-prem: fragmented legacy infrastructure, manual patching and backups, weeks-long provisioning cycles, and heavy reliance on costly third-party tools Where the infrastructure savings come from: elastic, right-sized compute cut costs by 43 percent, and consumpti on-based storage with thin cloning cut costs by 56 percent, for 53 percent combined infrastructure savings How to optimize Oracle license spend: consolidating databases onto fewer VMs and eliminating add-ons like RAC, the Lifecycle Management Pack, Data Masking Pack, and Multi-Tenant licensing cut Oracle license and support costs by 37 percent The third-party tools Tessell absorbs: built-in HA, disaster recovery, and backup remove the need for separate DR software and backup appliances What the study found across three agencies: results from a state-level technology and cybersecurity agency, a federal rural economic development agency, and a federal security and investigative agency The full TCO and ROI summary: a line-by-line breakdown across CAPEX and OPEX, totaling a 53 percent TCO reduction and 162 percent ROI - [Transform Oracle Database Economics on Google Cloud with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/transform-oracle-database-economics-on-google-cloud-with-tessell): What's Inside Why GCP needs a managed Oracle layer: how the absence of a fully managed Oracle service on Google Cloud has slowed modernization, and how Tessell closes that gap Where the infrastructure savings come from: how multi-tenant consolidation and NVMe-backed storage reduced compute costs by 37 percent and storage costs by 66 percent How to optimize your Oracle license investment: how consolidation, secondary-environment prediction, and moving from Enterprise to Standard Edition reduced Oracle license spend by 32 percent, alongside the third-party backup and DR licenses Tessell removes What the customer study found: how a global energy management provider running Oracle across more than 30 countries migrated from Windows to Linux with sub-second ingestion latency The admin and operational impact: how automation and self-service provisioning reduced DBA costs by 67 percent The full TCO and ROI summary: a line-by-line breakdown across support, compute, storage, OS licenses, admin, and services, totaling a 42 percent TCO reduction and 171 percent ROI. - [Self-Managed Databases vs. Tessell on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/oracle-azure-tessell-value): What's Inside Why self-managed Oracle on Azure runs expensive: how fragmented license control, high RPO and RTO, and application latency drive up cost and operational risk Where the infrastructure savings come from: how multi-tenant consolidation onto fewer Azure VMs reduced compute costs by 55 percent and infrastructure costs by 32 percent overall How to optimize your Oracle license investment: how consolidation, secondary-environment prediction, moving from Enterprise to Standard Edition, and removing the need for RAC reduced Oracle license support spend by 79 percent The third-party licenses Tessell absorbs: how built-in high availability, disaster recovery, backup, and data masking removed separate software for backup, DR, and masking What the study found across three enterprises: results from a Fortune 500 logistics provider, a global professional services firm, and a Fortune 100 European energy company The full TCO and ROI summary: a line-by-line breakdown across support, compute, storage, services, and admin, totaling a 65 percent TCO reduction and 189 percent ROI - [Tessell Savings over Amazon RDS](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/tessell-savings-over-amazon-rds): What's Inside What 1:1 instance mapping, IOPS metering, and auxiliary Oracle licensing mean for large Oracle estates on RDS at scale. The performance gap, benchmarked: how Tessell delivered 1,103 percent higher IOPS than RDS on the identical SLOB workload at the same cost. Two ways to model the savings: a side-by-side of 1:1 instance mapping and multi-database consolidation, so you can compare against your own estate. How to optimize your Oracle license investment: how consolidation, moving from Enterprise to Standard Edition, and removing RAC, ADG, and Enterprise Manager packs reduced Oracle license support costs by 50 to 75 percent. The third-party licenses Tessell absorbs: how built-in high availability, disaster recovery, backup, and data masking removed separate software for backup, DR, and masking. The full three-year TCO and ROI breakdown: line-by-line costs across compute, storage, licensing, services, and admin for both scenarios. - [Tessell Security Architecture on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/tessell-security-architecture-on-azure): What's Inside How BYOA onboarding works: how you authorize the Tessell Azure AD application and assign it a custom role to bring your own Azure subscription onto the platform The least-privilege access model: how Tessell's access is confined to a custom "Tessell Operator" role scoped to a single resource group rather than the whole subscription What the custom role can and cannot do: the default permission set, plus the actions Tessell explicitly excludes, such as elevating access and changing blueprint assignments Default versus additional permissions: the difference between the bare-minimum permissions Tessell needs to function and the optional permissions that let it automate network and encryption-key creation The deployment and consent flow: how the Azure consent screen and ARM template provision the role assignment and resources, step by step The resources Tessell creates and manages: which Azure resources are created during onboarding and which stay under your control - [Benchmarking Tessell HPC for PostgreSQL on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/benchmarking-tessell-hpc-for-postgresql-on-azure): What's Inside The benchmark methodology: how Tessell DBaaS and standard Azure PostgreSQL were tested head-to-head using HammerDB on matched 8-vCore, 64 GiB configurations. The testing environment: the VM shapes, storage tiers, network setup, and database initialization used to keep the comparison fair. The pricing breakdown: monthly cost for Tessell versus three standard Azure PostgreSQL storage configurations, based on the Azure Pricing Calculator. Throughput across load levels: NOPM results at 1, 50, 62, 100, and 150 virtual users for every configuration. Where the gap widens: how Tessell's NVMe-backed High Performance Compute sustains throughput as concurrency rises while standard configurations hit their IOPS ceilings. The headline finding: up to 2.5 times the NOPM at similar or lower cost, with a fully managed service. - [Tessell Architecture Guide](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/tessell-architecture-guide): What's Inside Control and data plane design: how Tessell separates the orchestration layer from customer data, with dedicated and shared options for each. Deployment models compared: Business Edition, Virtual Private Tessell, and VPT at Customer, mapped to isolation, control, and cost requirements. Security architecture: least-privilege IAM roles, tag-based access control, TLS-encrypted communication, and a pull-based model where the data plane initiates every request. Cloud onboarding walkthroughs: bring-your-own-account setup for AWS using cross-account IAM and CloudFormation, and for Azure using a dedicated resource group, operator role, and service principal. High availability and disaster recovery: single-instance and HA/DR topologies built from a primary database, a same-region HA replica, and a cross-region DR replica. Availability Machine and Dataflix: SLA-driven snapshots, log backups, sanitized snapshots, native backups, and data access policies that govern what data reaches secondary environments. - [RDS for SQL Server vs. Tessell AWS](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/rds-sql-server-vs-tessell-aws): What's Inside What IOPS throttling, EBS latency, and instance sizing mean for demanding SQL Server workloads on RDS Where Tessell's IOPS advantage comes from: how EC2 with local NVMe storage delivers up to 321 percent higher IOPS and 40 to 50 percent faster query response on heavy read and write workloads. Where the licensing savings come from: how Standard Edition high availability, database consolidation, and decoupled compute and storage reduce SQL Server license spend What the customer study found: how a collectibles authentication and grading provider reached 1.6M IOPS, a 53x jump from its baseline, while cutting infrastructure costs The full cost breakdown: a line-by-line comparison of compute, storage, backup, licensing, services, and DBA costs across RDS and Tessell The TCO and ROI summary: total cost of ownership reduced by 23 percent, with a 129 percent return on investment. ## Other Pages - [Apply to partner with us](https://www.tessell.com/apply-partner): Apply to become a Tessell partner. Join hyperscalers and global system integrators co-selling a multi-cloud DBaaS platform for Oracle, SQL Server, and open source. - [Pricing](https://www.tessell.com/pricing): Pricing sized to your workload. Customers cut total database TCO by 25 to 65 percent with Tessell. Get a custom quote across every engine and cloud. - [Book a free assessment](https://www.tessell.com/book-a-free-assessment): Get a free assessment of your database estate from a Tessell engineer. Understand your migration path, TCO savings, and modernization options before you commit. - [Business Value Assessment](https://www.tessell.com/business-value-assessment): Get a data-driven estimate of the cost savings and performance gains Tessell can deliver for your Oracle and SQL Server estate, based on your actual environment. - [RDS Custom](https://www.tessell.com/rds-custom): Compare Amazon RDS Custom with Tessell for Oracle and SQL Server. See where RDS Custom's limits end and where a fully managed, multi-cloud alternative begins. - [Talk to a specialist](https://www.tessell.com/talk-to-a-specialist): Talk to a Tessell migration specialist about moving your Oracle or SQL Server estate to the cloud, with no application rewrites and no forced cutovers. - [Register a Deal](https://www.tessell.com/register-a-deal): Register an opportunity with Tessell's partner program. Submit a deal, get support from the Tessell team, and grow your database modernization pipeline. - [Gartner VOC Report 2026](https://www.tessell.com/gartner-voc-report-2026): See what verified enterprise reviewers say about Tessell in the 2026 Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer report for Cloud Database Management Systems. ## Optional - [Support Plans Description](https://www.tessell.com/support): Compare Tessell's customer support plans, including response times and coverage, for enterprises running Oracle, SQL Server, and open source databases. - [Service Level Agreement](https://www.tessell.com/service-level-agreement): Tessell's Service Level Agreement covering uptime commitments, support response times, and remedies for Tessell-managed databases. - [Master Cloud Services Agreement](https://www.tessell.com/terms): Read Tessell's Master Cloud Services Agreement, the terms that govern use of Tessell's multi-cloud database management platform. - [Tessell Subprocessors](https://www.tessell.com/tessell-subprocessors): A list of the third-party subprocessors Tessell uses to deliver its multi-cloud database management platform and the services each one supports. - [Privacy Policy](https://www.tessell.com/privacy-policy): Read Tessell's Privacy Policy to understand how Tessell collects, uses, and protects personal data across its multi-cloud database management platform. # Blog Articles (Full Content) ## tessell-powers-enterprise-oracle-workloads-on-next-generation-m4n-with-google-cloud URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-powers-enterprise-oracle-workloads-on-next-generation-m4n-with-google-cloud Last updated: 2026-09-09 *San Francisco, CA — June 23, 2026 — Tessell today announced a strategic collaboration with Google Cloud to help enterprise customers run mission-critical Oracle database workloads on Google Cloud's new M4N compute family — purpose-built for the most demanding, memory-intensive database environments. With this collaboration, enterprises can now leverage Tessell's fully managed Oracle Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform natively on Google Cloud's latest high-performance infrastructure, unlocking a new level of scalability, resiliency, and operational simplicity for Oracle deployments in the cloud.* ## A New Era for Oracle on Google Cloud As enterprises accelerate their cloud transformation journeys, the need for high-performance, enterprise-grade Oracle infrastructure in the cloud has never been greater. Google Compute Engine’s new M4N compute family — featuring hypermemory-optimized instances with up to 496 GB of RAM and support for Google Cloud's Hyperdisk storage tiers — is purpose-engineered to meet the rigorous demands of large-scale Oracle workloads. These instances are designed to bring leading I/O performance and memory bandwidth to mission-critical databases, enabling customers to securely modernize their Oracle environments. Tessell, a 2025 Gartner® Cool Vendor in Data Management and a recognized leader in enterprise cloud DBaaS, integrates directly with this new infrastructure to deliver a fully managed Oracle experience — combining the compute performance of M4N with Tessell's enterprise data management capabilities, including automated provisioning, lifecycle management, high availability, disaster recovery, and governance — all within the customer's own Google Cloud environment. ## Key Highlights of the Collaboration **Fully Managed Oracle on M4N **Customers can deploy and manage Oracle databases on Google Cloud's new M4N memory-optimized compute instances — available in N-hypermem-16 (16 vCPU / 248 GB RAM) and M4N-hypermem-32 (32 vCPU / 496 GB RAM) configurations — through Tessell's enterprise DBaaS platform. **Enterprise-Grade Storage Options **The collaboration supports both Google Cloud Hyperdisk Balanced and Hyperdisk Extreme storage tiers, giving customers the flexibility to match storage performance to their specific workload requirements — from general-purpose enterprise databases to the most I/O-intensive Oracle applications. For mission-critical production, disaster recovery, and performance-testing environments, Hyperdisk Extreme is the recommended tier, delivering ultra-low latency with very high IOPS and throughput, while Hyperdisk Balanced offers a cost-effective option for non-production and development environments **High Availability and Disaster Recovery **Tessell's Availability Machine delivers zero RPO/RTO capabilities, ensuring business continuity for mission-critical Oracle deployments. Customers benefit from cross-region replication, automated backups, and point-in-time recovery — all managed through a single pane of glass. **Security and Compliance by Default **Tessell operates entirely within the customer's Google Cloud account — data never leaves customer infrastructure. With PCI DSS 4.1 certification and native integration with Google Cloud security controls, enterprises in regulated industries can accelerate cloud adoption with confidence. **Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) Architecture **Tessell's BYOC model ensures customers retain full ownership of their cloud infrastructure and network security policies, while benefiting from Tessell's fully managed operational layer — eliminating vendor lock-in and maintaining compliance with internal governance requirements. **FinOps and Cost Optimization ** Tessell's platform simplifies cost management across production, QA, and development environments. Customers can spin up and tear down non-production Oracle environments in minutes, reducing infrastructure spend and improving developer agility. ## Why This Matters for Enterprise Oracle Customers Organizations running large Oracle workloads on-premises have historically faced significant barriers to cloud migration — primarily driven by performance concerns, licensing complexity, and the lack of a truly enterprise-grade managed service. The combination of Google Cloud's M4N compute family and Tessell's Oracle DBaaS directly addresses these barriers. The M4N instances, optimized for memory-intensive workloads, paired with HyperDisk's high-throughput storage, provide a compelling infrastructure foundation for Oracle databases that were previously considered "out of bounds" for cloud migration. Tessell's managed layer removes the operational burden of managing Oracle infrastructure, enabling database administrators and engineering teams to focus on building business value rather than managing infrastructure complexity. Customers can expect significant improvements in database responsiveness, application performance, and total cost of ownership compared to traditional on-premises Oracle deployments — without the need to re-architect existing applications. **Getting Started** Enterprise customers can get started with Oracle on Tessell via the Google Cloud Marketplace. Tessell's platform supports deployment within customer-owned Google Cloud accounts, with provisioning available in minutes. To learn more or request a trial, visit [www.tessell.com](https://www.tessell.com/) or contact your Google Cloud account team. **About Tessell** Tessell is a multi-cloud Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform helping enterprises modernize mission-critical databases and applications at scale. Supporting Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Microsoft SQL Server across Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS, Tessell combines the performance and scalability of the cloud with enterprise-grade governance, security, and lifecycle management. Tessell operates entirely within customer cloud accounts, ensuring data sovereignty and compliance. Named a 2025 Gartner® Cool Vendor in Data Management, Tessell is trusted by leading enterprises across financial services, healthcare, and technology. For more information, visit [www.tessell.com](https://www.tessell.com/). *Forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to risks and uncertainties. Oracle and all Oracle-based product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation.* --- ## oracle-se-partitioning-without-enterprise-edition URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-se-partitioning-without-enterprise-edition Last updated: 2026-09-08 Oracle Standard Edition 2 does not include native partitioning, so time-based tables that grow continuously have to be split by hand. This post covers a framework we built for a utilities customer: monthly child tables exposed through a single UNION ALL view, with INSTEAD OF triggers routing DML to the correct table and a PL/SQL package handling creation, privileges, synonyms, and retention. It delivers most of the operational benefit of partitioning without an Enterprise Edition upgrade, but without optimizer-level partition pruning. ### **Why time-based tables slow down on Oracle SE2** We were working with a customer operating in the energy and utilities space, where large volumes of metering and device data are continuously collected and processed. Their platform ingests data from: - Smart meters and field devices - Grid and energy consumption systems - Upstream applications generating usage and telemetry events This data typically flows through ingestion layers and message queues before being persisted into Oracle for downstream processing, things like aggregation, validation, and billing. As expected, this resulted in high-volume, append-heavy tables, with new data arriving continuously throughout the day. Initially, the system handled this well. But as the data footprint grew, a few challenges started surfacing: - Queries, especially those combining recent and historical data, started slowing down - Retention-based cleanup jobs became increasingly heavy - Maintenance activities began taking longer than expected - Even routine operations on these tables started carrying some risk Since the data was inherently time-based, partitioning would have been the natural solution here. However, the database was running on Oracle SE2, **which meant native partitioning wasn't available.** Upgrading to Enterprise Edition was considered, but given the cost implications and the fact that this was a very specific requirement, it wasn't the preferred path. So instead of forcing a change in licensing or redesigning the entire data flow, we focused on solving the problem within the existing setup, by rethinking how the data was organized inside Oracle. **Splitting one large table into monthly child tables** Instead of trying to optimize one large table, we changed the way data was laid out. We split it into smaller tables: sql `USAGE_DATA_202501 USAGE_DATA_202502 USAGE_DATA_202503` ... Each table holds a slice of data (monthly in our case). On top of that, we exposed everything through a single view, so applications didn't need to change. That part is straightforward. The real challenge was: how do we make this sustainable without turning it into a manual maintenance problem? ## The TESL_DLM_MANAGE_PARTITIONS package We created a package: sql `TESL_DLM_MANAGE_PARTITIONS` The goal wasn't to replicate Oracle partitioning exactly, but to build something that: - Works reliably in production - Requires minimal manual effort - Doesn't break existing integrations ## How the partitioning framework handles production requirements This is where most similar approaches fail, not in the idea, but in the execution. We focused heavily on the operational gaps. ### 1. Automated partition creation The core procedure (MAIN_PROCESS) handles: - Identifying existing partitions - Figuring out what new partitions are needed - Pre-creating future partitions - Keeping metadata in sync Once configured, there's no need to manually create tables every month or day. ### 2. Metadata-driven configuration We avoided hardcoding logic. All behavior is controlled using: - `TESL_DLM_PARTITION_META_DATA` - `TESL_DLM_PARTITION_TABLE_DATA` This allows: - Managing multiple tables through the same framework - Supporting different partition strategies (Yearly / Monthly / Weekly / Daily) - Controlling retention cleanly ### 3. Table creation using actual DDL Instead of redefining structures manually, we used: sql `DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL` Then dynamically modified: - Table name - Constraint names - Index names One important learning here: constraint and index names must be suffixed per partition, otherwise you run into conflicts immediately. ### 4. Privileges are preserved automatically Whenever a new partition table is created: - Existing privileges are fetched - Reapplied dynamically Handled via: - `GET_OBJECT_PRIVILEGES` - `GRANT_OBJECT_PRIVILEGES` This ensures access control remains consistent without manual effort. ### 5. Preserving synonyms across rebuilds Before recreating objects, we: - Capture existing synonyms - Recreate them afterward Handled through: - `GET_SYNONYMS` - `CREATE_SYNONYMS` ### 6. Rebuilding the UNION ALL view The view is rebuilt dynamically using UNION ALL whenever partitions change. But before doing that, we: - Capture privileges - Capture synonyms - Recreate the view - Restore everything - Recreate triggers This is handled in `RECREATE_VIEW.` From the application perspective, nothing changes. ### 7. Routing INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE with INSTEAD OF triggers A UNION ALL view alone is not enough. To make it behave like a single table, we added INSTEAD OF triggers: - INSERT routed to the correct partition - DELETE executed on the correct partition - UPDATE handled within the correct partition Routing is based on the partition column (typically a date). But that wasn't the only consideration. In the original setup, the base tables already had BEFORE and AFTER triggers handling things like validations, audit columns, or downstream processing. So while introducing this routing layer, we ensured that: - Data ultimately lands in the actual partition tables - Existing BEFORE/AFTER INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE triggers continue to fire as expected - No application-side logic had to be rewritten This was important because it allowed us to introduce partitioning without disrupting existing business logic tied to those triggers. In effect, the view plus INSTEAD OF triggers act as a routing layer, while the underlying tables continue to behave exactly as they did before. ### 8. The default partition as a fallback We created a fallback table: sql `_DEFAULT` If a partition doesn't exist, or data doesn't match the expected range, it gets stored here instead of failing. ### 9. Retention and cleanup We also handled cleanup as part of the framework: - Old partitions are marked based on retention policy - Optionally dropped Handled using: - DISABLE_OLD_PARTITIONS - DROP_OLD_PARTITIONS This avoids heavy DELETE operations and keeps things predictable. ### 10. Logging with autonomous transactions We added logging using an autonomous transaction: - Debug logs (optional) - Error logs (always captured) Handled via WRITE_TO_LOG. This made troubleshooting much easier in production. ### 11. Initial setup with SETUP_PARTITIONS Everything starts with: sql SETUP_PARTITIONS This: - Registers the table - Creates default and initial partitions - Builds the view - Creates triggers - Starts automation After that, the system largely runs on its own. ## What this approach delivers - No dependency on Enterprise Edition - Fully automated after setup - Easy to onboard new tables - Efficient data cleanup (drop vs delete) - Minimal application changes ## Trade-offs versus native Oracle partitioning - No optimizer-level partition pruning - UNION ALL view grows over time - Trigger-based routing adds some overhead - Requires disciplined setup So yes, it's not a replacement for native partitioning. ## When to use manual partitioning on Oracle SE This started as a workaround, but it turned into a fairly robust framework. It doesn't replicate Oracle partitioning exactly, but it solves a large part of the problem in a practical and cost-effective way. If you're on Oracle Standard Edition and dealing with growing, time-based datasets, this approach is worth considering, especially if you invest in: - Automation - Metadata-driven design - Proper handling of edge cases Because in the end, the biggest win here wasn't just performance, it was operational simplicity. ### FAQs **Does Oracle Standard Edition support partitioning?** No. Partitioning is an Enterprise Edition option and is not available in SE2. Time-based data has to be split manually into separate tables and exposed through a view. **How do you partition a table in Oracle SE2 without Enterprise Edition?** Split the data into child tables by time period, expose them through a single UNION ALL view so applications query one object, and add INSTEAD OF triggers on the view to route INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE to the correct child table. **Do applications need to change when you use a view-based partitioning approach?** No. The view keeps the same name applications already query, and the INSTEAD OF triggers handle DML routing. Existing BEFORE and AFTER triggers on the base tables continue to fire, so business logic tied to them is unaffected. **What are the limitations of manual partitioning compared to native Oracle partitioning?** There is no optimizer-level partition pruning, the UNION ALL view grows as partitions accumulate, trigger-based routing adds overhead on DML, and the initial setup has to be done carefully **How is old data removed under this approach?** Partitions past the retention policy are marked and optionally dropped using DISABLE_OLD_PARTITIONS and DROP_OLD_PARTITIONS. Dropping a table is much cheaper than running a large DELETE. --- ## cost-effective-disaster-recovery-strategy-with-tessells-data-access-policies-dap URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/cost-effective-disaster-recovery-strategy-with-tessells-data-access-policies-dap Last updated: 2026-08-27 Ensuring the availability and integrity of your data is paramount. Traditional disaster recovery (DR) solutions often involve significant infrastructure and licensing costs, especially for licensed databases like Oracle. However, a cost-effective alternative exists using Tessell’s Data Access Policies (DAP). By leveraging DAP to create a cross-region Point-In-Time Recovery (PITR) policy, you can achieve continuous data replication without needing a live DR database, saving on infrastructure and licensing costs. ## Understanding the Concepts ### Disaster Recovery (DR) DR is a set of procedures for recovering and protecting a business's IT infrastructure in a disaster. It is a crucial component of business continuity planning, ensuring critical systems and data can be restored quickly to minimize downtime and data loss. The goal of DR is to resume normal operations as swiftly as possible after an unexpected event, such as a natural disaster, cyber-attack, or system failure. ### Point-In-Time Recovery (PITR) PITR is a data recovery technique that allows you to restore a database to a specific point in time. It is essential for recovering from data corruption or accidental data deletions. By maintaining a history of database states, PITR enables organizations to revert to a precise moment before the incident occurred, ensuring minimal data loss and continuity of operations. ### Data Access Policies (DAP) Policies that manage how data is accessed, replicated, and stored across different regions. DAP ensures data security, compliance, and efficient data management by defining rules for data handling. These policies help in automating data replication processes, maintaining data consistency, and optimizing storage costs across multiple regions. ## The Traditional Approach Typically, DR involves maintaining a live database in a different region, continuously replicating data from the production database. This ensures zero data loss and minimal recovery time. However, this approach incurs significant costs. ### Infrastructure Costs Maintaining a live database requires the DR region's elastic compute and storage resources. This means continuously running servers, storage devices, and network resources, leading to high operational expenses. The infrastructure must also be capable of handling the full load of production traffic at any time, further increasing costs. ### Licensing Costs Running a live database means additional license fees for licensed databases like Oracle. These fees, especially for enterprise-level databases, can be substantial and are incurred even if the DR database is not actively used. Licensing costs can significantly impact the overall budget, making traditional DR solutions expensive. ## The Cost-Effective Solution with Tessell’s DAP ### Setting Up Continuous Data Replication Using Tessell’s DAP, you can configure a cross-region PITR policy. This policy continuously replicates data from your production database to object/blob storage in a different region. #### Snapshots and Transaction Logs Regular snapshots of the production database and continuous transaction logging are stored in object/blob storage. This ensures that all data changes are captured and replicated. This method provides a seamless way to keep your DR data up-to-date without needing a live database, which is crucial for minimizing storage costs while ensuring data integrity and availability. Regular snapshots capture the database's state at specific intervals, while transaction logs record every change made to the database. You create a reliable and cost-effective backup mechanism by storing these snapshots and logs in object/blob storage. In the event of a failure, you can use the most recent snapshot and transaction logs to reconstruct the database to its last known good state, ensuring minimal data loss. ### Eliminating the Need for a Live DR Database With data continuously replicated to object/blob storage, there’s no need to maintain a live database in the DR region. This drastically reduces infrastructure and licensing costs. By not having a live database, you avoid the high expenses of maintaining elastic compute resources and storage in the DR region. Moreover, for licensed databases like Oracle, you also save on hefty licensing fees, making this approach financially sustainable for organizations of all sizes. Eliminating the need for a live DR database reduces traditional DR setups' operational complexity and cost. You no longer need to worry about the continuous synchronization of a live database, hardware maintenance, or software updates in the DR region. Instead, you can focus on maintaining a robust data replication strategy using object/blob storage, which is significantly more cost-effective and easier to manage. ### On-Demand Cloning for Disaster Recovery In the event of a production database failure, you can create a clone of the database on-demand using the replicated data. #### Clone Creation Using the snapshots and transaction logs stored in object/blob storage, create a clone of the production database. This process ensures that your data remains consistent and up-to-date with the latest transactions, providing a reliable backup ready to be activated. #### Activation Bring the cloned database online to serve as the DR database. This step is critical for business continuity. It allows you to swiftly switch operations to the DR database, minimize downtime, and ensure your services remain available to users. Creating an on-demand clone means you only incur compute and storage costs when activating the DR database. This approach offers a significant cost advantage over maintaining a live DR database, as you only pay for the resources when used. The clone creation process leverages the latest snapshots and transaction logs to ensure the DR database is as current as possible, minimizing data loss and ensuring a smooth transition during a disaster. ## Benefits ### Cost Savings Implementing this DR strategy results in significant cost savings. #### Infrastructure Costs Significant reduction as there’s no need for elastic compute and storage in the DR region. Without running a live database, you avoid the continuous costs associated with compute and storage resources, which can add up substantially over time. #### Licensing Costs For licensed databases, savings on license fees as you’re not running a live database. This is particularly beneficial for organizations using databases like Oracle, where licensing fees can be prohibitively expensive. By leveraging object/blob storage for data replication, you minimize the infrastructure costs of maintaining a DR solution. Object/blob storage is typically much cheaper than elastic compute and storage resources, making it an ideal choice for cost-conscious organizations. Additionally, avoiding continuous licensing fees for a live DR database can result in substantial savings, freeing up the budget for other critical IT initiatives. ### Zero Data Loss (RPO=0) Continuous data replication ensures that no data is lost. By storing regular snapshots and transaction logs, you maintain a precise and current record of your database state. This approach guarantees that you can recover all data up to the last transaction during a disaster, ensuring zero data loss and maintaining data integrity. Using snapshots and transaction logs provides a robust mechanism for capturing all changes made to the database. This ensures that, regardless of when a failure occurs, you have a complete and accurate record of all data up to that point. This zero data loss capability (RPO=0) is crucial for maintaining data integrity and ensuring your business operations can continue without interruption during a disaster. ### Recovery Time (RTO) Creating an on-demand clone takes time, so the recovery time won’t be zero. However, the cost savings and zero data loss often outweigh this consideration. While the cloning process may introduce a slight delay, the ability to avoid substantial infrastructure and licensing costs makes this trade-off acceptable for many organizations. Moreover, this approach ensures that your data is safe and can be recovered with minimal disruption. While the recovery time objective (RTO) is not zero, the ability to quickly create and activate a DR database on demand ensures that your business can resume operations with minimal downtime. While not instantaneous, the cloning process is efficient and effective, providing a reliable way to restore your database in case of failure. The cost savings and zero data loss capabilities make this approach attractive for organizations looking to balance cost and recovery efficiency. ## Poor Man’s DR Implementing a cost-effective disaster recovery strategy using Tessell’s Data Access Policies (DAP) and a cross-region PITR policy is wise for businesses looking to reduce costs without compromising data integrity. Eliminating the need for a live DR database can achieve significant savings on infrastructure and licensing costs, making this approach an attractive alternative to traditional DR solutions. In the event of a failure, the on-demand cloning process ensures that your data is safe and recoverable with zero data loss, providing a robust and economical DR solution. This strategy offers a scalable and flexible approach to disaster recovery, allowing organizations to tailor their DR plans to their needs and budget constraints. By leveraging the power of Tessell’s DAP and cross-region PITR policies, you can ensure that your data remains secure, accessible, and recoverable, providing peace of mind and business continuity in unexpected events. ## **Conclusion** Traditional disaster recovery forces a hard choice. You either pay continuously for a live standby database, including full Oracle license fees you incur even when it sits idle, or you accept gaps in your protection. Tessell's Data Access Policies remove that trade-off. By continuously replicating snapshots and transaction logs to low-cost object storage in another region, you get zero data loss (RPO=0) without running a live DR database. The one honest caveat is recovery time. Because the DR database is cloned on demand rather than kept hot, RTO isn't instantaneous. For most organizations, that modest delay is a worthwhile exchange for eliminating the infrastructure and licensing costs of a standby. The result is a DR strategy that scales to any budget without compromising data integrity. Ready to set up cost-effective cross-region DR? Book a demo to see Tessell's Data Access Policies in action. ### FAQs **What are Data Access Policies (DAP) in Tessell?** Data Access Policies (DAP) in Tessell are rules that manage how data is accessed, replicated, and stored across regions, ensuring security, compliance, and efficient automated management. **How can you reduce Oracle disaster recovery costs?** Oracle disaster recovery costs can be reduced by replicating data to object or blob storage instead of running a live DR database, eliminating compute, storage, and licensing fees. **What is the difference between RPO and RTO?** RPO (Recovery Point Objective) measures the maximum acceptable data loss in a disaster, while RTO (Recovery Time Objective) measures the maximum acceptable downtime before systems are restored. **How does Tessell DAP enable cost-effective disaster recovery?** Tessell DAP enables cost-effective disaster recovery through cross-region PITR policies that continuously replicate snapshots and transaction logs to object/blob storage, eliminating the need for a live DR database. **What is cross-region Point-In-Time Recovery (PITR)?** Cross-region Point-In-Time Recovery (PITR) replicates database snapshots and transaction logs to object or blob storage in a different region, enabling on-demand database clones for disaster recovery without active replicas. --- ## azure-tessell-ip-co-sell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/azure-tessell-ip-co-sell Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell is pleased to announce that the Tessell DBaaS platform is now available for co-selling with Microsoft, delivering the full power of Tessell on Azure. Joint Tessell-Microsoft customers can now leverage Tessell's advanced cloud-based database-as-a-service (DBaaS) platform leveraging the extensive expertise and support of Microsoft's sales and technical teams. Our partnership with Microsoft empowers us to better assist our joint Tessell-Microsoft customers as they transform their businesses to gain competitive advantage. The co-selling relationship increases Tessell's visibility within Microsoft Azure, simplifying Tessell adoption, especially for customers with existing Microsoft Azure Consumption Credits. When purchasing Tessell from [Azure Marketplace](https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/tessellinc1655919615020.tessell_database_service?tab=Overview), customers can apply their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments (MACC) for their Tessell instances, with eligible offers marked as Azure benefit eligible in the Azure portal. With Tessell DBaaS on Azure, customers can access fully-managed, high-performance databases including Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MS SQL Server, with enterprise-grade data protection, security, and compliance tailored to their specific requirements. Running database workloads with Tessell on Azure provides seamless integration between Microsoft Azure services and Tessell, customers benefit from native service interoperability, simplifying the management of their IT environment. Additionally, customers have access to world-class sales and technical teams from both Microsoft and Tessell, offering the expertise and support that maximizes the value of their cloud investments. By leveraging Azure and Tessell, businesses can increase automation, reduce downtime through observability, simplify database DevSecOps and improve performance, which ultimately helps them scale rapidly and innovate faster. Tessell is proud to be a part of this exciting new co-selling relationship with Microsoft and we look forward to assisting our customers in deriving maximum benefits from this partnership. If you have any questions about co-selling with Microsoft Azure or would like to learn more about Tessell and our cloud technology solutions, please contact us today! --- ## the-tessell-alternative-to-oracle-dbaas-on-azure URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/the-tessell-alternative-to-oracle-dbaas-on-azure Last updated: 2026-08-24 I was a Microsoft MVP back in the early 2000s. I still clearly remember an MVP session in Redmond with Microsoft CEO, Steve Balmer, where he didn't just bash Oracle, but outright dismissed them as a competitor. Balmer said that SQL Server had evolved to the point that Oracle had become irrelevant. Twenty years later, the world's two largest software companies [announced](https://youtube.com/watch?v=a8Kf5NGQLHI&feature=share) a formal Cloud partnership at Microsoft Inspire 2022. The Azure portal becomes the control plane to deploy Oracle databases on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Latency issues are at least somewhat mitigated via "adjacent clouds" and there is no added cost for data egress or data ingest between the two clouds. While Larry Ellison [touts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA89SGSQZ2o) the advantages of this multi-cloud solution, Oracle Database Services for Azure does not, as most people probably consider the term to imply, switching between clouds. Tessell, on the other hand, enables running Oracle workloads in either AWS or Azure, but with far more performance and more capabilities than running natively. And [Tessell provides the only managed service for Oracle in Azure](/blogs/azure-tessell-oracle-dbaas). ## Oracle DBaaS Offering Oracle DBaaS has many advantages for customers, including seamless database scaling - something that is complex and time-consuming in a self-managed environment. DBaaS offerings also provide significant advantages in terms of monitoring and patching. They reduce the need for DBAs and SREs to configure and monitor databases or create snapshots, security patches, and updates. This, in turn, reduces the probability of human error. Another big limitation with the existing managed database services is the inability to create Oracle backups. These services provide storage snapshots, which are essentially a picture of a disk. Unlike an Oracle backup that is universally known regardless of where it was created, a storage snapshot can only be understood by those who created it. DBAs can access their data but can't take backups – all they see is metadata of the snapshots. They can't control the VM or where the data resides, meaning that they can't comply with compliance requirements to demonstrate VM/database High Availability failover. Finally, the managed DB services do not offer anything in the way of differentiated data management. If DBAs want to sanitize data before providing it to stakeholders, they need to integrate with third-party services. There are also limited dashboards for monitoring both cost and performance. Also, there is no way to curate the cloud to resolve the lack of hierarchical ownership for database and compute instances. ## Why Tessell? Tessell differentiates from all other DBaaS offerings in four primary ways: Performance, Cost, Governance @ Your Terms, and Differentiated Data Management. ### Performance According to Oracle's [website](https://www.oracle.com/cloud/oci-vs-microsoft-azure/), performance is the number one reason to choose Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) over Azure. While OCI certainly provides far better performance than either Azure or AWS, regions without “cloud adjacency” may still face performance latency. And even in the best cases, it still is not as efficient as putting the data right next to the compute. The infrastructure that most leading cloud providers use were designed for general-purpose workloads but have been repurposed for databases that demand consistent high-performance. To meet the demands of high-performance at scale, the clouds have introduced an expensive meter called provisioned IOPS. AWS, for example, with very few exceptions, caps database performance at 80,000 IOPS. This barely meets the performance requirements of  large Oracle databases, as Oracle pointed out in a February 2022 [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwicyfJbYD4) poking fun at a bank looking to migrate its Oracle databases to AWS's managed database service, RDS. ### Cost On both AWS and Azure, performance and cost are interdependent– at least up to the limited IOPS caps. If you want more performance, you pay a higher cost. Tessell has no IOPS metering. You pay the same cost whether using 10,000 IOPS or 800,000 IOPS. ### Governance @ Your Terms Tessell gives you the flexibility of managing your own data. You have the option to bring your own existing cloud infrastructure (networks, security policies, and the cloud account itself) on to Tessell. You are not locked into a specific data cloud; but can move between clouds. You are not even locked into Tessell; you can easily create and download backups whenever desired. ### Differentiated Data Management Tessell has reimagined how to manage databases. The result includes both Cloud Curation and Data Management Automation: Cloud Curation: Tessell allows very granular cloud curation including but not limited to the following tasks: - Use checkboxes to limit shape size, geographic, time-based, or user access. - Limit the size of instance shapes that developers can provision with a click of a button. - Customize SLAs as per your compliance needs. - Minimize license requirements by restricting subscriptions to only Production or QA at the same time. - Specify data locality to only enable European employees to create or access databases in EMEA for GDPR compliance and other purposes. Data Management Automation: Just like any consumer-grade application, Tesell understands, optimizes, reports, and forecasts your database costs based on a utility-like consumption model. Tessell also introduces the consumer-grade concept of utilizing data apps to effect a level of management not offered in any other database realm. It enables rich reporting, in-depth performance, and financial analytics. It allows automatic sanitizing of data and sharing with different user groups. such as Dev, QA, UAT, etc. ## Reducing the Cost of Buying and Running Oracle > “*I want the DBAs in my team to become DEs (Data Engineers)*”- Tessell customer Tessell eliminates the mundane and manual tasks that add no value to the organization. By freeing up most of their day, DBAs now can use their expertise to focus on applications and systems that enhance user productivity and that decreases time-to-market. Not only are days far more rewarding, but they become pivotal to organizational success. In many cases, Tessell also enables customers to more efficiently manage their Oracle licenses. This includes the ability to more accurately predict secondary environment license requirements as well as only requiring one node for HA rather than two. In many cases, customers can switch from Oracle Enterprise to Oracle Standard - saving 65% in the process. And while Tessell doesn't enable the instant HA of Oracle RAC, it is close enough to often avoid the high cost and complexity of the RAC solution. ## Multi-Choice The motivation for the Oracle/Azure partnership on Oracle's side is clear. As Larry Ellison says in his [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA89SGSQZ2o) about the joint offering, "Every Oracle customer is also a Microsoft customer." The Microsoft motivation is not as obvious, but undoubtedly the company wants to provide Azure customers with a better Oracle DB operational experience without needing to manually switch between clouds. Multi-cloud is (or should be) about customer choice. The Oracle DB Services for Microsoft Azure isn't really doing that - it's just reducing the latency of the OCI component. With the high IOPS enabled by Tessell in Azure (which can go up to 2 million IOPS), Microsoft customers experience at least equivalent, and in many cases better, performance than when running their databases separately in Oracle Cloud. They also enjoy far more capabilities and less complexity than when connecting to OCI from Azure. ### FAQs **What is Oracle Database Services for Azure?** Oracle Database Services for Azure is a Microsoft-Oracle partnership that lets customers use the Azure portal as a control plane to deploy Oracle databases on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). **What is the difference between Oracle Database Services for Azure and Tessell?** Oracle Database Services for Azure runs Oracle on OCI through the Azure portal, while Tessell runs Oracle natively in Azure or AWS with 2 million IOPS and managed DBaaS. **How does Tessell differentiate from other Oracle DBaaS offerings?** Tessell differentiates from other Oracle DBaaS offerings through four pillars: superior performance with 2 million IOPS, lower cost without IOPS metering, governance at your terms, and differentiated data management. **Can you run Oracle databases on Azure?** Yes, Oracle databases can run on Azure through Oracle Database Services for Azure (which deploys on OCI) or natively through Tessell, the only fully managed Oracle service on Azure. **How does Tessell reduce Oracle licensing costs?** Tessell reduces Oracle licensing costs by requiring only one HA node instead of two and enabling customers to switch from Oracle Enterprise to Standard, saving up to 65%. --- ## benchmark-postgresql-tessell-against-aurora URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/benchmark-postgresql-tessell-against-aurora Last updated: 2026-08-24 At Tessell, we want to be the most performant database service available out there, and hence we thought to give Aurora RDS for PostgreSQL a shot to see what it has to offer. The true way of evaluating the performance of the database is by running performance benchmarks for the databases running on the cloud. [Aurora PostgreSQL](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/Aurora.AuroraPostgreSQL.html) is Amazon’s enterprise-class PostgreSQL-compatible database and offers Up to three times the throughput of standard PostgreSQL. In this article, we run performance benchmarks to evaluate, analyze, and compare the performance of PostgreSQL database engines running on AWS for Tessell and compare that against Aurora RDS for PostgreSQL. We have used the PGIO benchmarking tool for the benchmarking process. ## Tessell for PostgreSQL is offered in the following variations: **High-Performance Compute (HPC): **Run your databases on high-performance cloud infrastructure with locally attached NVMe storage. Achieve up to 2 million IOPS. Take cloud-native snapshots the same way you do for standard cloud storage. Stop/start the service at any time without any loss of data. Enjoy utility consumption. **Standard Compute: **Elastic cloud storage for your standard workloads. Take cloud-native snapshots. Stop/start the service on demand for utility consumption. For the purpose of this benchmarking exercise, we will use the **Tessell HPC shapes**. Before starting the benchmarking process, you need to get your environment ready. You can refer[ to this article to set up your environment.](https://tessell.com/blogs/postgresql-benchmark) ## Set up Aurora PostgreSQL To set up Aurora PostgreSQL, choose the required version of PostgreSQL. For the purpose of this benchmark, we are choosing PostgreSQL 14.6 with a configuration of **db.r5.2xlarge [8 vCPU, 64 GB Memory]. **As we are going to run some heavy benchmark here, make sure to provision storage of the order of more than 500 GB. ## Set up Slob client Instance for Benchmark For running the[slob](https://github.com/therealkevinc/pgio)benchmark, let's provision an EC2 instance in the same VPC as the provisioned Aurora PostgreSQL. **For a step-by-step guide **for setting up a client, please refer to our [earlier PostgreSQL benchmark blog](https://tessell.com/blogs/postgresql-benchmark). Verify connectivity to Aurora PostgreSQL instance from the client EC2 instance using psql.   `[ec2-user@ip-10-0-4x-1xx ~]$ psql psql (9.2.24, server 14.7) WARNING: psql version 9.2, server version 14.0. Some psql features might not work. Type "help" for help. slob=#` Now that we have both the client EC2 and Aurora PostgreSQL provisioned and ready, let's run the SLOB benchmark. ## Run the benchmark Before you run the benchmark, configure the PGIO configuration file, and start the Setup (load schemas), and - Open the  /home/ec2-user/pgio/pgio.conf  file and replace the default parameter values with the following values:   `UPDATE_PCT=15 RUN_TIME=7200 NUM_SCHEMAS=32 NUM_THREADS=4 WORK_UNIT=200 UPDATE_WORK_UNIT=8 SCALE=10G DBNAME=slob CONNECT_STRING="slob" CREATE_BASE_TABLE=TRUE` For more information about the PGIO configuration parameter, see the[README](https://github.com/therealkevinc/pgio/blob/master/README). - Start setting up PGIO and load schemas by running the following command:   `cd /home/ec2-user/pgio sh ./setup.sh` This loads approximately 320 GB of slob database. - Run the performance test with the following command:   `cd /home/ec2-user/pgio sh ./runit.sh` **After 2 hours of running the benchmark, here are the results:**     `DBNAME: slob. 32 schemas, 2 threads(each). Run time: 7200 seconds. RIOPS >95880< CACHE_HITS/s >56600<` We also ran the benchmark on a smaller shape of Aurora PostgreSQL,**db.r5.xlarge [4 vCPUs, 32 GB Memory]. **Following are the results.   `DBNAME: PostgreSQL. 32 schemas, 2 threads(each). Run time: 7200 seconds. RIOPS >61350< CACHE_HITS/s >16122<` Now, let's use the same steps to run the benchmark against the **Tessell HPC database service**. Provision a Tessell database of the same size **[8 vCPUs, 64 GB Memory] **as Aurora PostgreSQL. Select**tesl_8h_a **Tessell shape for provisioning database and choose the amount of storage required. After provisioning the Tessell database, run the benchmark with the same slob parameters.     `DBNAME: slob. 32 schemas, 2 threads(each). Run time: 7200 seconds. RIOPS >166290< CACHE_HITS/s >262122<` We also ran the benchmark on a smaller shape of Tessell HPC,**tesl_4h_c [4 vCPUs, 32 GB Memory]. **Following are the results.   `DBNAME: PostgreSQL. 32 schemas, 2 threads(each). Run time: 7200 seconds. RIOPS >118124< CACHE_HITS/s >18520<` ## Results Here is the comparison between Aurora PostgreSQL and Tessell HPC benchmark numbers, and we clearly see Tessell HPC performs much better than Aurora PostgreSQL. ## Conclusion As you can see from the results, Tessell HPC PostgreSQL produced **70% higher IOPS as compared to Aurora PostgreSQL **for the identical SLOB workload at a much lower cost. For lower shapes, the IOPS produced by Tessell HPC outperformed Aurora PostgreSQL by more than 100%. With Tessell HPC there is no IOPS metering so you always get price predictability alongside massive performance uplift. Your demanding workloads can significantly benefit from Tessell HPC database service. To get started, you can sign up for a free trial [here](https://tessell.com/sign-up). ### FAQs **Is Tessell faster than Aurora PostgreSQL?** Yes, Tessell HPC PostgreSQL is faster than Aurora PostgreSQL, producing 70% higher IOPS on identical SLOB workloads with 8 vCPU/64 GB shapes, and over 100% higher IOPS on smaller shapes. **What is the difference between Tessell HPC and Aurora PostgreSQL?** Tessell HPC uses locally attached NVMe storage delivering up to 2 million IOPS with no IOPS metering, while Aurora PostgreSQL is Amazon's PostgreSQL-compatible service offering up to 3x standard PostgreSQL throughput. **How is PostgreSQL performance benchmarked?** PostgreSQL performance is benchmarked using PGIO (SLOB) tool measuring RIOPS and cache hits per second across configurable schemas, threads, work units, scale, and update percentages over fixed run times. **What is Tessell HPC for PostgreSQL?** Tessell HPC for PostgreSQL is a high-performance compute shape with locally attached NVMe storage achieving up to 2 million IOPS, cloud-native snapshots, on-demand stop/start, and utility-based consumption pricing. **How many IOPS did Tessell produce vs Aurora PostgreSQL?** Tessell HPC produced 166,290 RIOPS on an 8 vCPU/64 GB shape, compared to Aurora PostgreSQL's 95,880 RIOPS, and 118,124 versus 61,350 RIOPS on smaller 4 vCPU/32 GB shapes. --- ## postgresql-at-tessell-in-2023 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-at-tessell-in-2023 Last updated: 2026-08-24 Our team at Tessell would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the vibrant community of Users, IT leaders, Contributors, and the [people behind PostgreSQL](https://www.postgresql.org/community/contributors/) who made PostgreSQL what it is today. Your passion and support have made PostgreSQL a versatile and robust database system. PostgreSQL is one of the only Open Source databases known for its **relational, unstructured, columnar, and vector database functionalities**. As a young & dynamic DBaaS company, PostgreSQL has always remained our focal point. Reflecting on the year, we took big strides to make the adoption of PostgreSQL more seamless for our customers, and it also came with a fair share of learning while making PostgreSQL work for our customers. **Around June of 2023**, Tessell had a big win at one of the major US banks to migrate & manage all of their managed databases sitting across two major public clouds with a landscape of more than**150+ PostgreSQL **to migrate from AWS RDS to Tessell DBaaS. While in India & APAC, we worked with various BFSIs, NBFCs, exchanges, and mobility verticals to showcase PostgreSQL capabilities. One of the marquee customer implementations happened around** September 2023 **when we migrated the PostgreSQL database for **India’s largest Public state transport corporation **booking & back office application to Tessell, PostgreSQL again shined like a star. **Tessell today manages more than a million transactions daily on this database. ** At one of the**commodity exchanges in India**, we had an interesting Cloud cost problem to solve, we not only bettered the Performance to cost ratio but also delighted the customer with what PostgreSQL can do in terms of resilience. It always surprises me how far PostgreSQL has come along with a strong & ever-inspiring community. From a DIY/hobby database engine a few years ago to an enterprise-ready database engine surely the journey has been fascinating and also goes to show the power of community. One trivia, Our own Tessell platform internally uses a lot of PostgreSQL for application metastore. ## PostgreSQL’s Popularity DB-Engines Rankings is widely recognized in the tech industry as a valuable tool for understanding trends and shifts in database technology. The rankings are updated monthly and provide insights into which databases are currently leading in terms of popularity and usage. To understand how the ranking is calculated, you may see [this documentation](https://db-engines.com/en/ranking_definition). DB-Engines usually announces the DBMS of the Year upon comparing the popularity scores of January 2022 and January 2023. **And the great news is that **[PostgreSQL is the DBMS of the Year 2023](https://db-engines.com/en/blog_post/106). This success reflects the ever-growing community’s preference for open-source solutions that offer both scalability and security. ## A Premier Vector Database & my experiments with it. In 2023, PostgreSQL evolved into a leading vector database (did you imagine that? But what’s not possible for this community), with extensions like [pgvector](https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector) playing a crucial role. The popularity of the extension: pgvector surged, thanks to its advanced indexing capabilities, essential for efficient vector database management. Two notable index types popularizing this extension are [IVFFlat](https://www.timescale.com/blog/nearest-neighbor-indexes-what-are-ivfflat-indexes-in-pgvector-and-how-do-they-work/) and [HNSW](https://www.crunchydata.com/blog/hnsw-indexes-with-postgres-and-pgvector) for Approximate Nearest Neighbor search to optimize Similarity search. I got my hands on it in early September 2023 and then tried building a small LLM app (Chat application built on our internal contents); when the implementation started to excite me I thought why not build a [full-fledged app ](https://gpt.tessell.com/)around it that can help our internal teams generate content? ## Time Series Data In 2023, we added support for time series data. The ever-growing adaption of time series databases pushed us to offer managed PostgreSQL with that capability at your fingertips. At the time of writing this, we are engaged with a couple of customers for large-scale time series database implementation powered by our High-Performance offering on NVMe storage. ## Oh, we love extensions. Who doesn't? Around Aug 2023, we released first-class support for a host of [PostgreSQL extensions](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/extensions-on-tessell-for-postgresql) for observability to data management to audit, and whatnot. ## Major Release: PostgreSQL 16 On September 14, 2023, the PostgreSQL community witnessed the much-anticipated release of PostgreSQL 16. The community announces a major version usually in the last quarter of a year. This major version brought a lot of enhancements, focusing on improved performance, security, and user-friendly features. Among its key features were advanced query optimization techniques, better JSON handling capabilities, and enhanced partitioning functionality, all designed to cater to the diverse needs of modern applications. **A detailed blog about all the beautiful things in PostgreSQL 16 is on the way to our publishing house. Watch out for it.** ## Minor Versions Released in 2023 The PostgreSQL Community typically releases minor updates on the second Thursday of the second month in each quarter. However, this timing can vary, especially if there are critical issues urgent security vulnerabilities, or bugs that could impact data integrity, necessitating a quicker community response and release of fixes. In the year 2023, the following minor versions have been released for each of the major versions. - PostgreSQL 16 – 16.1 - PostgreSQL 15 – 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5 - PostgreSQL 14 – 14.7, 14.8, 14.9, 14.10 - PostgreSQL 13 – 13.10, 13.11, 13.12, 13.13 - PostgreSQL 12 – 12.14, 12.15, 12.16, 12.17 - PostgreSQL 11 – 11.19, 11.20, 11.21, 11.22 You may visit the [official documentation](https://www.postgresql.org/developer/roadmap/) for the minor release roadmap for 2024. ## PostgreSQL versions that are End of Life The PostgreSQL Global Development Group follows a[versioning policy](https://www.postgresql.org/support/versioning/#:~:text=riskier%20than%20upgrading.-,Releases,-Version). PostgreSQL 11 has seen its final release (11.22) on 9th Nov, 2023. This means that the Community would not provide any security or bug fixes for PostgreSQL 11 going forward.**We recommend all PostgreSQL users plan for their PostgreSQL major version upgrades as soon as possible.**The latest major versions always provide a variety of new features and performance improvements that can help us scale our database environments and improve user experience. [Contact us](https://www.tessell.com/contact-us) today to get our support for PostgreSQL Upgrades or Optimizations. ## Conclusion As PostgreSQL continues to evolve, it remains steadfast in its commitment to excellence and innovation. The advancements made in 2023 are just a glimpse of its potential to revolutionize database management. We eagerly look forward to its continued growth and the new milestones it will undoubtedly achieve in 2024 and the years to come. If you are looking to perform a POC for any of your PostgreSQL requirements, [contact us](https://www.tessell.com/contact-us) today for a free technical assessment. --- ## 6-step-mysql-migration-from-rds-to-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/6-step-mysql-migration-from-rds-to-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 Customers migrate from MySQL RDS to Tessell for a variety of reasons, including NVMe performance, native backups, and instance-based pricing.  For this purpose, AWS provides Database Migration Service (AWS DMS), a fully managed migration and replication service that has successfully migrated over a million databases. Migration is a straightforward procedure that is performed in  6 steps: 1. **Configure Source Database -  MySQL RDS** 2. **Configure Target Database - Tessell MySQL ** 3. **Test Connectivity between AWS RDS and Tessell Instance.** 4. **Create a DMS instance in AWS. ** 5. **Migrate Schema(s) from Source Instance to Tessell MySQL Instance. ** 6. **Create and Start Migration Task** Migration time is dependent on the size of the data being moved and can take place at any time. ## Configure Source Database -  MySQL RDS 1. Enable automated backup in the RDS instance if not set already. a. Working with automated backups -[https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_WorkingWithAutomatedBackups.html#USER_WorkingWithAutomatedBackups.Enabling](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_WorkingWithAutomatedBackups.html#USER_WorkingWithAutomatedBackups.Enabling) 2. Set the binlog retention to an optimized time interval that can support CDC jobs. a. Execute the below procedure in MySQL RDS instance. b. call mysql.rds_set_configuration('binlog retention hours', 24); 3. Set the following values for the attached Parameter Group or create a new Parameter Group and attach it to the RDS instance. a. Set the binlog_format parameter to "ROW" b. Set the binlog_row_image parameter to "Full" c. Set the binlog_checksum parameter to "NONE" 4. Restart the RDS Instance so that changes are effective. ## **Configure Target Database - Tessell MySQL ** 1. Provisioning Tessell MySQL Instance. a. Provision the MySQL Instance using the desired compute shape, region, service name,  MySQL version, VPC/Network, Public Access, etc as below and submit the request. b. You can select the same VPC for Tessell instance if available as your RDS instance to ensure same network connectivity for apps, workflows etc. c. If the Tessell instance is in a different VPC, as your RDS, a peering connection (VPC peering) has to be established so the apps can connect using the same private IP range. - Please refer to VPC Peering:[https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/peering/create-vpc-peering-connection.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/peering/create-vpc-peering-connection.html) 2. Once Tessell instance is provisioned and ready, make below changes to Tessell MySQL instance parameter groups or my.cnf config file. (Ssh to Tessell Instance) a. Enable MySQL to accept local_infile Load for replication from DMS. In my.cnf add below line `local_infile = 0` b. Disable Binlog for speedy data copy to Tessell instance. In my.cnf add the following line   `disable-log-bin = ON` c. Configure InnoDB Buffer Pool to max limit of 60% of the Installed Memory. d. Restart MySQL Service and perform sanity check for Tessell Instance.   `sudo systemctl restart mysqld` ## **Test Connectivity between AWS RDS and Tessell** 1. If Peering connection is available between two VPCs (Tessell and AWS RDS) then private IP’s can be used to establish the connection. If private subnet is not available, connection can be tested using Public IP. Please ensure Public IP/Private IP’s are whitelisted in Tessell instance  - Allowed IP list. 2. SSH to Tessell instance. a. Run below mysql client command to connect to AWS RDS   `mysql -h "aws rds endpoint" -u "user_name to connect to RDS" -p "password_for_user"` b. Connectivity can also be tested using Telnet command. `telnet "aws_rds_endpoint" "port"` ## **Create a DMS instance in AWS** 1. Navigate to DMS page and within Migrate Data Section click on endpoints and create a source and target endpoints respectively by giving information like hostname, username and password. a. Source as AWS RDS endpoint URL. b. Target as Tessell endpoint URL. c. Test the endpoint. 2. Creating a replication instance. a. Select Name, Description as desired b. Select desired instance size and shape that will orchestrate migration. Typically 8Cpu and 16GB should do fine for most migration needs. c. Engine version as default d. Select either - Production - MultiAZ or Dev-Test - Single_AZ. e. Storage as Default or set value as desired **f. VPC - Same as AWS RDS.** g. Publicly accessible if using Public IPs for Migration between RDS and Tessell. h. Validate all settings and Click on Create ## **Migrate Schema(s) from Source Instance to Tessell MySQL Instance** 1. Once connectivity is verified between source and target, DB schema (without data) should be created in the target before creating and starting DMS tasks 2. Use mysqldump utility to backup source database schema (without data) with procedures, triggers etc. (do for each user databases)   `mysqldump -h "source_hostname" -u "user_name" -p "password" "database_name" --no-data --routiunes --events > "database__backup_filename".sql` 3. Create Database(s) in Target using the statement below (for each databases) `CREATE DATABASE "database_name"` 4. Use mysql client to load the dump to target (Tessell Instance). `mysql -u master -p "password_for_master" --socket=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock "database_name" < database_backup_filename.sql` 5. Migrate Source Users/Logins to Target Instance (Tessell) using mysqlpump. `mysqlpump -h "source_database_name" -u "user_name" -p "password" --exclude_databases=% --users --set-gtid-purged=OFF > mysql_users.sql` a. Use below command to load users to target instance. `mysql -u master -p "password_for_master" --socket=/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock "database_name" < mysql_users.sql` b. Run below command in MySQL Client. `FLUSH PRIVILEGES;` 6. Validate login and review the created schema in Target instance. Once verified, we are good to progress with replication/migration of data. ## **Create and Start Migration Task** 1. Navigate to create task page from DMS dashboard 2. Give the task a identifier(name of the task), description. 3. Select the Replication Instance that was created earlier, source and target endpoints. 4. For one time migration, you may select Migrate existing data and for continuous replication using CDC - Migrate and Replicate ongoing data changes. 5. Target table preparation mode: a. Truncate.  or b. Do Nothing 6. LOB column considerations: a. Select appropriate LOB Options for transferring variable field data. (longtext, text, varchar etc). b. It is advisable to calculate the max LOB size for all table.columns in the database and specify the size in Limited LOB mode. With Limited LOB mode and size <= 64 KB, DMS performance is not affected. Data could be truncated for Rows.Column having length > specified size in Max LOB size. c. If time and performance is not a constraint, we can select FULL LOB Mode in which DMS automatically determines the LOB length during run time and this may affect performance of DMS task considerably .  It may take days to fully complete the migration depending on database size. 7. Turn on Validation for end to end comparison by DMS between source table and migrated target table. This will ensure migration/replication completeness. 8. Enable CloudWatch logs for capturing errors and debugging the issue during migration. 9. Select the schema(s) to be migrated. a. Table mappings. This option define what tables to pickup during migration and what to exclude. You can either select it in the wizard. Which include defining the source schema and source table or you can provide this information via a json file example of which can be found in this link. - [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/dms/latest/userguide/CHAP_Tasks.CustomizingTasks.TableMapping.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/dms/latest/userguide/CHAP_Tasks.CustomizingTasks.TableMapping.html) 10. Advanced Settings: a. You may enable control tables for all the options. This can be used for debugging. b. Full Load tuning. - Adjust the no of tables to load parallel per CPU. If DMS instance is configured  with 8 CPU, consider keeping 8 or 6. Higher the CPU and CPU speed, more tables can be transferred parallelly to speed up migration. - Commit Rate can be adjusted to max 50000. This might slightly improve performance. 11. Validate all the settings. Review and start the Migration task. a. Monitor the task status in the DMS dashboard. b. Review the CPU activity in the target by vmstats, top, utilities. c. Monitor and Review the mysql processes in target by   ` SHOW FULL PROCESSLIST` 12. Once data is fully migrated and the state is ongoing replication (In replication mode), a. Run the ANALYZE TABLE command for all tables in Source and Target to capture accurate counts. b. Review the data for several tables to ensure data is transferred fully and not truncated (for colums with LOB type). c. Partial migration is also possible by filtering the only needed schema.tables. ### FAQs **Why migrate from MySQL RDS to Tessell?** Customers migrate from MySQL RDS to Tessell for NVMe performance, native backup support, and instance-based pricing, achieving better performance and cost predictability than standard RDS deployments. **What are the steps to migrate MySQL RDS to Tessell?** MySQL RDS to Tessell migration involves six steps: source RDS configuration, Tessell target provisioning, connectivity testing, AWS DMS instance creation, schema migration, and DMS task execution. **What is AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)?** AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is a fully managed migration and replication service from Amazon Web Services that has successfully migrated over a million databases. **How do you configure MySQL RDS as a source for AWS DMS?** Configuring MySQL RDS for AWS DMS requires enabling automated backups, setting binlog retention to 24 hours, configuring binlog_format to ROW, binlog_row_image to Full, and binlog_checksum to NONE. **What DMS instance size is recommended for MySQL migration?** AWS DMS instances with 8 CPU and 16GB memory are recommended for most MySQL migration needs, with Production deployments using Multi-AZ and Dev-Test using Single-AZ configurations. --- ## unlock-the-potential-migrate-your-oracle-databases-to-the-cloud URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/unlock-the-potential-migrate-your-oracle-databases-to-the-cloud Last updated: 2026-08-24 While many Oracle enterprise customers consider transitioning from Oracle databases to alternatives like Microsoft SQL or open-source options such as PostgreSQL or MySQL, they often remain hesitant. The reluctance largely stems from Oracle’s superior scalability, performance, and resilience. However, migrating these databases to the cloud can offer immediate cost reductions, access to innovative cloud resources, and a robust platform suitable for future database transitions. ### Exploring the Why: Leveraging Oracle in the Cloud for Enterprise Data Modernization In a recent*Forbes Council *[article](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2023/12/06/unleashing-the-potential-of-cloud-database-migration-key-success-factors/?sh=32edc780768c), I omitted an in-depth discussion of the ‘why’ behind migrating legacy databases to the cloud.[David Linthicum](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlinthicum/), an esteemed enterprise technology analyst, [highlighted](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/03/01/why-is-everyone-concerned-about-cloud-roi/?sh=426f6e1f47be) in March 2023,[ “](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/03/01/why-is-everyone-concerned-about-cloud-roi/?sh=426f6e1f47be)...the industry’s pivot to cloud-focused innovations has rendered traditional platforms obsolete. Essentially, it has become a forced march to the cloud." Take [Tessell](http://www.tessell.com), for example. We’ve introduced the revolutionary capability to transport RMAN backups stored as immutable blog storage utilizing Azure Blob Storage, enabling unprecedented flexibility in ransomware protection. For more information, Tessell’s latest ebook, “[Zero Data Loss Protection for Oracle on Azure](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/6495fb2d40a401bef2d4d790/65cfe11f9d5bfcd21b27736a_Zero%20Data%20Loss%20protection%20for%20Oracle%20on%20Azure.pdf)”, provides a comprehensive overview. Beyond innovation access, Oracle customers moving to the cloud gain enhanced security, resiliency, data management, performance, and cost savings. #### Strengthening Security Cloud environments typically surpass the security of on-premises setups. Tessell adds another layer by automatically updating [Oracle database patches](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/fortifying-oracle-databases-unrivaled-protection-and-resilience), including minor version upgrades and security patches, with options for scheduled or one-click updates. Tessell’s automated data masking obscures data as it transfers from production environments to secondary environments such as UAT or Test/Dev, vital since many breaches occur in such spaces. Additionally, integration with Azure and AWS HSMs (Hardware Security Module) within Tessell DBaaS enhances encryption key management and data security. #### Boosting Resiliency Tessell’s automated database snapshots and transaction log backups ensure a zero data loss setup. These can be converted into native Oracle RMAN backups for long-term storage and compliance needs. In emergencies or for specific business needs, one-click recovery options provide rapid restoration to the last committed transaction or perform a point-in-time recovery. Furthermore, Tessell’s Multi-Availability Zone (AZ) high availability (HA) and cross-region DR services ensure continuous operation of critical databases. They boast an impressive seven-nines availability for the DB service. #### Advancing Data Management With Tessell, users enjoy advanced data [management](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/why-what-how-of-tessell-availability-machine) features, enabling an array of data formats including snapshots, native backups, database dumps, and sanitized copies. Tessell’s data access policies facilitate secure sharing across environments and support bring-your-own-X (BYOX) [architecture](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/choose-the-right-database-deployment-option), preventing lock-ins with specific cloud data services. . #### Realizing Cost Savings Efficiency with Tessell comes in various forms, such as improved performance, database consolidation, and savings on third-party software and administration costs ##### Performance Tessell harnesses the power of public cloud NVMe storage, delivering significantly superior Oracle performance without IOPS metering.[Benchmarking tests](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/oracle-benchmark) revealed Tessell achieving tenfold higher IOPS than AWS RDS. ##### Data Consolidation Tessell optimizes Oracle database hosting by enabling efficient [database consolidation](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/maximizing-efficiency-consolidating-oracle-databases-on-the-cloud). It allows for hosting multiple Oracle databases on a singular cloud server, slashing the need for multiple physical servers and, in turn, the costs associated with them. Tessell’s resource and license optimization ensures you’re getting the most out of your database investments. Streamlined management processes from Tessell boos operational efficiency, driving yet still more savings. ##### Third-Party Software Cost reduction is further achieved as Tessell negates the need for third-party backup and data masking software. These essential functionalities are integrated within Tessell, eluding the extra expenses that come with supplementary software. ##### Database Administration With Tessell’s "shift left" approach to database administration, routine management tasks can be performed by lower-cost administrative task. Not only does this strategy cut costs by allocating tasks to more economical resources, but it also liberates your seasoned experts to pivot their focus toward strategic, high-value projects. ### **The Future of Enterprise Data Management** In a world where digital transformation is paramount, and data is the currency for innovation and growth, cloud-based Oracle databases are transforming the enterprise data management landscape. The inherent scalability, flexibility, and cost savings of this platform place organizations in a prime position to capitalize on technological developments and thrive in the digital age. ### FAQs **Why migrate Oracle databases to the cloud?** Migrating Oracle databases to the cloud delivers immediate cost reductions, access to innovative cloud resources, enhanced security, improved resiliency, advanced data management, and a foundation for future database modernization. **How does Tessell improve Oracle database performance?** Tessell improves Oracle database performance by harnessing public cloud NVMe storage without IOPS metering, achieving tenfold higher IOPS than AWS RDS in benchmarking tests. **How does Tessell secure Oracle databases in the cloud?** Tessell secures Oracle databases through automated patching, scheduled security updates, automated data masking for non-production environments, and integration with Azure and AWS HSMs for encryption key management. **What resiliency features does Tessell offer for Oracle?** Tessell offers Oracle resiliency through automated snapshots, RMAN backup conversion, one-click point-in-time recovery, Multi-Availability Zone high availability, cross-region disaster recovery, and seven-nines database service availability. **How does Tessell reduce Oracle database costs?** Tessell reduces Oracle database costs through NVMe-based performance, database consolidation on single servers, eliminating third-party backup and masking software, and a "shift left" administration model. --- ## unlocking-cloud-potential-how-tessell-on-azure-supports-government-organizations URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/unlocking-cloud-potential-how-tessell-on-azure-supports-government-organizations Last updated: 2026-08-24 Government organizations at the federal, state, and local levels often face challenges when migrating legacy Oracle databases and applications to the cloud, which can hinder overall adoption.**Tessell on Azure **provides a specialized Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform designed to meet the strict IT requirements of these organizations, making cloud adoption seamless and efficient. ## 1. Consistent Performance and Cost Savings **Predictable Costs: **Tessell’s fixed-cost model eliminates the unpredictable costs of IOPS-related expenses, resulting in significant savings on infrastructure, licensing, administration, backup, and disaster recovery. **Optimized Resources: **By leveraging Azure’s advanced compute shapes and storage options—including native NVMe, Oracle Exadata (Oracle Database@Azure), and Azure NetApp Files—Tessell ensures consistent performance and efficient resource use. ## 2. Enhanced Control, Security, and Governance **Data Sovereignty: **Tessell prioritizes data sovereignty, ensuring government customers maintain complete control over their data and infrastructure directly within their Azure tenant. **Advanced Security Features: **Tessell includes high-availability architecture with cross-Availability Zone (AZ) support, cross-region one-click disaster recovery, BYOK (Bring your Own Keys), and automated production data masking for production environments in UAT and test/dev. Customizable security policies further support stringent regulatory compliance. **Deployment@Customer Terms**: Through the **Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) **model, customers benefit from enhanced security with dedicated cloud accounts within their Azure tenancy, allowing for customization of the SaaS control plane to align with the specific data plane requirements of larger government entities. ## 3. Tailored Data Management and Operational Efficiency **Automation and Integration: **Tessell’s Cloud Curation and Data Management Automation tools provide granular control over resources, Recovery Point Objective (RPO) settings, and license compliance. Integrated with Oracle Enterprise Manager and HashiCorp’s Terraform, these tools streamline management processes, enhancing operational efficiency without compromising security. ## 4. Rapid Learning Curve and Improved Developer Productivity **Ease of Use: **IT teams can effectively manage Oracle and other databases on Azure after as little as two 1-hour sessions. **Developer Environment Standardization: **Standardized developer environments promote productivity, enabling the rapid deployment of secure, modern applications that enhance digital services for citizens. ## 5. Smooth Azure Migration and Integration **Seamless Transition: **Tessell on Azure facilitates a smooth migration for existing databases, with advanced DBaaS solutions integrated into the Azure ecosystem. Our partnership with Microsoft enables organizations to harness the full potential of the cloud, streamlining data management and accelerating digital transformation. ## 6. Mission-Critical Support **Continuous Support: **Tessell’s 24/7/365 support plan includes a 15-minute response time for Severity 1 issues. Our team actively collaborates with Azure and Oracle to resolve any challenges, ensuring a seamless support experience and maintaining resilience in even the most demanding environments. ## Connect with Us at Microsoft Ignite Attending **Microsoft Ignite? **Let’s connect! Discover how Tessell can help modernize your department, state, county, city, or agency databases with greater efficiency, security, and cost savings. Check out Tessell’s Ignite update[ here](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tessell-inc_microsoftignite2024-events-azure-activity-7259324745068777472-97TS?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop) for more details, and schedule a meeting to explore how Tessell can support your mission. For a lighter look into Tessell capabilities, don’t miss my latest comic book, [The Tessellator Waltzes Oracle Databases to Azure](https://www.tessell.com/ebook/the-tessellator-book-2). ### FAQs **How can government agencies migrate Oracle to the cloud?** Government agencies can migrate Oracle to Azure using Tessell, a fully managed DBaaS supporting data sovereignty, BYOK security, cross-region disaster recovery, and seamless Azure ecosystem integration. **What is Virtual Private Tessell (VPT)?** Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) is a deployment model providing enhanced security through dedicated cloud accounts within the customer's Azure tenancy, enabling SaaS control plane and data plane customization. **How does Tessell ensure data sovereignty?** Tessell ensures data sovereignty by keeping government data within the customer's own Azure tenant, providing complete control over data and infrastructure, with BYOK encryption and customizable security policies. **What is Tessell's support SLA?** Tessell offers 24/7/365 support with a 15-minute response time for Severity 1 issues, actively collaborating with Azure and Oracle to resolve challenges and maintain resilience in mission-critical environments. **What security features does Tessell offer for government compliance?** Tessell security features for government compliance include data sovereignty, cross-Availability Zone high availability, cross-region disaster recovery, BYOK (Bring Your Own Keys), automated production data masking, and customizable security policies. --- ## tessell-cdc-and-microsoft-fabric URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-cdc-and-microsoft-fabric Last updated: 2026-08-24 In today’s fast-paced business environment,**real-time decisions**are the difference between leading the market and playing catch-up. Yet many organizations still rely on outdated batch processes, leaving teams to work with stale or incomplete data. At Tessell, we’ve reimagined how data moves across systems with our**Change Data Capture (CDC) platform**— and through our collaboration with**Microsoft Fabric**, we’re making it easier than ever for businesses to tap into**fresh, trustworthy data**for current analytics and training AI models. ## **Why This Matters** Think about your business: every transaction, customer interaction, or operational update creates new data. But if that data takes hours (or days) to show up in your analytics tools, you risk missed opportunities and slower response times. With Tessell CDC, businesses can: - **See changes as they happen**– Data is captured in near real time from core systems. - **Keep analytics always up to date**– Whether it’s financial dashboards or customer insights, the latest data is always available. - **Reduce costs and complexity**– No more heavy, redundant data extracts or manual interventions. This means your teams can make better decisions with**confidence  speed**. ## **Powering Growth with Microsoft Fabric** Our close collaboration with the**Microsoft Fabric team**takes this to the next level. Fabric is already transforming how organizations manage and analyze data, and Tessell makes it effortless to**bring your most important data directly into Fabric’s Lakehouse environment**. Together, we enable businesses to: - **Set up pipelines in just a few clicks**– No complex coding or lengthy projects. - **Choose the right sync strategy**– From real-time updates to scheduled refreshes, you stay in control. - **Accelerate innovation**– Development and test environments in Fabric stay continuously refreshed, so teams can experiment without waiting on IT. - **Ensure security and compliance**– With enterprise-grade encryption and access controls built in. > *“Our migration of 500+ critical Oracle databases to Azure with Tessell was a major milestone in our transformation journey. Tessell’s managed service has already reduced complexity and costs, and we’re excited about what’s next. The new Data Ecosystem capabilities and Microsoft Fabric integration open up powerful possibilities for unifying operational and analytical data, and we look forward to exploring how they can help us unlock even greater value from our data in the future.” - ***John Maio, AVP, Data and Analytics, CSX Technology** ## **End-to-End Flow of Tessell’s Data Ecosystem** Modern enterprises demand**real-time access to data**across diverse platforms. Tessell’s Change Data Capture (CDC) powered Data Ecosystem enables organizations to move data seamlessly from source databases into cloud-native data lakes and warehouses -  without heavy batch jobs or manual interventions. ### **Data Capture at the Source** Tessell CDC continuously monitors relational databases such as**MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Oracle**. Instead of querying entire datasets, it leverages**database transaction logs**to capture inserts, updates, and deletes with minimal performance impact. ### **Change Processing & Stream Handling** Captured events are processed in real-time through a scalable stream processing layer (**Kafka**). This ensures**incremental loading**—only the modified data is propagated—reducing redundancy and improving efficiency. ### **Schema & Data Transformation** As schemas evolve, Tessell dynamically adapts. Data is validated, errors are auto-corrected via retry mechanisms, and transformations are applied to make data**analytics-ready**before delivery. ### **Secure Data Movement** All captured data is encrypted both**in transit and at rest**. Role-based access control (RBAC), audit logging, and masking ensure compliance and governance throughout the pipeline. ### **Loading into Target Systems** Data flows into popular**cloud data lakes**(Amazon S3, Azure Fabric Data Lake, Google Cloud Storage) or directly into**warehouses**such as Snowflake or Databricks. Users can configure**sync modes**—async, near real-time, or scheduled—based on business needs. ### **Monitoring & Control** A unified Tessell console provides**CDC setup, monitoring, and control**. Users can: - Test data syncs - Choose sync granularity (entire DB, schema, or table-level) - View status dashboards and alerts - Pause/resume or delete CDC pipelines when required ### **Tessell CDC + Fabric Architecture** ## **Real Impact, Real Value** By uniting Tessell CDC with Microsoft Fabric, organizations gain: **Faster decision-making**– Stay ahead of market shifts with instant insights.**Streamlined operations**– Eliminate delays and inefficiencies from outdated batch processes.**Future-ready analytics**– Build a foundation for AI and advanced analytics with continuously updated data.**]** ## **The Road Ahead** At Tessell, our mission is to help organizations unlock the full value of their data. Our partnership with Microsoft Fabric is a key step toward building a**modern, automated, and real-time data ecosystem**. We’re excited about what’s next — from advanced analytics to AI-powered insights — all powered by**fresh, reliable data in Fabric**. ### FAQs **What is Change Data Capture (CDC)?** Change Data Capture (CDC) is a data integration method that captures inserts, updates, and deletes from database transaction logs in near real-time, enabling continuous data synchronization across systems. **How does Tessell CDC work?** Tessell CDC captures changes from database transaction logs, processes events through Kafka streams, applies schema transformations, encrypts data, and delivers it to cloud data lakes or warehouses in real-time. **What databases does Tessell CDC support?** Tessell CDC supports relational databases including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Oracle, capturing changes through transaction logs with minimal performance impact on source systems. **How does Tessell integrate with Microsoft Fabric?** Tessell integrates with Microsoft Fabric by delivering CDC-captured data directly into Fabric's Lakehouse environment, enabling click-based pipeline setup, configurable sync strategies, and continuously refreshed analytics environments. **What target systems does Tessell CDC support?** Tessell CDC delivers data to cloud data lakes including Amazon S3, Azure Fabric Data Lake, and Google Cloud Storage, plus warehouses like Snowflake and Databricks. --- ## data-migration-risks URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/data-migration-risks Last updated: 2026-08-24 The 10 risks behind most enterprise migration failures — data loss, corruption, compliance gaps, downtime — and how to prevent each one. Everyone in enterprise technology knows the[ TSB story.](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/20/tsb-bank-fined-it-meltdown-fca) In 2018, TSB Bank attempted to migrate 1.9 million customer records to a new platform. Within days of go-live, customers were locked out of accounts, some were seeing other people's financial data, and fraud cases were multiplying faster than support teams could handle. The recovery took months. The cost exceeded £330 million. It became the migration story - the one that gets cited in board presentations and risk assessments. The cautionary tale everyone references when the conversation turns to what can go wrong. But TSB is not the exception. It is the visible version of something that happens far more quietly and far more often. [An industry report ](https://www.querysurge.com/resource-center/white-papers/strategic-optimization-of-enterprise-data-migration-testing)states that 83% of enterprise data migration projects either fail outright or exceed their budgets and timelines. Most never make headlines - they look like a compliance audit flagging missing storage encryption six months after go-live, or a rollback plan that was never going to work because customers had already started writing to the new environment. The failure patterns are consistent, recognizable in advance, and almost always preventable. In this guide, we cover the 10 most critical data migration risks - the business impact of each, and how to address them before they become problems. We've drawn on our experience migrating hundreds of terabytes of data for enterprises including Fortune 1000 companies across financial services, energy, retail and technology. The risks here aren't theoretical. We've seen most of them up close and we've learned what it takes to avoid them. ## What Makes Data Migration Risky in 2026? Database migration in 2026 is not a data movement problem. It's a complexity problem. Here's what's driving it: - **Modern data ecosystems are deeply interconnected.** A single database may simultaneously feed a CRM, a real-time analytics pipeline, a regulatory reporting system, and multiple downstream APIs, each owned by a different team, each with its own cutover dependencies. - **Enterprises are managing data at a scale that leaves little room for error.** Petabyte-scale estates, near-zero downtime tolerances, and always-on business expectations mean that even minor migration missteps carry outsized consequences. - **Legacy systems compound the challenge.** Outdated schemas, incomplete documentation, missing APIs, and undocumented dependencies make it difficult to fully understand what you're migrating until something breaks. - **Timelines are compressed.** Business pressure for rapid digital transformation pushes migration teams to move faster than the complexity warrants, a recipe for skipped testing cycles and underestimated scope. - **The regulatory landscape keeps expanding.** GDPR, HIPAA, DORA, and evolving data sovereignty laws now dictate not just how data must be protected, but where it can reside and what audit trails must remain intact through the migration itself. These forces don't operate independently. They compound each other. A legacy system with poor documentation, migrated under a compressed timeline, into a multi-cloud environment with strict data residency requirements, is where most migrations go wrong. ## The 10 Critical Data Migration Risks and How to Avoid Them | # | Risk | Impact | Higher risk for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Data Loss During Transfer | Silent, permanent record loss | All industries | | 2 | Data Integrity and Corruption | Data arrives wrong, looks valid | Financial services, analytics | | 3 | Poor Data Quality Amplification | Existing problems multiply | All industries | | 4 | Security Breaches and Data Exposure | Sensitive data exposed mid-migration | Regulated industries | | 5 | Extended Downtime and Business Disruption | Migration runs longer than planned | SLA-bound enterprises | | 6 | Schema and Compatibility Errors | Records rejected or mapped incorrectly | Heterogeneous migrations | | 7 | Performance Degradation Post-Migration | Works in testing, fails in production | High-transaction workloads | | 8 | Integration and Dependency Failures | Connected systems break silently | Complex enterprise estates | | 9 | Compliance and Data Governance Violations | Audit failures months after go-live | Financial services, healthcare, government | | 10 | Inadequate Planning, Testing, and Skills Gaps | The meta-risk that amplifies all other | All industries | Let's look in detail at each of these risks, what triggers them, the business impact, and how to stay ahead of them before they become problems. ### 1. Data Loss During Transfer **The Risk:** Records disappear during migration due to network interruptions, format incompatibilities, or failed transfer processes. Unlike application bugs, data loss during migration is often silent - you don't always know what's missing until a customer reports it or an audit catches it. **Business Impact:** Permanent loss of customer records, financial transactions, or compliance-critical data. In regulated industries, this can trigger immediate regulatory action. **How to Avoid It:** Implement checksum validation at every stage to confirm records arrive intact. Use incremental migration approaches rather than big-bang transfers, so failures affect smaller datasets. Maintain comprehensive backups with tested rollback plans before any cutover begins. Never decommission the source environment until post-migration validation is fully complete. **The Tessell POV:** The rollback window closes faster than most teams expect not because of a technical deadline, but because of user behavior. The moment transactional writes begin in the new environment, reverse replication back to the source becomes impossible. The data flows are too complex to reconstruct. This is why keeping the post-cutover window strictly read-only isn't just good practice - it's the only way to preserve a real rollback option. By the time someone asks whether they can go back, it's often already too late. ### 2. Data Integrity and Corruption **The Risk:** Data arrives at the target but is wrong - type mismatches, encoding errors, field truncation, or values mapped to incorrect columns. Corruption is particularly dangerous because the data looks valid while silently breaking downstream calculations. **Business Impact:** Corrupted financial reports, incorrect analytics, and customer-facing errors that are difficult to trace back to the migration event. **How to Avoid It: **Run source-to-target hash comparisons on critical tables before and after migration. Build parallel testing environments that run the same queries against both source and target, comparing outputs. Conduct field-level validation not just row counts to catch truncation and type issues that aggregate checks miss. **The Tessell POV:** Environments without primary keys on tables carry a disproportionately high risk of data inconsistency during migration. This is an easy thing to miss in pre-migration assessments but a critical one - the absence of primary keys means there's no reliable anchor for record-level validation, making corruption harder to detect and harder to remediate. ### 3. Poor Data Quality Amplification **The Risk:** Duplicates, inconsistencies, and outdated records that existed in the source environment don't disappear during migration, they multiply. A new, clean environment often surfaces data quality problems that were invisible in the old one. **Business Impact:** Inflated metrics, double-counted revenue, eroded trust in analytics, and significant post-migration cleanup effort. **How to Avoid It:** Treat pre-migration data profiling and cleansing as a non-negotiable phase. Define deduplication rules before migration begins and validate them against sample datasets. Build post-migration reconciliation checks that flag anomalies in the first 30 days of production operation. **The Tessell POV:** The initial sanity check immediately after cutover is your first line of defense - but it should be followed by sustained monitoring, not treated as a one-time gate. Data quality issues that survive migration often don't surface in the first hour; they surface when a specific report runs, a specific pipeline triggers, or a specific customer transaction hits an edge case that testing never covered. ### 4. Security Breaches and Data Exposure **The Risk:** Sensitive data is exposed during transit, in staging environments, or through misconfigured target infrastructure. Migration creates temporary vulnerabilities - data in motion between environments, test databases carrying production data, and new infrastructure not yet hardened to the standards of the source. **Business Impact:** The average cost of a data breach in 2024 was $4.45 million. For regulated industries like banking, NBFCs, healthcare - the cost includes regulatory fines, mandatory disclosure, and reputational damage that far outlasts the technical incident. **How to Avoid It**: Enforce end-to-end encryption (TLS in transit, AES-256 at rest) across every phase of migration. Implement RBAC so only authorized personnel can access data during migration windows. Apply data masking for all non-production and testing environments. Security policies - including MFA configurations, firewall rules, storage encryption requirements, and SSL certificate implementation must be defined and locked in before migration begins, not introduced mid-process. **The Tessell POV:** The pattern that creates the most painful security failures isn't willful negligence - it's timing. Security requirements introduced after discovery has started, or after replication is already running, can force a complete halt. A firewall rule change mid-migration can break data synchronization. An MFA policy added after the subscription is onboarded can block access to the migration console entirely. For regulated entities - particularly NBFCs and banks subject to RBI's C-SITE audit - storage encryption is a non-negotiable requirement from day one. Its absence, even if discovered six months post-migration, can trigger regulatory findings and force complete re-migration of affected databases. Compliance isn't just about what policies you have - it's about when you implement them. ### 5. Extended Downtime and Business Disruption **The Risk:** Migration runs significantly longer than planned, causing unscheduled outages that affect customers, internal teams, and SLA commitments. Optimistic timelines that don't reflect actual production-scale complexity are one of the most common migration planning failures. **Business Impact: **According to[ Uptime Institute's 2023 outage analysis](https://img.corrierecomunicazioni.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/02102734/executive-summary.pdf) , over 25% of outages now cost more than $1 million, up from 11% just five years ago. **How to Avoid It:** Use phased, incremental migration approaches - grouping databases into application waves with independent cutover windows rather than attempting to move everything in a single event. Set RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) targets explicitly before migration begins. A bank might accept 5 minutes of data loss but require full system recovery within 15 minutes - these parameters should drive the entire migration architecture. Well-executed enterprise migrations should target cutover windows of 15–30 minutes using continuous sync tools. **The Tessell POV:** A useful mental model for migration planning is the Day 0 to Day 2 framework. Day 0 is the start of migration. Day 2 is full operationalization the system is running, monitored, and supported in the new environment. The gap between Day 0 and Day 2 is where most migrations bleed time and cost. The teams that compress that gap successfully are the ones that treat testing, validation, and operationalization planning as parallel workstreams not sequential steps that begin after the data has moved. ### 6. Schema and Compatibility Errors **The Risk:** Source and target database schemas don't align. Field mapping errors, type mismatches, and constraint failures cause records to be rejected, mapped to incorrect columns, or fail foreign key checks in the target environment. **Business Impact:** Schema errors can corrupt production databases in ways that are difficult to detect immediately and expensive to reverse. In worst-case scenarios, they require complete re-migration. **How to Avoid It:** Invest in upfront schema mapping and automated discovery before any data moves. Use automated schema comparison tools to identify mismatches between source and target before migration begins. For heterogeneous migrations, changing database engines entirely accounts for the fact that functions, stored procedures, and triggers all need to migrate alongside data, multiplying both timeline and complexity. **The Tessell POV:** There's a middle category worth planning for that often gets underestimated: cross-platform standardization migrations - Windows to Linux, or enterprise edition to standard edition on the same cloud. These are frequently treated as simple lifts but carry their own schema and configuration compatibility risks that require the same rigor as a full engine migration. ### 7. Performance Degradation Post-Migration **The Risk:** migrated environment performs well in testing but struggles under production-scale workloads. Query performance degrades, dashboards time out, and applications optimized for the previous infrastructure behave unexpectedly in the new one. **Business Impact:** Degraded user experience, SLA violations, and emergency infrastructure changes that drive costs well above the original migration budget. **How to Avoid It:** Load test with production-volume data before cutover not scaled-down test datasets. Validate index configurations, execution plans, and resource allocation against real workloads. Right-size target infrastructure based on actual benchmark data, not nominal specifications. **The Tessell POV:** Two mandatory rounds of testing before production cutover exist precisely to catch performance issues while there's still time to address them without business impact. What often surprises teams is that performance problems post-migration aren't always caused by the migration itself - they're caused by infrastructure that wasn't right-sized based on actual workload benchmarks. Migrations that move to optimized hardware - NVMe-based storage for example, frequently achieve significant performance improvements without any code changes. But this needs to be validated against real production-volume data, not assumed from spec sheets. ### 8. Integration and Dependency Failures **The Risk:** Applications, ETL pipelines, and downstream systems that connect to the migrated database break after cutover. APIs point to the old environment. Data stops flowing to BI tools. Billing systems lose their connection to transaction databases. These failures are sometimes immediate and sometimes silent for days. **Business Impact:** Business-critical workflows fail, reporting pipelines produce stale data, and customer-facing applications break in ways that are difficult to diagnose quickly. **How to Avoid It:** Build application groups during migration planning - mapping every system that connects to each database before a single record moves. Validate all integrations in a staging environment before production cutover, and monitor connected pipelines actively during the first 48–72 hours post-migration. **The Tessell POV:** The discipline of building application groups before migration begins is what separates well-executed large-scale migrations from chaotic ones. In a 400-database estate, you might have 40 application groups - each with its own cutover date, dependency map, and testing window. Some groups will be ready in month one; others won't be ready for three months. The migration strategy has to accommodate that reality. Equally important: the responsibility for identifying application interdependencies sits with the organization migrating, not the migration partner. Only the business has full visibility into which applications share data. A CRM integrated with a billing database must migrate together - leaving one behind guarantees a data consistency failure that no amount of post-migration remediation fully fixes. ### 9. Compliance and Data Governance Violations **The Risk:** Migration violates data residency requirements, breaks audit trails, or mishandles regulated data in ways that only surface months later typically during an audit or regulatory examination. **Business Impact:** For financial institutions, non-compliance can trigger fines, forced remediation with tight deadlines, and in serious cases, operational restrictions from regulatory bodies. **How to Avoid It:** Involve compliance officers in migration planning from the start and not as a sign-off step at the end. Define all security and governance requirements before any data moves. Implement policy-based data residency controls programmatically rather than relying on manual process compliance. Ensure audit trails are continuous across the migration lifecycle, with no gaps in the compliance record. **The Tessell POV:** The compliance failures that hurt the most aren't the ones caught during migration- they're the ones surfaced six months after go-live during a regulatory audit. A missing storage encryption requirement, an incomplete audit trail, a data residency violation - any of these can trigger mandatory remediation with tight deadlines, and in serious cases, a complete re-migration of production databases. The pattern is almost always the same: compliance was treated as a sign-off step rather than a starting point. In heavily regulated industries say financial services, healthcare, government, security and governance requirements need to be locked in before any data moves. Mid-migration compliance changes don't just create paperwork. They can halt data replication entirely. ### 10. Inadequate Planning, Testing, and Skills Gaps **The Risk:** Undefined scope, rushed testing, and teams unfamiliar with target platforms combine to produce migrations that appear successful in testing but fail in production. This is the meta-risk that amplifies all the others - a well-planned migration with skilled teams avoids most of the risks above. **Business Impact:** Budget overruns exceeding 50%, emergency rollbacks, and post-go-live data errors requiring weeks of manual remediation. **How to Avoid It:** Require two complete rounds of testing before any production cutover. Document every step in a customized, tested migration runbook, not a generic template, and get it confirmed by all stakeholders before execution begins. Preserve rollback capability throughout the migration window. Plan for the operationalization phase: the goal is to move from Day 0 to Day 2 as quickly as possible, with no extended limbo period in between. **The Tessell POV:** Migration timelines vary more than most organizations expect, and scoping them honestly before work begins is one of the most valuable things a migration team can do. Two databases might migrate completely in six hours; a 400-database estate might require 45 days of structured weekly waves, with 25 to 50 databases per weekend window. Heterogeneous migrations can run six months or more. What drives timeline accuracy is a thorough upfront estate assessment, understanding not just how many databases exist, but how many VMs are needed to consolidate them, how licenses can be optimized, and which application groups need to move together. That assessment isn't overhead. It's what makes every subsequent decision reliable ## A Migration Risk Mitigation Framework Managing migration risk across all 10 vectors requires a structured approach across the full lifecycle: ### Pillar 1: Assessment and Planning. Inventory every data asset, map all application dependencies, and assess migration complexity before a single byte moves. Define measurable success criteria - zero data loss, maximum acceptable downtime, specific performance benchmarks and build a detailed migration roadmap with explicit rollback triggers. Sizing the estate accurately upfront, including the number of VMs needed for license optimization and consolidation, determines whether the migration delivers the cost reduction it promised. ### Pillar 2: Automation and Tooling Replace manual migration scripts with automated tools that provide consistency, auditability, and error detection. Use change data capture (CDC) for continuous synchronization between source and target, enabling near-zero downtime cutovers. Automate validation, reconciliation, and schema comparison checks throughout the process. ### Pillar 3: Governance and Security Implement encryption, RBAC, and audit trails across the entire migration lifecycle and do it before migration starts. Enforce data residency and sovereignty policies programmatically rather than relying on manual process compliance. Conduct compliance checks specific to the target cloud environment upfront, not as a post-migration review. ### Pillar 4: Continuous Monitoring and Validation Monitor data quality, performance metrics, and pipeline health in real time during and after migration. Run parallel environments to compare outputs before decommissioning the source. Build a post-migration support plan with dedicated resources available to resolve issues immediately in the critical days following cutover. ## How Tessell Eliminates Enterprise Migration Risks Tessell's DBaaS platform was purpose-built for the complexity of enterprise database migration, not as an add-on capability, but as a core part of the platform. **Tessell AirDrop (Zero-Downtime Migration).** AirDrop enables seamless zero-downtime migration of Oracle Exadata workloads to the cloud, covering automated assessment, discovery, wave planning, cutover, and post-migration optimization. Rather than requiring organizations to re-architect their systems, AirDrop allows Oracle workloads to lift and shine in the cloud exactly as they are, compressing production cutover windows to minutes rather than hours. **Availability Machine (Data Protection and Continuity).** Attached to every database provisioned on Tessell, the Availability Machine handles automated snapshots governed by RPO SLAs, long-term backup retention, data masking, and Data Access Policies that control what data is shared, with whom, and when. Data protection is a built-in capability from day one, not a post-migration afterthought. **Security by Design.** The Data Plane resides entirely within the organization's own cloud tenancy. Inbound connections are strictly prohibited unless explicitly approved, all outbound connections are SSL-encrypted, and IAM roles with least privilege access ensure the control plane remains passive until needed. Tessell holds no customer data. **Your Cloud. Your Data. Your Terms.** Organizations bring their own encryption keys, networks, and security policies rather than conforming to a generic security model. Tessell integrates with any identity provider, supports custom access personas, and is SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS compliant, making it well-suited for regulated industries navigating HIPAA and DORA requirements. **High-Performance Infrastructure.** Tessell's patented architecture delivers up to 2 million IOPS using NVMe-based local storage converted into durable persistent cloud storage, frequently achieving 10x performance improvements at 3x to 6x lower costs compared to standard cloud infrastructure, without any application code changes. **Multi-Cloud, Multi-Engine Flexibility.** Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI through a unified control plane. No vendor lock-in, no compatibility compromises. Tessell customers see measurable outcomes: Forbes reduced database costs by over 25% and improved page load times by 42 to 50%. A Fortune 100 energy company achieved €1.45 million in annualized cost savings. A top-10 bank achieved 100% financial regulator IT guideline compliance with zero downtime switchover. Tessell was recognized as a 2025 Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management, and independent analysis shows 250%+ ROI over three years compared to Amazon RDS. ## Conclusion The 10 migration risks covered in this guide are real, well-documented, and responsible for the majority of enterprise migration failures. But none of them are inevitable. Each has a clear mitigation strategy, and organizations that invest in proper planning, automation, and purpose-built tooling consistently achieve migrations that are faster, safer, and more cost-effective than those that don't. In 2026, as AI workloads demand lower latency, multi-cloud architectures become the norm, and regulators deepen their scrutiny of cloud infrastructure, the complexity of database migration will only increase. The organizations that navigate it successfully will be those that treat migration not as a one-time IT project, but as a strategic capability executed with platforms that handle the full lifecycle, from estate discovery to Day 2 operations. *Ready to migrate without the risk? Book a demo to see how Tessell handles enterprise migrations end to end.* ### FAQs **What are the biggest risks of data migration?** The highest-stakes risks are data loss, data corruption, security breaches during transit, extended unplanned downtime, and compliance violations. For regulated industries, the most painful failures aren't the ones that surface immediately. They're the ones discovered months after go-live during a compliance audit, when the remediation window is tight and the options are limited. **How can you prevent data loss during database migration?** Use checksum validation at every transfer stage, implement incremental migration to limit blast radius, and preserve the source environment until post-migration validation is complete. Keep the post-cutover window strictly read-only. The moment transactional writes begin in the new environment, reverse replication back to the source becomes impossible. **What is zero-downtime migration?** Zero-downtime migration keeps the source environment operational while data is continuously synchronized to the target using change data capture. The actual cutover is compressed to a 15 to 20 minute window rather than hours of planned outage, ensuring business operations remain uninterrupted throughout the migration. **How do you ensure compliance during cloud database migration?** Involve compliance officers before migration planning begins, not as a final sign-off step. Lock in all security requirements including encryption standards, data residency rules, and MFA policies before any data moves. Introducing compliance controls mid-migration can halt data replication entirely, turning a straightforward requirement into a costly restart. **How long does an enterprise database migration typically take?** It depends heavily on estate size and complexity. A small number of well-documented databases can migrate in days or weeks. Large estates, 400 databases for example, typically require 45 days or more in phased weekly waves of 25 to 50 databases. Heterogeneous migrations take significantly longer because code migration is required alongside data migration. With the right tooling and preparation, time-critical migrations can move 6 TB of production data in under six hours. --- ## how-to-migrate-oracle-database-to-cloud URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/how-to-migrate-oracle-database-to-cloud Last updated: 2026-08-24 The fastest path to Oracle in the cloud, done right. A practitioner's guide to choosing your method, avoiding the licensing and Day 2 traps, and getting to production-ready. Oracle cloud migration is straightforward - until it isn’t. At enterprise scale, the complexity isn’t in running RMAN, Data Pump, or GoldenGate. Those mechanics are well understood. The real challenge lies in everything that surrounds the move: licensing exposure, architectural trade-offs, production-readiness gaps, operational risk, and the long-term Day 2 burden that too often gets underestimated. At Tessell, we’ve worked with enterprises that run Oracle in production at scale - a Fortune 250 railroad operator migrating 500+ databases to Azure; a Fortune 100 energy company rationalizing 700+ databases across on-prem and multi-cloud environments; a healthcare data platform moving 67.5 TB within a 12-hour cutover window; and a global smart metering company rebuilding its digital backbone on GCP. What we've consistently seen is that a generic lift and shift playbook isn't enough. It takes deliberate planning, disciplined execution, and clarity on what production-readiness actually looks like in the cloud. This guide captures those lessons - written from a practitioner's perspective, grounded in real-world execution. ## What is Lift and Shift and what it isn’t Lift and shift (re-hosting) moves your Oracle database to cloud infrastructure without changing the application architecture, schema, or codebase. Your PL/SQL, stored procedures, and application integrations stay intact. The database runs on cloud compute and storage instead of your data center hardware. That’s the theory. In practice, calling it “lift and shift” creates an illusion of simplicity. Enterprise Oracle environments aren’t single-instance databases sitting on a clean VM. They involve multi-terabyte datasets, RAC clusters, Data Guard configurations, Exadata-optimized workloads, CDB/PDB architectures, and decades of accumulated PL/SQL logic. Every one of these dimensions introduces decision points that a “just move it” mindset will miss. > A Fortune 100 energy company managing 700+ databases across OCI, on-premises data centers, and Azure IaaS needed centralized visibility into licensing, compute, and governance. The migration was one piece of the puzzle - the larger priority was establishing a unified view across the entire estate *A more accurate framing: lift and shift is the fastest path to getting Oracle workloads onto cloud infrastructure. But “fastest” only holds if you scope the migration correctly and plan for what comes after.* ## Common migration scenarios Your starting point shapes everything - tooling, timeline, risk profile, and what “done” looks like. ### On-premises cloud IaaS The most common scenario. Physical or virtualized Oracle databases moving to AWS, Azure, GCP, or OCI compute instances. This is where most data center exit mandates begin. ## Oracle on self-managed cloud VMs to a managed platform Organizations already in the cloud but drowning in operational overhead - patching, backups, HA configuration, monitoring and looking for a DBaaS layer that handles it. This is often the phase-two realization after an initial lift and shift. ## Amazon RDS Oracle take-out Enterprises hitting the limits of RDS for Oracle: restricted versions, no RAC, limited performance tuning, no Exadata features. ## Multi-cloud consolidation The most complex scenario. Organizations with Oracle workloads fragmented across multiple clouds and on-prem, needing a single operational plane. The Fortune 100 energy company fell squarely here: databases across OCI, Azure IaaS, and on-prem, with audit deadlines approaching and no centralized license tracking. ## Pre-migration: where migrations are won or lost The quality of your migration is largely determined before any data moves. These are the areas worth spending time on upfront. ### Inventory your oracle estate Document your Oracle versions and editions (which determine licensing and cloud compatibility), architecture specifics (CDB/PDB, RAC, ASM, TDE), packaged application dependencies (EBS, PeopleSoft, SAP), any Exadata-specific optimizations (Smart Scan, HCC), and database sizes with growth trajectories. > A leading healthcare data platform needed to migrate 18 Oracle databases (6 production, totaling 67.5 TB) to AWS. Some were on 19c; others required in-place upgrades from 11g during migration. The combination of mixed versions, HIPAA compliance, and a strict 12-hour cutover window ruled out a traditional lift and shift. ### Downtime tolerance and RTO/RPO This is the single biggest driver of migration method selection. Be precise: define RTO and RPO for each database individually. 24/7 systems need online methods (GoldenGate, Data Guard). Systems with maintenance windows can use simpler offline approaches (RMAN, Data Pump) that are less complex and less expensive. ### Licensing Considerations Licensing is one of the most overlooked areas in cloud migration. Confirm your target cloud is an authorized BYOL environment. Map vCPU-to-core ratios carefully - a miscalculation can double licensing costs. Audit for inadvertent feature activation (Diagnostics Pack, Tuning Pack, ADDM) after migration. And look for consolidation opportunities: [the Fortune 100 energy company saved €1.45M annually partly through license consolidation identified during migration planning.](https://www.tessell.com/customers/global-fortune-100-energy-giant-chooses-tessell-as-its-migration-and-modernization-partner) ### Cloud infrastructure requirements - **Storage: **Production Oracle often demands hundreds of thousands of IOPS. NVMe-based instances (AWS i3/i4i, Azure Lsv3) deliver over 1M IOPS. Standard block storage won’t suffice for high-throughput OLTP. - **Networking: **Plan dedicated connectivity (Direct Connect, ExpressRoute). Cross-cloud latency between apps and databases was a key pain point for the railroad operator when initially considering OCI alongside Azure. - **Security and compliance: **TDE compatibility, VPC isolation, encryption at rest/in transit, and certifications (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS). Define requirements before migration. - **HA/DR: **Confirm same-zone failover, multi-AZ HA, and cross-region DR support. Configure these before cutover, not after. ## Oracle Lift & Shift migration approaches The migration tooling conversation is often backwards. Teams start with a tool (“we’ll use GoldenGate”) instead of starting with the constraints that should determine the tool. Here’s how to think about it. ### Offline Migration (Planned Downtime) Best for databases under 5 TB with scheduled maintenance windows. **RMAN Backup and Restore **is the most battle-tested method. Full backup, transfer to cloud storage, restore on target. It works with every Oracle edition and feature. Downtime = backup time + transfer time + restore time. The Fortune 100 accounting firm used RMAN backup from their RDS instance, transferred to Azure, and restored into Tessell’s managed environment. **Oracle Data Pump (expdp/impdp) **operates at the schema or table level. Useful for selective migrations or smaller databases. Slower than RMAN for large datasets, but offers the flexibility to reorganize schemas during migration. ### Online migration (Near-zero downtime) Required when the business cannot tolerate extended outages. **Oracle GoldenGate **provides real-time change data capture from redo logs. The cloud target stays synchronized with the source, and cutover is a brief connection switch - typically minutes. More complex to configure, more expensive to license, but essential for always-on systems. **Oracle Data Guard **sets up a standby database in the cloud with SYNC or ASYNC replication. For organizations already running Data Guard, extending it to a cloud standby is a natural migration path. Switchover in Maximum Availability mode achieves zero data loss. ### Platform-assisted migration This is where the migration experience diverges most significantly from the generic playbook. Tools like Tessell Airdrop automate assessment, infrastructure provisioning, data migration, and validation compressing what typically takes weeks of manual orchestration into a managed workflow. For the healthcare data platform, this wasn’t optional: migrating 67.5 TB of HIPAA-regulated data under a 12-hour cutover window required orchestration that manual approaches couldn’t deliver. ## Step-by-step guide to Lift & Shift migration Regardless of method, the execution lifecycle follows a consistent structure. 1. Assess and baseline Capture AWR reports, peak IOPS, CPU and memory utilization, active session counts, tablespace layouts, and growth projections. These are your post-migration validation benchmarks. The railroad operator’s assessment revealed that a one-database-per-server model had driven server utilization down to 15% - a massive consolidation opportunity. ### 2. Prepare the cloud landing zone Provision compute, storage, networking, and security. Deploy Oracle at the matching version and patch level. Configure HA/DR architecture before data migration, not after. For multi-cloud scenarios, this includes ensuring the management plane works across environments. ### 3. Migrate schema and data Execute your chosen method. Monitor transfer throughput, verify object completeness (tables, indexes, stored procedures, sequences, database links, materialized views), and validate at each checkpoint. ### 4. Validate performance and integrity Run AWR-equivalent benchmarks on the cloud instance. Compare query response times, IOPS, and CPU against your baselines. Perform row-count validations, checksum comparisons, and application-level smoke tests. ### 5. Cutover with a rollback plan Redirect application connections. For Data Guard, this is typically under 5 minutes. For GoldenGate, under 15. Maintain the source in read-only or standby state for 24–72 hours as a rollback option. ### 6. Post-migration stabilization Intensive monitoring for 1–2 weeks. Watch for latency shifts, connection pool issues, backup job failures, and any licensing or feature activation alerts. Decommission the source only after stabilization completes without incident. ## Common migration risks and how to mitigate them? Every migration guide lists risks. Here are the ones we see cause real damage in the field, along with what actually prevents them. ### Licensing exposure after migration This is the single most expensive and most common mistake. Oracle features get inadvertently activated in the new environment, and the next audit finds unlicensed Diagnostics Pack or Tuning Pack usage. Audit parameter settings on the target instance immediately after migration, and use centralized license tracking not spreadsheets. ### Performance regressions that only appear under load Synthetic tests pass, but production workloads behave differently on cloud storage and networking. Query plans change. I/O patterns shift. Capture SQL Plan Baselines before migration and pin critical execution plans. Run production-representative load tests, not just smoke tests. ### The “migrated but not production-ready” gap Data is in the cloud, but backup policies aren’t configured, DR hasn’t been tested, monitoring isn’t integrated, and nobody has tested a failover. Treat backup, DR, monitoring, and security configuration as migration prerequisites, not post-migration tasks. ### Operational handoff failures On-premises DBAs who are experts in Oracle may lack cloud networking, IAM, and auto-scaling skills. Cloud engineers may lack deep Oracle knowledge. Invest in cross-training or partner with a managed service provider that bridges both domains. ### Cross-cloud latency in hybrid architectures Applications on one cloud, databases on another. The railroad operator initially considered OCI for databases and Azure for applications and found the latency unacceptable. > Most of these risks share a root cause: lack of centralized visibility and control. When migration, provisioning, monitoring, backup, licensing, and governance are managed through different tools by different teams, gaps are inevitable. This is the problem a unified control plane solves. ## Post-migration considerations A successful cutover is a milestone, but the operational reality of running Oracle in the cloud introduces its own set of challenges. ### Performance tuning Cloud storage and networking behave differently than on-premises infrastructure. SGA/PGA sizing, I/O calibration, and memory allocation typically need adjustment. Plan for 2–4 weeks of optimization post-migration. ### Cost management Cloud costs are variable, and Oracle workloads can be expensive if not right-sized. The railroad operator improved utilization from 15% to 60% through consolidation but that took continuous monitoring, not a one-time exercise. ### Operational overhead at scale Self-managing Oracle on cloud VMs still means patching, backups, HA/DR, monitoring, and security hardening for every instance. This grows quickly across large database fleets. ### Compliance For regulated industries, migration reframes compliance requirements rather than simplifying them. The healthcare data platform needed 100% observability post-migration while maintaining HIPAA compliance throughout. ## How Tessell approaches this differently We built [Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/) because we saw the same pattern repeatedly: organizations would complete a migration and then spend 6–12 months building the operational infrastructure they should have had from day one. Migration and Day 2 operations were treated as separate problems. They’re not. Tessell is a multi-cloud DBaaS platform purpose-built for Oracle that unifies migration and ongoing operations in a single control plane across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. No application rewrites. Full Enterprise Edition feature support. An RDS-like managed experience, but without the feature restrictions and with multi-cloud portability. ### Migration: Tessell Airdrop Airdrop automates assessment, infrastructure provisioning, data migration, and validation. Whether you’re migrating from on-premises, Exadata, or RDS, it compresses what typically requires weeks of manual orchestration. For the healthcare data platform, Airdrop enabled production cutover within a 12-hour window for 67.5 TB of data - something a manual approach couldn’t have delivered under HIPAA constraints. ### Day 2 Operations - Automated patching with <15 minutes RTO - Continuous snapshots and log backups with zero data loss - One-click HA failover: <1 minute same-zone, <3 minutes multi-AZ - Cross-region DR: <8 minutes RTO, <5 minutes RPO - Built-in data governance, masking, and compliance via Availability Machine - Centralized license tracking and cost visibility across multi-cloud fleets ### Performance Tessell leverages directly attached NVMe storage to deliver over 1 million IOPS for Oracle workloads. Independent SLOB benchmarks show Tessell delivering 1,103% higher IOPS than AWS RDS for Oracle (165,000 vs. 15,000). Landis+Gyr, running real-time telemetry from millions of smart meters, achieved >99.99% application availability on Tessell. ## Results across our customer base | Customer | Industry | Cloud | Scale | Key Result | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Fortune 250 Railroad | Transportation | Azure | 500+ databases | 40% cost reduction | | Fortune 100 Energy | Energy | Azure | 700+ databases | €1.45M annual savings | | Healthcare Platform | Healthcare | AWS | 67.5 TB migrated | 12-hour cutover | | Landis+Gyr | Utilities | GCP | Global IoT | >99.99% uptime | | Fortune 100 Accounting | Prof. Services | Azure | RDS take-out | $3M+ annual savings | ## Best practices for long-term success Migration is the beginning of your cloud journey. These practices separate organizations that get sustained value from those that recreate on-premises complexity at cloud prices. ### Standardize operations across your fleet Same patching cadence, backup policies, monitoring thresholds, and governance - regardless of cloud. The energy company’s fragmentation across OCI, on-prem, and Azure was a direct result of not establishing this early. ### Automate from day one Manual backups, patching, and DR testing don’t scale. [The railroad operator achieved 10x faster provisioning through automation](https://www.tessell.com/customers/fortune-250-transportation-giant). At 500+ databases, manual processes would have been untenable. ### Monitor costs and consolidate aggressively The railroad operator improved utilization from 15% to 60%; the energy company achieved 50% compute savings. These don’t happen passively. ### Design for multi-cloud from the start Even if migrating to a single cloud today, architect your operational layer to be portable. Multi-cloud flexibility is negotiating leverage, not a theoretical benefit. ### Plan modernization as a second phase Lift and shift gets you to the cloud. Once stable, evaluate consolidation, version upgrades, and cloud-native adoption. Don’t try both simultaneously. ## Conclusion Lift and shift remains the fastest, lowest-risk path to getting Oracle workloads into the cloud. But execution quality determines whether that speed translates into lasting value or months of post-migration firefighting. The organizations that get this right share common traits: rigorous pre-migration planning that accounts for licensing and architecture complexity, a migration method matched to their actual constraints, and critically a plan for Day 2 operations that goes beyond “we’ll figure it out once we’re there.” At Tessell, we built a platform that bridges the gap between migration and operations because we saw too many enterprises treat them as separate problems. Migration automation, multi-cloud management, enterprise-grade HA/DR, and unified governance in one service, from day one. Not lift and shift. Lift, migrate, and shine. **Ready to simplify your Oracle cloud migration? **[Explore Tessell DBaaS](https://www.tessell.com/services/oracle) or [book a demo](https://www.tessell.com/book-demo) to see how Tessell can help move your Oracle workloads to any cloud with near-zero downtime. ### FAQs **What is the lift and shift migration method?** Lift and shift (re-hosting) moves your Oracle database to cloud infrastructure without changing its architecture, schema, or application code. The database runs on cloud compute and storage instead of on-premises hardware, with all existing PL/SQL, stored procedures, and integrations preserved. **Which cloud providers support Oracle databases?** AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI all support Oracle workloads. AWS is an authorized Oracle BYOL environment. Azure offers both IaaS and the Exadata@Azure partnership. Tessell provides a managed Oracle experience across all four, so your choice of cloud doesn’t limit your operational capabilities. **How long does an Oracle cloud migration take?** It depends on scale and method. A 500 GB RMAN migration can be completed in a weekend. A 67.5 TB healthcare migration required weeks of planning with a strict 12-hour production cutover. Multi-terabyte environments with RAC, mixed versions, and compliance requirements typically take 4–12 weeks end-to-end. **Can I migrate Oracle to the cloud without downtime?** Yes. Oracle GoldenGate, Data Guard, and platform-assisted tools like Tessell Airdrop enable near-zero or zero-downtime migrations. These use real-time replication to synchronize the cloud target, limiting cutover to minutes. **Is lift and shift the best approach for Oracle migration?** It’s the fastest and lowest-risk path to cloud adoption. It’s ideal when your priority is speed, minimal application disruption, and preserving Oracle investments. If you need to change database engines or fundamentally re-architect applications, re-platforming may be more appropriate but takes significantly longer. **What are the biggest risks in Oracle cloud migration?** Licensing exposure from inadvertent feature activation, performance regressions under production load, the gap between “migrated” and “production-ready,” and cross-cloud latency in hybrid architectures. All preventable with proper planning and a centralized management approach. **Is there an alternative to self-managing Oracle after migration?** Yes. Tessell provides fully managed Oracle environments across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. Provisioning, patching, backups, HA/DR, monitoring, and governance are handled as a service eliminating the need to self-manage Oracle on cloud VMs. --- ## lift-shine-modernize URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/lift-shine-modernize Last updated: 2026-08-24 Modernization doesn't always start with transformation. A pharmacy chain's entire operation ran on legacy Oracle, held together by one overworked DBA. Here's how a phased "Lift and Shine" approach - stabilize first, transform next moved them to the cloud without breaking what already worked, and gave their team room to plan what's next. ## Modernization doesn’t always start with transformation Over the past year, I’ve had several conversations with enterprises that are running critical workloads on systems built over 10–20 years. Systems that are deeply embedded into the business. Systems that *still work* - but are increasingly difficult to sustain. One recent example stood out. A large pharmacy chain was running its entire Pharmaceutical management information system (PMIS) on legacy Oracle databases. This wasn’t just another application - it was the backbone of their operations. Inventory, supply chain, store-level transactions - everything depended on it. Like many organizations in a similar position, they were at a crossroads. Their private cloud infrastructure was aging, support timelines were becoming a concern, and the internal expertise to manage and maintain the system was limited - in this case, a single DBA who had been holding things together for years. They had two broad options: 1. **Stay on-prem** and continue investing in maintaining the status quo 2. **Or move** to the cloud and begin the journey toward modernization On paper, the second option sounds obvious. In reality, it’s rarely that simple. Because the real challenge isn’t *whether* to modernize. It’s ***how to do it without breaking what already works*****.** ## When “Lift and Shift” isn’t enough - and full “transform” carries too much risk. In many such cases, we see two extremes. 1. On one end, **a basic lift-and-shift** - moving the database to cloud infrastructure, but carrying forward the same operational burden with little meaningful improvement. **Customers are looking for more than this** 2. On the other, a full transformation - re-platforming or re-architecting the database stack, which often comes with high risk, long timelines, and significant internal disruption. Neither felt right for this customer. What they needed was a middle path. ## A more practical starting point: stabilize, simplify, then evolve** → **LIFT & SHINE We worked with the customer on a phased approach. **The first step was not transformation - it was stabilization .** - We migrated their database workloads into their cloud environment using the Tessell platform) - Upgraded it to a fully supported Oracle version, eliminating the risk of running on unsupported version - Automated provisioning, patching, backups, and high availability ( 1-click), reducing the operation overheads to near zero of routine tasks. This may sound operational. But for the customer, it changed a lot. Their DBA no longer had to spend disproportionate time on maintenance and firefighting tasks Most importantly, it **created breathing room**.. Room to think. Room to plan. Room to innovate. ## Modernization becomes possible only when teams are freed up One of the most overlooked aspects of modernization is this: **“You cannot expect teams to redesign the future while they are fully occupied keeping the past running”** Replatforming a database is not just a technology decision - it’s a time and focus problem. When critical business logic lives inside the database, the DBA who can enable that transition is often the same person buried in patching, backups, and daily firefighting By removing the undifferentiated heavy lifting - the team could start thinking about what comes next. Not in a rushed, forced way. But in a structured, deliberate manner. - Should parts of the system move to open-source databases? - Are there services that can be broken out and modernized independently? - What does long-term architecture look like? These are the right questions - but they only come into focus once stability is in place. ## Transformation is a journey, not a starting point In conversations around cloud and data, we often jump too quickly to the end state. But in reality, most enterprises don’t need disruption on Day 1. They need **continuity first, then clarity, and finally change**. This is where we’ve seen the most success - helping customers take that first step: - Modernize how their databases are run - Without forcing them to immediately modernize what is built *on top* **Tessell’s mantra is LIFT - SHINE - MODERNIZE** ### FAQs **What is "Lift and Shine," and how is it different from a standard lift-and-shift?** A standard lift-and-shift just relocates existing workloads to the cloud, leaving the same operational burden in place. Lift and Shine migrates workloads with no application refactoring, but also layers in an automated, modern database operating model, including provisioning, patching, backups, data management, and high availability, so the operational load actually goes down, not just the hosting location. **Does this approach require re-architecting existing applications?** No. The applications and business logic stay untouched. The modernization happens at the database operations layer, meaning automation, cloud infrastructure, and a supported database version, not at the application layer. **What operational improvements can enterprises realistically expect?** Routine maintenance work like patching, backups, and provisioning becomes largely automated, and the database is upgraded to a fully supported version. For teams like the pharmacy chain's single DBA, this shifts time away from firefighting and toward planning and higher-value work. --- ## best-oracle-database-management-tools URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-oracle-database-management-tools Last updated: 2026-08-24 Ten tools, seven criteria, one comparison - covering DBaaS, monitoring, development IDEs, and DevOps suites for Oracle teams in 2026. Ten years ago, the Oracle database management tools conversation was simpler. You had OEM for administration, SQL Developer for query work, and maybe Toad if your DBAs had strong opinions. Today, that list has grown into a sprawling market spanning fully managed cloud platforms, open-source clients, DevOps pipeline tools, and cross-cloud monitoring solutions. More maturity, more options and considerably more decisions to make before a single database gets provisioned. The reality is that Oracle environments at scale touch a lot of ground: provisioning and lifecycle management, performance monitoring, HA/DR, schema versioning, query development, and CI/CD integration. Understanding what each layer demands and what the tools built for it actually deliver is what helps teams make confident, future-proof decisions about their Oracle environments. In this guide, we compare the 10 best Oracle database management tools for 2026 across seven criteria - performance and scalability, cloud support, ease of use, security and compliance, data protection, pricing model, and Oracle-specific depth with honest assessments of what each tool does well and where it falls short. ## The Evaluation Criteria This isn't a random list. Every tool below was assessed against seven criteria that reflect what enterprise Oracle teams consistently tell us matters most in production environments. 1. **Performance & Scalability** - IOPS ceiling, NVMe storage support, elastic compute scaling 2. **Cloud Support** - Coverage across AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, and genuine multi-cloud capability 3. **Ease of Use** - GUI quality, automation depth, API-first design, IaC compatibility 4. **Security & Compliance** - Encryption at rest and in transit, BYOA, SOC 2, PCI DSS v4.1, ISO certifications 5. **Data Protection** - HA, DR, backup and recovery, zero RPO/RTO capabilities 6. **Pricing Model** - Free, freemium, subscription, usage-based, or BYOL 7. **Oracle-Specific Depth** - DataGuard, RAC, Exadata, Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) integration support ## Oracle Database Management Tools: An Overview Here's a quick overview of all 10 tools before we dive into the details. | Tool | Best For | Deployment | Cloud Support | Pricing | Key Differentiator | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Tessell | Fully managed multi-cloud Oracle DBaaS | Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI) | All major clouds | Usage-based; free trial | Only Oracle PaaS across all 4 major clouds from one control plane | | Oracle Enterprise Manager | Native Oracle monitoring & lifecycle management | On-prem, OCI, hybrid | OCI-native; limited third-party | Included + paid add-on packs | Deepest native Oracle integration | | SolarWinds DPA | Cross-platform performance monitoring | On-prem / cloud agnostic | Cloud-agnostic | ~$2,000/instance/year | Agentless; <1% overhead; ML anomaly detection | | Quest Toad for Oracle | Advanced DBA productivity & tuning | On-prem / Windows | Limited | Commercial (by edition) | 20+ year standard; deep PL/SQL tuning | | Oracle SQL Developer | Free Oracle IDE | Desktop / browser / CLI | Any (via JDBC) | Free | 5M+ users; complete SQL/PL-SQL dev environment | | DBeaver | Open-source multi-database GUI | Desktop (all OS) | Any (via JDBC) | Free / paid Pro | Supports Oracle + 80 other databases | | Navicat for Oracle | Visual database design & collaboration | Desktop (all OS) | RDS, Oracle Cloud | Commercial (~$14–30/mo) | Visual SQL Builder; team collaboration | | dbForge Studio for Oracle | PL/SQL development & schema management | Windows only | Limited | Paid editions + limited free | IntelliSense, PL/SQL Debugger, schema diff | | Redgate Deployment Suite | CI/CD & DevOps database workflows | CI/CD pipeline integration | Agnostic | Commercial (contact vendor) | Automated Oracle schema deployments in CI/CD | | Liquibase | Open-source Oracle schema version control | CI/CD / any OS | Agnostic | Free Community / paid Pro | Changelog-based schema versioning | Keep reading for detailed breakdowns of each tool, including features, limitations, and who it's best for. ## 1. Tessell - Best for Fully Managed Multi-Cloud Oracle DBaaS [Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/) is a fully managed, multi-cloud database-as-a-service (DBaaS) platform that supports Oracle alongside PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and Milvus. Named a 2025 Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management and rated 4.7/5.0 on Gartner Peer Insights, Tessell is the only platform offering Oracle PaaS across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI from a single control plane. For enterprises managing large Oracle estates across multiple clouds, that unified visibility changes the operational equation entirely. ### Performance & Data Protection Tessell's storage layer delivers up to 2 million IOPS through a patented NVMe-based architecture, with no IOPS metering. Whether you're running at 10,000 or 800,000 IOPS, the cost stays the same, which eliminates the billing surprises common with cloud-native managed services. On the availability side, Tessell's Availability Machine provides zero RPO, near-zero RTO, multi-AZ HA via Oracle DataGuard, cross-region disaster recovery, point-in-time recovery, and automated snapshots across all supported formats. These are not modeled projections; they reflect what customers are running in regulated production environments today. 💬 **What customers say about Tessell’s performance and delivery:** *"Tessell delivered on everything that was presented to us. Our ability to deliver databases to the product and development teams has drastically improved. And we were able to lower our costs to meet our BCP and DR requirements."* - VP of Engineering, Software Industry - Verified reviewer *(Gartner Peer Insights)* ### Security, Governance & Automation Tessell operates on a bring-your-own (BYO) governance model: customers use their own cloud account, their own VPC or VNet, their own encryption keys, and their own security policies. The data plane stays inside the customer's cloud tenant; Tessell's control plane never touches customer data. Certifications include PCI DSS v4.1, SOC 2, and ISO 27701. For teams managing infrastructure as code, Tessell is API-first with full Terraform support, REST APIs, and a CLI, covering automated provisioning, patching, cloning, and upgrades. ### Cost Savings & Migration Documented customer results: Forbes achieved more than 25% database cost reduction alongside 42–50% faster page load times after migrating to Tessell. A Fortune 100 energy company running 700+ databases on Azure reported €1.45M in annualized savings. Migration services are included, with zero data loss and near-zero downtime cutover, an approach that has been used in Fortune 1000 and federal deployments. For teams evaluating [Oracle performance benchmarking with HammerDB](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/oracle-performance-benchmarking-with-hammerdb), Tessell's storage architecture consistently outperforms self-managed and RDS-equivalent configurations. *The strongest part of Tessell is their architecture and team working behind it. We get a single database control plane - it helps us improve performance, provisioning, monitoring and reduction in cost. They have provided a fantastic migration support team and also have an SRE team. So we have a dedicated team supporting us rather than a random engineer at any point of time."* - Verified reviewer *(Gartner Peer Insights)* **✅ Best For:** Enterprises running Oracle in multi-cloud or hybrid environments who need a fully managed service with enterprise-grade governance, zero vendor lock-in, and documented cost reduction. **💰 Pricing:** Usage-based. Available on AWS Marketplace and Azure Marketplace. **⚠️ Limitations:** Requires bring-your-own Oracle licenses (BYOL model). Not designed for single-query ad hoc development work - pair with Oracle SQL Developer or DBeaver for day-to-day query authoring. ## 2. Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) - Best for Native Oracle Monitoring & Administration Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) is Oracle's own full-lifecycle database management platform and the most natively integrated tool in this list. For teams deeply embedded in the Oracle ecosystem, OEM offers capabilities no third-party tool can fully replicate: AWR (Automatic Workload Repository) for performance snapshots, ADDM (Automatic Database Diagnostics Monitor) for root cause analysis, ASH Analytics for active session history, SQL Tuning Advisor, and SQL Access Advisor for index and query optimization. It also handles provisioning, patching, and configuration management across the estate. Oracle reports that OEM increases DBA productivity by up to 80% and reduces database testing time by 90%. OEM supports databases on-premises, on Exadata, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Exadata Cloud@Customer, and third-party clouds. However, advanced capabilities - including the Diagnostics Pack, Tuning Pack, Database Lifecycle Management Pack, and Cloud Management Pack require separate paid licenses stacked on top of existing Oracle Database licensing, which can significantly increase total cost. **✅ Best For:** Organizations deeply embedded in the Oracle ecosystem that need native, deep integration and full lifecycle management. **💰 Pricing:** Base functionality included with Oracle Database. Advanced packs (Diagnostics, Tuning, Lifecycle Management) require separate paid licenses. **⚠️ Limitations:** Oracle-only - no support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, or other engines. Complex to deploy and maintain. Enterprise feature licensing costs add up quickly. ## 3. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) - Best for Cross-Platform Performance Monitoring SolarWinds DPA is an agentless database performance monitoring tool that installs on a single server and accesses monitored databases over the network with less than 1% overhead on monitored systems. Its web-based interface supports multi-level permissions, making it practical for cross-team use across DBAs, developers, and platform engineering. DPA supports Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and more from a single dashboard, making it particularly useful in mixed-engine environments. On the analytical side, DPA uses machine learning for anomaly detection, wait-time analysis for root cause identification, custom baseline metrics, and automated alerts. For Oracle specifically, it provides real-time and historical performance timelines across Oracle Exadata, Standard Edition, and Enterprise Edition - along with built-in index and workload recommendations. **✅ Best For:** Teams managing Oracle alongside other database engines who need unified, cross-platform performance monitoring without an agent footprint. **💰 Pricing:** Subscription-based, starting at approximately $2,000 per instance per year. Free trial available. **⚠️ Limitations:** Monitoring-focused only - DPA does not handle provisioning, migration, backup, or lifecycle management. No Oracle-specific management features such as patching or DataGuard configuration. ## 4. Quest Toad for Oracle - Best for Advanced DBA Productivity Quest Toad for Oracle has been an enterprise DBA standard for more than 20 years, and it remains one of the most feature-dense Oracle-specific tools available. Core capabilities include schema compare and synchronization, a SQL optimization engine, automation manager, and compliance auditing built for Oracle estates. For developers, Toad's Code Tester for PL/SQL and Benchmark Factory for performance and load testing cover ground that most GUI clients don't touch. It's available in multiple editions - Base, Professional, Xpert, and Developer — with feature depth scaling by tier. **✅ Best For:** Senior DBAs managing large Oracle estates who need advanced tuning, scripting, automation, and compliance workflows in a single tool. **💰 Pricing:** Commercial license, varies by edition. Free trial available. **⚠️ Limitations:** Oracle-specific - no support for other engines. Most editions are Windows-only. Steep learning curve. Licensing costs are significant at scale. ## 5. Oracle SQL Developer - Best Free Oracle IDE Oracle SQL Developer is Oracle's own free development environment and one of the most widely used tools to connect to Oracle database instances - with more than 5 million users across the DBA and developer community. It supports connection via TNS, Easy Connect, and JDBC. SQL Developer ships in three interfaces: the full desktop client (Java-based, available on Windows, macOS, and Linux), Database Actions (the browser-based version, formerly SQL Developer Web), and SQLcl - a 25MB command-line client with auto-formatting output in CSV, JSON, XML, and HTML. Feature coverage is broad: complete SQL and PL/SQL development, a DBA console for instance administration, schema modeling via the companion SQL Developer Data Modeler, and migration tooling for moving from third-party databases to Oracle. For teams looking for oracle dba tools that carry zero licensing cost, SQL Developer is the most practical starting point. It's also worth exploring how it integrates with Tessell for teams doing Oracle table design work alongside their managed infrastructure. **✅ Best For:** Developers and DBAs who need a free, comprehensive Oracle development and administration environment across all major operating systems. **💰 Pricing:** Completely free. **⚠️ Limitations:** Java-based runtime can be memory-intensive on older hardware. The interface feels dated compared to modern alternatives like DBeaver or JetBrains DataGrip. ## 6. DBeaver - Best Open-Source Multi-Database GUI DBeaver's Community edition is fully open-source and supports Oracle alongside more than 80 other databases via JDBC and ODBC connectors. For teams that manage Oracle alongside PostgreSQL, MySQL, or other engines, DBeaver provides a consistent interface across all of them. Core features include a visual query builder, ER diagram generation, a data editor with search and filter, and a SQL editor with templates, formatting, and auto-complete. Cross-platform support covers Windows, macOS, and Linux. Pro editions - Lite, Enterprise, and Ultimate - add NoSQL support (MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis), editable ER diagrams, advanced cloud connectivity, and team features. DBeaver is among the most popular tools to connect to Oracle database environments in multi-engine developer teams, particularly where the free tier's capabilities are sufficient. **✅ Best For:** Teams working across multiple database engines who want one unified, modern GUI client without per-seat licensing costs. **💰 Pricing:** Community edition is free. Pro editions are subscription-based. **⚠️ Limitations:** Connecting to Oracle requires Oracle Client or Instant Client installation, which is not plug-and-play for new users. The Community edition lacks advanced enterprise administration features. ## 7. Navicat for Oracle - Best for Visual Database Design & Collaboration Navicat for Oracle is a commercial GUI client focused on visual design, team collaboration, and scheduling automation. Key features include intelligent code completion, a Visual SQL Builder for query construction without hand-coding, data synchronization between databases, and automated backup scheduling. Its database designer enables visual schema modeling with relationship mapping. Navicat is compatible with Amazon RDS and Oracle Cloud and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux - one of the few commercial Oracle clients with consistent cross-platform support. **✅ Best For:** DBAs and database developers who prioritize visual schema design tools, team collaboration workflows, and automated scheduling. **💰 Pricing:** Commercial, approximately $14–30 per month depending on edition. **⚠️ Limitations:** Expensive relative to free alternatives with comparable query functionality. No CLI or API access - not suited for infrastructure-as-code or automation-heavy workflows. ## 8. dbForge Studio for Oracle - Best for PL/SQL Development & Schema Management dbForge Studio for Oracle, developed by Devart, is a Windows-based IDE built for Oracle-specific development and schema lifecycle management. The editor includes IntelliSense-style code completion, a Query Formatter, Query Profiler, and a full PL/SQL Debugger — covering the development lifecycle from writing to testing to optimization. Its Visual Database Designer supports table editing and query building graphically, while the Change Management module handles data import/export, data comparison and sync, and schema comparison and sync. dbForge ships in Standard, Professional, and Enterprise paid editions, plus a free Express edition. The Express tier is functional but limited enough that most professional users will need a paid license for production workflows. **✅ Best For:** Oracle developers and DBAs focused on PL/SQL development, schema change management, and data comparison workflows on Windows. **💰 Pricing:** Paid editions by tier; 30-day free trial available, after which the product automatically transitions to the limited Express edition. **⚠️ Limitations:** Windows-only - no macOS or Linux support. Paid editions are expensive. Express is too limited for most serious production use. ## 9. Redgate Deployment Suite for Oracle - Best for CI/CD & DevOps Database Workflows Redgate Deployment Suite for Oracle targets DevOps and platform engineering teams that need to bring Oracle schema changes into automated delivery pipelines. Core capabilities include schema comparison and synchronization, source control integration (Git and others), and automated deployment and release management for Oracle databases. The suite integrates with existing CI/CD systems - including Jenkins, Azure DevOps, and GitHub Actions - bringing Oracle schema deployments closer to the velocity of application code releases. **✅ Best For:** DevOps and platform engineering teams integrating Oracle database schema changes into CI/CD pipelines with version control and automated deployment. **💰 Pricing:** Commercial. Contact Redgate for pricing. **⚠️ Limitations:** Focused narrowly on schema and deployment workflows, not a monitoring, performance, lifecycle management, or backup solution. Within Redgate's broader product suite, the Oracle offering is more limited than their SQL Server tooling. ## 10. Liquibase - Best Open-Source Tool for Oracle Schema Version Control Liquibase is an open-source schema change management tool designed to bring version control discipline to database development workflows. It tracks, versions, and deploys Oracle (and other) database schema changes using changelog files in XML, YAML, JSON, or SQL formats. Changelogs record every schema change as an ordered set of changesets, enabling repeatable, auditable deployments across environments. Liquibase integrates with CI/CD pipelines and works with most major databases including Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server. The Community edition is free and covers the core versioning workflow. Pro and Enterprise editions add capabilities including automated rollback, drift detection, dynamic policy enforcement, and support for the Liquibase Hub. **✅ Best For:** Engineering teams that need database version control and automated schema migration scripts as part of a CI/CD workflow. **💰 Pricing:** Community edition is free. Pro and Enterprise editions are paid - contact Liquibase for pricing. **⚠️ Limitations:** The Community edition lacks advanced rollback, drift detection, and policy checks. Changelog syntax has a learning curve, particularly for teams new to infrastructure-as-code disciplines. ## How to Choose the Right Oracle Database Management Tool The right tool depends on your use case, team size, cloud strategy, and budget. Here's a quick decision framework. | Your Use Case | Best Tool | | --- | --- | | Fully managed multi-cloud Oracle DBaaS | Tessell | | Native Oracle monitoring & lifecycle management | Oracle Enterprise Manager | | Cross-platform database performance monitoring | SolarWinds DPA | | Advanced DBA productivity & tuning | Quest Toad for Oracle | | A free Oracle development IDE | Oracle SQL Developer | | One GUI for multiple database engines | DBeaver | | Visual design & team collaboration | Navicat for Oracle | | PL/SQL development & schema management | dbForge Studio for Oracle | | CI/CD & DevOps database workflows | Redgate Deployment Suite | | Open-source schema version control | Liquibase | Beyond use case fit, three additional factors should drive your shortlist. **Licensing model:** tools like Tessell operate on BYOL, meaning you bring existing Oracle licenses - an important consideration for organizations managing license exposure. **Cloud strategy**: if you're running or planning to run Oracle across more than one cloud provider, only Tessell provides a unified control plane across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. **Compliance requirements:** for regulated industries with PCI DSS v4.1, SOC 2, or ISO 27001 obligations, confirm certification coverage before committing to any platform. A three-person DBA team operating at enterprise scale has different constraints than a 30-person team with dedicated tooling budget and no single tool serves every scenario equally well. ## Tired of Managing Oracle Across Clouds Manually? Tessell Automates It. As Oracle workloads move to the cloud, the right management tool isn't just about running queries - it's about performance, protection, and cost control across every environment. Tessell gives you a single platform to deploy, manage, and protect Oracle databases across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI - with zero RPO, 2 million IOPS, and documented savings of 25–50% on total database cost. [**Explore Tessell for Oracle →**](/services/oracle) ### FAQs **What are the most popular tools for Oracle database management?** The most widely used Oracle database management tools include Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) for native lifecycle management, Oracle SQL Developer for free SQL and PL/SQL development, Quest Toad for Oracle for advanced DBA workflows, and Tessell for fully managed multi-cloud Oracle DBaaS. The right choice depends on whether you need a cloud management platform, a developer IDE, a performance monitor, or a DevOps-focused schema tool. **What tools can I use to connect to an Oracle database?** Several tools support Oracle database connections. Oracle SQL Developer connects via TNS, Easy Connect, or JDBC and is free. DBeaver connects via JDBC or ODBC and supports 80+ databases. Navicat for Oracle offers a visual interface with cross-platform support. For teams in cloud environments, Tessell provides built-in connectivity management with DNS-based global service endpoints that remain stable across HA failovers eliminating the need to chase endpoint changes during cutovers. **Is there a free Oracle database management tool?** Yes. Oracle SQL Developer is completely free and covers SQL/PL-SQL development, DBA administration, data modeling, and migration across Desktop, Browser, and CLI interfaces. DBeaver's Community edition is also free and open-source, supporting Oracle alongside 80+ other databases. Liquibase's Community edition provides free schema version control. **What is the best tool for managing Oracle databases in the cloud?** Tessell is the strongest option for cloud Oracle management - it's the only platform that provides fully managed Oracle PaaS across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI from a single control plane. It includes automated provisioning, patching, HA/DR, backup, cloning, and compliance management without requiring teams to configure each cloud environment separately. For teams already committed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Oracle Autonomous Database and OEM with the Cloud Management Pack are the native alternatives. **How do I monitor Oracle database performance?** Oracle Enterprise Manager provides the deepest native Oracle performance monitoring via AWR, ADDM, and ASH Analytics. For cross-platform monitoring that covers Oracle alongside other engines, SolarWinds DPA is agentless, installed on a single server, and uses machine learning for anomaly detection with less than 1% overhead on monitored systems. Teams running Oracle on Tessell benefit from built-in real-time monitoring, automated alerting, and performance dashboards within the same control plane used for provisioning and governance. --- ## tessell-oracle-terraform URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-oracle-terraform Last updated: 2026-08-24 Sometime back, we announced the [Oracle database service on Tessell ](/blogs/azure-tessell-oracle-dbaas)making deploying Oracle databases extremely simple, elegant, and hassle-free. Tessell for Oracle is a fully managed database-as-a-service (DBaaS) for Azure and AWS that handles your data infrastructure, data management, and data migration needs, whether you're running*Oracle Enterprise Edition *or *Oracle Standard Edition 2*. After the announcement, we have seen growing interest in using [Tessell for Oracle](/services/oracle) and we have been talking to quite a few enterprise customers who want to leverage this service in their existing public environment landscape. One of the things that has always come up in the discussion is how to best use their existing DevOps platform to deploy Tessell for Oracle service. This guide will help you clear that hurdle. First things first, we at Tessell want to meet our customers where they are right now and enable them with all the tools & services required to make integrations pain-free. Tessell for Oracle can be provisioned programmatically using our APIs or if you are someone who relies a lot on Terraform to provision services we have got your back. So let's get rolling. Over the past few years,[Terraform](https://www.terraform.io/) has become a de-facto industry standard for provisioning services across clouds, and we at Tessell provide the required extensibility in our services to be integrated into your existing provisioning setup. The first step to using Tessell API services is to generate an API Key which will be used to call Tessell services from your existing landscape. ## 1. Generate Tessell API Key To generate an API key login to your Tessell Instance and go to the user profile. *Save the generated API Key locally as we are going to use this later to provide services through Terraform.* Now that we have the API Key generated next step is to generate Terraform code from the Tessell console. ## 2. Terraform Script a. Login to the Tessell consoleClick on to provision an Oracle Database service.b. Provide the Name of the service and description (Optional)c. Configure all other required settings for the database.d. Once done Click on the code section at the bottom left to generate This is how the Terraform code snippet will look like.   `terraform {  required_providers {    tessell = {      source  = "tessell-cloud/tessell"    }  } } provider "tessell" {  api_address = "https://api.tessell.tessell.com"  tenant_id = "edd25540-b3e2-4570-a458-fa308186ef89"  api_key = #Provide you Tessell API KEY } resource "tessell_db_service" "Tessell_for_oracle" {  name = "Tessell_for_oracle"  description = "Tessell For Oracle"  subscription = "default"  engine_type = "ORACLE"  topology = "single_instance"  software_image = "Oracle 19c SE2"  software_image_version = "19.17.0.0.221018"  auto_minor_version_update = true  enable_deletion_protection = false  enable_stop_protection = false  infrastructure {    cloud = "azure"    region = "eastUS"    availability_zone = null    vpc = "tessellstage-default-3f508fa2"    compute_type = "tesl_4_a"    enable_encryption = true    encryption_key = "default-encryption-key"    additional_storage = 0  }  service_connectivity {    service_port = "1521"    enable_public_access = true    allowed_ip_addresses = [      "122.161.95.188",    ]    enable_s_s_l = true  }  creds {    master_user = "master"    master_password = "Tessell123"  }  maintenance_window {    day = "Sunday"    time = "02:00"    duration = 30  }  snapshot_configuration {    auto_snapshot = true    sla = "2-days-pitr"    snapshot_window {      time = "01:00"      duration = 30    }  }  engine_configuration {    oracle_config {      multi_tenant = false      parameter_profile = "Tesl_4_a Default Oracle 19c"      options_profile = "Oracle 19c Options Profile"      character_set = "AL32UTF8"      national_character_set = "AL16UTF16"    }  }  databases {    database_name = "orcl"    database_configuration {      oracle_config {        parameter_profile = "Tesl_4_a Default Oracle 19c"        options_profile = "Oracle 19c Options Profile"      }    }  } }` This script needs to be updated with the API Key of your Tessell account, the script can then be committed to your Terraform code repository in this case we are going to download it locally and use local Terraform instance to provision the service. ## 3. Database Provisioning with Terraform a. [Install Terraform ](https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/tutorials/aws-get-started/install-cli)if required, ignore this step if it's already installedb. Save the download terraform file to a location.c. When running Terraform in automation, the focus is usually on the core plan/apply cycle which provisions the required service i.e. in this case Tessell for Oracle database. ‍ d. Go to the folder where terraform script is saved and run the following command. `terraform init` ‍ e. Once the initialization is complete, run the plan. If the plan is successful it will show up the required details of the service that will be provisioned. Verify all the details before proceeding to the next step. `terraform plan` ‍ f. The final step is to apply the plan using the following command. Tessell API service will keep sending status provisioning responses until the resource is provisioned. `terraform apply` g. Once the execution is successful navigate to your Tessell portal to verify the provisioned database service from the Tessell console. ### FAQs **Can you provision Tessell with Terraform?** Yes, Tessell supports Terraform provisioning through the tessell-cloud/tessell provider, allowing teams to deploy Oracle and other database services programmatically as part of existing DevOps and infrastructure-as-code workflows. **How do you provision Tessell for Oracle using Terraform?** Provisioning Tessell for Oracle with Terraform involves generating an API key, exporting the Terraform script from the Tessell console, then running terraform init, terraform plan, and terraform apply commands. **How do you generate a Tessell API key?** Generating a Tessell API key requires logging into the Tessell console, navigating to the user profile, creating the key, and saving it locally for API or Terraform-based provisioning. **What Terraform provider does Tessell use?** Tessell uses the tessell-cloud/tessell Terraform provider, enabling infrastructure-as-code provisioning of database services across Azure and AWS through standard terraform init, plan, and apply workflows. **What Tessell services can be provisioned programmatically?** Tessell services can be provisioned programmatically through APIs and Terraform, supporting Oracle Enterprise Edition, Oracle Standard Edition 2, and other database engines deployed on Azure or AWS infrastructure. --- ## azure-oracle-benchmark URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/azure-oracle-benchmark Last updated: 2026-08-24 One of Tessell’s focus areas is providing high database input/output operations per second, a performance that enables Oracle production database workloads on Azure. Production performance across processor, storage, and networking is a prerequisite for database as a service (DBaaS). In addition to unlocking Azure NVMe-backed shapes, Tessell provides self-service, Terraform provisioning, database management, and data lifecycle management. Data lifecycle management use cases include patching, feature packs, upgrades, data sharing, and operations management. With Tessell, there are both direct and indirect costs that can be removed as part of the modernization process. Customers can choose to reinvest those savings into the business or drop them directly into the bottom line. For those considering moving production workloads to Azure, the only true way of evaluating performance is by running performance benchmarks for the databases on the infrastructure that you intend to use. The steps below are provided as a guide and produce a single performance benchmark. For this benchmark, we used the Azure L8as_v3 shape, which is based on the AMD 3rd Generation EPYC™ 7763v processor and is backed by NVMe storage. You can reproduce these steps on alternative shape sizes that may have differing CPUs or storage (NVMe vs. Winchester disk drives) in order to determine the optimal price/performance for a specific workload. In this article, we run performance benchmarks to evaluate, gather data, report, and then analyze the performance of Oracle database engines running on the Azure cloud for Tessell. We have used the SLOB benchmarking tool for the benchmarking process. Before starting the benchmarking process, you need to get your environment ready. ## Prepare your environment To prepare the environment for the benchmarking process, perform the following high-level tasks: 1. Provision an Azure Tessell Oracle instance to benchmark the performance testing. We are using the Tessell shape “tesl_8h_a” (Azure L8as_v3) on the Azure cloud. This compute shape comes with 8 vCPUs and 64 GB of RAM. While provisioning the instance, note down the username and password to connect to your database instance. 2. Launch or create an Azure VM to install the [SLOB](https://github.com/therealkevinc/SLOB_2.5.4) benchmarking tool, and set up the load. It is recommended that you create the instance in the same Azure VNet as your Azure Tessell instance to keep the latency to a minimum. 3. Set up the security groups for the client and server machines in a way that the client machine can connect to the server machine over the database port TCP:1521. For more information, see [Default security groups for your VNet](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/network-security-groups-overview). The following diagram shows the recommended environment for running the benchmarking process. The VNet located in the Azure cloud contains the Tessell Azure Oracle instance and the Oracle client installed in the Azure instance. ## Provision the Oracle client machine Firstly, provision the client Linux machine to install the SLOB benchmarking tool. For our test, we provisioned the Azure Linux instance with the following configuration details: ## Download SLOB and Install Oracle Client Secondly, download the SLOB benchmarking tool on the provisioned instance and Oracle Client. To do so, perform the following steps: 1. Download and install Oracle database client RPM. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     curl -o oracle-database-preinstall-21c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL8/appstream/x86_64/getPackage/oracle-database-preinstall-21c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm wget https://rpmfind.net/linux/centos/7.9.2009/os/x86_64/Packages/compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-72.el7.x86_64.rpm sudo yum install compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-72.el7.x86_64.rpm -y sudo yum install oracle-database-preinstall-21c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm -y 2. Download the Oracle Client software with below link and scp to client server. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/oracle21c-linux-downloads.html 3. Create the directories for Oracle client software. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02 chmod -R 775 /u02 mkdir -p /u02/app/oraInventory mkdir -p /u02/app/oracle mkdir -p /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02/app/oraInventory chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02/app/oracle chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 chmod -R 775 /u02/app/oraInventory chmod -R 775 /u02/app/oracle chmod -R 775 /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 4. Unzip the Oracle database client software and update response file. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     cd /tmp unzip LINUX.X64_213000_client.zip cd /tmp/client/response cat client_install.rsp # Uodate client_install.rsp UNIX_GROUP_NAME=dba INVENTORY_LOCATION=/u02/app/oraInventory ORACLE_HOME=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 ORACLE_BASE=/u02/app/oracle oracle.install.client.installType=Administrator 5. Install the Oracle client. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     cd /tmp/client ./runInstaller -ignoreSysPrereqs -showProgress -silent -responseFile /tmp/client/response/client_install.rsp Run the orainstRoot.sh as root user. sudo /u02/app/oraInventory/orainstRoot.sh 6. Update the TNS connection and set the following environment variables. Get the service URL from Tessell GUI to set as HOST in the TNS connection. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     cd /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1/network/admin/ cat tnsnames.ora orcl =   (DESCRIPTION =     (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = sandip01-yqequ.tessell.tessell.com)(PORT = 1521))     (CONNECT_DATA =       (SERVER = DEDICATED)       (SERVICE_NAME = orcl)     )   ) export ORACLE_BASE=/u02/app/oracle export ORACLE_HOME=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 export PATH=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin export TNS_ADMIN=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1/network/admin 7. Test the sqlplus connection by running the following command: Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     $ sqlplus master/xxxxx@orcl SQL*Plus: Release 21.0.0.0.0 - Production on Thu Apr 13 14:49:28 2023 Version 21.3.0.0.0 Copyright (c) 1982, 2021, Oracle. All rights reserved. Connected to: Oracle Database 19c Enterprise Edition Release 19.0.0.0.0 - Production Version 19.18.0.0.0 SQL> show user USER is "MASTER" SQL> 8. Note: To increase the average IOPS, update the below parameters on the Oracle database. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     SQL> show parameter DB_WRITER_PROCESSES NAME TYPE VALUE ------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------ db_writer_processes integer 16 SQL> show parameter db_cache_size NAME TYPE VALUE ------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------ db_cache_size big integer 32G SQL> 9. Download the SLOB source code by using wget. - Install the wget tool and clone the SLOB project to your instance. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     sudo yum install wget -y cd /u02 wget 'https://github.com/therealkevinc/SLOB_2.5.4/archive/refs/heads/main.zip' - Extract the SLOB source code files. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     cd /u02 unzip main.zip cd SLOB_2.5.4-main/ tar -zxvf 2021.05.12.slob_2.5.4.0.tar.gz cp -rf SLOB/ /u02 ## Run the benchmark Before you run the benchmark, configure the SLOB configuration file and start the Setup (load schemas), and - Open the /u02/SLOB/slob.conf file and replace the default parameter values with the following values: Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     UPDATE_PCT=15 RUN_TIME=3600 SCALE=4G WORK_UNIT=256 LOAD_PARALLEL_DEGREE=16 DATABASE_STATISTICS_TYPE=awr # Permitted values: [statspack|awr] ADMIN_SQLNET_SERVICE=orcl SQLNET_SERVICE_BASE=orcl DBA_PRIV_USER="MASTER" SYSDBA_PASSWD="******" # Type your password here For more information about the SLOB configuration parameter, see the [README](https://github.com/therealkevinc/SLOB_distribution/blob/SLOB_2.5.2/SLOB-2.5.0_README.pdf). - Start setting up SLOB and load schemas by running the following command: Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     sudo su - oracle cd /u02/SLOB/wait_kit make all cd /u02/SLOB nohup ./setup.sh MASTER_TBS 100 & This loads approximately 420 GB of slob database. - Run the performance test with the following command: Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     nohup ./runit.sh -s 100 -t 1 & ## Results When the performance test completes, the IOPS achieved from the database transaction is displayed on the last line. When we ran our test on Tessell Azure , we got the following results: On Azure Tessell DBNAME: orcl. 100 schemas, 1 threads(each). Run time: 3600 seconds. Avg IOPS >152027< Throughput(MB/s) >1187.8< ## Conclusion The Tessell Azure Oracle performance using SLOB produced 152,027 IOPS. You can re-use the steps in this benchmark guide to run your own price/performance comparisons with other infrastructure compute shapes. With price/performance benchmarking, you can hold your op-ex cloud spend constant and leverage the performance benefits as your organization’s technology requirements grow. Alternatively, infrastructure modernization can enable database consolidation, resulting in savings on licenses, cooling, and energy costs. Customers can choose to reinvest these savings into the business or drop them directly into the bottom line. The image below depicts the visualization of the performance benchmark that Tessell and Azure enable: If there are additional benchmarks that you are considering for your cloud database infrastructure, please reach out to us. --- ## tessellation-of-data URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessellation-of-data Last updated: 2026-08-24 In June of 2021, Bala Kuchibhotla first told me that his dream was to tessellate data - and that his new company was called Tessell. I was extremely enthusiastic about the concept of offering a database as a service (DBaaS) that disrupted existing services, but I had no idea what tessellation was or how it could apply to data. During my research into tessellation, I quickly came across the famous Dutch artist, [M.C. Escher](https://www.mfah.org/calendar/mathematics-art-mc-escher), who died in 1974. Escher is well-known in art circles as the tessellation master, and I soon realized that I was familiar with some of his works and that I really liked them. My wife and I visited a well-known Escher collector in Marin and we ended up purchasing four original lithographs (albeit “original” is a bit of a misnomer when it comes to lithographs). This is my favorite: Mosaic II. ## What is Tessellation? Tessellation means arranging various shapes and objects in a repeating pattern without any gaps or overlaps, thereby forming beautiful patterns. We can see examples of tessellation all around us. For example, tiling a floor or laying down bricks to form a wall are examples of tessellation. ## Tessellation in Art Owing to the beautiful patterns that it creates, tessellation holds a special place in art. There are several artists whose work is inspired purely by the tessellation technique. The most popular among them are the above mentioned M.C. Escher. ## Tessellation in Math Similar to fractals, the tessellation of repeating polygons tends to appeal to both mathematicians and scientists. Just last week, mathematicians announced discovery of a new 13-sided aperiodic tessellation. [Pentagons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagonal_tiling) are one of the most difficult polygons to tessellate. The pentagonal tessellation was also the inspiration for Tessell's logo which is a tessellation of six pentagons. If you look carefully, you'll notice a subtle T forming in the gap in the middle. ## Tessellation in Computer Science “Tessellation is a feature that converts a low-detailed surface patch to a higher-detailed surface patch dynamically on the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Using a low-resolution model with a few polygons, tessellation makes rendering high levels of detail possible by subdividing each patch into smaller primitives.”  Source: [Github blog](https://yiweimao.github.io/blog/tessellation/) ## Tessellating Data Tessell coined the term “data tessellation” that brings the art and science of tessellation to data management. Here's how: - Better organize and manage data between various environments including production, stage, dev, QA, analytics, etc. - Optimize infrastructure resource cost efficiency. - Create a “walled-garden experience” by providing full-fledged self-service database access to data owners while also providing administrators with the ability to standardize data and enforce compliance requirements. ## The ROI of Tessellation Some semantic purists may argue that  tessellating data is not a real thing. But, 'Googling' terms was not a real thing either until the popularity of Google made it so. Besides my affinity to Escher's tessellation art lithographs, I also bought them for investment purposes. My guess is that it won't take long before Tessell makes its mark throughout the global IT and business community. A much broader understanding of the term, tessellation, will naturally result - followed by an inevitable introduction to, and appreciation for, M.C. Escher's works. I'm betting that my four lithographs will rapidly increase in value. ### FAQs **What is tessellation?** Tessellation is the arrangement of shapes in a repeating pattern without gaps or overlaps, forming patterns seen in tiled floors, brick walls, and artwork. **Who is the most famous tessellation artist?** M.C. Escher is the most famous tessellation artist, a Dutch artist who died in 1974 and is widely recognized in art circles as the tessellation master. **What is tessellation in computer science?** Tessellation in computer science is a GPU feature that dynamically converts low-detailed surface patches into higher-detailed ones by subdividing patches into smaller primitives. **What is data tessellation?** Data tessellation is a term coined by Tessell that applies tessellation principles to data management, organizing data across environments, optimizing infrastructure costs, and enabling self-service access. **What are the benefits of data tessellation?** Data tessellation benefits include better organization across production, stage, dev, QA, and analytics environments, infrastructure cost efficiency, and a walled-garden experience with compliance enforcement. --- ## mysql-benchmark URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-benchmark Last updated: 2026-08-24 With the surge in the number of Database-as-a-Service providers in the market today, many DBaaS providers claim to offer competitive database performance for your applications. The only true way of evaluating the performance of the database is by running performance benchmarks for the databases running on the cloud. In this article, we run performance benchmarks to evaluate, analyze, and compare the performance of MySQL database engines running on the AWS cloud for Tessell. We have used the Sysbench benchmarking tool for the benchmarking process. Before starting the benchmarking process, you need to get your environment ready. ## Prepare your environment To prepare the environment for the benchmarking process, perform the following high-level tasks: 1. Provision a Tessell RDS MySQL instance to benchmark the performance testing. We are using the Tessell shape “tesl_8h_a” on the AWS cloud. This shape comes with 8 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM. While provisioning the instance, note down the username and password to connect to your database instance. 2. Launch or create an Amazon EC2 instance to install the [Sysbench](https://github.com/akopytov/sysbench) benchmarking tool, and set up the load. It is recommended that you create the instance in the same Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) as your Tessell RDS instance to keep the latency minimum. 3. Set up the security groups for the client and server machines in a way that the client machine can connect to the server machine over the database port TCP:3306. For more information, see [Default security groups for your VPC](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/userguide/VPC_SecurityGroups.html). The following diagram shows the recommended environment for running the benchmarking process. The VPC located in the AWS cloud contains the Tessell RDS MySQL instance and the Sysbench client installed in the Amazon EC2 instance. ### Provision the Sysbench client machine Firstly, provision the client Linux machine to install the Sysbench benchmarking tool. For our test, we provisioned the Amazon Linux instance with the following configuration details: Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     Image: Amazon Linux 2 Kernel 5.10 AMI 2.0.20221210.1 x86_64 HVM gp2 Shape: m5.2xlarge VPC: Same as the DB Service ### Download Sysbench and configure MySQL Once Sysbench is installed we need to configure following MySQL server items: Login to MySQL server via any client and follow below steps. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     https://github.com/akopytov/sysbench Sysbench can be downloaded and configured from the repository link below for respective OS. 1. Database Name to run the Test: CREATE DATABASE sysbench ## Run the benchmark 1. Load the instance with desired database size • Below Settings will load 100 Million Rows with 26 GB Data. For every 100 Million Rows it is 26 GB Data. Load per the benchmark requirements. Max Limits - Table size: 999 Million Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     sysbench oltp_insert --threads=500 --time=3000 --table-size=100000000 --db-driver=mysql --mysql-db=sysbench --mysql-user= --mysql-password=--mysql-storage-engine=InnoDB --report-interval=60 --mysql-host= prepare 2. Run Write-Only Load Test and capture results. • Adjust the no of threads, table size, time as per the test requirements. Max Limits - Threads: 1000, Time: 9999 seconds, Table_size: 999 Million, report-interval: This option outputs the ongoing test runs every n seconds defined. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     sysbench oltp_insert --threads=500 --time=3000 --table-size=100000000 --db-driver=mysql --mysql-db=sysbench --mysql-user= --mysql-password=--mysql-storage-engine=InnoDB --report-interval=60 --mysql-host= run 3. Run Read-Only Load Test and capture results. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     sysbench oltp_read_write --threads=500 --time=3000 --table-size=10000000 --db-driver=mysql --mysql-db=sysbench --mysql-user= --mysql-password=--mysql-storage-engine=InnoDB --report-interval=60 --mysql-host= run 4. Run Read-Write Load Test and capture results. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     sysbench oltp_read_only --threads=500 --time=3000 --table-size=10000000 --db-driver=mysql --mysql-db=sysbench --mysql-user= --mysql-password=--mysql-storage-engine=InnoDB --report-interval=60 --mysql-host= run ## Results When the performance test completes, We get the following TPCC based output. 1. QPS - Questions/Query Per Second 2. TPS - Transactions Per Second ### Tessell MySQL Instance High Performance Shape - 8 vCPUs, 64 GB Memory 1. Read Only Load Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     SQL statistics:    queries performed:      read:                              107064216      write:                             0      other:                             15294888      total:                             122359104    transactions:                        7647444 (4246.62 per sec.)    queries:                             122359104 (67945.90 per sec.)    ignored errors:                      0      (0.00 per sec.)    reconnects:                          0      (0.00 per sec.) General statistics:    total time:                          1800.2757s    total number of events:              7647444 Latency (ms):    min:                                    2.41    avg:                                  235.41    max:                                 4034.71    95th percentile:                      253.35    sum:                            600093627.96 Threads fairness:    events (avg/stddev):           2549.1480/66.30    execution time (avg/stddev):   1800.0936/0.06 2. Read Write Load Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     SQL statistics:    queries performed:      read:                            96958176      write:                           27702336      other:                           13851168      total:                           138511680    transactions:                      13753764 (7690.98 per sec.)    queries:                           138511680 (76950.93 per sec.)    ignored errors:                    0      (0.00 per sec.)    reconnects:                        0      (0.00 per sec.) General statistics:    total time:                          1800.1590s    total number of events:              13753764 Latency (ms):    min:                                   13.62    avg:                                  129.97    max:                                 1437.25    95th percentile:                      231.53    sum:                            300032956.05 Threads fairness:    events (avg/stddev):           2308.5280/85.96    execution time (avg/stddev):   1800.0330/0.03 ### RDS for MySQL - 8 vCPUs, 64 GB Memory 1. Read Only Load Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     SQL statistics:    queries performed:      read:                              8778868      write:                             0      other:                             1254124      total:                             10032992    transactions:                        627062 (343.92 per sec.)    queries:                             10032992 (5502.76 per sec.)    ignored errors:                      0      (0.00 per sec.)    reconnects:                          0      (0.00 per sec.) General statistics:    total time:                          1823.2650s    total number of events:              627062 Latency (ms):    min:                                    104.37    avg:                                 2871.45    max:                                60337.62    95th percentile:                     6026.41    sum:                           1800577096.12 Threads fairness:    events (avg/stddev):           627.0620/5.62    execution time (avg/stddev):   1800.5771/0.78 2. Read Write Load Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     SQL statistics:    queries performed:      read:                            62039418      write:                           17725548      other:                           8862774      total:                           88627740    transactions:                      4431387 (2461.48 per sec.)    queries:                           88627740 (49229.59 per sec.)    ignored errors:                    0      (0.00 per sec.)    reconnects:                        0      (0.00 per sec.) General statistics:    total time:                          1800.2921s    total number of events:              4431387 Latency (ms):    min:                                   20.13    avg:                                  406.20    max:                                 2377.74    95th percentile:                      623.33    sum:                           1800027924.89 Threads fairness:    events (avg/stddev):           4431.3870/108.58    execution time (avg/stddev):   1800.0279/0.03 ## Conclusion It is, therefore, safe to conclude that Tessell RDS produced 321% higher IOPS as compared to AWS RDS for the identical Sysbench workload at the same cost. The image below depicts the visual comparison of the performance benchmark results that Tessell RDS and AWS RDS produce: --- ## oracle-benchmark URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-benchmark Last updated: 2026-08-24 With the surge in the number of Database-as-a-Service providers in the market today, many DBaaS providers claim to offer competitive database performance for your applications. The only true way of evaluating the performance of the database is by running performance benchmarks for the databases running on the cloud. In this article, we run performance benchmarks to evaluate, analyze, and compare the performance of Oracle database engines running on the AWS cloud for Tessell. We have used the SLOB benchmarking tool for the benchmarking process. Before starting the benchmarking process, you need to get your environment ready. ## Prepare your environment To prepare the environment for the benchmarking process, perform the following high-level tasks: 1. Provision a Tessell RDS Oracle instance to benchmark the performance testing. We are using the Tessell shape “tesl_8h_a” on the AWS cloud. This shape comes with 8 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM. While provisioning the instance, note down the username and password to connect to your database instance. 2. Launch or create an Amazon EC2 instance to install the [SLOB](https://github.com/therealkevinc/SLOB_2.5.4) benchmarking tool, and set up the load. It is recommended that you create the instance in the same Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) as your Tessell RDS instance to keep the latency minimum. 3. Set up the security groups for the client and server machines in a way that the client machine can connect to the server machine over the database port TCP:1521. For more information, see [Default security groups for your VPC](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/userguide/VPC_SecurityGroups.html). The following diagram shows the recommended environment for running the benchmarking process. The VPC located in the AWS cloud contains the Tessell RDS Oracle instance and the SLOB client installed in the Amazon EC2 instance. ## Provision the Oracle client machine Firstly, provision the client Linux machine to install the SLOB benchmarking tool. For our test, we provisioned the Amazon Linux instance with the following configuration details: `Image: RHEL_HA-8.4.0_HVM-20210504-x86_64-2-Hourly2-GP2 Shape: m5.2xlarge VPC: Same as the DB Service` ## Download SLOB and Install Oracle Client Secondly, download the SLOB benchmarking tool on the provisioned instance and Oracle Client. To do so, perform the following steps: 1. Download and install Oracle database client RPM. `curl -o oracle-database-preinstall-21c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL8/appstream/x86_64/getPackage/oracle-database-preinstall-21c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm wget https://rpmfind.net/linux/centos/7.9.2009/os/x86_64/Packages/compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-72.el7.x86_64.rpm sudo yum install compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-72.el7.x86_64.rpm -y sudo yum install oracle-database-preinstall-21c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm -y` 2. Download the Oracle Client software with below link and scp to client server. `https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/oracle21c-linux-downloads.html` 3. Create the directories for Oracle client software. `chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02 chmod -R 775 /u02 mkdir -p /u02/app/oraInventory mkdir -p /u02/app/oracle mkdir -p /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02/app/oraInventory chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02/app/oracle chown -R oracle:oinstall /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 chmod -R 775 /u02/app/oraInventory chmod -R 775 /u02/app/oracle chmod -R 775 /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1` 4. Unzip the Oracle database client software and update response file. `cd /tmp unzip LINUX.X64_213000_client.zip cd /tmp/client/response cat client_install.rsp # Update client_install.rsp UNIX_GROUP_NAME=dba INVENTORY_LOCATION=/u02/app/oraInventory ORACLE_HOME=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 ORACLE_BASE=/u02/app/oracle oracle.install.client.installType=Administrator` 5. Install the Oracle client.   `cd /tmp/client ./runInstaller -ignoreSysPrereqs -showProgress -silent -responseFile /tmp/client/response/client_install.rsp Run the orainstRoot.sh as root user. sudo /u02/app/oraInventory/orainstRoot.sh` 6. Update the TNS connection and set the following environment variables. Get the service URL from Tessell GUI to set as HOST in the TNS connection. `cd /u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1/network/admin/ cat tnsnames.ora orcl =   (DESCRIPTION =     (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = sandip09-yqequ.tessell.tessell.com)(PORT = 1521))     (CONNECT_DATA =       (SERVER = DEDICATED)       (SERVICE_NAME = orcl)     )   ) export ORACLE_BASE=/u02/app/oracle export ORACLE_HOME=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1 export PATH=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin export TNS_ADMIN=/u02/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1/network/admin` 7. Test the sqlplus connection by running the following command: `$ sqlplus master/xxxxx@orcl SQL*Plus: Release 21.0.0.0.0 - Production on Thu Apr 13 14:49:28 2023 Version 21.3.0.0.0 Copyright (c) 1982, 2021, Oracle. All rights reserved. Connected to: Oracle Database 19c Enterprise Edition Release 19.0.0.0.0 - Production Version 19.18.0.0.0 SQL> show user USER is "MASTER" SQL>` 8. Note: To increase the average IOPS, update the below parameters on the Oracle database. `SQL> show parameter DB_WRITER_PROCESSES NAME TYPE VALUE ------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------ db_writer_processes integer 16 SQL> show parameter db_cache_size NAME TYPE VALUE ------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------ db_cache_size big integer 32G SQL>` 9. Download the SLOB source code by using wget. - Install the wget tool and clone the SLOB project to your instance.  `sudo yum install wget -y cd /u02 wget 'https://github.com/therealkevinc/SLOB_2.5.4/archive/refs/heads/main.zip'` - Extract the SLOB source code files.   `cd /u02 unzip main.zip cd SLOB_2.5.4-main/ tar -zxvf 2021.05.12.slob_2.5.4.0.tar.gz cp -rf SLOB/ /u02` ## Run the benchmark Before you run the benchmark, configure the SLOB configuration file and start the Setup (load schemas), and - Open the  /u02/SLOB/slob.conf  file and replace the default parameter values with the following values: `UPDATE_PCT=15 RUN_TIME=3600 SCALE=4G WORK_UNIT=256 LOAD_PARALLEL_DEGREE=16 DATABASE_STATISTICS_TYPE=awr # Permitted values: [statspack|awr] ADMIN_SQLNET_SERVICE=orcl SQLNET_SERVICE_BASE=orcl DBA_PRIV_USER="MASTER" SYSDBA_PASSWD="******" # Type your password here` For more information about the SLOB configuration parameter, see the [README](https://github.com/therealkevinc/SLOB_distribution/blob/SLOB_2.5.2/SLOB-2.5.0_README.pdf). - Start setting up SLOB and load schemas by running the following command:   `sudo su - oracle cd /u02/SLOB/wait_kit make all cd /u02/SLOB nohup ./setup.sh MASTER_TBS 128 &` This loads approximately 525 GB of slob database. - Run the performance test with the following command: `nohup ./runit.sh -s 128 -t 1 &` ## Results When the performance test completes, the IOPS achieved from the database transaction is displayed on the last line. When we ran our test on Tessell RDS and AWS RDS, we got the following results: On Tessell RDS  `  DBNAME: orcl. 128 schemas, 1 threads(each). Run time: 3600 seconds. Avg IOPS >165569< Throughput(MB/s) >1293.5<` On Amazon RDS `DBNAME: orcl. 128 schemas, 1 threads(each). Run time: 3600 seconds. Avg IOPS >15010< Throughput(MB/s) >117.3<` ## Conclusion It is, therefore, safe to conclude that Tessell RDS produced 1,103% higher IOPS as compared to AWS RDS for the identical SLOB workload at the same cost. The image below depicts the visual comparison of the performance benchmark results that Tessell RDS and AWS RDS produce: ### FAQs **What is SLOB benchmarking?** SLOB is an open-source Oracle database benchmarking tool that measures IOPS and throughput performance under configurable workloads, including schemas, threads, runtime, scale, and update percentages. **How do you benchmark Oracle database performance using SLOB?** Benchmarking Oracle performance with SLOB involves provisioning a database instance, launching a Linux EC2 client, installing Oracle Client and SLOB, configuring slob.conf, loading schemas, and running runit.sh. **How does Tessell Oracle perform compared to AWS RDS?** Tessell Oracle produced 1,103% higher IOPS than AWS RDS in SLOB benchmarks at the same cost, delivering 165,569 IOPS versus 15,010 IOPS on identical SLOB workloads. **What infrastructure was used for the Tessell Oracle SLOB benchmark?** The Tessell Oracle SLOB benchmark used the tesl_8h_a shape with 8 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM, paired with an m5.2xlarge Amazon Linux EC2 client in the same VPC running Oracle 19c. **What SLOB configuration was used for the Oracle benchmark?** The Tessell Oracle SLOB benchmark used UPDATE_PCT 15, RUN_TIME 3600 seconds, SCALE 4G, WORK_UNIT 256, LOAD_PARALLEL_DEGREE 16, and AWR statistics, loading approximately 525 GB into the database. --- ## manage-multi-tenant-saas-metadata URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/manage-multi-tenant-saas-metadata Last updated: 2026-08-24 Software as a Service (SaaS) companies are constantly on the lookout for a data platform that scales efficiently, without having to re-platform the data layer of their application, as more and more customers onboard. Each customer in such companies is typically referred to as a*tenant *by the engineering and IT teams. In a world where privacy and security reign supreme, the onus is on the SaaS company to use a data platform that lets them host a tenant's data securely in their own logically isolated units while ensuring that the cost of managing this data is kept under control. Open-source databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL have been very popular choices to achieve data isolation (also known as data tenancy). In this article, we discuss the typical challenges that engineering and IT organizations face when they use these popular engines for tenant data management and how Tessell alleviates these challenges. When designing the data infrastructure platform, engineering and IT organizations need to consider ways of providing adequate isolation between each tenant's data, while keeping the cost of managing the data platform under control. You can adopt one of the following data hosting options: - Single tenant (also called Dedicated Hosting): In this model, each tenant database is hosted in a dedicated database instance of its own. With both compute and storage being separate, this model provides maximum isolation between tenant data. However, this model is expensive as it requires an entire instance for each tenant, irrespective of the size of the tenant data and the usage pattern. - Multi-tenant (also called Shared Hosting): In this model, one single database instance is shared by multiple tenant databases. The ability to create multiple databases inside a single instance in PostgreSQL and MySQL makes this model a popular choice for deployment. Both PostgreSQL and MySQL have primitives that can be leveraged to build proper isolation in this model. Additionally, this model is cost-effective too. On the flip side, this model too poses some interesting challenges for managing the lifecycle of tenant databases and ensuring the quality of service to each tenant. ## Challenges of the Multi-tenant (Shared Hosting) Model Now that we’ve established that the multi-tenant model is a popular choice for hosting the database on the cloud, let’s discuss the shortcomings of this model and how Tessell helps your engineering and IT organizations alleviate these shortcomings. ### Noisy neighbor problems The most common problem with the multi-tenant model is the “noisy neighbor” problem. Since multiple tenant databases share the same database instance, the activities of one tenant have the potential to degrade the experience of other tenants. A single tenant could be consistently consuming too many compute resources, or the data for a single tenant may be outgrowing the storage of the current database instance. In such scenarios, the usage of each tenant needs to be intelligently controlled to keep it within the resource limits of the instance. However, if a tenant is consistently starved for compute or storage resources, it may be wise to move this tenant to a completely new database instance. Controlling a tenant and moving a tenant to a new instance are both delicate tasks that often become pain points for the service provider. ### Issues with handling scaling or growth As tenant data grows, the tenant may require more resources. As a result, you may want to move the tenant to a new database instance that is better sized for the growing requirements in the near future. Unfortunately, this is usually not a one-time activity, and as tenants grow, you need to manually scale as and when needed for different tenants if you are self managing the deployments of the database. If you are using a Database-as-a-service (DBaaS), then scaling up or down can be done automatically for you but could be very costly. ## Tessellating the Multi-tenant (Shared Hosting) Model Tessell has all the primitives that you may need to tackle the shortcomings of the multi-tenant model for your data platform. The challenges presented earlier can be mitigated with Tessell by leveraging the following features of Tessell: ### High-performance instances Tessell provides database instances that leverage NVMe-backed cloud instances. These cloud instances provide high read/write IOPS, which translates to much better database performance, without the need to purchase additional storage IOPS for your instance. For cases where storage IOPS was a bottleneck, high-performance database instances allow you to add more tenants to a single database instance leading to excessive cost savings. ### Create databases inside an instance Tessell exposes top-level control to create and delete databases inside a specific PostgreSQL/MySQL instance using the Tessell API or user interface. This means that you can onboard databases for a new tenant and seamlessly integrate the tenant database creation into the tenant onboarding workflow. ### Intelligent monitoring As a multi-tenant service provider, your enterprise could be managing a fleet of database instances. Each such instance might host multiple tenant databases. The ability to predict the usage of each tenant is critical to taking action to meet that tenant's requirements. Tessell has native monitoring dashboards with intelligent statistics at the database (that is, tenant) level that can be used to predict if there should be an increase in the number of allowed connections for a tenant, or if the tenant should be moved to a new instance altogether, and more. ### Database exports and imports With Tessell, you can export a specific tenant database within an instance, independent of other tenants. These exports can then be imported into a new instance, thereby moving the entire tenant data to a new tenant. The application can then be programmed to use this new instance to serve the tenant. The export and import primitives can be used to seamlessly move your tenants around as a tenant outgrows the existing database instance. ## Conclusion Multi-tenant database model is growing at a fast pace as more and more SaaS enterprises seek to utilize this model. The Tessell DBaaS platform has been designed in a way that makes it a truly unique platform to address and alleviate the shortcomings of a multi-tenant model with such ease. ### FAQs **What is a multi-tenant database?** A multi-tenant database is a hosting model where a single instance is shared by multiple tenant databases, providing cost efficiency through resource pooling while requiring isolation primitives for security. **What is the difference between single-tenant and multi-tenant databases?** Single-tenant databases dedicate one instance per tenant for maximum isolation at higher cost, while multi-tenant databases share one instance across multiple tenants for cost efficiency with shared compute and storage. **What is the noisy neighbor problem in databases?** The noisy neighbor problem occurs in multi-tenant databases when one tenant consumes excessive compute or storage resources, degrading the performance and experience of other tenants sharing the same instance. **How does Tessell solve multi-tenant database challenges?** Tessell solves multi-tenant database challenges through NVMe-backed high-performance instances, top-level database creation APIs, intelligent per-tenant monitoring dashboards, and database export/import primitives for seamless tenant migration. **How do you move a database tenant to a new instance?** Moving a database tenant to a new instance with Tessell involves exporting the specific tenant database, importing it into a new instance, and updating the application connection accordingly. --- ## choose-the-right-database-deployment-option URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/choose-the-right-database-deployment-option Last updated: 2026-08-24 Cloud database customers are always looking out for database deployment options that best cope with their requirements for data security, compliance, workloads, control over the data, and more. There can never be a one-size-fits-all when it comes to choosing the right deployment option for businesses. To help our customers better meet their business goals, Tessell offers a wide range of deployment choices for its managed services on the cloud. These options provide customers with the much-needed flexibility to choose the right model for the control and data plane for their database workloads. The following parameters are taken into careful consideration while crafting out the deployment options: - Workload size - Features & limits - Compliance - Quality of Service | Control Plane - Data Plane - Cost - Support ## Tessell Deployment Options Before you decide on the right deployment option for your business, consider what each option entails. Tessell offers the following**four**deployment options to choose from: ### 1. Professional The Professional deployment option relieves you of the responsibility of hosting and managing your database on the cloud. The database is fully hosted and managed by Tessell on either AWS or Azure. This deployment option supports all open-source database engines. This deployment option includes: - Up to 3 subscriptions - Up to 1 dedicated network per region per subscription - VPC peering - AWS PrivateLink - Invite colleagues for collaboration - Out-of-the-box personas - G-suite integration - Custom database parameter profiles - Custom SLAs - Premium support 24/7/365 ### 2. Business Though the database is hosted and managed by Tessell, the Business deployment option provides a custom domain name, a dedicated control plane, and a dedicated repository for your metadata. The additional benefits from this deployment option include: - Up to 10 subscriptions - Up to 5 dedicated networks per region per subscription - Bring your own keys (BYOK) - SSO integration (Okta, AD, Google) - Custom personas & roles - Curate compute shapes - Option to bill via marketplace of your choice ### 3. Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) VPT offers a dedicated cloud account to host your data infrastructure and a dedicated metadata server instance. This deployment option supports commercial vendor database engines such as Oracle & SQL Server. The VPT option packs the following benefiting features: - Option for dedicated servers and instances - Unlimited subscriptions - Unlimited networks - Bring your own database software images for your enterprise apps ### 4. VPT @ Customer With the VPT @ Customer deployment option, you get the highest level of control over your database as the data plane is hosted on the customer’s infrastructure. However, this option requires you to upkeep and manage your data infrastructure. You can Bring your own account (BYOA), Bring your own networks (BYON), as well as your own security policies. ## Choice of a shared control plane deployment All of the above deployment options are available with a shared control plane (SCP) scenario where multiple tenants share the Tessell control plane services, thereby reducing the management cost incurred by the Tessell platform. In a SCP deployment, customers enjoy the same functionalities by trading off QoS in the control plane since the micro-services run in a namespace shared by multiple tenants. This deployment model is typically suited for tenants having a limited number of databases to manage or those who are exploring and evaluating the platform features. ## Comparison of Deployment Options To help you choose the best Tessell deployment option for your environment, here is a quick comparison of our deployment choices. | Deployment Option | Where is the Data Plane hosted? | Dedicated Cloud Account for Data Plane? | Where is the Control Plane hosted? | Dedicated Control Plane? | Dedicated Metadata Store (Schema)? | Target Audience | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Professional | Tessell | No | Tessell | No | No | Individuals (Professionals, college students, open-source developers, etc.) | | Business | Tessell | No | Tessell | Yes | Yes | SMBs (with less than 500 employees) that need a managed DBaas in a cost effective manner (data plane shared with other tenants) | | Business - SCP | Tessell | No | Tessell | No | No | | | Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) | Tessell | Yes | Tessell | Yes | Yes | Medium to large businesses (with less than 5000 employees) that need a managed DBaaS with a dedicated data plane account for data plane isolation. | | Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) - SCP | Tessell | Yes | Tessell | No | No | | | VPT @ Customer | Customer's Account | As provided by the customer | Tessell | Yes | Yes | Large enterprises (with over 5000 employees) that have strict compliance policies and want the data plane to be hosted in their own cloud account. | | VPT @ Customer - SCP | Customer's Account | As provided by the customer | Tessell | No | No | | ### 1. Professional **Persona**: Individuals (Professionals, college students, open-source developers etc.) **Offerings**: - A single cloud account for hosting database services is shared among multiple customers. - A single API gateway ([console.tessell.com](http://console.tessell.com/)) for all customers to log in to the account. - The control plane is shared by all the customers. In case of high demand, there might be a delay in fulfilling different operations as the resources are shared by all customers. - A PostgreSQL schema as the metadata repository which contains metadata of all tenants. ### 2. Business **Persona:**SMBs who need a managed DBaaS in a cost effective manner (data plane shared with other tenants) **Offerings:** - A single shared data plane cloud account for hosting database services with one user per tenant  which is to create the cloud resources required for provisioning a tessell database service. - A dedicated API gateway for the users of the tenant to log in to the account. - A dedicated control plane for the tenant which in turn provides a superior Quality of Service (QoS). - A dedicated PostgreSQL schema as the metadata repository for the tenant. ### 3. Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) **Persona**: Medium-large enterprises who need a managed DBaaS with data plane isolation, that is, a dedicated data plane account. **Offerings**: - A dedicated data plane cloud account for the tenant where the database services for this tenant are provisioned. - A dedicated API gateway for the users of the tenant to log in to the account. - A dedicated control plane for the tenant which in turn provides a superior Quality of Service (QoS). - A dedicated database server instance as the metadata repository for the tenant. ### 4. VPT @ Customer **Persona**: Large enterprises like banks with strict compliance policies and who prefer the data plane is hosted on their own cloud account. **Offerings**: - Customers bring their own cloud account for provisioning the databases. - A dedicated API gateway for the users of the tenant to log in to the account. - A dedicated control plane for the tenant which in turn provides a superior Quality of Service (QoS). - A dedicated database server instance as the metadata repository for the tenant. ## Shared Control Plane (SCP) for Business, VPT, VPT @ Customer **Persona**: Tenants having a  limited number of databases to manage or those who are exploring and evaluating the platform features can have an SCP flavor of their edition (Business, VPT, VPT @ Customer). **Offerings**: The SCP offerings remain the same as the base edition, except: - Shared control plane among few customers. In case of high demand, there might be a delay in fulfilling different operations as the resources are shared. - A PostgreSQL schema as the metadata repository that contains all metadata of the SCP customers. ### FAQs **What are the deployment options offered by Tessell?** Tessell offers four deployment options: Professional, Business, Virtual Private Tessell (VPT), and VPT @ Customer, each varying by control plane, data plane location, and dedicated infrastructure level. **What is Virtual Private Tessell (VPT)?** Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) is a deployment option providing a dedicated cloud account, dedicated control plane, and dedicated metadata server, supporting commercial engines like Oracle and SQL Server. **What is the difference between VPT and VPT @ Customer?** VPT hosts the data plane in Tessell's cloud account, while VPT @ Customer hosts the data plane in the customer's own cloud account using BYOA and BYON. **What is a shared control plane (SCP) in Tessell?** A shared control plane in Tessell is a deployment mode where multiple tenants share control plane services, reducing cost but trading off Quality of Service during high demand. **Who should use Tessell's Professional deployment option?** Tessell's Professional deployment suits individuals, professionals, college students, and open-source developers, supporting up to three subscriptions on AWS or Azure for all open-source database engines. --- ## tessell-airdrop URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-airdrop Last updated: 2026-08-24 In early September, Oracle and Microsoft formed a groundbreaking [partnership](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/09/14/microsoft-expands-partnership-with-oracle-to-bring-customers-mission-critical-database-workloads-to-azure/) to bring** Oracle Exadata infrastructure to Azure.**This exciting development means that enterprises can now fully embrace Oracle in their “Migration and Modernization” journey. Customers can now take advantage of the powerful combination of Microsoft's platform and AI capabilities, which makes it possible for Oracle workloads to run on Azure. This partnership facilitates the delivery of mission-critical Oracle Exadata and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) services directly from within the Azure data center. Tessell [welcomes](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/tessell-welcomes-oracle-database-azure) this announcement from Oracle and Microsoft and is proud to make two new announcements to enable elegant data management on Exadata@Azure. 1. **Tessell Airdrop**: A brand new service in Tessell to facilitate the seamless migration of Oracle databases from Exadata on-premises to Exadata@Azure. 2. **Unified Control Plane**: Tessell will extend its platform for managing Oracle on Azure IaaS to the new Exadata@Azure infrastructure. ## **Tessell Airdrop** While Exadata@Azure is one of the best things to happen for Oracle customers, the first thought that comes to their minds is how they will move their data from on-premise to the cloud. Tessell eliminates the need to re-architect your systems for cloud migration, allowing your Oracle workloads to** lift and shine **in the cloud, irrespective of where they are hosted. With the introduction of the new Exadata infrastructure in Azure, we are delighted to announce a brand new consumer-grade service called **Tessell Airdrop. **This innovative service will offer seamless zero downtime migration of your on-premises Oracle Exadata workloads to Exadata@Azure**.** ### **Key Features of Airdrop** 1. **Automated Assessment and Discovery**: Tessell Airdrop will bring a comprehensive array of services that span from initial automated assessment, discovery, and planning, through to the final cutover and optimization. This will ensure a seamless transition without any disruption to your day-to-day operations. 2. **Zero Downtime: **Designed to minimize downtime during migration, Tessell Airdrop will ensure that your business remains uninterrupted. Your data and applications will be operational in the Azure cloud swiftly and efficiently. 3. **Compatibility and Expertise**: Crafted to work flawlessly with Oracle Exadata systems, Tessell Airdrop will guarantee full compatibility of your data and configurations with Azure. 4. **Security and Compliance: **Acknowledging that data security and compliance are paramount, Airdrop will guarantee protection for your data throughout the migration process, ensuring compliance with industry regulations. 5. **Scalability and Innovation: **Migrating to Exadata@Azure avails you of Azure’s extensive range of services. These encompass advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning tools, equipping your business with the necessary tools to innovate and maintain a competitive edge. ## **Unified Control Plane** As you move your Oracle workloads to Exadata on Azure, you need to manage your databases efficiently and elegantly across all environments, including production, UAT, QA, and development. Tessell is the only fully managed database service for Oracle on Azure. Today, this rich platform is available on Azure IaaS, including high-performance compute such as **Lsv3 **VMs that can provide up to 2 million IOPS. As Microsoft brings Exadata, the most sophisticated infrastructure for Oracle, to Azure, Tessell will be extending its platform to enable all its data services for Exadata@Azure as well. This will provide the customers with a **Unified Control Plane **to manage and transfer data between Exadata and Azure’s native IaaS. Tessell’s [**Oracle PaaS on Azure**](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/azure-tessell-oracle-dbaas) is a widely embraced, comprehensive platform for managing Oracle database environments with unmatched ease and efficiency. With Tessell, you have a single pane of glass view of your Oracle database environment, simplifying administration, monitoring, and optimization tasks. Tessell’s fully managed database service takes care of all the lifecycle management tasks, including provisioning, patching, snapshots/backups, HA/DR, monitoring, cloning, and restoring. In addition to undifferentiated heavy lifting, Tessell provides a suite of highly differentiated data management services, such as [**Availability Machine and Dataflix**](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/why-what-how-of-tessell-availability-machine). These services allow customers to perform data masking, export/import data, achieve backup compliance, define data governance, and browse the data catalog in a consumer-grade manner. ## **Join the Exadata@Azure Journey** **Tessell **serves as your gateway to harnessing the full potential of Exadata on Azure. Bid farewell to the complexities associated with migrating and managing your Oracle Exadata workloads, and welcome the future with a seamless, secure, and cost-effective solution. [Contact us](https://www.tessell.com/contact-sales?query=Exadata@Azure) today to explore more about Tessell’s **Airdrop **and **Unified Control Plane **for Exadata@Azure. ### FAQs **What is Tessell Airdrop?** Tessell Airdrop is a consumer-grade migration service that enables seamless zero-downtime migration of on-premises Oracle Exadata workloads to Exadata@Azure, including automated assessment, discovery, planning, and final cutover. **How do you migrate Oracle Exadata to Azure?** Migrating Oracle Exadata to Azure with Tessell Airdrop involves automated assessment and discovery, migration planning, zero-downtime data transfer, compatibility validation, security and compliance enforcement, and final cutover to Exadata@Azure. **What is the Tessell Unified Control Plane?** Tessell Unified Control Plane is a single management interface for Oracle databases across Azure IaaS and Exadata@Azure, providing provisioning, patching, snapshots, HA/DR, monitoring, cloning, and data services. **What is Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC)?** Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) is an Oracle database clustering technology that allows multiple servers to access a single database simultaneously, providing high availability and scalability for mission-critical workloads. **What are the key features of Tessell Airdrop?** Tessell Airdrop key features include automated assessment and discovery, zero-downtime migration, full Oracle Exadata compatibility, end-to-end security and compliance, and scalability into Azure's analytics, AI, and machine learning services. --- ## announcing-tessell-for-milvus URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-for-milvus Last updated: 2026-08-24 At Tessell, we’re building the most powerful data infrastructure platform in the world that enables teams of all sizes to run their favorite data services at scale. Databases are at the heart of every innovative company, from bleeding-edge startups to massive enterprises. The need to build, manage, and scale data infrastructure in the cloud is more important and complex than ever. In the age of generative AI, companies are increasingly looking to put their data to work. Vector databases are becoming a core part of the generative AI stack, forcing operators and executives to consider where this fits in their existing digital transformation strategy and how they’ll maintain another production-scale database with their existing teams. That’s why we’re excited to announce the availability of **Milvus **on the Tessell platform. With Tessell, you will be able to automate the enterprise readiness of your vector databases from day 1 and de-risk incorporating them into your most critical applications. Tessell now makes provisioning, scaling, and operations of all of your databases—relational, NoSQL, and vector—easy so that you can focus on building your models and integrating them into your stack without worrying about the reliability or availability of your data. Tessell is the only DBaaS platform where, with a unified control plane, you can now manage your primary application data in SQL/NoSQL databases on Tessell and seamlessly integrate it with a vector database (Milvus) for your AI applications. With enterprise-ready features and security like encryption at rest with your own keys, deploying into your choice of cloud on your terms, automatic backups and cloning, and integration into your internal SSO/SAML, Tessell bridges the gap between next-generation AI applications and your compliance policies. Tessell not only makes managing the database itself easy, but it also lets you easily manage your collections in Milvus directly through Tessell, enabling you to manage your schema programmatically with an API or through Terraform with our provider. ### **Tessell on Tessell** So, what did we do with the Milvus at Tessell? We built our own ChatGPT on internal documents. As part of the roadmap, Tessell for Milvus will also have ingestion interfaces for various sources like HTML, PDF, DOCX, etc. This will allow users to easily ingest embeddings into the Milvus database and consume them with LLM apps. Tessell already supports vector databases on the popular PostgreSQL with pgvector, and now, with this latest addition, Tessell for Milvus becomes a comprehensive vector database platform of choice. ‍ We can't wait to see all of the great things that you'll build using Milvus on Tessell. If you’d like to be part of the excitement, sign up for early access here or reach us at [contact@tessell.com](mailto:contact@tessell.com) to try out Tessell for Milvus today. --- ## announcing-tessell-for-mongodb URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-for-mongodb Last updated: 2026-08-24 **tes·sel·la·tion** **/ˌtesəˈlāSH(ə)n/** **noun** ***the process or art of tessellating a surface, or the state of being tessellated.*** ***an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping.*** ‍ The idea behind Tessell is a beautiful one: take a complex topic like database management and break it down in a way that provides a beautiful result. Simply put, let’s do database management better, and let’s do it at your terms. Tessell’s mission is to be the de facto standard for database management, regardless of what database engine you are using and regardless of what cloud your data exists on. We began this quest focused on relational databases such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL. Today, Tessell is entering the world of NoSQL database management, and we are proud to announce the addition of **MongoDB **Community Edition to the lineup of Tessell-supported database engines. Customers worldwide can now easily deploy MongoDB instances via the Tessell platform to take advantage of the scalability, reliability, and agility of a managed solution to drive application development and shape business strategies. MongoDB is by far the most widely used document database, and it makes perfect sense to give customers the ability to choose how they deploy and consume MongoDB. Tessell will provide customers with the benefits that they know and love, such as running their applications anywhere, scaling operations confidently, and reducing architectural complexity so that they can focus on shipping applications instead of managing the database that their apps run on. With the MongoDB service offering from Tessell, users can run a fully managed MongoDB Server inside a fully managed virtual machine on the supported public clouds. Tessell will create the MongoDB databases in the customer’s cloud account (BYOA), which is available as part of the Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) @ Customer deployment option. Tessell takes care of managing the underlying infrastructure (Virtual Machines, Storage, Networking). Tessell also manages the Day 0 (Provisioning) tasks as well as the Day N tasks of database management (backups, point-in-time restores (PITR) via Dataflix, minor version patching, DB upgrades, and monitoring) and lets users focus on the requirements of their business. Best of all, this all takes place within a customer’s cloud account, providing increased security, compliance, and performance, with the data plane living right next to the customer’s applications. We’re really excited to share these new capabilities with you. If you’d like to learn more about how you can try this yourself, you can sign up for early access here. MongoDB is a registered trademark of MongoDB, Inc. --- ## tessell-for-sql-server-hammer-db-benchmark URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-for-sql-server-hammer-db-benchmark Last updated: 2026-08-24 At Tessell, we are committed to delivering the highest-performing database services in the market. To achieve this goal, we explored Azure Managed Instance for SQL Server to assess its throughput. The most accurate way to gauge database performance is by conducting performance benchmarks for databases operating in a cloud environment with an industry benchmark tool. Azure Managed Instance for SQL Server is a scalable cloud database service that is always running on the latest SQL Server Patch and fully managed by Microsoft. Tessell provides a fully Managed DBaaS service @ your terms, allowing you complete control over patch set and versioning. In this article, we conduct performance benchmarks to assess, analyze, and compare the performance of SQL Server database engines running on Azure - Tessell and Azure Managed Instance for SQL Server. We utilized the HammerDB benchmarking tool for the benchmarking process to make a repeatable, verifiable comparison. ## Tessell for SQL Server is offered in the following variations: **High-Performance Compute (HPC): **Run your databases on high-performance cloud infrastructure with locally attached NVMe storage arranged in RAID 0 fashion to achieve millions of IOPS. Take cloud-native snapshots the same way you do for standard cloud storage. Stop/start the service at any time without any loss of data. Mirrored disks, also known as disk mirroring or RAID 1, are a storage configuration in which two identical disk drives are used in parallel to store the same data. This setup provides data redundancy and fault tolerance. When one disk fails, the other continues to operate seamlessly, ensuring data availability. In the context of SQL Server in an HPC environment, this redundancy is crucial to maintain continuous data access and minimize downtime. **Standard Compute: **Standard Azure VM shapes for your standard workloads. Enjoy fully managed PaaS service @ your terms for versioning, etc. Stop/start the service on demand for utility consumption. For this benchmarking exercise, we will use the **Tessell HPC shapes**. ## Set up Azure Managed Instance We are creating a SQL Managed Instance with the latest **5th Gen ( 8 vCore ) CPU**. We will run a heavy load on the system and load it with ~120-130 GB of data. The instance takes a whopping** ~6 hours **to get created. We have also created the jump server in the same network to launch the Hammer DB test. Once provisioned, Hammer DB was configured with the below parameters. The same Jump Box will also be utilized to test the SQL Server on Azure Tessell. Following is the configuration used for the Benchmarking Test `{     "connection": {         "mssqls_server": "mssqlmi001.2f347019b10a.database.windows.net",         "mssqls_linux_server": "localhost",         "mssqls_tcp": "true",         "mssqls_port": "1433",         "mssqls_azure": "true",         "mssqls_authentication": "sql",         "mssqls_linux_authent": "sql",         "mssqls_odbc_driver": "ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server",         "mssqls_linux_odbc": "ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server",         "mssqls_uid": "hpctest",         "mssqls_pass": "Tessell@0123456789",         "mssqls_encrypt_connection": "true",         "mssqls_trust_server_cert": "true"     },     "tpcc": {         "mssqls_count_ware": "1000",         "mssqls_num_vu": "16",         "mssqls_dbase": "tpcc",         "mssqls_imdb": "false",         "mssqls_bucket": "1",         "mssqls_durability": "SCHEMA_AND_DATA",         "mssqls_total_iterations": "10000000",         "mssqls_raiseerror": "false",         "mssqls_keyandthink": "false",         "mssqls_checkpoint": "false",         "mssqls_driver": "timed",         "mssqls_rampup": "2",         "mssqls_duration": "5",         "mssqls_allwarehouse": "false",         "mssqls_timeprofile": "false",         "mssqls_async_scale": "false",         "mssqls_async_client": "10",         "mssqls_async_verbose": "false",         "mssqls_async_delay": "1000",         "mssqls_connect_pool": "false"     } }` Now run the Test for calculating the throughput for Azure MI using Hammer DB The total NOPM  (new orders per minute) was achieved in 2183 and 5185 TPM. Now, let's Provision an HPC shape on Tessell with an 8 vCPU machine (NVMe Storage ) arranged in the RAID 0 fashion. As mentioned above, a similar Test was conducted, and the following output was observed. ‍ ## Conclusion: As you can see from the results, Tessell HPC SQL Server gave **20X higher IOPS as compared to Azure Managed Instance  **for the identical Hammer DB workload As is generally the case, you can benefit significantly in license costs if your application is limited by IOPS. With Tessell HPC, there is no IOPS metering/throttling, so you always get price predictability alongside massive performance uplift. Conclusion: Your demanding workloads can significantly benefit from Tessell HPC database service at reduced TCO To get started, you can sign up for a free trial [here](https://tessell.com/sign-up). ### FAQs **What is HammerDB?** HammerDB is an industry-standard database benchmarking tool used to conduct repeatable, verifiable performance comparisons across SQL Server, Oracle, and other database engines running on cloud or on-premises infrastructure. **What is Azure Managed Instance for SQL Server?** Azure Managed Instance for SQL Server is a scalable cloud database service from Microsoft, always running the latest SQL Server patch, fully managed with built-in patching, scaling, and configuration. **How does Tessell SQL Server compare to Azure Managed Instance?** Tessell HPC SQL Server delivered 20x higher IOPS than Azure Managed Instance in HammerDB benchmarks on identical workloads, with no IOPS metering, predictable pricing, and significant TCO reductions. **What is Tessell HPC for SQL Server?** Tessell HPC for SQL Server runs on locally attached NVMe storage in RAID 0 configuration, delivering millions of IOPS with cloud-native snapshots, stop/start flexibility, and no IOPS throttling. **How long does Azure Managed Instance take to provision?** Azure Managed Instance for SQL Server takes approximately six hours to provision, significantly longer than alternative cloud database services, making rapid scaling and deployment challenging for time-sensitive workloads. --- ## postgresql-16-whats-new-part-1 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-16-whats-new-part-1 Last updated: 2026-08-24 PostgreSQL 16 has been released, introducing numerous major features that enhance the database engine's performance and offer new capabilities to developers and administrators. This blog post will explore these important updates. In the first part, we'll focus on the developer-friendly features of PostgreSQL 16. The following part, set to be published in the coming weeks, will delve into the other major features. Here, we discuss major enhancements, including the introduction of new SQL/JSON standards, improvements in parallel joins and incremental sorts, the creation of custom collation rules, and other developer-friendly features. ## **Developer experience** ## Effective Parallel Joins In the latest release of PostgreSQL, version 16, one of the major enhancements introduced is the support for FULL OUTER JOINS in parallel hash joins. This is a significant improvement compared to the functionality in earlier versions of the database software. In previous PostgreSQL versions, the task of performing hash joins was allocated to a single worker. This often led to bottlenecks and inefficiencies, particularly when dealing with large datasets. However, in this current PostgreSQL 16 version, the process of hash join is now distributed and parallelized. Consider the below quick example, where we are trying to demonstrate the FULL OUTER JOIN, which fetches all the non-matching records from both joining tables. `db1=> SELECT COUNT(*) FROM goods; count -------- 320000 (1 row)` As shown above, we have a total of 320000 records in the goods table. Now, let's simulate a FULL OUTER JOIN on the same table to fetch all the records twice using the following query.   `db1=> SELECT COUNT(*) FROM goods s FULL OUTER JOIN goods g ON(s.product_name=g.product_name||'x'); count -------- 640000 (1 row)` Here, we're using the FULL OUTER JOIN on the same table. However, the join condition compares all the product names with product names plus an 'x' character. This method retrieves all the records twice. Now, let’s see the execution plan of this query in PostgreSQL 16.   `db1=> EXPLAIN SELECT COUNT(*) FROM goods s FULL OUTER JOIN goods g ON(s.product_name=g.product_name||'x');                                              QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Finalize Aggregate  (cost=16040.78..16040.79 rows=1 width=8)   ->  Gather  (cost=16040.67..16040.78 rows=1 width=8)         Workers Planned: 1         ->  Partial Aggregate  (cost=15040.67..15040.68 rows=1 width=8)               ->  Parallel Hash Full Join  (cost=6701.29..14570.08 rows=188235 width=0)                     Hash Cond: ((g.product_name || 'x'::text) = s.product_name)                     ->  Parallel Seq Scan on goods g  (cost=0.00..3612.35 rows=188235 width=6)                     ->  Parallel Hash  (cost=3612.35..3612.35 rows=188235 width=6)                           ->  Parallel Seq Scan on goods s  (cost=0.00..3612.35 rows=188235 width=6) (9 rows)` From the above plan, parallel workers are launched to perform the hash join, introducing the node Parallel Hash Full Join in this release. If we were to execute the same query in previous versions, we wouldn't encounter the Parallel Hash Full Join. Instead, we would see a single Hash Full Join. In version 16, parallelism extends to support the Parallel Hash Right Join too. Previous versions of PostgreSQL already supported Parallel Hash Left Join. This hash join parallelism significantly boosts performance, leading to improved response times when joining large result sets and retrieving unmatched records. ## SQL/JSON Previous versions of PostgreSQL provide extensive support for storing and handling JSON documents. They also offer a rich set of developer functions for navigating JSON paths and performing CRUD operations on the documents. However, the latest release of PostgreSQL now supports SQL/JSON standard functions. Other database engines, including Oracle and MySQL, support the SQL/JSON standards using functions such as json_array() and json_object(). Similarly, PostgreSQL 16 has introduced these JSON constructors that adhere to the SQL/JSON standards. These JSON constructor functions enable us to easily create JSON objects from other result sets. Let’s begin with some simple examples, where we try to demonstrate constructing and validating the JSON objects. Now, let's create a JSON object using the json_object constructor.     `db1=> SELECT json_object(product_name VALUE price) FROM goods LIMIT 3;    json_object -------------------- {"Product #1" : 1} {"Product #2" : 2} {"Product #3" : null} (3 rows)` Now, let's exclude products with a NULL price by specifying ABSENT ON NULL in json_object.     `db1=> SELECT json_object(product_name VALUE price ABSENT ON NULL) FROM goods LIMIT 3;    json_object -------------------- {"Product #1" : 1} {"Product #2" : 2} {} (3 rows)` By using this constructor, we specify an inline validation to the keys like allow only UNIQUE keys and throw exception if there are any duplicate keys found. Consider the below example, where we are constructing the JSON with duplicate keys, which throws exception.     `db1=> SELECT json_object('id':1, 'id':2 WITH UNIQUE KEYS); ERROR:  duplicate JSON object key value: "id"` By using this json_object constructor, we can also created nested json_objects as like below.   `db1=> SELECT json_object('id':1, 'nested':json_object('id':1));            json_object ----------------------------------- {"id" : 1, "nested" : {"id" : 1}} (1 row)` The above one is an example to just demonstrate the flexibility of creating nested json objects, by using this new constructors. The json_array constructor which is introduced, like the json_object, helps to build a JSON array using the provided values.     `db1=> SELECT json_array(json_object('id':1), json_object('id':2));        json_array -------------------------- [{"id" : 1}, {"id" : 2}] (1 row)` Here is an example where we construct a JSON array using JSON objects. We can also create a JSON array object with all possible type values and exclude NULL values from the list.     `db1=> SELECT json_array('a', ARRAY[1,2,3], now(), json '{"id": 1}', null ABSENT ON null);                          json_array -------------------------------------------------------------- ["a", [1,2,3], "2024-01-12T23:32:16.35455+00:00", {"id": 1}] (1 row)` In addition to the constructors, PostgreSQL 16 also provides an IS JSON predicate. This predicate checks if a given value is a valid JSON entity. With IS JSON, we can confirm that the input is one of the following: VALUE, SCALAR, OBJECT, or ARRAY. Moreover, we can verify if the JSON has a UNIQUE key set or a non-`UNIQUE` key set. Consider the following simple JSON document, where we would be performing a few set of validations. `db1=> SELECT ($$ {"name": "John Doe", "age": 30,"isMarried": true,"children": ["Jane", "Joe"]} $$::JSON IS JSON) as is_json; is_json --------- t (1 row)` The above example demonstrates a basic validation where we verify whether the given JSON is valid or not. Since it's a valid object, the output is true. Now, let's take a closer look at the internal objects, such as age, which is JSON VALUE type.     `db1=> SELECT ($${"name": "John Doe", "age": 30,"isMarried": true,"children": ["Jane", "Joe"]} $$::JSON)->'age' IS JSON VALUE as is_json; is_json --------- t (1 row)` Similarly, let’s evaluate the children object which is of type JSON ARRAY.     `db1=> SELECT ($${"name": "John Doe", "age": 30,"isMarried": true,"children": ["Jane", "Joe"]} $$::JSON)->'children' IS JSON ARRAY as is_json; is_json --------- t (1 row)` The IS JSON also validates the entire JSON object to determine whether it contains unique keys or not. Below is a quick example demonstrating this behavior.     `db1=> SELECT $${"name": "John Doe", "age": 30,"isMarried": true,"children": ["Jane", "Joe"], "name": "James Doe"}$$::JSON IS JSON WITH UNIQUE KEYS as is_unique; is_unique ----------- f (1 row)` In the above example, we have used the name key twice, which caused it to return the value false. ## Incremental sort In PostgreSQL 13, a feature called incremental sort was introduced. This approach to sorting data allows it to be sorted in batches or groups, instead of processing it all at once. In PostgreSQL 16, this feature was further enhanced to support DISTINCT/Unique sort operations. This means that, when performing data aggregate operations in PostgreSQL 16, we can now get the benefit of having incremental sort. In general, one query feature gets the major advantage of having the incremental sort. That is, the LIMIT of the data result. Consider the below general query, which gets the top 100 costly products from the goods table.     `db1=> SET enable_incremental_sort TO off; SET db1=> EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT product_name, price FROM goods ORDER BY product_name DESC, price DESC LIMIT 100;                                                               QUERY PLAN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Limit  (cost=11803.51..11815.01 rows=100 width=9) (actual time=70.691..72.609 rows=100 loops=1)   ->  Gather Merge  (cost=11803.51..33450.42 rows=188234 width=9) (actual time=70.690..72.596 rows=100 loops=1)         Workers Planned: 1         Workers Launched: 1         ->  Sort  (cost=10803.50..11274.09 rows=188234 width=9) (actual time=67.790..67.796 rows=80 loops=2)               Sort Key: product_name DESC, price DESC               Sort Method: top-N heapsort  Memory: 32kB               Worker 0:  Sort Method: top-N heapsort  Memory: 32kB               ->  Parallel Seq Scan on goods  (cost=0.00..3609.34 rows=188234 width=9) (actual time=0.009..20.435 rows=160000 loops=2) Planning Time: 0.063 ms Execution Time: 72.634 ms (11 rows)` As shown above, we explicitly disabled the enable_incremental_sort feature to illustrate the benefits of the incremental_sort. The query above performs a sequential scan on the table, then uses top-N heap sort to retrieve the top 100 costly products. This query takes approximately 72ms. Now, let's execute the same query with increment_sort enabled and observe the response time.   `db1=> SET enable_incremental_sort TO on; SET db1=> EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT product_name, price FROM goods ORDER BY product_name DESC, price DESC LIMIT 100;                                                                    QUERY PLAN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Limit  (cost=2.57..10.59 rows=100 width=9) (actual time=0.072..0.129 rows=100 loops=1)   ->  Incremental Sort  (cost=2.57..25672.45 rows=319997 width=9) (actual time=0.071..0.122 rows=100 loops=1)         Sort Key: product_name DESC, price DESC         Presorted Key: product_name         Full-sort Groups: 4  Sort Methods: top-N heapsort, quicksort  Average Memory: 26kB  Peak Memory: 26kB         ->  Index Scan Backward using product_idx on goods  (cost=0.42..13469.41 rows=319997 width=9) (actual time=0.022..0.083 rows=129 loops=1) Planning Time: 0.075 ms Execution Time: 0.145 ms (8 rows)` From the results, it's evident that the query response time has significantly decreased from 72ms to 0.145ms. This improvement is due to the index on the product_name column. This column serves as a Presorted Key for incremental sort, which only returned 149 rows to be sorted into 4 groups. This response is far more efficient than the previous query execution, which required a full table scan to retrieve all records before performing the top-N heap sort. The incremental sort feature is incredibly useful when processing large amounts of data. It eliminates the need to load and sort the entire data set at once by allowing you to process the data in groups. However, in earlier versions of PostgreSQL, this feature was limited to only ORDER BY and WINDOW functions. Now, it has been expanded to support DISTINCT, where PostgreSQL internally performs a sort to eliminate duplicate values from the list. Consider the following example, where we add the DISTINCT clause to the previous query. Notice how the incremental_sort operation is selected and it creates 100 incremental sort groups to eliminate duplicates from the result. If we increase the dataLIMIT from 100 to 1000then, we would be having 1000 groups in the incremental sorts.     `-db1=> EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT DISTINCT on(product_name) * FROM goods ORDER BY product_name DESC, price DESC LIMIT 100;                                                                        QUERY PLAN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Limit  (cost=2.57..267.67 rows=100 width=9) (actual time=0.247..2.452 rows=100 loops=1)   ->  Unique  (cost=2.57..26472.44 rows=9985 width=9) (actual time=0.246..2.443 rows=100 loops=1)         ->  Incremental Sort  (cost=2.57..25672.45 rows=319997 width=9) (actual time=0.246..2.184 rows=3169 loops=1)               Sort Key: product_name DESC, price DESC               Presorted Key: product_name               Full-sort Groups: 100  Sort Method: quicksort  Average Memory: 26kB  Peak Memory: 26kB               ->  Index Scan Backward using product_idx on goods  (cost=0.42..13469.41 rows=319997 width=9) (actual time=0.027..1.337 rows=3201 loops=1) Planning Time: 0.371 ms Execution Time: 2.529 ms (9 rows)` ## Custom Collation Rules With the release of PostgreSQL 16, a significant new feature is the ability to define custom collation rules. These rules can be used to customize the way data is sorted in database. This functionality is particularly useful in handling cases where the conventional sorting techniques do not suffice. For instance, consider a scenario where you have a set of words whose pronunciation order is not the same as their alphabetical order. Traditional sorting methods would fail to consider this nuance. However, with the custom collation rules in PostgreSQL 16, you can impose a specific pronunciation-based sorting order. This new feature adds another layer of flexibility and control in managing and manipulating your data. To demonstrate this feature, let's consider the following set of English words. Their alphabetical order differs from the order of their pronunciation. The words "Hour", "Island", "Knot", "Pneumonia", "Psychology", and "Wrist" are alphabetically sorted. However, when we consider their pronunciation, which includes silent letters, a different letter might appear as the first character. If we wish to sort these words based on pronunciation, this is achievable in PostgreSQL 16 through custom collation rules. While previous versions required custom logic to handle such cases, PostgreSQL 16 allows for easy configuration. Consider the below demonstrations which solves the above problem with collation custom rules.     `db1=> CREATE TABLE words(name text); CREATE TABLE db1=> INSERT INTO words VALUES ('Hour'), ('Island'), ('Knot'), ('Pneumonia'), ('Psychology'), ('Wrist'); INSERT 0 6 db1=> SELECT * FROM words ORDER BY name;    name ------------ Hour Island Knot Pneumonia Psychology Wrist (6 rows)` As seen in the previous output, the words are organized in ascending alphabetical order. If we want to sort these words based on pronunciation, we need to create a custom collation and configure the rules accordingly. Now, let’s create the collation with custom rules.     `db1=> CREATE COLLATION pronounce (provider = icu, locale = 'en', rules = '& Is < Kn < Pn < Ho < Wr < Ps'); CREATE COLLATION` As seen above, in the rules section, we stated that Is is less than Ho. This is due to the general English pronunciation where Island is pronounced as Iland and Hour as our. According to alphabetical order, Iland is considered less than our. Now, let's run the same query with these custom collation rules and see whether the we are able to sort the words based on pronunciation. From the output, we see that the list of words are now sorted based on pronunciation.     `db1=> SELECT * FROM words ORDER BY name COLLATE pronounce;    name ------------ Island Knot Pneumonia Hour Wrist Psychology (6 rows)` In addition to the major features mentioned above, PostgreSQL 16 offers a range of additional functionalities designed for developers. These improvements not only simplify the programming process but also offer more adaptable and efficient solutions to different programming challenges. ## array_shuffle This function serves an important purpose: it randomly shuffles the elements within an array. It does this in a completely arbitrary order, guaranteeing that the end result will be unpredictable and indeed, quite random. The beauty of this function lies in its versatility. It can accept any array data type, making it incredibly flexible and adaptable to various use cases. Once the function has completed its shuffling process, it then returns a new array. This new array contains the same elements as the original one, but with the order of these elements thoroughly randomized. This simple yet powerful function is an essential tool when randomization is required.   `db1=> SELECT array_shuffle(ARRAY[1,NULL,2]); array_shuffle --------------- {1,2,NULL} (1 row) db1=> SELECT array_shuffle(ARRAY[1,NULL,2]); array_shuffle --------------- {2,NULL,1} (1 row)` From the above example, it's evident that the array_shuffle() function produces different results for the same input. Due to its versatility, we can use it to shuffle any array. For instance, consider the following array of arrays.     `db1=> SELECT array_shuffle(ARRAY[ARRAY[1,2,3], ARRAY[4,5,6]]);   array_shuffle ------------------- {{4,5,6},{1,2,3}} (1 row) db1=> SELECT array_shuffle(ARRAY[ARRAY[1,2,3], ARRAY[4,5,6]]);   array_shuffle ------------------- {{1,2,3},{4,5,6}} (1 row)` As demonstrated above, the array_shuffle() function generates a random array for the same input. This allows us to randomize the data group that we need to process in the application, if necessary. ## array_sample This particular function operates by randomly selecting a predetermined number of elements from an array. The function accepts two arguments. The first argument that the function accepts is an array. This array can be of any length, and it is from this array that the elements will be selected. The second argument accepted by the function is an integer. This integer represents the number of elements that the function will select from the array. Thus, for instance, if the function is given an array of ten elements and the integer 3, it will randomly select three elements from the array of ten. Consider the example below.     `db1=> SELECT array_sample(ARRAY['head','tail',NULL], 1); array_sample ------------- {head} (1 row) db1=> SELECT array_sample(ARRAY['head','tail',NULL], 1); array_sample ------------- {tail} (1 row)` As demonstrated above, the array_sample() function generates a different sample value for the same input. This allows us to randomly select a sample value from the array in our dataset. Since the array_sample() function can accept any array element, we can also use it to randomly select an array from an array of arrays. Consider the following example.   `db1=> SELECT array_sample( ARRAY[ARRAY['trail #1', 'head'], ARRAY['trail #2','tail']], 1); array_sample -------------------- {{"trail #1",head}} (1 row)` ` db1=> SELECT array_sample( ARRAY[ARRAY['trail #1', 'head'], ARRAY['trail #2','tail']], 1); array_sample -------------------- {{"trail #2",tail}} (1 row)` ## any_value The any_value() in PostgreSQL 16 provides a handy utility by returning a single value from a specified group of values. This function doesn't guarantee to return a specific value, rather it arbitrarily picks any value from the group. This can be particularly beneficial in scenarios where you don't need a specific value, but any representative value from a group will suffice. Consider the following example, which demonstrates this function's behaviour.   `db1=> SELECT any_value(column1) FROM (VALUES (1), (6), (NULL)); any_value -----------         1 (1 row)` From the above output, if you see any_value() returning a non-null value of 1, try to run the same process with different values as shown below.   `db1=> SELECT any_value(column1) FROM (VALUES (NULL), (6), (NULL)); any_value -----------         6 (1 row)` Now, let's execute the operation again with all NULL values and observe the results.     `db1=> SELECT any_value(column1) FROM (VALUES (NULL), (NULL), (NULL)); any_value ----------- (1 row)` From the above results, it's evident that any_value() returns a non-null value from the group. This function is similar to the COALESCE function but operates on a group of values. It is particularly useful for replacing aggregate functions such as MIN, MAX, AVG when the application doesn't require the aggregated output value, but instead needs any non-null entry from that group. ## Summary PostgreSQL 16 introduces several new features and improvements. It now supports parallel hash right join, enhancing performance when joining large result sets. SQL/JSON standard functions are now supported, allowing easy creation of JSON objects from other result sets. Incremental sort, introduced in PostgreSQL 13, has been expanded to support DISTINCT/Unique sort operations, significantly reducing response times. Custom collation rules can be defined, offering flexibility in data sorting. New functions include array_shuffle for randomizing array elements, array_sample for randomly selecting array elements, and any_value for returning a single value from a group of values. PostgreSQL 16 is now supported on Tessell. Watch out for Part -2 of PostgreSQL 16. [Schedule](https://www.tessell.com/contact-sales?query=PostgreSQL%2015) a demo today to try PostgreSQL 16 & more on Tessell. ‍ ‍ ### FAQs **What's new in PostgreSQL 16?** PostgreSQL 16 introduces parallel hash full join, SQL/JSON standard functions, expanded incremental sort with DISTINCT support, custom collation rules, and new functions array_shuffle, array_sample, and any_value. **What is the IS JSON predicate in PostgreSQL?** The IS JSON predicate in PostgreSQL 16 validates whether a value is a valid JSON entity, confirming types like VALUE, SCALAR, OBJECT, or ARRAY and verifying unique key sets. **What is incremental sort in PostgreSQL?** Incremental sort in PostgreSQL is a feature introduced in version 13 that sorts data in batches or groups instead of all at once, dramatically improving performance for LIMIT and DISTINCT queries. **What is custom collation in PostgreSQL 16?** Custom collation in PostgreSQL 16 lets developers define custom sorting rules using ICU locales, allowing pronunciation-based, alphabetical, or domain-specific ordering instead of standard collation methods. **What new array functions does PostgreSQL 16 introduce?** PostgreSQL 16 introduces array_shuffle for randomizing element order, array_sample for selecting random elements from an array, and any_value for returning a non-null value from a group. --- ## announcing-tessell-database-lifecycle-management-dblm-for-exadata-azure URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-database-lifecycle-management-dblm-for-exadata-azure Last updated: 2026-08-24 The collaboration between Oracle and Microsoft to offer Exadata@Azure presents a significant opportunity for Oracle customers worldwide. This allows them to colocate their Exadata-hosted Oracle databases next to their applications and leverage Azure’s extensive range of services, including advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning tools. Tessell introduces Database Lifecycle Management (DBLM), a Microsoft Marketplace[offering](https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/tessellinc1655919615020.dblm_for_oracle_exadata?tab=Overview)that includes a suite of services for improved efficiency and flexibility. ## Data Protection - Tessell Availability Machine Tessell Availability Machine is a revolutionary data app designed for consumer-grade usability and simplicity in managing enterprise databases. This comprehensive solution provides data protection for Oracle without requiring the need for third-party backup software. Availability Machine includes: - Full Backup - Incremental Backup - Archival Log sweep on Azure Blob - RMAN Backups integrated with Azure Native Infrastructure - Ransomware Protection using Immutable Vault on Azure Blob ## Data Consumption - Tessell Dataflix Dataflix, another innovative data app by Tessell, makes consuming data as easy as streaming a movie. It includes features such as: - Restore Oracle Databases to either Exadata@Azure or On-premises - Clone Oracle Databases from/to Exadata@Azure or Azure Native - PITR (Point in Time Recovery) or Time Series Recoverability for Oracle Databases ## Patching Tessell provides flexible patching solutions for both standalone and HA Oracle deployments, covering both database and OS patching, as well as version upgrades. Customers can schedule patching at their convenience including: - Golden Image Patching - Standby-First Patch Applied for HA Configurations ## HA and DR Tessell includes 1-click Multi-AZ HA and cross-region DR, allowing configurable RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective). DBLM enables automated read replicas for Oracle databases, along with automated failover and failback. ## Tessell Airdrop Service This innovative service facilitates seamless zero-downtime “**lift and shine**” migration of on-premises Oracle Exadata workloads to Exadata@Azure. The service includes automated assessment and discovery, right-sizing the Oracle workloads, guaranteed data compatibility, and compliance with industry regulations throughout the migration process. ## DBLM Boosts Flexibility and Reduces Costs DBLM encapsulates several capabilities to Exadata@Azure, enhancing agility including: - A single interface for backup and restore, cloning, patching, and HA/DR. - A single interface for downstream environment management (UAT/QA/Dev). - Streamlined management for OS and hosting patching and database version upgrades. - DR on Azure-native infrastructure at any Azure location. - Ransomware protection and immutable data protection on Azure-native infrastructure. - Integration with the Azure ecosystem for database modernization. With automated database migration, decreased database management integrated backup & restore capability, and additional capabilities like HA/DR, Tessell ensures significant savings and a normalized experience for Exadata@Azure customers. Tessell DBLM for Exadata is available on all Azure Regions and Availability Zones globally ‍ --- ## tessell-hosting-choices URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-hosting-choices Last updated: 2026-08-24 In today's digital landscape, the core of every business operation revolves around data and software infrastructure. However, many organizations grapple with realizing the full potential of the digital economy. Since the inception of Tessell, we've recognized that data engineers encounter significant hurdles in managing data effectively: - **Productivity and Time-to-Market**: The demand for heightened productivity and quicker time-to-market is hindered by inflexible database management systems, which are ill-suited to modern code structures and impose intricate interdependencies among engineering teams. - **Data Management Challenges**: Organizations struggle to harness and derive insights from the vast and swiftly expanding volume of data generated by modern applications, encompassing diverse data types such as time series, geospatial, and polymorphic data. - **Legacy Data Infrastructure**: Outdated, monolithic, and fragile architectures impede the widespread transition to distributed systems. These systems fail to provide the resilience and scalability demanded by digital businesses and do not adequately comply with evolving regulatory requirements for data privacy. - **Convergence of Workloads**: Transactional, analytical, search and mobile workloads are converging to create sophisticated data-driven applications and customer experiences. However, traditionally, each workload has relied on its separate database, resulting in duplicated data silos interconnected through fragile ETL pipelines and accessed via disparate developer APIs. To tackle these challenges, Tessell began with the vision of revolutionizing database management by providing a better, more flexible solution. The goal is to become the standard for data management, regardless of the database engine or cloud platform being used. Tessell initially focused on relational databases like Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL, and has now expanded to include NoSQL databases like MongoDB and vector databases like Milvus. Tessell provides the flexibility to run databases anywhere, in your choice of cloud. This eliminates vendor lock-in. Tessell solves several problems in the realm of database management. Firstly, it simplifies the process by offering a managed solution that takes care of infrastructure management, provisioning, backups, patching, upgrades, and monitoring. This allows users to focus on their business requirements rather than the complexities of database management. Tessell addresses scalability and reliability challenges by offering a fully managed virtual machine environment for running databases. This ensures that applications can scale confidently and that the underlying infrastructure is taken care of, reducing architectural complexity. ### **Tessell Deployment Architecture** Tessell allows you to manage the databases seamlessly by bifurcating the management layer (control plane ) and storage/data layer (data plane). Tessell offers you multiple options for hosting a data plane and a control plane. In a [previous blog](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/choose-the-right-database-deployment-option), we explored all the deployment options available for the data plane. In this article, we will dive deep into various options for the control plane and corresponding benefits and limitations. ### **Control Plane** Nestled within the heart of our Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform is a robust control plane, meticulously designed as a **microservice-based architecture**. This architecture serves as the foundation for our comprehensive database management services, allowing the control plane to seamlessly navigate the intricate landscape of database operations on behalf of our customers. Rooted in an **API-first philosophy**, the control plane effortlessly integrates into our customer’s systems, enabling fluid API invocation for a range of database tasks. From the initial provisioning of databases to the ongoing orchestration of scaling, performance optimization, and data integrity, the control plane takes center stage in overseeing the complete database lifecycle. **Terraform **access further amplifies our capabilities, allowing us to define, refine, and enforce security measures, access controls, and configurations through code. Within this harmonious ecosystem, our microservice-driven control plane stands resolute, illuminating a path toward unmatched database management solutions for our customers. At a high level, there are ***two ***variations in which Tessell control plane is offered to customers -*Dedicated*(single tenant) and*Shared*(multi-tenant). #### **Dedicated Control Plane** Our dedicated offering epitomizes exclusivity. Crafted around the dedicated microservice paradigm, each customer's database ecosystem enjoys an entire suite of microservices exclusively at its disposal. This approach ensures uncompromised performance, security, and customization, as each microservice caters solely to the customer it serves. Moreover, this orchestration layer comes with a dedicated PostgreSQL-based metadata repository for database management with a singular focus on customer-specific requirements, guaranteeing unparalleled precision. To summarize, a dedicated control plane offers the following benefits: - A **dedicated API gateway **for the users of the tenant to log into the account. - A **dedicated microservice set **for the tenant which in turn provides a superior Quality of Service (QoS). - A **dedicated database **server instance as the metadata repository for the tenant. - Custom maintenance schedule for the control plane itself. Based on where it is hosted, there are two flavors for a dedicated control plane: *Tessell-hosted*, or*Customer-hosted*. ##### **Hosted and Managed by Tessell** The most opted option by customers is to have a dedicated account managed by Tessell. In this scenario, the control plane infrastructure is meticulously set up on a cloud account exclusively owned by Tessell. The entire lifecycle of the control plane is automatically managed by Tessell, guaranteeing its smooth operation and optimal performance. It's vital to emphasize that this cloud account is exclusively reserved for the single tenant preventing any possible sharing with other tenants and ensuring the highest level of privacy and security. This account can be hosted in any region of your choice ensuring data localization requirements are met. NOTE: Although the figure above represents the Tessell architecture on AWS however, Tessell is a multi-cloud platform, and a similar architecture would be applicable on Azure as well. **Deployment** - Tessell provides a dedicated cloud account, for the exclusive use of a single customer, where the control plane is deployed in the region preferred by the customer. This deployment ensures the isolation of the control plane infrastructure from other tenants, thereby providing dedicated resources. **Management** - Tessell handles all the duties related to updates, patching, and maintenance with the utmost efficiency and reliability, ensuring the smooth functioning of the system. **Benefits** - **Enhanced Isolation:**Dedicated resources ensure consistent performance, improved security, and stronger compliance adherence. - **More Control:**Customers gain a level of control over infrastructure configuration within the dedicated environment. - **Simplified Security and Compliance:**Dedicated resources facilitate meeting stringent security and compliance requirements. - **Automatic Updates and Maintenance:**Enjoy seamless control plane operation with automated updates and proactive maintenance. **Considerations** - **Higher Cost:**A dedicated account typically incurs higher hosting fees than the shared hosting model (explained later). ##### **Hosted by the Customer** Even with the Tessell-hosted control plane, the communication between the data plane and the control plane happens over a secure private network. However, for some of the highly regulated companies, it’s imperative all infrastructure and communication must remain within their own cloud account. For such customers, the entire control plane can be moved to their cloud account so that it is co-located with the data plane. There are two choices for such a control plane depending on how much access Tessell has over the control plane to manage it. ###### **Hosted by the Customer, Automatically Managed by Tessell** In this scenario, the infrastructure for the control plane is deployed on a cloud account owned by the customer. The control plane's lifecycle is automatically managed by Tessell, which will have access to the customer's control plane cloud account. **Deployment** - The customer is responsible for deploying the control plane infrastructure within their cloud account environment with the assistance of Tessell. Following deployment, Tessell assumes responsibility for remotely managing the control plane lifecycle. This management necessitates access to the customer's cloud account. **Management** - Tessell remotely manages updates, patching, and maintenance tasks within the customer's cloud account with the help of specific access provided by the customer while customers retain complete control over the underlying cloud infrastructure. **Benefits** - **Complete Control:**Customers maintain full control over both the control plane infrastructure and data, aligning with stringent governance and security policies. - **Leverage Existing Infrastructure:**Customers can utilize existing cloud infrastructure and investments instead of incurring additional hosting costs. Customers can burn their MACC/EDB contracts for the same as well. - **Automatic Updates and Maintenance:**Tessell takes care of releasing updates and take care of monitoring the ecosystem in case of any maintenance requirement. Tessell team jointly works with the customer team to resolve any issue. **Considerations** - **Limited Support:**Remote management poses challenges for troubleshooting and complex tasks, potentially impacting support response times. ###### **Hosted by the Customer, Manually Managed by Tessell** This particular option has been specifically designed for customers whose work involves handling highly sensitive data and who do not wish to engage in any form of communication with the Tessell ecosystem. Here, the control plane infrastructure will be deployed on a cloud account owned by the customer, while the lifecycle of the control plane will be managed by an Account Manager on behalf of Tessell. It is important to note that Tessell will not have direct access to the control plane cloud account of the customer. The designated Account Manager will undertake all lifecycle operations such as upgrades and patching. In this hosted model, the control plane hosted on the customer account will remain completely disconnected. However, outbound access to a predefined set of Tessell endpoints will be necessary to pull the bits required for the upgrade and patch activities in the control plane administered by the tenant’s Account Manager. **Deployment** - Control plane infrastructure will be deployed on a cloud account owned by the customer by Tessell as a one-time activity. **Management** - Customers are responsible for all the tasks related to control plane lifecycle management such as updates, patching, and maintenance. Tessell, on the other hand, offers guidance and assistance on these tasks, as well as on troubleshooting, through an Account Manager. It is worth noting that customers retain full control over their cloud account and do not grant Tessell access to it. **Benefits** - **Absolute Control:**Customers retain complete control over both the control plane infrastructure and data, ensuring maximum autonomy and security. - **No Outside Access:**Eliminates the need to grant Tessell access to your cloud account making it compliant with stringent security standards - **Leverage Existing Infrastructure:**Customers can utilize existing cloud infrastructure and investments instead of incurring additional hosting costs. **Considerations** - **Personnel Requirement:**Control plane management is a shared responsibility with customers requiring significant technical expertise and resources. - **Lifecycle Management:**Troubleshooting and complex tasks (Lifecycle Management) might require coordination with Tessell's Account Manager, introducing potential delays. ### **Shared Control Plane** A shared control plane is always hosted and managed by Tessell in a shared cloud account. Our shared offering embodies versatility and scalability. Here, microservices operate synergistically, serving multiple customers with a shared pool of resources. This dynamic arrangement optimizes resource utilization, scalability, and cost for customers while maintaining a robust security framework. The shared PostgreSQL metadata repository further enhances agility by facilitating efficient database management across a diverse customer base, promoting harmonious coexistence. **Deployment** - Tessell deploys customer control planes on a shared cloud infrastructure enabling the benefit of full multi-tenant resources. **Management** - Tessell is solely responsible for managing the control plane lifecycle. This includes all the tasks that come with it, such as updates, patching, and maintenance. Customers do not need to handle any operational overhead associated with the control plane infrastructure. **Benefits** - **Reduced Operational Burden: **Customers offload control plane management, freeing up resources for core activities. - **Minimal Upfront Costs: **Reduce the upfront infrastructure setup and maintenance expenses - **Automatic Updates and Maintenance: **Enjoy seamless control plane operation with automated updates and proactive maintenance. **Considerations** - **Shared Resources: **Sharing resources among tenants that share the same control plane cloud account and a few common services may result in performance variations, albeit minimal, and can cause potential compliance and security policy concerns necessitating careful evaluation. - **Limited Control: **Customers do not have absolute control over infrastructure configuration within the shared environment. However, the Tessell team keeps a tight eye on it with its 24*7*365 monitoring. - **Compliance Implications: **Sharing resources might not be suitable for strict compliance requirements, necessitating careful evaluation. ### **Comparisons** In all our offerings, our control plane's prowess remains unwavering. Rooted in an API-first architecture and fortified by Terraform access, it orchestrates the complete database lifecycle with expertise and finesse, regardless of the chosen offering. Whether dedicated or shared, our control plane enables exceptional database management solutions, setting new standards for performance, flexibility, and customer satisfaction. Tessell releases regular updates in all variants enabling the customer to get the latest features as per their choice. **Below is a quick comparison of all hosting models available in Tessell.** | Benefits | Hosted and managed by Tessell (shared) | Hosted and managed by Tessell (dedicated) | Hosted by the customer, managed automatically by Tessell | Hosted by the customer, managed manually by Tessell | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Upfront Cost | Low | Medium | High | High | | Management Overhead | Low | Low | Medium | High | | Lifecycle Management | Automated | Automated | Partially Automated | Manual | | Customer Control | Regular | High | Very High | Extremely High | | Cloud Access for Tessell | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Tessell Support | Mission Critical | Mission Critical | Critical | On Call | ### **Security** Security is paramount in any Database as a Service (DBaaS) platform, where the integrity and confidentiality of data are top priorities. One crucial aspect is ensuring data security through robust encryption methods, both during transmission and while at rest. By encrypting data, organizations can safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access, mitigating the risk of data breaches. Additionally, implementing stringent access controls and authentication mechanisms helps regulate user access to the database, ensuring that only authorized individuals can retrieve or modify data. These measures not only protect against internal threats but also bolster defenses against external attacks. Moreover, secure connections play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity of a DBaaS platform. Utilizing technologies like Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) ensures that data is transmitted securely over networks, safeguarding it from interception or tampering by malicious actors. By establishing secure connections between client applications and database servers, organizations can instill confidence in their users regarding the safety of their data transactions. Overall, prioritizing data security and secure connections within a DBaaS platform is essential for instilling trust, meeting compliance requirements, and safeguarding sensitive information in today's digital landscape. In this section, we will take a closer look at how Tessell secures the data plane, the control plane, and the communication between the two. #### **Control Plane Security Measures** Tessell ensures that the security of the control plane is upheld through a series of stringent measures. - **Exclusive Customer Access**: Access to the control plane is exclusively granted to customers through a dedicated UI portal for each customer. This restricted access ensures that only authorized individuals have entry, enhancing overall security. - **API and Terraform Access**: Customers can interact with the control plane programmatically through APIs and Terraform, seamlessly integrating with their DevOps pipelines. Secure API keys are used for authentication, providing a secure and streamlined way to manage resources remotely. - **Integrated SSO Authentication**: Customers have the flexibility to integrate their authentication provider. This integration enhances authentication protocols, ensuring that only legitimate users can access the control plane. Several authentication providers including Okta, Azure AD, and Google can integrated with Tessell. - **RBAC Policies: **Tessell not only facilitates AD integration but also provides fine-grained access control through its persona creations. Users can craft various personas within Tessell to align with their needs for governance, reporting, and network access. This capability further enables customers to implement a maker-checker process directly within the control plane. #### **Control Plane Access for Tessell Support** - **View-Only Access for Monitoring**: Support personnel are given restricted, view-only access to the Tessell Ops Portal bolstering security by constraining their capabilities. This precautionary measure reduces the likelihood of unintentional actions and guarantees stringent control over access. It also enables a layer of security over the data stored in the customer control plane in terms of users, their access, etc enabling full compliance with GDPR requirements - **Security Patch Management**: Vital security patches are accessible for implementation within one week of their release. Customers can opt for the most suitable timeframe to apply security patches to the control plane in their dedicated environment. All patches undergo rigorous testing and scrutiny by the Tessell team to prevent any incidents in production. This methodical approach guarantees that patches are carefully tested and deployed to mitigate vulnerabilities. - **Automated Software Updates**: Software updates and patches to the control plane are carried out seamlessly through an automated process. These updates are recorded in a detailed audit log, maintaining a record of every action taken. - **Transparent Process Auditing**: Every process, including security patches, support, software updates, and patches, is thoroughly documented and available for audit. This transparency ensures that any changes made to the control plane are traceable and accountable. Incorporating these security measures guarantees that the Control Plane remains a secure and controlled environment. Customers can confidently manage their resources, whether through the UI portal, APIs, or Terraform, knowing that their data and actions are well-protected and subject to rigorous oversight. #### **Interaction Between Control Plane and Data Plane** Tessell’s architecture places paramount importance on the security of communication between the control plane and the data plane. Several robust security measures are in place to safeguard this interaction: - **Ensuring Secure Access with Least Privilege IAM Roles: **In our commitment to safeguard your data, we employ IAM roles for secure access. These roles grant access to cloud resources securely and seamlessly. Through a highly restricted role, we provide temporary permissions, eliminating the need for cumbersome long-term access keys. We adhere to the principle of least privilege, ensuring that your access is tailored to your specific needs. - **Fine-Grained Access Control with Resource Tagging: **To provide you with precise control over your resources, we utilize resource tagging. Our IAM policies are set up to make determinations based on these resource tags. This empowers you to specify individuals or roles that can access particular resources, adding an extra layer of security. The Tessell control plane is restricted to acting only on resources that bear Tessell tags, ensuring a level of separation within your ecosystem. - **Limited Access for Microservices**: The architecture ensures that only designated microservices, utilizing the authorized service principal, can engage with the data plane. This approach minimizes the potential attack surface by allowing only specific, trusted microservices to interact. All the microservices work via a secure encryption layer preventing any in-transit security attacks. - **Inbound Connection Exclusion**: Tessell strictly prohibits any inbound connections into resources located within the data plane until and unless explicitly approved. This rigorous restriction fortifies the overall security posture by preventing external entities from initiating connections to data plane resources. - **Protected Outbound Connections (SSL)**: Outbound connections from the data plane to external destinations are meticulously protected through SSL encryption. This encryption layer ensures that data transmitted between the data plane and external components remains confidential and immune to interception or tampering. - **Pull-Based Data Retrieval (initiated from the data plane)**: The communication model follows a pull-based approach, with data requests originating from the data plane. This method ensures that the control plane remains passive until the data plane initiates a data transfer request. By minimizing unnecessary communication, this approach enhances security and mitigates potential risks. - **Ticket-Based Access**: Tessell Support access to the data plane from the control plane is initiated based on customer approval through support tickets. This approach ensures that only authorized individuals can interact with the data plane, and access is granted for a limited time specified in the ticket. - **Audited Support Actions**: Any actions carried out by the support team within the data plane are meticulously audited. This audit trail guarantees transparency and accountability, maintaining a comprehensive record of all support-related activities. Through the implementation of these robust security measures, the architecture establishes a secure and controlled communication channel between the control plane and the data plane. By focusing on microservices and limiting access to authorized entities, the architecture enhances data integrity, minimizes vulnerabilities, and elevates the overall security stance of the system. --- ## lift-and-shine-oracle-to-azure-with-tessell-paas URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/lift-and-shine-oracle-to-azure-with-tessell-paas Last updated: 2026-08-24 > “I’m most impressed by the team’s never-ending availability, solution-centric thinking, and amazing customer service attitude. This, in combination with top-notch Oracle knowledge and skill, makes it very easy for me to recommend Tessell to any corporation seeking options for running Oracle in Azure. Also, the portal for Oracle workloads is a masterpiece. All vital information about the database’s state is available at a glance. Exemplary.” Organizations continually seek innovative solutions to enhance efficiency and agility. For businesses relying heavily on Oracle databases, migrating to Azure offers numerous benefits, including cost savings, scalability, and improved performance. [Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/solution/migrate-to-cloud), a Microsoft Oracle on Azure Partner, provides comprehensive solutions to facilitate the seamless migration of Oracle databases to Azure. This blog delves into how Tessell can transform your Oracle workloads, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition to the cloud. ## Oracle Workloads Tessell offers robust support for all Oracle workloads, ensuring a smooth transition of packaged applications such as E-Business Suite and PeopleSoft, Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications, and custom applications. The complexity and diversity of these workloads require a nuanced approach to migration that Tessell is uniquely equipped to provide. By leveraging Tessell’s deep expertise and tailored strategies, organizations can confidently migrate their critical workloads to Azure without compromising functionality or performance. The migration of packaged applications like E-Business Suite involves detailed planning and precise execution. These applications are integral to business operations, managing everything from financials to human resources. Tessell ensures that these critical applications are migrated smoothly, with all dependencies and integrations intact. For COTS and custom applications, Tessell provides specialized support to address unique requirements and potential challenges, ensuring a seamless transition to the cloud environment. ## Seamless Migration Migrating databases often raises concerns about downtime and data loss, which can significantly affect business continuity. Tessell addresses these issues with its automated zero downtime and zero data loss migration strategy. Tessell begins by creating a standby environment in the cloud using a crawl, walk, and run methodology. This initial step ensures that a replica of your database is available, minimizing the risk of data loss. The process then progresses to more complex phases, ensuring that all aspects of the migration are thoroughly tested and optimized. When the migration reaches the final phase, the database is fully operational in the cloud with no downtime and data loss. This methodical approach allows organizations to migrate their databases without disrupting ongoing business activities, providing peace of mind and operational continuity. ## Licensing One key advantage of migrating Oracle databases to Azure with Tessell is maintaining existing licensing models. Tessell enables organizations to license their Oracle databases like they do on-premises by using dedicated hosts. This flexibility simplifies the migration process and ensures cost-effectiveness, making the transition to the cloud more attractive for organizations already invested in Oracle’s licensing framework. Dedicated hosts provide the same level of control and security as on-premises environments, allowing organizations to manage their licenses efficiently. This approach eliminates the need for organizations to renegotiate licenses or invest in new ones, reducing both cost and complexity. By maintaining familiar licensing models, Tessell ensures organizations can transition to the cloud without the financial and administrative burdens typically associated with such migrations. In cloud environments, two vCPUs typically [equate](https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/cloud-licensing-070579.pdf) to one Oracle processor license. With multi-threading enabled, two vCPUs run on a single physical core, making one physical core in the cloud equivalent to one Oracle processor license. Conversely, two physical cores are needed for one Oracle processor license for on-premises databases. This disparity can significantly increase costs when running Oracle on public clouds. However, using dedicated hosts can mitigate this issue, as you license the entire hardware similarly to on-premises setups. Consequently, the on-premises licensing formula applies - two physical cores of a dedicated host equal one Oracle processor license. | | Oracle Processor License | Physical Cores | vCPUs | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | On-premises | 1 | 2 | 4 | | Azure VMs | 1 | 1 | 2 | | Azure VMs on Dedicated Hosts | 1 | 2 | 4 | ## Consolidation With its unique database [consolidation](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/maximizing-efficiency-consolidating-oracle-databases-on-the-cloud) feature, Tessell allows multiple databases to be hosted on the same server. This consolidation optimizes resource utilization and reduces operational costs, as managing multiple databases on a single server simplifies infrastructure management and enhances efficiency. By consolidating databases, organizations can achieve greater scalability and flexibility, easily adapting to changing business needs. Hosting multiple databases on the same server also streamlines maintenance and administrative tasks. With fewer servers to manage, IT teams can focus on optimizing performance and ensuring data security. Consolidation also improves disaster recovery and backup processes, as fewer systems need to be managed and maintained. This holistic approach to database management enhances overall operational efficiency and reduces the total cost of ownership. ## dbPaaS Tessell’s fully managed Database as a Service ([DBaaS](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/azure-tessell-oracle-dbaas)) features provide a comprehensive suite of tools for efficient database management. These features include provisioning, patching, monitoring, snapshots, RMAN backups, cloning, restoring, resizing, and high availability/disaster recovery (HA/DR). With these capabilities, organizations can ensure their databases are always up-to-date, secure, and resilient. Provisioning new databases becomes a streamlined process with Tessell’s DBaaS features, reducing the time and effort required to set up and configure new instances. Automated patching and monitoring ensure that databases remain secure and perform optimally, while snapshots and RMAN backups provide robust data protection. Cloning and restore features facilitate efficient testing and development processes, and resizing capabilities allow databases to scale according to business needs. High availability and disaster recovery features ensure that databases remain operational, even in unexpected events. ## Data Management Data management is a critical aspect of any database operation, and Tessell offers advanced data management features such as data masking, data export/import, and backup compliance. These features enhance data security and compliance, ensuring that sensitive information is protected and data operations adhere to industry standards. By implementing data masking, organizations can protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, reducing the risk of data breaches. Data export/import features streamline data migration and integration processes, allowing organizations to move data between environments efficiently. Backup compliance ensures that all backup operations meet regulatory and industry standards, providing peace of mind and reducing compliance-related risks. Tessell’s advanced data management features empower organizations to manage their data more effectively, enhancing security and compliance. ## Exadata @ Azure Exadata is renowned for its high performance and reliability. Tessell ensures that these attributes are maintained in the Azure environment by providing first-class and comprehensive support for Exadata @ Azure, including complete database lifecycle management, encompassing proactive monitoring and maintenance, backups, patching, and cloning. - **Complete database lifecycle management**: Proactive monitoring and maintenance ensures that databases perform optimally. - **Patching and backups: **Patching and backups are managed seamlessly, reducing administrative overhead and ensuring that databases remain secure and up-to-date. - **Cloning: **Cloning capabilities facilitate efficient testing and development - **Disaster recovery: **DR features to ensure business continuity. Tessell’s first-class support for Exadata @ Azure enables organizations to leverage Exadata's full power in a cloud environment. ## Azure NetApp Files (ANF) Azure NetApp File, a robust and scalable storage solution for Oracle databases, offers organizations superior performance and scalability for their database operations, making it ideal for demanding database workloads. Tessell also provides first-class support for Azure NetApp Files, including advanced features such as high availability, disaster recovery, and seamless integration with Oracle databases: - **High availability: **Tessell HA features to ensure databases remain accessible during maintenance or unexpected events. - **Disaster recovery: **Tessell DR capabilities provide robust protection against data loss - **Seamless integration: **Tessell seamlessly integrates with Oracle databases, simplifying management and reducing complexity. Tessell’s first-class support for ANF empowers organizations to optimize their storage infrastructure and enhance overall performance. ## Conclusion Migrating Oracle databases to Azure can be a complex and challenging process. However, with Tessell’s comprehensive support and advanced features, organizations can achieve a seamless and efficient transition. From zero downtime and zero data loss migration to flexible licensing and advanced data management, Tessell provides the tools and expertise to lift and shine your Oracle databases in the cloud. By partnering with Tessell, organizations can unlock the full potential of their Oracle workloads on Azure, driving innovation, efficiency, and growth. ### FAQs **Why migrate Oracle databases to Azure?** Migrating Oracle databases to Azure delivers cost savings, scalability, improved performance, flexible licensing through dedicated hosts, automated zero-downtime migration, and access to Azure-native services like NetApp Files and Exadata @ Azure. **What is Azure NetApp Files (ANF) used for?** Azure NetApp Files (ANF) is a scalable enterprise storage solution for Oracle databases on Azure, delivering high performance, high availability, disaster recovery, and seamless integration with demanding database workloads. **What is database consolidation in Tessell?** Database consolidation in Tessell hosts multiple databases on a single server, optimizing resource utilization, reducing operational costs, simplifying infrastructure management, and improving disaster recovery and backup efficiency across the database estate. **How does Tessell reduce Oracle licensing costs on Azure?** Tessell reduces Oracle licensing costs on Azure by enabling dedicated hosts, which restore the on-premises ratio of one processor license per two physical cores instead of one license per single core on standard Azure VMs. **What data management features does Tessell offer for Oracle?** Tessell offers Oracle data management features including data masking for sensitive data protection, data export/import for streamlined migration, and backup compliance to meet regulatory and industry standards. --- ## patching-and-upgrading-oracle-applications-made-easy-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/patching-and-upgrading-oracle-applications-made-easy-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 As enterprises migrate their Oracle applications to the cloud, ensuring high availability (HA), patching, and seamless infrastructure upgrades for the underlying databases is crucial to maintaining business continuity and performance. Tessell’s fully managed DBaaS platform provides robust tools and methodologies to manage these needs effectively. This article explores the techniques and best practices for seamless patching and infrastructure upgrades for Oracle applications in the cloud, covering the provisioning of multi-AZ HA systems, the switchover process, failover scenarios, and additional use cases. ## Multi-AZ Highly-Available System ### Topology A multi-availability zone (multi-AZ) high availability (HA) system is essential for maintaining the uptime and reliability of Oracle databases in the cloud. The core components of this topology include: - **Database Nodes**: These nodes consist of a primary and one or more standby databases configured using Oracle DataGuard. The primary database actively handles the application’s traffic, processes transactions, and serves queries. The standby database(s) in a different availability zone are synchronized replicas that remain ready to take over operations if the primary database fails seamlessly. This setup ensures that data is continuously protected and available, reducing the risk of data loss and downtime. - **Observer Nodes**: Observer nodes play a crucial role in monitoring the health of the primary database. These nodes run Oracle DataGuard Broker, which automatically manages failover operations. If the observer detects that the primary database is unavailable or compromised, it initiates a failover to the standby database, promoting it to the new primary role. This automated monitoring and failover mechanism significantly enhances the resilience of the overall system. ### Maximum Availability Oracle DataGuard offers several protection modes to cater to different business requirements, with Max Availability Mode being the most robust and preferred for mission-critical applications. In this mode: - Transactions are committed to the primary and standby databases before the application acknowledges them. This ensures no data loss, even in the case of a primary database failure. The synchronous replication mechanism used in Max Availability Mode guarantees that the standby database is always up-to-date with the primary database. - While this mode might introduce a slight latency due to synchronous replication, it balances data protection and performance, making it ideal for applications where data integrity is paramount. ### Provisioning Process A successful provisioning of an HA database system follows the steps below. - Creating the Primary Database Instance on Node 1. - Creating the Standby Instance (Node 2) from the Primary Instance using the RMAN Duplicate command. - Configure Data Guard with Node 1 as the primary instance and add Node 2 as the standby instance. - Enable Data Guard Protection Mode as**MAXAVAILABILITY**and enable** Fast-Start Fail-over**. - Run a Data Guard observer process on all three nodes, designating the observer on Node 3 as the Master Observer and calling it the**Controller Node**. ## Role Reversals ### Switchover A switchover is a planned operation that reverses the roles of the primary and standby databases without any data loss. This process is typically used for maintenance activities, testing, or disaster recovery drills. The switchover process involves several steps: - **Prepare the Standby Database**: Ensure that the standby database is fully synchronized with the primary database. This involves checking the lag and ensuring all transactions have been applied to the standby database. - **Execute Switchover Command**: Initiate the switchover operation from the primary database. This is done using Oracle DataGuard commands, which ensure that the current primary database transitions to a standby role and the standby database becomes the new primary. - **Verify Role Reversal**: After the switchover operation, it is essential to verify that the roles have been successfully reversed. This involves checking the status of both databases to confirm that the standby database is now the primary and vice versa. ### Failover A failover is an unplanned operation triggered by an unexpected outage or failure of the primary database. Various failover scenarios include: - **Fast-Start Failover**: This is an automatic failover mechanism initiated by the observer node if the primary database becomes unavailable. The observer continuously monitors the primary database’s health and, upon detecting a failure, automatically promotes the standby database to the primary role. This ensures minimal downtime and maintains data integrity without manual intervention. - **Manual Failover**: When automatic failover is not configured or desired, a database administrator can manually initiate a failover operation. This is typically done after verifying the primary database’s unavailability and ensuring the standby database is ready to take over. The standby database assumes the primary role in both cases, ensuring the application remains available with minimal disruption. ### Examples Let’s review a few failover scenarios in the same topology depicted in the image (Figure 1) earlier. #### Scenario 1: Node 1 Failure - If Node 1 (Primary) goes down, the Master Observer on Node 3 initiates an auto failover. - Node 2 becomes the new Primary Instance. - When Node 1 recovers, it synchronizes with the Primary (Node 2) and acts as a Failover Replica. Fast-Start Failover is automatically enabled. #### Scenario 2: Node 2 Failure - If Node 2 (Standby) goes down, Node 1 continues as the Primary. - Data Guard reports Fast-Start Fail-over as DISABLED with errors. - Upon Node 2's recovery, it syncs with Node 1 and continues as a Fail-over Replica with Fast-Start Fail-over automatically enabled. #### Scenario 3: Node 3 Failure - In the event of Node 3 (Controller) failure, one of the observers on Node 1 or Node 2 assumes the role of Master Observer. **Note**: Users can also perform a manual switchover from the Tessell UI. ## Patching ### Near-Zero Downtime Patching Rolling patching allows organizations to apply updates to their Oracle databases with near-zero downtime by leveraging the switchover process. This method ensures that the database remains available during the patching operation. The rolling patching process involves several steps: - **Prepare/Patch Standby Database**: Apply the patch to the standby database. This involves updating its software and ensuring it is fully synchronized with the primary database before the patching process starts. - **Switchover**: Once the standby database is patched and ready, initiate a switchover to make it the new primary. This ensures the application runs on the patched database while the original primary database is taken offline for patching. - **Patch Former Primary**: Apply the patch to the new standby database (the former primary). This step involves updating the database software and verifying that the patch is applied successfully. ### Standby-First Patching - **Minimal Downtime**: The rolling patching process ensures that the application remains available during the patching operation, minimizing disruption to business operations. - **Reduced Risk**: By patching the standby database first, you can verify the patch’s stability and functionality before applying it to the primary database. If any issues arise during the patching process, you can quickly failover to the unpatched primary database, reducing the risk of prolonged downtime. - **Operational Flexibility**: Rolling patching allows for shorter and less disruptive maintenance windows, providing greater flexibility in scheduling patching activities. This approach is particularly beneficial for organizations with stringent availability requirements. ## Infrastructure Upgrade ### Seamless Compute Shape Change Switchover mechanisms can also facilitate infrastructure upgrades, such as changing the compute shape of your database instances. This allows the databases to move from an older generation infrastructure to a newer generation. The seamless upgrade process involves several steps: - **Upgrade the Standby Node**: Change the compute shape of the standby database. This would require rebooting the instance. Ensure that the standby is synchronized with the primary before moving to the next step. - **Switchover to Standby**: Initiate a switchover to make the standby database the primary database. This ensures the application remains available while the old primary database is offline for the upgrade. - **Upgrade Former Primary**: Change the compute shape of the old primary database. This involves selecting a new compute shape that offers better performance, more resources, or other desired characteristics. The upgrade process may include resizing CPU, memory, or storage resources to meet new requirements. This approach ensures that the database remains available throughout the upgrade process, minimizing downtime and disruption to business operations. ## Additional Use Cases The same principles can be applied to several other lifecycle management processes. ### Resizing - **Resize Standby**: Move the standby to a new compute shape with a higher or lower CPU and memory as needed. This would require rebooting the instance. Ensure the standby is synchronized with the primary before moving to the next step. - **Switchover to Standby**: Initiate a switchover to make the standby database the primary database. This ensures the application remains available while the old primary database is resized. - **Resize Former Primary**: Adjust the old primary database's resources (CPU, memory, storage) to meet new performance or capacity requirements. This step involves selecting the appropriate resource configuration and applying the changes. ### Parameter Updates - **Apply Updates to Standby**: First, implement the parameter changes on the standby database. This step involves updating database parameters, configuration settings, or other operational characteristics. - **Switchover**: Initiate a switchover to make the standby database the primary, activating the parameter changes. This ensures that the updated configuration is now in effect. - **Update Former Primary**: Apply the same parameter changes to the new standby database (the former primary). This ensures consistency and synchronization between the primary and standby databases. ### Database Upgrades - **Upgrade Standby**: First, apply the database upgrade to the standby database. This step involves updating the database software to a new version, applying patches, or making other significant changes. - **Switchover**: Once the standby database is upgraded and ready, initiate a switchover to make the upgraded standby the primary database. This ensures that the application runs on the upgraded database. - **Upgrade Former Primary**: Apply the upgrade to the new standby database (the former primary). This ensures that both databases are running the latest version and are synchronized. ## Conclusion Seamless patching and infrastructure upgrades for Oracle applications in the cloud are achievable with a well-architected multi-AZ HA system, leveraging the power of Oracle DataGuard and switchover processes. These strategies ensure minimal downtime, maintain high availability, and provide operational flexibility. By adopting these best practices, organizations can enhance their Oracle cloud environments' resilience, performance, and scalability, ensuring continuous business operations and improved user experiences. ### FAQs **What is multi-AZ high availability for Oracle in Tessell?** Multi-AZ high availability for Oracle in Tessell uses primary and standby database nodes across availability zones, configured with Oracle DataGuard and observer nodes for automatic failover and continuous data protection. **What is the difference between switchover and failover in Oracle DataGuard?** A switchover is a planned role reversal between primary and standby databases with zero data loss, while a failover is unplanned, triggered by primary database failure or unavailability requiring standby promotion. **What is Oracle DataGuard Max Availability Mode?** Oracle DataGuard Max Availability Mode is a protection mode that commits transactions to primary and standby databases before acknowledging them, ensuring zero data loss through synchronous replication for mission-critical applications. **How does rolling patching work in Oracle databases?** Rolling patching applies updates to the standby Oracle database first, switches over to make it primary, then patches the former primary, delivering near-zero downtime through Oracle DataGuard switchover. **What is Fast-Start Failover in Oracle DataGuard?** Fast-Start Failover is an automatic failover mechanism in Oracle DataGuard where an observer node continuously monitors the primary database and automatically promotes the standby to primary upon detecting failure. --- ## automated-production-to-development-refresh-for-your-cloud-databases URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/automated-production-to-development-refresh-for-your-cloud-databases Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## **Introduction** Today’s data-rich environments require frequent data movement from one place to another. It is not uncommon for software engineers, data architects, and other consumers of corporate data to require testing environments that closely resemble the dataset in production. This allows accurate and high-fidelity testing that enables better code and more realistic QA while maintaining the separation of production and testing environments and adhering to security and operational requirements. The request to mirror environments sounds simple, but the logistics required to make it happen can be complex, tedious, and time-consuming. For example: - How easily can data be backed up daily? - How easily can the data be cleansed of PII or other sensitive data? - How easily can the data be moved or staged, including archive logs, for point-in-time recovery? - Is the process automated? Or does it require significant labor? - Do you have to write and maintain your own code to enable this process? Or can you use a simple, out-of-the-box solution? - What happens if there is an ad hoc request for an unscheduled refresh? Solving these challenges is why we at Tessell have built native features that enable data refreshing across environments. Furthermore, we ensured that the solution is comprehensive, easy to use, and can also be programmatically automated using the Tessell API. Let's dive into how the solution works and how to use it. ## Creating the Initial Clone Data refreshing in Tessell works on a Source → clone model. The source is a live database (typically production) that is snapshotted on a regular basis. The clone is a separate virtual machine whose data is replaced on a scheduled basis from the source. Snapshots from the source are generated daily or on demand. Additionally, archive and transaction logs are stored for a set period to allow refreshing to a specific point. Before creating a clone, you will need to determine your refresh strategy. Do you need to refresh daily, weekly, or monthly? This will dictate the SLA you need to define on the source to ensure the snapshot retention aligns with the refresh timeline. ### View the SLA assigned to the Production Source - Browse to the overview page for the service instance - On the top right click on **Availability Machine** - Once in the Availability Machine, click on **Update SLA **on the top right. If the SLA retention is not sufficient, you can select a different SLA or create a new SLA that matches your requirements in the **DB Governance **section of the Tessell interface. ### Create the Clone We can create the initial clone after you have validated that the SLA will retain the historical snapshots. - In the **Availability Machine **for the source. Select the Clone tab. - Click on **Create Clone** - Select the snapshot to use for the initial data seed. - Alternatively, select the **PITR region **if you want to seed the clone with data to an exact point in time. - Click on **Clone**. This will launch the provisioning wizard, which operates the same as a typical provisioning task in Tessell. However, you will see a section to add a Refresh Schedule. Fill out the refresh schedule with the required time frame. Automated refreshes are set up to run weekly or daily. - The **pre and post-script **sections allow you to run a script before the database is refreshed. For example, to extract data or settings from the target database before it is over-written. The post-script section allows you to perform actions on the database after the data has been refreshed—for example, re-import data or save settings in the pre-script step.If required, you can load scripts in the Tessell **Script Library **within the interface. Scripts can be shell scripts or SQL scripts.Here is an example of a script that manipulates users after the refresh is complete     `#!/bin/bash # Variables NEW_USER="NEWUSER" NEW_USER_PASSWORD="myPassword123" OUTPUT_FILE="output.log" # SQL script to add a new user # This assumes your SOURCE DB already has a user named # CHANGEME and another named DELETEME SQL_SCRIPT=$(cat < "$TEMP_SCRIPT" # Execute the SQL script using sqlplus as sysdba and redirect output to a file sudo -u oracle sqlplus -s / as sysdba @"$TEMP_SCRIPT" > "$OUTPUT_FILE" 2>&1 # Check if the user was added successfully by searching for "ORA-" in the output file if grep -q "ORA-" "$OUTPUT_FILE"; then  echo "Failed to manage users. See $OUTPUT_FILE for details." else  echo "Users managed successfully. See $OUTPUT_FILE for details." fi # Clean up the temporary script file rm -f "$TEMP_SCRIPT"` - Submit the request to provision the clone ### Database Rename and Multi-Instance Support Tessell supports renaming the Database during the cloning operation. This will allow you to logically manage the database names to avoid confusion, for example, Dev1, Dev2, etc. You can also rename the “master” credential to ensure each database has a unique login (if required). If you plan to place multiple clones derived from the same source database on a shared instance, you will need to ensure that each database instance has a unique name. Otherwise, Tessell will throw an error indicating that two databases with the same name cannot reside on the same virtual host. ## Checking Refresh Status After submitting the provisioning request, Tessell will build the initial clone. Once the clone is complete, you will see a few new objects that track the status and history of refreshes. Checking the last run Run history will appear in two places - Last **Refresh History **in the Clone’s Service Instance Overview page - The entire History in the **Events **section of the Service Instance ## Viewing and Editing Refresh Schedule The **Schedules **section of the Clone’s Service Instance screen contains any existing schedule. You can also modify or delete the schedule from here. ## Manual Refresh Frequently, refresh requests are ad hoc in nature. Tessell has provided functionality to allow a refresh to launch on demand through the Interface or by calling the API. ### On-Demand Refresh - User Interface The Clone’s Service Instance page will display a “Refresh Data” button on the top right corner. This button allows a user to trigger a refresh event manually. - With the Clone’s Service Instance page, click on **Refresh Data. ** - Select the Date you wish to refresh. The calendar will only show the dates with data available based on the Source Instance’s SLA. - You can select **Snapshots or PITR **in the recovery modeSnapshots will display available snapshots for the selected dataPITR will invoke a clock that allows you to select the exact time to recover - Optionally, you can choose Pre Scripts and Post Scripts from the library. - Click Submit to initiate the refresh. ### On-Demand Refresh - API While in the Refresh Data screen, you can click on the <> Code button on the top right corner to see examples of refreshing data using the Tessell API. The code will dynamically update based on your inputs in the form. As a best practice, fill out the form, then click <> Code to see the resulting API call. ### FAQs **What is data refresh in Tessell?** Data refresh in Tessell is a feature that periodically replaces clone database data with snapshots from a source database, enabling production-like testing environments through a source-to-clone replication model. **How does Tessell's source-to-clone refresh model work?** Tessell's source-to-clone refresh model snapshots a live source database on a daily or on-demand basis, then replaces a separate clone virtual machine's data on a scheduled basis with optional point-in-time recovery. **Can Tessell automate database refreshes?** Yes, Tessell automates database refreshes through scheduled weekly or daily runs, programmatic API calls, and configurable pre and post-scripts for tasks like PII cleansing or user management. **What are pre and post-scripts in Tessell clone refreshes?** Pre-scripts in Tessell run before a database refresh to extract data or settings, while post-scripts run after the refresh to re-import data, manage users, or apply configurations using shell or SQL scripts. **How do you trigger an on-demand refresh in Tessell?** On-demand refreshes in Tessell are triggered through the Refresh Data button on the Clone's Service Instance page or via API, with snapshot or point-in-time recovery selection from available SLA-retained dates. --- ## building-a-highly-available-postgresql-system-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/building-a-highly-available-postgresql-system-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 Ensuring databases' high availability (HA) is crucial for business continuity and performance. PostgreSQL, one of the most popular open-source relational databases, offers robust HA solutions, and Tessell PostgreSQL is a standout example. This guide will delve into the construction of the Tessell PostgreSQL HA system, its failover and switchover behaviors, and how it handles maintenance windows like patching. ## Setup To illustrate the setup of a Tessell PostgreSQL HA system, we’ll consider a three-node configuration designed to ensure seamless operation and minimal downtime. The high-availability solution consists of three nodes, each with specific roles to enhance the system’s resilience and efficiency. This setup ensures that the database remains operational even in the event of a node failure, providing a robust solution for mission-critical applications. ### **Configuration** •**Node 1**: The primary database handles all write operations. It is the main point of interaction for any application requiring data modifications. By centralizing write operations, Node 1 ensures data consistency and integrity. •**Node 2**: This serves as a synchronous standby database, accepting read-only operations. It mirrors the primary database in real time, immediately replicating any changes. This setup allows for load balancing of read operations and provides a backup that can be quickly promoted if the primary node fails. •**Node 3**: This node functions as an observer or arbiter node within the underlying etcd cluster. While it does not directly participate in the replication process, its role is crucial for maintaining quorum and coordinating the cluster’s state, adding an extra layer of reliability to the HA system. ### Provisioning Provisioning involves several steps to establish a functional and reliable HA cluster. Launching the three nodes and configuring them to work together seamlessly starts. - **Launch Nodes**: Start Node 1, Node 2, and Node 3. This step ensures that each node is correctly initialized and capable of communicating with the others. - **Form Quorum**: Establish a quorum for the three-node etcd cluster. Quorum is essential for maintaining consensus within the cluster, allowing it to make coordinated decisions even if one of the nodes fails. - **Configure Patroni**: On Node 1, set up Patroni as the primary node. Patroni is a vital component that automates failover, ensuring the primary node can be seamlessly replaced if it becomes unavailable.On Node 2, configure Patroni as a synchronous standby. This setup ensures real-time replication and readiness to take over as the primary if needed. - **Patroni API Callbacks**: Set up necessary API callbacks for automated management. These callbacks help manage failover and switchover processes, keeping the system responsive and reducing manual intervention. - **Launch HA Cluster**: Start the Patroni HA cluster to ensure high availability. This final step brings the entire system online, ready to handle database operations with built-in redundancy and failover capabilities. ### Topology The topology of the Tessell PostgreSQL HA system can be visualized in the diagram below, depicting the interactions and roles of each node within the cluster. The diagram clearly shows how data flows between the nodes, illustrating the primary node’s connection to the standby and observer nodes. Understanding this topology is crucial for managing and troubleshooting the HA system, as it highlights the paths data takes during normal operations and failovers. ## Failover Scenarios Tessell PostgreSQL is engineered to handle failover scenarios efficiently, minimizing application impact. The system’s design focuses on maintaining data integrity and availability, even in the face of hardware or software failures. Here are some common failover scenarios: ### Scenario 1: Node 1 Failure If Node 1, the primary database, fails, the Patroni HA system detects the failure and promotes Node 2 to become the new primary database. This automated process ensures minimal downtime and zero data loss due to synchronous replication. The replication strategy ensures that every commit on the primary node is simultaneously recorded on the standby, making the standby immediately ready to take over. The application continues running with Node 2, handling write operations and maintaining business continuity without significant interruptions. ### Scenario 2: Node 2 Failure In the event of Node 2 failure, the Patroni HA system disables the synchronous replication slots. When Node 2 becomes available again, Patroni automatically reconfigures it by synchronizing the delta from the primary node. This process involves copying only the data changes during the downtime, making the re-sync process efficient and quick. Once Node 2 is back in sync, it resumes its role as the synchronous standby. This automatic reconfiguration ensures the HA system remains resilient, quickly recovering from failures without manual intervention. ### Scenario 3: Node 3 Failure Node 3 serves as an observer and does not directly participate in replication. Therefore, its failure does not impact the primary and standby nodes. The underlying etcd cluster continues to function, maintaining the necessary quorum for decision-making. This design ensures that the system can tolerate the loss of the observer node without affecting the primary and standby operational capabilities. Once Node 3 is restored, it rejoins the quorum, resuming its role in maintaining cluster state and coordination. ## Patching Maintenance, such as patching, is crucial for security and performance. Tessell PostgreSQL allows patching with minimal downtime through the following steps: - **Parallel Shutdown**: Shut down the primary and replica nodes simultaneously. This step ensures that both nodes are taken offline simultaneously, reducing the risk of inconsistencies. - **Patch Application**: Apply the patch to both standby and primary nodes. Patching both nodes in parallel ensures they remain in sync, avoiding potential version conflicts. Tessell ensures atomicity in patching operations. If the patch fails on the replica, the changes on the primary node are also reversed. Similarly, if the patch fails on the primary node, it reverts the patch on the replica, ensuring consistency and minimizing downtime. This approach to patching maintains system stability, allowing for necessary updates without compromising data integrity or availability. ## Summary The Tessell PostgreSQL HA system exemplifies a robust, high-availability solution for PostgreSQL databases. Careful provisioning, efficient failover mechanisms, and minimal downtime during maintenance ensure that applications remain resilient and performant. Following the guidelines outlined in this guide, you can set up and maintain a reliable HA system for your PostgreSQL databases, ensuring continuous operation and data integrity. This high level of availability and robustness is essential for modern applications that demand consistent performance and reliability. ### FAQs **How does Tessell PostgreSQL high availability work?** Tessell PostgreSQL high availability uses a three-node setup: a primary database for writes, a synchronous standby for reads and failover, and an observer node maintaining etcd cluster quorum. **What is Patroni in PostgreSQL?** Patroni is an open-source automation tool for PostgreSQL high availability that manages failover, promotes standby nodes when the primary fails, and coordinates replication across cluster members. **How does PostgreSQL failover work in Tessell?** PostgreSQL failover in Tessell uses Patroni to detect primary node failure and automatically promote the synchronous standby to primary, ensuring zero data loss through real-time synchronous replication. **What is synchronous replication in PostgreSQL?** Synchronous replication in PostgreSQL ensures every commit on the primary node is simultaneously recorded on the standby node, guaranteeing zero data loss and enabling seamless failover during outages. **How does Tessell patch PostgreSQL with high availability?** Tessell patches PostgreSQL high availability nodes through parallel shutdown of primary and replica, simultaneous patch application, and atomic rollback if either node fails, ensuring consistency and minimal downtime. --- ## tessell-at-microsoft-ignite-2024---recap URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-at-microsoft-ignite-2024---recap Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## Overview As we wrap up our time at Ignite in Chicago, we can't help but leave with a feeling of gratitude and renewed enthusiasm. Events like these reinforce our mission of assisting leading global enterprise organizations in modernizing and managing their cloud data infrastructure and alleviating many pain points related to database lifecycle management, data management, and data flow. Below is a recap of our time in the Windy City at this year's Microsoft Ignite week! We returned as a sponsor for our second Microsoft Ignite this year, after last year's in Seattle. This year's show was 4x the size, scale, and production from last year's in every way possible. We're thankful for the opportunity to sponsor, participate, and collaborate with Microsoft in such events. ## We connected and spoke with over 750 people from 600+ companies and close to 60 different countries. ## Tessell Booth and Activities Our Demand and Field and Brand Design team members came ready to engage and entertain all of our booth attendees with amazing swag, giveaways, and raffles. We also had one-pagers, customer story handouts, and comic books on hand that helped convey Tessell's value proposition as a multi-cloud, multi-database PaaS solution across every industry and database and data management use case. We gave away prizes at 10 am, 12 pm, 3 pm, and 5 pm each day to reward our prospects, customers, partners, and evangelists for their time and attention. ## Tessell Product Showcase Several organizations stopped by to see Tessell's product demo live. We had several demo sites and solutions ready for every industry and use case. It was all hands on deck as everyone from our exec to our product team and sales engineers delivered close to 200+ on-site demos and technical deep dives. ## Tessell Customers Several of our customers decided to visit our booth to say hello and check out what we're showcasing and have been working on. Events like these are an excellent way for members of our GTM to interact with our customers and hear how much our product has helped them achieve their business goals. One of our customers from Norway,**Jone Gudmestad, **stopped by to say hello and chat with our CEO and Head of Sales, India. Later, one of our American customers, CSX, dropped in to meet with our executive team and sales leadership. ## Learning Sessions Our Head of Strategy and Alliances, Animesh Pillai, and Azure NetApp's Geert van Teylingen joined forces to deliver a learning session on how the combination of ANF and Tessell removes the VM disk bandwidth constraints and enables customers to run high-performance, high-capacity, and complex relational databases on Azure at a better TCO than any DBaaS offering. ## Partner Co-marketing Engagements We partnered with one of our North American partners to host some of our customers at Ignite at the elegant Blackstone Hotel's private dining restaurant, Mercat a la Planxa. The night was filled with incredible conversations covering everything from databases to extreme snow sports and activities, and a curated menu of food and drinks helped keep everyone satiated. ## What's Next? We're ready to take this show on the road, across the country, to Las Vegas for AWS re:Invent next. ## See you there!✌🏼 ‍ --- ## tessell-named-a-strong-performer-gartner-cloud-dbms URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-named-a-strong-performer-gartner-cloud-dbms Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## A Year of Excellence In our opinion, it’s another milestone at Tessell in a year brimming with fundraising announcements, industry accolades, sponsorship of major cloud conferences, expansion into EMEA and beyond, and the launch of new products. Now, we're delighted to share that**Gartner has acknowledged us as a Strong Performer in the 2025 Gartner Peer Insights™ “Voice of the Customer” for Cloud Database Management Systems. **This recognition comes in our very first full year in business, and we believe this is a testament to the incredible support we've received from our customers. Even the first version of our platform has inspired tremendous confidence and love, and we're just getting started. Read the full report[here.](https://www.tessell.com/campaign/tessell--voice-of-the-customer-for-cloud-dbms-2025) ‍ ## What is Cloud DBMS and Why Tessell? Gartner defines cloud database management systems (DBMSs) as “the market for software products that store and manipulate data, and that are primarily delivered as software as a service (SaaS) in the cloud. Cloud DBMSs may optionally be capable of running on-premises, hybrid, multicloud or intercloud configurations. They can be used for transactional and/or analytical work. They may have features that enable them to participate in a wider data ecosystem. They typically persist data using proprietary components in a durable manner, enabling a full range of create, read, update, and delete operations.” We feel[Tessell stands out with its fully managed, multi-cloud Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform](https://www.tessell.com/campaign/tessell--voice-of-the-customer-for-cloud-dbms-2025). This solution is purpose-built to support both transactional and analytical workloads, offering exceptional performance, scalability, and flexibility. Our cloud-native architecture ensures data durability and resilience while optimizing resource utilization across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Designed to meet the dynamic needs of modern enterprises, Tessell automates essential database operations, including provisioning, patching, high availability, backups, and disaster recovery. This automation significantly reduces operational complexity, enabling businesses to focus on strategic initiatives rather than database administration tasks. With robust, comprehensive create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) capabilities, Tessell provides enterprises with the flexibility and control needed for diverse data management scenarios. Our platform seamlessly integrates into broader data ecosystems, supporting intercloud and hybrid deployments to ensure consistent, high-performance database management, regardless of the chosen infrastructure. By aligning with Gartner's definition of cloud DBMS solutions, we believe Tessell is the ideal choice for organizations embarking on their cloud transformation journeys. In our opinion, our platform empowers users with enhanced agility, efficiency, and innovation potential, addressing each of Gartner weighted criteria, particularly excelling in automation, performance, and multi-cloud flexibility. ## What Matters to IT Professionals? We found that Gartner typically observes IT professionals prioritizing the following when evaluating cloud DBMS solutions: - **Performance & Scalability (high priority) ** - **Security & Compliance (high priority) ** - **Operational Automation & Simplicity (high priority) ** - **Multi-cloud & Hybrid Flexibility (medium to high priority) ** - **Integration Capability (medium priority) ** - **Cost Predictability (medium priority) ** - **Vendor Stability & Support (medium to high priority)** We feel that Tessell directly addresses each of Gartner's weighted criteria, particularly excelling in automation, performance, and multi-cloud flexibility, making it a strong fit for IT professionals seeking modern, enterprise-ready cloud DBMS solutions. ## Why is the “Voice of the Customer” Important To Us? In our opinion, this recognition is especially significant because it comes directly from the voices that matter most, our customers. Gartner Peer Insights™ “Gartner Peer Insights is a public platform that offers verified, first-hand reviews and ratings of enterprise technology solutions by end-user professionals for end-user professionals.” ‍ We feel being identified as a Strong Performer means our users have clearly articulated the tangible benefits they experience with our platform, validating the strategic direction we’ve been passionately pursuing. Here’s just a snapshot of what our users are saying: *“Tessell delivered on everything that was presented to us. Our ability to deliver databases to the product and development teams has drastically improved. And we were able to lower our costs to meet our BCP and DR requirements.” *—**VP, Engineering, Software** These real-world experiences demonstrate precisely why customers continue to trust Tessell as their go-to cloud DBMS provider. **Bakul Banthia, Co-Founder of Tessell, commented:** *“We believe that being recognized in the Voice of the Customer is a proud milestone. It reinforces our commitment to building solutions that deliver real impact and value. We’re especially grateful to our customers for sharing their insights and helping shape the future of our platform.* Read the full report and comments[here.](https://www.tessell.com/campaign/tessell--voice-of-the-customer-for-cloud-dbms-2025) ## **Where Do We Go From Here?** Tessell is evolving to support AI-ready workloads and introducing conversational data management capabilities that bring natural language interfaces directly into the database experience. These enhancements will enable users to query, provision, optimize, and troubleshoot databases using plain language, backed by secure, context-aware orchestration. With built-in AI-assisted insights, Tessell will further streamline performance tuning, anomaly detection, and compliance monitoring, accelerating operational efficiency and reducing administrative overhead. These advancements lay the foundation for a more intelligent, self-service data platform built for the next generation of cloud-native applications. We’re incredibly proud of this recognition; in our opinion it’s a milestone that underscores our commitment to delivering robust, user-focused database solutions. Looking ahead, we remain dedicated to expanding our platform with even greater innovations, deeper AI-driven automation, broader multi-cloud capabilities, and continuously improved user experiences. Most importantly, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to our customers. Your feedback and partnership continually inspire and shape Tessell’s growth and evolution. We feel we couldn't have received this recognition without your trust and support. Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Cloud Database Management Systems, Peer Contributors, 3 July 2025 ‍ Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. ‍ GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and PEER INSIGHTS is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from [insert client name or reprint URL]. --- ## postgresql-17-and-18-now-supported URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-17-and-18-now-supported Last updated: 2026-08-24 ### **New Database Version Support** - PostgresSQL 17.0, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, 17.5, 17.6 Support - PostgresSQL 18.0 Support ‍ ‍ ‍ ### Enhancements - Support compute resize for shared server in Azure Cloud ‍ ### **Important Bug Fixes** - Azure Private link will point to the right primary node after a switchover/failover. - Fix for False Node Down alerts - Fix for missing alerts in new monitoring framework for SCP tenants - Fix for missing monitoring infra on subscription (pagination issue) ‍ --- ## timescaledb-with-tessell-for-postgresql URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/timescaledb-with-tessell-for-postgresql Last updated: 2026-08-24 TimescaleDB is a time-series database built on top of PostgreSQL. It is designed to handle large volumes of time-stamped data and provide efficient and scalable query performance for time-series data. ## Introduction [TimescaleDB](https://github.com/timescale/timescaledb) is a time-series database built on top of PostgreSQL. It is designed to handle large volumes of time-stamped data and provide efficient and scalable query performance for time-series data. The main difference between TimescaleDB and regular PostgreSQL is that TimescaleDB is optimized for storing and querying time-series data. At the same time, PostgreSQL is a general-purpose database that can handle various types of data. TimescaleDB extends PostgreSQL to provide additional features and capabilities specifically for time-series data management, such as automatic time partitioning, optimized indexing, and compression. TimescaleDB uses a[ distributed hypertable architecture](https://docs.timescale.com/use-timescale/latest/hypertables/about-hypertables/#hypertables) that partitions data based on time intervals, enabling efficient querying of large volumes of data over time. It also provides advanced analytics and visualization capabilities for time-series data, including continuous aggregates and window functions. In this post, we’ll walk through a general overview of time series data, how TimescaleDB turns PostgreSQL into a time series database, and how to set up and perform various tasks. Tessell for PostgreSQL supports TimescaleDB in all configurations, whether using a Single instance or High Availability setup. ## **Timescale Use Cases** As human beings, we produce data as we move and operate through time. Therefore, everything we do in our business and personal lives creates time series data. **1. *****Internet of Things (IoT)*****: **IoT is an obvious example of time series data in practice. Everything from mobile devices, home appliances, thermostats, and security cameras to automobiles can continuously collect, store, use, and transmit data. With the proliferation of IoT devices, there is a growing need to capture and analyze time-series data generated by these devices. TimescaleDB is an ideal solution for storing and analyzing IoT data, such as sensor data, device logs, and telemetry data. **2. *****Financial Services:*** Financial services firms often deal with large volumes of time-series data, such as stock prices, trading data, and transaction data. TimescaleDB can help these firms store and analyze this data more efficiently and accurately, enabling better decision-making. **3. *****DevOps and Monitoring:*** DevOps teams and system administrators often need to monitor and analyze time-series data related to system performance, network traffic, and application metrics. TimescaleDB can help to store and analyze this data in real-time, enabling faster and more accurate troubleshooting. **4. *****Digital Marketing:*** Digital marketing firms often need to analyze large volumes of time-series data related to user behavior, website traffic, and ad campaigns. TimescaleDB can help to store and analyze this data more efficiently and accurately, enabling better campaign optimization. **5.***** Energy and Utilities:*** Energy and utility companies often need to analyze time-series data related to power consumption, network outages, and equipment performance. TimescaleDB can help to store and analyze this data more efficiently, enabling better predictive maintenance and outage prevention. TimescaleDB is useful in any scenario where large volumes of time-series data need to be stored and analyzed efficiently and accurately. ## **Feature & Benefits of TimescaleDB** ***1. Time partitioning*****: **TimescaleDB automatically partitions data by time, which means that data is stored in separate partitions based on time intervals. This enables more efficient querying and faster analysis of time-series data. ***2. Advanced indexing:*** TimescaleDB provides advanced indexing features that enable fast and efficient querying of time-series data. TimescaleDB uses multi-dimensional indexing to optimize queries that involve both time and other dimensions. ***3. Compression: ***TimescaleDB provides built-in compression for time-series data, which reduces storage requirements and improves query performance. TimescaleDB uses a combination of run-length encoding, delta encoding, and bit-packing to achieve high levels of compression. ***4. Continuous aggregates:*** TimescaleDB provides continuous aggregate functions that enable real-time analytics of time-series data. This enables users to see trends and patterns in real-time, which can be useful for proactive decision-making. ***5. Window functions:*** TimescaleDB provides window functions that enable more advanced analytics of time-series data. Window functions allow users to calculate aggregates over a sliding window of time, which can be useful for identifying trends and patterns in time-series data. So how does TimescaleDB’s architecture update PostgreSQL’s capabilities? ## Best of PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB. The best thing about TimescaleDB being a PostgreSQL extension is that **backup and streaming replication automatically apply to it**: pg_basebackup will be able to backup data stored in TimescaleDB. Similarly, restore and point-in-time recovery also automatically apply. The same goes for synchronous and asynchronous streaming replication. Therefore, Tessell PostgreSQL with standby instances provides read scalability and high availability and would do so for TimescaleDB as well. The above is *key*, especially in an environment where popular time series databases have chosen the open-core model, making features that are necessary for production environments only available under proprietary licenses. So, you continue to use the best of PostgreSQL without any additional overheads. Now that there is an alternative, let’s check it out. ## TimescaleDB: Hypertables Essentially, you create a table in TimescaleDB just as you would in vanilla PostgreSQL. The only requirement is that the table has a timestamp (or date) column. (You can get a more in-depth overview of TimescaleDB’s Architecture [here](https://docs.timescale.com/v0.9/introduction/architecture).) Once this table is created, the built-in helper function, create_hypertable(), performs all the necessary tasks to create the ***hypertable*** and its child objects, e.g. ***partitions***** and *****chunks***. The **hypertable** holds the information about its child objects, e.g. partitions and key spaces, within partitions called chunks. **Data ingested into a time series table ultimately ends up in chunks, its final resting place.** ***Chunks*** can be managed (resized, dropped, etc) from the command line. Dropping chunks to purge old data is much more efficient than the usual alternatives. **But, the true elegance of TimescaleDB lies in the fact that it is a PostgreSQL extension.** ## How to use TimescaleDB with Tessell for PostgreSQL **Tessell for PostgreSQL supports Timescale as a first-class integration, **to create a PostgreSQL database login to the Tessell console or You can [create a Tessell for PostgreSQL database](https://www.tessell.com/services/postgresql) in minutes for free on AWS or Azure. TimescaleDB managed by Tessell To provision a PostgreSQL database in Tessell. Go to Provisioning. - Select the required version of PostgreSQL - Select the choice of cloud and region. - Select the required shape/configuration needed for the database instance. Follow the subsequent steps on the console to provision the database. Once the database is created use the choice of client to connect to the database. Connect to the database **tdb (sample database)** Copied to clipboard! ```text \c tdb ``` **To use timescaleDB in an existing database run the following command.** Copied to clipboard! ```sql CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS timescaledb; ``` Now that we are all set, let’s explore the capabilities of timescaleDB with a use case. ## A TimescaleDB use case with Tessell PostgreSQL Let’s walk through a use case of TimescaleDB within Tessell for PostgreSQL by [examining solar power plant generation data](https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/anikannal/solar-power-generation-data?resource=download). This dataset is a time-series dataset having a sampling frequency of 15 minutes i.e. the time-series data from the power plant is generated every 15 mins. This data has been gathered at two solar power plants in India over a 34 day period. It has two pairs of files - each pair has one power generation dataset and one sensor readings dataset. The power generation datasets are gathered at the inverter level - each inverter has multiple lines of solar panels attached to it. The sensor data is gathered at a plant level - a single array of sensors optimally placed at the plant. To showcase the capabilities of TimescaleDB, we’ll perform the following tasks for this use case: 1. **Create the schema in TimescaleDB** 2. **Ingest data** 3. **Query data** 4. **Purge old data** 5. **Compression** ### 1. Creating Schema 1. First, create a new database. Copied to clipboard! ```sql create database solar_gen; ``` 1. Now, create a TimescaleDB extension in the created database. Copied to clipboard! ```sql \c solar_gen CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS timescaledb; ``` 1. Create a table for storing power plant generation data. Copied to clipboard! ```sql CREATE TABLE power_plant_generation_data (  DATE_TIME             TIMESTAMP not null,  PLANT_ID              INT not null,  SOURCE_KEY            TEXT not null,  DC_POWER              FLOAT not null,  AC_POWER              FLOAT not null,  DAILY_YIELD           FLOAT not null,  TOTAL_YIELD           FLOAT not nulL ); ``` 1. Create the corresponding hypertable in TimescaleDB. Also create chunks to store 1 day’s worth of data (this is specified in the chunk_time_intervalparameter). The interval maps well to the generation data we will be ingesting and analyzing. Copied to clipboard! ```sql solar_gen=> SELECT create_hypertable('power_plant_generation_data', 'DATE_TIME',    chunk_time_interval => interval '1 day'); ``` ### 2. Ingesting data Let’s Ingest data into the table. Since the data is split into multiple files for multiple plants, used a bash script to load each CSV file using psql. Copied to clipboard! ```sql #! /bin/bash for i in *.csv; do    echo "item: $i"    time psql \        "postgres://user:password@****.tessell.com:port/defaultdb?sslmode=require" \        -c "\COPY power_plant_generation_data FROM $i CSV HEADER" done ``` After data is ingested into the table, the partition and chunk information becomes evident. Copied to clipboard! ```text solar_gen=> \d+ power_plant_generation_data Indexes:    "power_plant_generation_data_time_idx" btree ("DATE_TIME" DESC) Child tables: _timescaledb_internal._hyper_67_100_chunk,              _timescaledb_internal._hyper_67_101_chunk,              _timescaledb_internal._hyper_67_102_chunk, ...              _timescaledb_internal._hyper_67_215_chunk,              _timescaledb_internal._hyper_67_216_chunk             ``` The query plan for a simple count(*) of the records in the table after all the data is ingested looks like this: Copied to clipboard! ```sql solar_gen=> explain select count(*) from power_plant_generation_data; Finalize Aggregate  (cost=227717.58..227717.59 rows=1 width=8)   ->  Gather  (cost=227717.47..227717.58 rows=1 width=8)         Workers Planned: 1         ->  Partial Aggregate  (cost=226717.47..226717.48 rows=1 width=8)               ->  Append  (cost=0.00..206762.98 rows=7981797 width=0)                     ->  Parallel Seq Scan on power_plant_generation_data  (cost=0.00..0.00 rows=1 width=0)                     ->  Parallel Seq Scan on _hyper_67_100_chunk  (cost=0.00..948.12 rows=36612 width=0) …                     ->  Parallel Seq Scan on _hyper_67_215_chunk  (cost=0.00..1480.92 rows=57192 width=0)                     ->  Parallel Seq Scan on _hyper_67_216_chunk  (cost=0.00..253.96 rows=9796 width=0)                     ``` **As you can see, the query needs to scan each and every chunk to resolve the query.* ### 3. Querying data The **optimal query in TimescaleDB** hits a single chunk within a hypertable. With our data and corresponding chunk configuration (remember, we configured a chunk to contain a day’s worth of data), the most efficient query would be one that includes a specific date in the WHERE clause. Here’s an example of such a query and its corresponding query plan. Copied to clipboard! ```sql solar_gen=> SELECT  date_trunc('day', DATE_TIME) as day,                    avg(DAILY_YIELD), avg(DC_POWER)                FROM power_plant_generation_data                WHERE time = '2020-05-15'                GROUP BY day ORDER BY day;          day           |         avg         | avg_1 ------------------------+---------------------+----- 2014-02-28 00:00:00+00 | 2586.279926 |  2979.8562766 (1 row)solar_gen=> EXPLAIN SELECT  date_trunc('day', DATE_TIME) as day,                    avg(DAILY_YIELD), avg(DC_POWER)                FROM power_plant_generation_data                WHERE time = '2020-05-15'                GROUP BY day ORDER BY day; Sort  (cost=370.26..370.76 rows=200 width=48)   Sort Key: (date_trunc('day'::text, power_plant_generation_data."DATE_TIME"))   ->  HashAggregate  (cost=359.62..362.62 rows=200 width=48)         Group Key: date_trunc('day'::text, power_plant_generation_data."DATE_TIME")         ->  Result  (cost=0.00..356.57 rows=407 width=16)               ->  Append  (cost=0.00..351.48 rows=407 width=16)                     ->  Seq Scan on power_plant_generation_data  (cost=0.00..0.00 rows=1 width=16)                           Filter: ("time" = '2020-05-15 00:00:00+00'::timestamp with time zone)                     ->  Index Scan using _hyper_67_115_chunk_power_plant_generation_data_time_idx on _hyper_67_115_chunk  (cost=0.42..351.48 rows=406 width=16)                           Index Cond: ("time" = '2020-05-15 00:00:00+00'::timestamp with time zone)             ``` **As can be seen above, one (and only one) chunk is ever considered for the query.* For range scans on time, multiple chunks will be considered for the query. But, here’s where the PostgreSQL parallel query scan comes into play and provides big benefits. TimescaleDB also has other built-in time functions that are more flexible and convenient to use, such as time_bucket() which provides for arbitrary time intervals as compared to PostgreSQL’s built-in date_trunc() function. Copied to clipboard! ```sql solar_gen=> SELECT  time_bucket('1 hour', DATE_TIME) as one_hr,                    avg(DAILY_YIELD), avg(DC_POWER)                FROM power_plant_generation_data                WHERE DAILY_YIELD > 1000                GROUP BY one_hr ORDER BY one_hr;         one_hr         |         DAILY_YIELD         |  DC_POWER ------------------------+---------------------+------- 2015-05-15 11:00:00+00 | 1065.1486310299869622 |        1578 2015-05-15 12:00:00+00 | 64.8786089238845144 |          1281 ``` ### 4. Purging old data When dealing with time series data, it is convenient to have a mechanism to purge old data without impacting incoming data. This means options like DELETE FROM Table WHERE time > ‘data’ are problematic since they may involve intrusive locking and therefore impact ingest performance. In TimescaleDB, you can drop a chunk that contains old data, and the best part is, that it does not impact ongoing ingest. Here’s an example, where we drop chunks containing data older than a specific date. Copied to clipboard! ```sql solar_gen=> SELECT drop_chunks('2020-05-15 12:00:00-5'::timestamp,                               'power_plant_generation_data');                     ``` ### 5. Compression Data can be compressed to reduce the amount of storage required and increase the speed of some queries. This is a cornerstone feature of Timescale. When new data is added to your database, it is in the form of uncompressed rows. Timescale uses a built-in job scheduler to convert this data to the form of compressed columns. This occurs across chunks of Timescale hypertables. To enable compression on an existing hypertable use the following command. Copied to clipboard! ```sql ALTER TABLE power_plant_generation_data SET (  timescaledb.compress,  timescaledb.compress_segmentby = 'plant_id' ); ``` Add a compression policy to compress chunks that are older than seven days: Copied to clipboard! ```sql SELECT add_compression_policy('power_plant_generation_data', INTERVAL '7 days'); ``` These storage savings directly translate into saving costs. Check out the [real-world use cases](https://www.timescale.com/blog/building-columnar-compression-in-a-row-oriented-database/) where compression had greatly reduced the storage requirements and in turn the cost. ## Conclusion In summary, TimescaleDB provides a specialized solution for managing and analyzing time-series data, while regular PostgreSQL is a general-purpose database that can handle various types of data. When starting with TimescaleDB on Tessell for PostgreSQL, it is best to understand your time series data, the retention period, and most importantly what kind of queries you will run against it. These will help you determine the chunk interval for the data which closely correlates to ingest performance, query performance, and the ability to easily purge old data. TimescaleDB scales very effectively to store time series data compared to vanilla PostgreSQL. This, along with PostgreSQL features such as backup and high availability, renders it a powerful open-source alternative to other time series databases. The example shown in this post will help you get started quickly with TimescaleDB in Tessell PostgreSQL. To take advantage of its ability to be deployed as a high availability time series database, enable it within a [Tessell for PostgreSQL](https://www.tessell.com/services/postgresql). And if you’re looking for an enterprise-grade production PostgreSQL database for your Time series workloads, [try Tessell for PostgreSQL](https://app.tessell.com/sign-up). --- ## oracle-byol-licensing-rules URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-byol-licensing-rules Last updated: 2026-08-24 How Oracle BYOL works across OCI, AWS, Azure, and GCP — licensing rules, vCPU-to-license math, compliance risks, and how to maximize savings. Your organization has spent millions on Oracle licenses over the years. Now you're evaluating a move to the cloud, and someone hands you a quote for Oracle Database on AWS or Azure that includes the license cost all over again. That's not how it has to work. Oracle BYOL (Bring Your Own License) lets you apply the licenses you already own to cloud deployments, so you're paying for infrastructure, not software you've already bought. This article covers everything you need to make BYOL work in practice: licensing rules across OCI, AWS, Azure, and GCP; the vCPU-to-license math; the compliance risks that organizations routinely encounter; and how to build an honest savings case. We'll also explore how managed platforms like Tessell streamline Oracle BYOL in multi-cloud environments, because getting licensed correctly is only half the challenge. ## What Is Oracle BYOL and Why Does It Matter? Oracle BYOL (Bring Your Own License) lets organizations apply existing on-premises Oracle software licenses, including Database, Middleware, WebLogic, and others, to cloud deployments. Instead of purchasing new licenses through the cloud provider, you bring what you already own. For most enterprises, Oracle is one of the largest software investments on the books, often running into tens of millions of dollars in accumulated licenses and annual support. BYOL exists to protect that investment during cloud migration and prevent organizations from paying for the same software twice: once for the on-premises licenses already owned, and again through the license-included pricing that cloud providers pass through in their hourly rates. The practical benefits follow from that logic. Cloud services priced under BYOL are charged at a lower rate because Oracle's software cost is excluded, typically 50–80% lower than License Included pricing for the same compute. Existing Enterprise Edition entitlements apply in the cloud environment: Partitioning, Diagnostics Pack, Advanced Compression, and any other options licensed on-premises continue to be available. With the right architecture, organizations can also run Oracle across on-premises and multiple clouds simultaneously under a single license pool. One important clarification: BYOL does not handle compliance. The cloud provider has no visibility into how many Oracle licenses are being consumed. That responsibility sits entirely with the customer organization. Oracle's license compliance team is thorough, and the financial consequences of over-deployment are significant. BYOL is a cost optimization mechanism. Compliance is a separate discipline that requires its own controls. ## How Oracle BYOL Licensing Works: The vCPU-to-License Conversion Oracle's Authorized Cloud Environment (ACE) policy defines which cloud platforms are eligible for BYOL and how licenses are counted on each. Oracle officially recognizes four environments: OCI, AWS, Azure, and GCP. Deployments on other environments, including certain VMware configurations, non-approved private clouds, or containerized setups, fall outside the ACE framework and are subject to physical core licensing requirements. For AWS, Azure, and GCP, the conversion formula is straightforward. With hyperthreading enabled, which is the default on virtually all cloud VM types, 2 vCPUs = 1 Oracle Processor License. With hyperthreading disabled, 1 vCPU = 1 Oracle Processor License. As a worked example: an 8-vCPU instance on AWS with hyperthreading enabled requires 4 Oracle Database Enterprise Edition Processor Licenses. OCI uses a different and more efficient formula: 1 Processor License = 2 OCPUs = 4 vCPUs. That same workload on OCI requires only 2 licenses rather than 4. For organizations with constrained license pools, the OCI conversion ratio can be a meaningful factor in cloud selection. Standard Edition rules differ again. An instance with 4 or fewer vCPUs counts as 1 socket and requires 1 Processor License. SE2 has a ceiling of 8 vCPUs (2 Processor Licenses maximum per instance); the older SE edition caps at 16 vCPUs (4 Processor Licenses maximum). Named User Plus minimums carry over from on-premises as well: Oracle Database EE requires a minimum of 25 NUP licenses per processor in the cloud. Two points that are frequently misunderstood deserve specific attention. First, the Core Factor Table does not apply in cloud environments. On-premises, Oracle permits fractional multipliers based on processor type, which can meaningfully reduce license requirements on physical infrastructure. That allowance does not extend to the cloud. Every virtual core must be fully licensed at the standard rate. Organizations migrating from physical to cloud environments that carry over on-premises assumptions about core factors will find themselves under-licensed. Second, licensing is determined by the maximum vCPU count of the VM shape selected, not by actual utilization. If a VM type with 8 vCPUs is chosen because it offers the right memory configuration, but the Oracle workload only uses 4 vCPUs, Oracle's license requirement is still based on 8. VM shape selection directly determines license obligation. ## Oracle BYOL Across Cloud Providers: OCI vs. AWS vs. Azure vs. GCP ### Oracle BYOL on OCI OCI is Oracle's own cloud infrastructure, and the licensing terms reflect that relationship. The conversion ratio of 1 Processor License covering 4 vCPUs makes OCI the most license-efficient of the four authorized environments, offering double the compute coverage relative to AWS, Azure, or GCP. For organizations managing large Oracle estates against fixed license pools, this ratio has a direct impact on migration economics. The Oracle Support Rewards program provides an additional financial benefit: for every dollar spent on OCI services, Oracle credits approximately $0.25 against on-premises support fees, or $0.33 under a ULA. Given that support contracts typically run at 22% of license list price annually, this program can produce meaningful savings for organizations with substantial Oracle footprints. OCI also provides a 100-day dual-use period during migrations, allowing the same licenses to run on-premises and on OCI simultaneously without additional license obligations. This is a practical consideration for migrations that extend beyond initial timelines. From a technology standpoint, OCI is the only authorized cloud that supports Oracle RAC and Exadata natively. It is also the only environment where Oracle provides support for both the infrastructure and the database layer under a single contract. ### Oracle BYOL on AWS AWS is a recognized ACE. Enterprise Edition requires BYOL on both EC2 and RDS; there is no License Included option for EE anywhere on AWS. License Included pricing is available only for SE2 on Amazon RDS. The standard formula of 2 vCPUs = 1 license applies across all instance types. AWS License Manager provides tooling to help track Oracle deployments, though compliance responsibility remains with the customer organization. Oracle RAC is not supported on AWS. There is no native AWS-managed Oracle Enterprise Edition database service. On EC2, the database is fully customer-managed. On RDS BYOL, AWS manages the underlying infrastructure, but patching strategy, HA architecture, backup tooling, and DR configuration remain the customer's responsibility. Tessell provides a fully managed Oracle DBaaS on AWS with BYOL support: [tessell.com/aws/oracle](https://www.tessell.com/aws/oracle). ### Oracle BYOL on Azure Azure is a recognized ACE. The 2 vCPUs = 1 license formula applies on standard Azure VMs. Azure does not offer a native managed Oracle database service. Running Oracle on Azure means managing VMs directly, or using Oracle Database@Azure, which is Exadata infrastructure operating inside Azure data centers through the Oracle-Microsoft partnership. Oracle Database@Azure is a specialized, higher-cost offering suited to specific enterprise scenarios rather than a general-purpose managed service. One important consideration for Azure deployments: Azure VMware Solution (AVS) is not an Oracle-authorized environment. Running Oracle on AVS triggers physical core licensing requirements, meaning license obligations extend to all physical cores on every ESXi host in the cluster, not only the vCPUs allocated to Oracle VMs. Organizations that have run Oracle on AVS without accounting for this have encountered significant unexpected license exposure. Licensing implications for AVS deployments should be resolved before migration. Tessell is an Azure-preferred solution available through the Azure Marketplace, providing fully managed Oracle DBaaS on Azure: [tessell.com/azure/oracle](https://www.tessell.com/azure/oracle). ### Oracle BYOL on GCP GCP became an Oracle Authorized Cloud Environment in mid-2024. Many organizations currently running Oracle on GCP are not yet aware of this change, and some may be operating outside the ACE framework as a result. Existing Oracle-on-GCP deployments are worth reviewing against current ACE compliance requirements. The same 2 vCPUs = 1 license formula as AWS and Azure applies on GCP. Google does not offer a managed Oracle database service. Standard deployment options are Google Compute Engine VMs for most workloads, and Google Bare Metal Solution for environments requiring dedicated physical servers for licensing precision or high-throughput performance. From a licensing eligibility standpoint, GCP is now equivalent to AWS and Azure. Tessell is the only DBaaS platform offering fully managed Oracle on GCP: [tessell.com/oracle-gcp](https://www.tessell.com/oracle-gcp). Each cloud has its own strengths and trade-offs. The more consequential challenge for most organizations is not which authorized environment to choose, but how to manage Oracle effectively once the migration is complete. ## How Much Can You Save with Oracle BYOL? BYOL's financial advantage is real, but a clear-eyed savings case requires accounting for what BYOL does and does not cover. The savings come from a single source: removing Oracle's software cost from the cloud subscription. License Included pricing embeds Oracle's per-core fee into the provider's hourly rate. With BYOL, that component is excluded and organizations pay for compute and storage only. On OCI, BYOL discounts for services like Autonomous Database can reach up to 76% compared to License Included pricing. On AWS, Azure, and GCP, the structure is comparable: BYOL removes the software premium that is otherwise built into every licensed instance hour. What BYOL does not affect: Oracle annual support fees. These continue at roughly 22% of license list price per year regardless of where the workload runs. Support contracts must remain current, as BYOL eligibility depends on active support. Organizations considering whether to let support lapse as a cost measure should be aware that doing so also removes their ability to use BYOL. Three cost factors that can reduce realized BYOL savings are worth addressing before presenting a business case to leadership. Instance sizing has a direct relationship to license consumption. Cloud VM shapes determine license footprint, and an over-provisioned instance consumes the full license allocation for its shape regardless of how much of that capacity is actually used. The accuracy of a BYOL savings projection depends on VM sizing that reflects actual workload requirements, which in turn requires workload data rather than estimates. License compliance tracking requires ongoing effort. Maintaining an accurate mapping of license entitlements to running instances across a multi-cloud environment, as deployments are added, resized, or retired over time, requires either purpose-built tooling or dedicated operational attention. Operational costs for self-managed Oracle deployments on AWS, Azure, or GCP are not reduced by BYOL. Patching, high availability, disaster recovery, backup, and performance monitoring remain the customer's responsibility on all three clouds. For organizations where DBA capacity is already constrained, the overhead of managing cloud infrastructure can offset a meaningful portion of subscription savings. ## Oracle BYOL Compliance Risks You Need to Know Oracle license compliance reviews follow predictable patterns. Contract renewals, ULA true-ups, and significant migration events are among the most common triggers. The following are the issues that surface most frequently. **Licensing based on utilization rather than VM shape.** Oracle's licensing requirement is determined by the maximum vCPU count of the VM shape in use, not by observed CPU utilization. An instance running at low average utilization on an 8-vCPU shape still requires 4 Processor Licenses. Maintaining a documented mapping of VM shapes to license entitlements, established before migration and updated as instances change, is the most reliable way to manage this accurately. **Use of separately licensed options without corresponding entitlements.** Oracle options such as Partitioning, Advanced Compression, Data Guard, and Diagnostics Pack each carry their own license requirements. These options can be enabled inadvertently, particularly when migrating database images from on-premises environments where option configuration may not have been reviewed. The dba_feature_usage_statistics view provides visibility into which options are active and should be reviewed both before and after migration. **License exposure from cloud auto-scaling.** Auto-scaling is a standard feature of cloud infrastructure, but if Oracle is installed on instances subject to auto-scaling, each new instance adds to license consumption. Provisioning limits on Oracle-bearing instances, reviewed in advance of enabling auto-scaling, help ensure that scaling activity does not create unintended license obligations. Tessell enforces license thresholds as a built-in platform control. **Standby and DR instance licensing.** Oracle permits passive standby instances to run without a license for a maximum of 10 days per year, specifically in the context of failover testing. Any active use of a standby, including read workloads or Active Data Guard operations, requires full licensing. Organizations planning HA architectures that rely on Oracle Active Data Guard should factor standby licensing into the cost model from the outset, or address DR licensing terms directly with Oracle before migration. **Deployments outside authorized environments.** BYOL applies only within the four ACE-recognized environments: OCI, AWS, Azure, and GCP. Non-ACE environments, including AVS, unapproved private cloud platforms, and certain containerized configurations, are subject to physical core licensing requirements. For any workload that needs to run outside the four authorized clouds, Oracle's written position on licensing should be obtained before deployment. ## Why BYOL Alone Isn't Enough: The Case for Managed Oracle DBaaS BYOL addresses one dimension of cloud Oracle costs: the software licensing component. It does not address the operational demands of running Oracle in the cloud. After migration, the customer organization remains responsible for provisioning, patching, HA and DR architecture, backup and recovery, performance monitoring, security configuration, and ongoing license compliance. On AWS, Azure, and GCP, there is no native fully managed Oracle Enterprise Edition service that covers these functions. AWS RDS supports SE2 with License Included pricing, but EE on RDS leaves patching strategy, DR architecture, and backup tooling as customer responsibilities. Azure and GCP offer no managed Oracle service at all. The pattern this creates is consistent: an organization migrates Oracle to the cloud, resolves the licensing cost, and then finds that the DBA effort required to manage the cloud infrastructure is comparable to what was required on-premises. Sometimes it is greater, because cloud environments introduce new surface area, including instance lifecycle management, cloud-native networking, and storage configuration, that on-premises teams may not have dealt with before. This is not an argument against self-managed Oracle deployments. Many organizations run them effectively, and the operational control they provide is a legitimate reason to choose them. The point is that BYOL's savings case rests on reducing infrastructure costs while keeping operational costs stable. That assumption requires scrutiny if the migration adds new operational work on top of an already-stretched DBA team. BYOL establishes the foundation for cost-effective cloud Oracle. A managed DBaaS addresses what comes next. ## How Tessell Simplifies Oracle BYOL Across Clouds Tessell is a fully managed, multi-cloud Oracle DBaaS designed for enterprise environments. The capabilities below each address a specific operational or compliance challenge described earlier in this article. ### License optimization and compliance Before migration, Tessell analyzes Oracle AWR (Automatic Workload Repository) reports to identify actual compute demand and determine the optimal cloud VM shape per Oracle licensing guidelines. Instance sizing is based on measured workload data rather than estimates, which produces a more accurate license footprint from day one. License threshold enforcement is a standard platform control: a maximum license count is defined for the environment, and Tessell prevents provisioning of additional Oracle instances once that limit is reached. Scaling activity does not create unintended license obligations. An integrated estate dashboard provides a consolidated view of the entire Oracle environment, with license consumption visible by region, compute type, workload type, and department. The business impact is measurable. A global energy management company running Oracle on GCP with Tessell reduced Oracle license spend by 32% through rightsized instance configuration and a targeted shift from Enterprise to Standard Edition where workloads supported it, without application changes or contract renegotiation. A [$36B AUM investment firm](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/36b-aum-investment-firm-optimizes-oracle-estate-while-gaining-performance) reduced license count by 50% after consolidating Oracle from OCI to Azure with Tessell, co-locating databases with applications and eliminating cross-cloud latency that had been driving CPU overconsumption. ### Multi-cloud flexibility Tessell supports Oracle BYOL across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI from a single control plane. Provisioning, lifecycle management, and monitoring operate consistently regardless of which cloud the workload runs on. Cloud selection is driven by business requirements, whether existing EDP or MACC commitments, data residency constraints, or application proximity, rather than by database platform limitations. The deployment architecture is white-box: Tessell runs within the customer's own cloud tenant, using the customer's networks, encryption keys, OS images, and database parameters. There are no inbound connections from Tessell's control plane into the customer data plane. ### Enterprise-grade operations Tessell manages the full Oracle lifecycle, including provisioning, rolling patching with near-zero downtime, and fleet-wide upgrade management scoped to customer-defined maintenance windows. High availability is delivered via Oracle DataGuard with multi-AZ configuration and a 99.99% uptime SLA. Cross-region DR is included. The Availability Machine provides automated snapshots, point-in-time recovery, native Oracle RMAN backups, data masking, and cloning, without requiring third-party backup software. NVMe-based compute shapes support up to 2 million IOPS for high-throughput workloads. End-to-end migration is handled by Tessell AirDrop with zero downtime, from on-premises Exadata, self-managed cloud VMs, or Amazon RDS. ### Support and security Tessell manages initial Oracle support engagement: diagnosing issues, engaging Oracle directly, and driving resolution. Severity-1 tickets are addressed within a 15-minute response SLA. Tessell was named a 2025 Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management, a recognition based on customer outcomes and independent analyst evaluation. ### Self-Managed Oracle BYOL vs. Tessell Managed Oracle BYOL | Capability | Self-Managed BYOL | Tessell Managed BYOL | | --- | --- | --- | | License Tracking & Optimization | Manual | Automated (AWR-based) | | License Threshold Enforcement | None | Built-in | | Patching | Manual | Automated (rolling, near-zero downtime) | | HA / DR | Customer configures | Oracle DataGuard, built-in | | Backup & Recovery | Customer manages (RMAN, third-party) | Availability Machine (automated) | | Migration | Customer manages | AirDrop (zero downtime) | | Multi-Cloud Management | Separate per cloud | Single control plane | | Oracle Support | Customer contacts Oracle directly | Tessell handles first call | ## Getting Started with Oracle BYOL on Tessell Moving from the current Oracle estate to a managed, BYOL-optimized cloud deployment follows a defined sequence. The starting point is an estate assessment. Tessell's team reviews the current Oracle licensing position, AWR data, and infrastructure footprint to design a cloud architecture aligned with actual license entitlements. The output is a concrete mapping of what the organization owns to what it needs in the cloud. From there, the cloud environment is selected. Tessell deploys on AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. For organizations already committed to a provider through Azure MACC or AWS EDP credits, Tessell operates within that existing spend commitment. Licenses are then applied to the Tessell-managed environment, with VM sizing validated against entitlements at provisioning time. License obligations are established accurately from the point of first deployment. Migration is handled end-to-end by Tessell AirDrop, with zero downtime from on-premises Exadata, self-managed cloud VMs, or Amazon RDS. The customer defines the migration window; Tessell manages execution. Once live, Tessell handles patching, HA/DR, backups, monitoring, and license compliance reporting from a single management console. Ready to see how your Oracle licenses map to the cloud? [Get a free Oracle licensing and migration assessment from Tessell's database experts.](https://www.tessell.com/services/oracle) ### FAQs **What Oracle licenses are eligible for BYOL in the cloud?** Any Oracle software license covered by an active support contract and authorized for cloud deployment under Oracle's licensing policies. This includes Oracle Database Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition 2, Oracle Middleware, WebLogic, and related products. Licenses with lapsed support are not eligible; annual support must be current at the time of cloud deployment. **Which cloud providers are authorized for Oracle BYOL?** Oracle recognizes four Authorized Cloud Environments for BYOL: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Deployments on environments outside this list, including Azure VMware Solution and most private cloud platforms, do not qualify for BYOL and are subject to physical core licensing requirements. **How do I calculate the number of Oracle licenses I need in the cloud?** On AWS, Azure, and GCP: divide the maximum vCPU count of the selected VM shape by 2, assuming hyperthreading is enabled, to determine the Oracle Processor License requirement. On OCI: divide the total OCPU count by 2. The calculation should always be based on the VM shape's maximum vCPU capacity, not observed utilization. For Standard Edition 2, each instance counts as 1 socket up to the 8-vCPU cap. **Can I run Oracle on-premises and in the cloud simultaneously with the same license?** Generally, no. Oracle's ACE policy requires separate license coverage for each environment where the software is deployed. The exception is OCI migrations: Oracle provides a 100-day dual-use period that permits the same licenses to run on-premises and on OCI simultaneously during the transition. No equivalent provision exists for migrations to AWS, Azure, or GCP. **What happens if I'm non-compliant with Oracle BYOL in the cloud?** Oracle requires a true-up at full list price for the unlicensed period, including back support fees. The financial exposure can be significant depending on the duration and scale of non-compliance. Compliance reviews are commonly triggered by contract renewals, ULA true-ups, and major migration events. Documenting the license position before migration and maintaining it through automated controls reduces the risk of gaps developing over time. --- ## simplify-your-database-management-with-tessell-data-apps URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/simplify-your-database-management-with-tessell-data-apps Last updated: 2026-08-24 Bye, add an expense ofIn today's data-driven world, organizations seek solutions that streamline the management and utilization of their extensive data sources. Enter [Tessell](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tessell-inc/)– a true game-changer. Rather than merely participating in the data management conversation, Tessell actively reshapes it through its innovative data apps that allow both administrators and users alike to significantly enhance productivity. What sets Tessell apart is its unwavering commitment to simplicity. Much like the revolutionary impact of the iPhone on smartphone usability, Tessell introduces the concept of consumer-grade data apps. It makes producing and consuming data as effortless as navigating a familiar device. With Tessell, complexity is replaced with intuitive interfaces and streamlined processes, empowering users to manage databases with the same ease and efficiency they've come to expect from everyday technology. ## Automate Your Database Management with Availability Machine [Availability Machine](https://medium.com/tessell-dbaas/tessell-availability-machine-why-what-how-4a83ee3cd56f) is a data app encompassing every possible data management-related aspect of a database service, providing a unified approach for data management needs, automation, and data protection. The primary purpose of the Availability Machine is to protect the data stored in a customer’s database service. Administrators can define data protection SLAs (Service Level Agreements) and automatically capture database service snapshots based on these SLAs. Snapshots can be shared across different cloud regions or users. Additionally, the Availability Machine maintains a catalog of various data types and continuously takes backups of transaction logs to ensure zero data loss. Users can also manually capture snapshots with a single click, with storage consumption billed on usage. ## Revolutionize Data Consumption with Dataflix Unlock the full potential of your data with [Dataflix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euXmHbzI14I)—a revolutionary data app that redefines how users manage and manipulate their data in various environments such as production, pre-production, UAT, QA, and development. Dataflix simplifies data management tasks and provides a user-friendly interface for accessing and manipulating data in a policy-driven manner. With Dataflix, users can take automatic and manual snapshots of your databases to ensure data protection. They can also upload masking scripts to create anonymized copies of your snapshots for QA environments. Additionally, Dataflix allows users to create native backups with long-term retention for compliance purposes. Moreover, Dataflix introduces a cutting-edge data catalog feature, enabling users to browse and access available data points based on regions, time, and data format. Say goodbye to data silos as users can clone desired data points into new database services for on-demand consumption, empowering them with unparalleled flexibility and agility. Dataflix not only simplifies data management tasks but also delivers a consumer-grade experience, ensuring that users can harness the full potential of their data without unnecessary complexity or hassle. Welcome to the future of data management—welcome to Dataflix. ## The Future: Third-Party Data Apps Excitingly, third parties will ultimately be able to write data apps for the Tessell platform. Tessell’s open and extensible architecture allows developers to build and integrate their applications on top of the platform. This will enable third parties to create custom data apps that can leverage the features and capabilities of Tessell for various use cases, further expanding its potential and adaptability. ### FAQs **What are Tessell data apps?** Tessell data apps are consumer-grade data management tools that simplify database operations through intuitive interfaces, allowing administrators and users to manage data protection, snapshots, and consumption with minimal complexity. **What is Tessell Availability Machine?** Tessell Availability Machine is a data app that automates database protection through SLA-defined snapshots, cross-region sharing, manual one-click captures, and continuous transaction log backups for zero data loss. **What is Dataflix?** Dataflix is a Tessell data app that simplifies data consumption across production, UAT, QA, and development environments through policy-driven snapshots, masking scripts, native backups, and a searchable data catalog. **What is the difference between Availability Machine and Dataflix?** Availability Machine focuses on database protection through automated SLA-driven snapshots and backups, while Dataflix focuses on data consumption through policy-driven cloning, masking, and data catalog access across environments. **Can third parties build apps on Tessell?** Yes, third parties can build data apps on Tessell's platform thanks to its open and extensible architecture, which lets developers integrate custom applications leveraging Tessell's features and capabilities. --- ## data-masking-and-automated-sanitization URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/data-masking-and-automated-sanitization Last updated: 2026-08-24 How database data masking works — techniques, compliance drivers, and a step-by-step workflow to automate snapshot-based sanitization across clouds. Database data masking is the process of replacing sensitive values in a database with realistic but fictitious substitutes, so that non-production environments (development, testing, analytics) contain structurally valid data without exposing real PII, financial records, or protected health information. It is a foundational requirement for organizations subject to GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and CCPA, and a critical control for reducing breach exposure across the data lifecycle. This guide covers what database data masking is, the types and techniques used, why automated sanitization matters for compliance, and how to implement snapshot-based masking natively within a cloud DBaaS platform without third-party tools. ## **What Is Database Data Masking?** **Database data masking replaces real values with fictional but structurally valid substitutes so teams can work with realistic data without regulatory exposure.** Enterprise databases contain PII (names, addresses, national IDs), PHI (patient records, diagnoses), and financial data (account numbers, transaction histories) that must be protected under multiple regulatory frameworks. Simply restricting access to production databases is insufficient when development, QA, and analytics teams need data that reflects real-world patterns and volumes. Data masking solves this by creating a transformed copy of the database where sensitive columns are replaced with plausible but non-reversible alternatives. A customer name becomes a random name; a Social Security number becomes a structurally valid but unused number; a birth date is shifted by a random offset. The masked data retains its format, type, and referential relationships, allowing applications and queries to function normally on the masked copy. The specific masking approach depends on the environment and use case, with the two primary categories being static and dynamic masking. ### **Static Data Masking** Static data masking applies a permanent, one-time transformation to a copy of the database. The process follows a snapshot, mask, and provision workflow: a snapshot of the production database is taken, masking rules are applied to the snapshot, and the masked copy is provisioned as a new database instance for non-production use. The original production data is never modified. This makes it ideal for dev, test, and staging environments where data does not need to reflect real-time production changes. This is the approach Tessell's sanitization workflow is built on. ### **Dynamic Data Masking** Dynamic data masking intercepts queries in real time and masks values on the fly based on user roles and permissions, without altering the stored data. A privileged user sees the real value; an unprivileged user sees a masked version of the same field. This approach is used in production environments where role-based access control must enforce data visibility without creating separate database copies. Dynamic masking is supported natively in SQL Server, Azure SQL, Oracle Data Redaction, and PostgreSQL through extensions. Tessell's built-in sanitization workflow is static, not dynamic. ### **Other Masking Techniques** - **Substitution:** Replaces real values with values from a lookup table of fictitious alternatives. The most common technique for names, addresses, and identifiers. - **Scrambling / Shuffling:** Rearranges values within a column so that real data exists in the dataset but is detached from its original row. Preserves statistical distribution. - **Tokenization:** Replaces sensitive values with non-reversible tokens stored in a secure vault. Allows de-tokenization by authorized systems if needed. - **Format-Preserving Encryption (FPE):** Encrypts values while maintaining their original format and length. A 16-digit credit card number remains a 16-digit number after encryption. - **Redaction:** Replaces values with a fixed mask character (e.g., XXX-XX-1234). Simple but less useful for testing because it does not produce realistic data. ## **Why Database Sanitization Matters for Non-Production Environments** Using raw production data in development, testing, and analytics environments creates significant compliance and security risk. If a non-production environment is breached, the exposed data is identical to production, triggering the same regulatory notification and remediation obligations as a production breach. Non-production environments typically have weaker access controls, making them attractive targets. According to the Perforce 2025 State of Data Compliance and Security Report, 60% of organizations have experienced data breaches or theft in non-production environments, an 11% increase from the prior year. Regulatory frameworks increasingly mandate data protection in all environments, not just production: - **GDPR (Articles 25, 32):** Requires data protection by design and by default, including pseudonymization of personal data where feasible. Non-production use of real personal data without masking is a compliance gap. - **HIPAA (Security Rule):** Mandates safeguards for all electronic protected health information (ePHI), regardless of environment. Test environments with unmasked patient data violate the minimum necessary standard. - **PCI DSS v4.1:** Prohibits using production cardholder data in test environments unless those environments meet full PCI DSS controls. Masking production data before provisioning to test avoids this requirement. - **CCPA / CPRA:** Grants consumers the right to know what data is collected and how it is used. Using real consumer data in non-production without a legitimate processing purpose creates exposure. Automating this process is no longer optional for enterprise database teams. Manual, ad hoc sanitization introduces delay, human error, and compliance gaps that compound with every provisioning cycle. The next section covers how Tessell addresses this with native, snapshot-based sanitization. ## **How Tessell Simplifies Database Data Masking** Tessell provides snapshot-based database sanitization as a native feature of its managed DBaaS platform, with no third-party tools required. Unlike approaches that require Delphix, Informatica, Redgate, or Oracle Data Safe, Tessell's masking capability is built directly into the Availability Machine and accessible through the same console used for provisioning, backup, and lifecycle management. Tessell was recognized as a Gartner 2025 Cool Vendor in Data Management, validating this integrated approach to enterprise database operations. The Tessell sanitization workflow supports both ad hoc (on-demand) and scheduled automation. DBAs upload custom SQL scripts to the Tessell Script Library that define which columns to mask and which technique to apply. These scripts are then executed against database snapshots, producing sanitized copies that can be cloned to new instances in any cloud region on AWS, Azure, GCP, or OCI. Tessell supports sanitization across all six database engines: Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and Milvus. The process is consistent regardless of engine or cloud, eliminating the need for separate masking tools per database platform. The following walkthrough demonstrates this workflow end to end. ## **Step-by-Step: How to Mask and Sanitize a Database with Tessell** The following walkthrough demonstrates the end-to-end sanitization process using a PostgreSQL database on AWS. The same workflow applies to Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, and MongoDB on any supported cloud. ### **Step 1 - Create a Database Snapshot** To begin, we have created a PostgreSQL instance on AWS with a sample Airport database loaded (*sample_database_airport_db*). We have connected to the database using pgAdmin 4 in this example. However, you can use whatever database client you prefer. We are working with the **"employee"** table, and the columns we are focusing on are **"birthdate"** and **"password"**. These are the columns we will mask in the steps that follow. Navigate to the Tessell Availability Machine for your database instance: **DB Services > Availability Machines > [Select DB Instance] > Snapshots**. Click **Take Snapshot**, provide a name, and submit. Tessell automatically creates snapshots at provisioning, so a baseline snapshot may already exist. This snapshot captures the full database state as the input for sanitization. ### **Step 2 - Upload or Select Your Masking Script** Navigate to **DB Service > Script Library**. Upload a SQL script that defines your masking rules. The script specifies which columns to transform and what technique to apply. Since we are working with PostgreSQL in our example, we will focus on the **"Airport DB Masking Script - PostgreSQL"**. By clicking on the name of the script, you are brought to a details page that shows the available versions. You can download the script by clicking on the ellipsis. Here is a copy of the script that we are using. As you can see, we will be masking the **password** column and setting the **birthdate** column for all employees to **"1971-11-11"**. --- Script -- Sample Sanitization Script ------- -- This script updates sample_database_airport_db database -- Table updated: -- Field password in table employee -- Field birthdate in table employee -- \c sample_database_airport_db; update employee set password='************'; update employee set birthdate='1971-11-11'; Scripts support all Tessell database engines. Teams maintain a library of masking scripts for different database schemas and compliance requirements. This DBA-controlled approach ensures that masking logic is customized to your data model rather than relying on generic pattern matching. ### **Step 3 - Sanitize the Snapshot** Navigate to the Tessell Availability Machine to access the snapshot we created earlier. Select **DB Services > Availability Machines > [Select the DB Instance] > Snapshots**. Tessell automatically provides snapshots when you first provision an instance, as well as when you load a sample database. Since we have a snapshot available, select the **Sanitization** tab. On the Sanitization tab, click **Sanitize Snapshot**. Choose the snapshot, provide a **Sanitized snapshot name**, select the masking script (*Airport DB Masking Script - PostgreSQL*) and a version if applicable, and then click **Submit**. Tessell applies the script against a copy of the snapshot, producing a sanitized version. The original snapshot remains unmodified. Progress is visible in the Tessell console during execution. Once the operation is complete, you will see the sanitized snapshot listed and ready for cloning. ### **Step 4 - Clone the Sanitized Snapshot to a New Instance** Now that the sanitized snapshot is available, navigate to the **Dataflix** section to create the sanitized instance. There is a shortcut on the upper right-hand corner of the Sanitization tab where you can access the Dataflix app. You can also navigate to **DB Services > Dataflix > [Select the DB Instance]**. Once in Dataflix, select the snapshot you want to clone from under the **Sanitized Snapshots** tab, and then click the **Clone** button. Walk through the cloning process, which will create a new instance based on the sanitized snapshot. This process looks nearly identical to the standard provisioning wizard within Tessell. The clone can be deployed to the same region, a different region, or a different cloud provider entirely (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI). This supports distributed development teams that need compliant test data in their local cloud environment. The cloning process will begin. You can click on the **Creating** status to view progress. ### **Step 5 - Verify Sanitization Was Successful** Now that the process is complete, connect to the cloned instance using your preferred database client. In our example, we are using **pgAdmin 4** as we did earlier with the original PostgreSQL instance. As you can see, the **birthdate** and **password** columns have been modified based on the masking script we applied in Step 2. The password values are now masked, and all birthdate values have been set to "1971-11-11" as defined in the script. Verify that referential integrity is preserved across related tables and that the masked data is usable for the intended test workloads. For audit and compliance purposes, Tessell logs all sanitization events within the platform, providing a verifiable trail for GDPR and PCI DSS audits. This eliminates the need for manual documentation of when masking was applied and by whom. ## **Automating Database Sanitization with Tessell** The steps above cover on-demand sanitization for ad hoc requests. But running this process manually every time a team needs fresh test data introduces operational risk and delays. Tessell solves this with two built-in automation capabilities: scheduled sanitization and cross-region Data Access Policies. ### **Creating a Sanitization Schedule** For teams that provision test environments regularly, manual sanitization creates operational friction and risks missed masking cycles. Tessell's built-in scheduler eliminates this by running masking on a defined cadence without DBA intervention. Navigate to the **Sanitization** tab under the Availability Machine (**DB Services > Availability Machines > [DB Instance]**), select the **Show Schedules** button, and then select **Create Schedule**. On the **Create a sanitization schedule** window, provide a Schedule Name, Description, Frequency (daily, weekly, or custom cron expression), Snapshot retention period, Snapshot name prefix, the masking Script to use, and the version. Click **Save** to activate the schedule. Tessell will automatically take a snapshot, apply the masking script, and produce a sanitized copy at each scheduled interval. ### **Setting Up a Data Access Policy for Cross-Region Delivery** Now that we have a sanitization schedule created, the next step is to create a **Data Access Policy**. This policy can copy sanitized data from one region to another on the cloud of your choice. Tessell's Data Access Policies extend automated sanitization to cross-region and cross-cloud delivery. Create a Data Access Policy that specifies which regions and clouds should receive the sanitized snapshots. In our example, we will create sanitized copies of the PostgreSQL instance in **US East (Ohio)**, **US East (N. Virginia)**, and **US West (Oregon)**. Select the sanitization schedule created in the previous step, set the number of snapshots to retain, and click **Create**. Tessell automatically replicates the sanitized copy to the target regions, making compliant test data available to distributed teams without manual snapshot management. You can view the data flow on the **Data Flow** tab of the Availability Machine. This capability is unique to Tessell's multi-cloud architecture. Sanitized snapshots can be pushed to any combination of AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI regions, giving global development teams access to fresh, compliant test data on a predictable schedule. As this schedule runs, you will have additional sanitized snapshots available for cloning as needed. ## **Database Data Masking Best Practices for Enterprise Teams** 1. **Identify and classify sensitive columns before scripting:** Conduct a data discovery and classification exercise to map all PII, PHI, and financial columns across your schema. Masking rules are only effective if they cover all sensitive fields. 2. **Preserve referential integrity across related tables:** If a customer_id is masked in the customers table, the same transformation must be applied to the orders table. Use deterministic masking (same input always produces the same output) for foreign key columns. 3. **Use consistent, deterministic masking for foreign keys:** Hash-based or lookup-based substitution ensures that referential relationships survive the masking process. Random masking on key columns will break joins and application logic. 4. **Automate masking on every data movement into non-production:** Never rely on manual, ad hoc masking for recurring test environment provisioning. Schedule sanitization to run automatically so that no unmasked production data enters non-production. 5. **Maintain audit logs for compliance reviews:** Record when sanitization was applied, which script was used, and who initiated the process. This is required for GDPR accountability and PCI DSS audit evidence. 6. **Validate masked data usability before releasing to developers:** Run automated test suites against the masked database to confirm that application logic functions correctly with the substituted data. Masking should not break application behavior. Tessell's Availability Machine handles steps 4 through 6 natively: automated scheduling ensures every non-production copy is masked, all sanitization events are logged, and cloned instances can be validated before release to development teams. ## **Conclusion** Database data masking is a non-negotiable requirement for any enterprise that uses production data to populate development, testing, or analytics environments. The regulatory landscape in 2026 (GDPR enforcement, PCI DSS v4.1, HIPAA, CCPA/CPRA, and the EU AI Act) makes automated sanitization a compliance imperative, not a best practice. Tessell eliminates the need for standalone masking tools by building snapshot-based sanitization directly into its managed DBaaS platform. Teams define masking logic once in the Script Library, apply it on demand or on schedule, and deliver sanitized data to any cloud region across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. Combined with Tessell's ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS v4.1 certifications, this provides end-to-end data protection from production to non-production without additional tooling or integration overhead. To see how Tessell handles database data masking for your environment, book a demo at tessell.com/book-a-demo or start a free trial. ### FAQs **What is the difference between data masking and data sanitization?** Data masking is the broader term for replacing sensitive values with fictitious substitutes. Data sanitization specifically refers to the process of applying masking rules to a database copy (typically a snapshot) to produce a clean, compliant version for non-production use. In practice, sanitization is the operational workflow that implements masking policies. **When should I use static data masking vs. dynamic data masking?** Use static data masking when creating separate database copies for dev/test/staging environments. The masking is applied once to a snapshot, and the result is provisioned as a new instance. Use dynamic data masking when you need role-based visibility control in production without creating additional database copies. Tessell's built-in workflow is static. **Can I automate database sanitization without third-party tools?** Yes. Tessell provides native snapshot-based sanitization as part of its managed DBaaS platform. DBAs upload masking scripts to the Script Library, define a sanitization schedule, and Tessell handles the rest automatically. No Delphix, Informatica, or Redgate integration is required. **What types of data should be masked in a non-production database?** At minimum, mask all PII (names, addresses, national IDs, email addresses, phone numbers), PHI (patient records, diagnoses, prescriptions), financial data (account numbers, credit card numbers, transaction amounts), and authentication credentials (passwords, API keys, tokens). Conduct a data classification exercise to identify all sensitive columns in your schema. **How does data masking preserve referential integrity across related tables?** Deterministic masking techniques (hash-based substitution, lookup tables) ensure that the same input value always produces the same output value. This means a customer_id masked in one table will produce the identical masked value in all related tables, preserving foreign key relationships and join integrity. **What is snapshot-based sanitization, and how does it work in a DBaaS?** Snapshot-based sanitization takes a point-in-time copy of a production database, applies masking rules to the copy, and provisions the masked result as a new database instance. In Tessell's DBaaS, this is handled through the Availability Machine: take a snapshot, apply a masking script from the Script Library, and clone the sanitized snapshot to a new instance on any supported cloud. --- ## zero-downtime-migration-strategies URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/zero-downtime-migration-strategies Last updated: 2026-08-24 Five proven strategies to migrate mission-critical databases without downtime — replication, blue-green, CDC, and automated DBaaS, compared side by side. In 2024, ITIC's annual survey found that more than 90% of large enterprises report the cost of a single hour of unplanned downtime exceeds $300,000. For 44% of them, that figure tops $1 million per hour. Yet every year, thousands of these same enterprises undertake cloud database migrations, one of the most downtime-prone operations in enterprise IT. This is the migration paradox: the very modernization initiative meant to improve reliability and reduce operational overhead carries the risk of the outages you're trying to prevent. Zero downtime database migration is the practice of transferring data from a source system to a target environment without interrupting application availability or compromising data consistency. In practice, this spans a spectrum. True zero downtime means application traffic continues uninterrupted throughout the entire process, while near-zero downtime accepts a cutover window measured in seconds rather than hours. For global enterprises running mission-critical workloads across multiple clouds, databases, and time zones, the difference between those two definitions can mean millions of dollars in revenue, SLA penalties, and customer trust. This guide covers the full arc: from understanding what causes migration downtime, to selecting the right strategy for your workload, to managing enterprise-scale risk, to validating success after cutover. ## Why Zero Downtime Matters It's tempting to frame zero downtime migration as a technical preference, the kind of thing architects care about but executives don't. That framing is wrong. **The financial case is direct.** For a global financial services firm processing transactions around the clock, even a two-hour maintenance window translates to millions in lost revenue and potential regulatory fines. Healthcare organizations face similar exposure: downtime affecting clinical systems doesn't just cost money, it creates liability. ITIC's 2024 data captures what practitioners already know intuitively: at enterprise scale, downtime is never just an IT problem. **Operational cascades amplify the damage.** Modern enterprise architectures are deeply interdependent. A database migration that takes a core system offline for four hours doesn't just affect that system. It ripples through every downstream application, API, and integration that depends on it. SLA penalties stack. On-call engineers scramble. Recovery efforts draw resources away from other initiatives. **Customer and market impact compounds quickly.** For B2C businesses and public companies, extended outages trigger customer churn, social media amplification, and stock price volatility. The reputational damage from a poorly executed migration can outlast the technical recovery by months. **Traditional maintenance windows no longer work at enterprise scale.** The concept of a maintenance window assumes a relatively contained, single-timezone operation with predictable low-traffic periods. Global enterprises don't have those. A 2:00 AM window for US East Coast users is peak business hours in Singapore. Always-on applications, including e-commerce platforms, trading systems, and customer portals, have no off-peak period at all. Zero downtime migration isn't a luxury for these organizations. It's a requirement. ## What Causes Downtime During Database Migration Before choosing a strategy, it's worth understanding exactly where downtime originates. Most migration outages trace back to one or more of the following: **Data volume** is the most straightforward culprit. Large databases simply take a long time to copy. If the source system must pause writes during the bulk transfer to maintain consistency, that pause is your downtime window. A 10TB database that transfers at 500MB/s takes roughly six hours, an unacceptable outage for any production workload. **Schema changes** create a subtler challenge. When a migration requires adding or removing columns, changing data types, or restructuring indexes, the application often cannot run against either the old or the new schema during the transition. Traditional approaches handle this with a maintenance window. Zero downtime approaches require phased schema deployment, covered further in the risk mitigation section. **Application code changes** compound the schema problem. Updated connection strings, new query patterns, and compatibility adjustments all require coordinated deployment. If the application and database cutover aren't synchronized precisely, you get errors, data inconsistencies, or both. **Network instability** during cross-cloud or cross-region transfers can interrupt replication streams and trigger recovery procedures that extend migration windows significantly. Latency spikes, packet loss, and bandwidth constraints are all more common in heterogeneous environments than in same-cloud migrations. **Data transformation and ETL overhead** adds time to migrations that involve engine changes, data cleansing, or format normalization. These processes are resource-intensive on both the source and target, and the longer they run, the wider the window of inconsistency. **Backup and restore overhead** affects migrations that use traditional backup-and-restore approaches. The backup competes for I/O with production workloads, and restore times on the target add directly to downtime. **Human error** remains a significant factor. Manual migration processes involve dozens of coordinated steps across multiple teams. Missed configuration steps, incorrect connection strings, failed rollback procedures, and documentation gaps all contribute to extended outages. ## How to Achieve Zero Downtime Database Migration: Proven Strategies No single strategy fits every enterprise migration. The right approach depends on your data volume, downtime tolerance, database engine, and whether you're staying on the same engine or switching. Here are the five primary strategies, from simplest to most sophisticated. | Strategy | How it works | Best for | Downtime | Key tradeoff | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Offline copy | Stop source, copy database, restart on target | Small datasets, dev/test environments | Hours (scales with data volume) | Simplest approach, but unacceptable for production at scale | | Replication-based (read replica promotion) | Sync target as live replica, promote at cutover | Large same-engine production databases | Seconds | Requires engine compatibility between source and target | | Blue-green deployment | Run parallel environments, validate green, switch all traffic | Mission-critical workloads requiring full rollback capability | Near-zero | Double infrastructure cost during migration window | | Phased rollout with CDC | Continuously capture row-level changes, shift traffic in waves | Cross-engine migrations, estates of 50+ databases | Near-zero | Higher setup complexity, requires routing logic | | Automated DBaaS-driven | Platform handles full lifecycle end-to-end | Large multi-engine, multi-cloud estates | Near-zero | Requires DBaaS platform adoption and vendor evaluation | ### Strategy 1: Offline Copy Migration **How it works:** The source application stops, the full database is copied to the target environment, and the application restarts pointing to the new database. **When to use it:** Small datasets, non-production environments, or cases where a brief, controlled maintenance window is acceptable. This approach is genuinely useful as a first step for dev/test migrations. It lets you validate the target setup, application compatibility, and performance before applying more complex strategies to production. **The tradeoff:** Any meaningful production workload will find this approach unacceptable. Downtime scales linearly with data volume, and there's no graceful fallback if issues arise after the application comes back up pointing to the new database. **Enterprise consideration:** Never use offline copy for production databases above a few hundred gigabytes, or for any system with a sub-hour RTO requirement. ### Strategy 2: Replication-Based Migration (Read Replica Promotion) **How it works:** The target database is provisioned as a read replica of the source and kept continuously synchronized using the database engine's native replication technology. When the team is ready to cut over, replication catches up to near-real-time, the source application is briefly paused, the replica is promoted to primary, and traffic is redirected. Total downtime: seconds. Native replication options include Oracle Data Guard, PostgreSQL streaming replication, MySQL native replication, and SQL Server Distributed Availability Groups (DAGs). Each is purpose-built for high-fidelity, low-latency synchronization between instances. **When to use it:** Large production databases requiring near-zero downtime, particularly same-engine migrations (Oracle to Oracle, PostgreSQL to PostgreSQL). This is the most common strategy for enterprise workloads that can't afford an extended window but don't require the full rollback safety net of blue-green. **The tradeoff:** Replication compatibility is required between source and target, so cross-engine migrations need a different approach. Network bandwidth for continuous synchronization must be provisioned carefully, and replication lag during peak load periods needs monitoring. **Enterprise consideration:** Tessell automates replication-based migration for Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server workloads, handling setup, synchronization monitoring, and planned cutover with a single control plane across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. ### Strategy 3: Blue-Green Deployment **How it works:** A complete parallel environment (the "green" stack) is provisioned alongside the existing "blue" production environment. Data is migrated and continuously synchronized to green, the new environment is fully validated with real workloads, and then all application traffic is switched to green at once. Blue remains available as an instant rollback target until the team is confident the migration is stable. **When to use it:** Mission-critical applications where rollback capability is non-negotiable. Regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, and energy frequently mandate full validation in a production-equivalent environment before go-live. Blue-green is the only strategy that preserves a complete, live fallback. **The tradeoff:** Double infrastructure cost during the migration window. Data synchronization between blue and green must be maintained and monitored for the entire validation period. Application-level routing logic must handle the cutover cleanly. **Enterprise consideration:** Blue-green pairs naturally with feature flags and canary releases for organizations migrating databases as part of a broader application modernization effort. The ability to route a percentage of traffic to green before full cutover reduces risk further. ### Strategy 4: Phased Rollout with Change Data Capture (CDC) **How it works:** CDC tools continuously capture and replicate every change at the row level from the source database to the target, including inserts, updates, and deletes, with minimal latency. Migration proceeds in phases: read-only queries route to the target first, then write operations shift progressively as confidence builds. This approach supports heterogeneous migrations (Oracle to PostgreSQL, MySQL to Aurora) because it operates at the change-event level rather than requiring native replication compatibility. Common CDC tools include AWS Database Migration Service (DMS), Oracle GoldenGate, and Debezium. **When to use it:** Large-scale enterprise migrations involving many databases, cross-engine migrations, or multi-cloud scenarios where the source and target engines differ. Wave-based planning allows enterprises to migrate estates of 50 to 500+ databases systematically: validate a cohort, tune, then advance to the next wave. **The tradeoff:** CDC setup is more complex than native replication. Replication lag must be monitored carefully, particularly for write-heavy workloads. Application-level routing logic adds engineering overhead. Schema changes require careful sequencing with CDC pipelines in flight. **Enterprise consideration:** For organizations with hundreds of databases and a mix of engines, CDC-based wave migration is the most scalable approach available. It allows teams to maintain operational continuity while progressively reducing their on-premises footprint over months rather than in a single high-risk cutover event. ### Strategy 5: Automated DBaaS-Driven Migration **How it works:** A managed Database-as-a-Service platform handles the full migration lifecycle, from discovery and assessment to replication setup, synchronization monitoring, wave group planning, cutover orchestration, and post-migration optimization, without requiring a dedicated migration engineering team to coordinate each step manually. **When to use it:** Enterprises migrating large database estates across multiple clouds, teams without dedicated migration architects, or organizations that want operational simplicity alongside migration, meaning the platform that handles the move also manages the database afterward. **The tradeoff:** Requires adopting a DBaaS platform and a vendor evaluation process. The trade is meaningful, though: the reduction in manual engineering effort, human error exposure, and time-to-migration for large estates typically outweighs the evaluation investment significantly. **Enterprise consideration:** For Oracle Exadata estates specifically, Tessell Airdrop provides end-to-end automated migration with zero application rewrites required, covering discovery, wave planning, Data Guard-based replication, and cutover, while the [Tessell Availability Machine](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/why-what-how-of-tessell-availability-machine) ensures zero data loss protection throughout the process. ## Mitigating Migration Risks at Enterprise Scale Choosing the right strategy is necessary but not sufficient. Enterprise-scale migrations fail not because the strategy was wrong, but because risk management was inadequate. These are the practices that separate successful migrations from ones that generate incident reports. **Run full rehearsals before production cutover.** Every migration should be rehearsed on a production-equivalent non-production environment at least twice before touching live data. Rehearsals surface application connectivity issues, query performance regressions, and data integrity gaps before they become outage events. **Deploy schema changes in backward-compatible phases.** This is one of the most underappreciated practices in zero downtime migration. A schema change that breaks the running application the moment it's applied forces a cutover moment you didn't choose. Backward-compatible schema deployment, such as adding new columns as nullable before populating them, keeping old columns available during transition, and using views to bridge old and new structures, allows the application and database to evolve together without a hard cutover dependency. **Validate data integrity at every phase.** Replication isn't guaranteed to be perfect, particularly across engines or through transformation layers. Automated checksums, row count comparisons, and sampling-based integrity checks should run continuously throughout migration, not just at the end. A discrepancy caught at 2% migration progress is a tuning problem. The same discrepancy discovered post-cutover is a data incident. **Test and document rollback procedures explicitly.** Every migration plan should include a rollback procedure that has actually been executed in a test environment. Teams that have never practiced a rollback will improvise during a real incident, which is exactly when improvisation is most dangerous. **Address data residency requirements before migration begins.** For global enterprises, not all data can move to all clouds. GDPR, DPDP, HIPAA, and sector-specific regulations impose constraints on where data can be processed and stored. Migration plans that don't account for data sovereignty create compliance exposure that may not surface until audit time. **Monitor continuously, not just at cutover.** Replication lag, application latency, error rates, and database health metrics should be tracked throughout the migration lifecycle. Many migration failures manifest not at cutover but hours later, when replication falls behind under production load or when a schema compatibility issue surfaces in an edge-case transaction path. Continuous observability turns these events into alerts instead of outages. **Encrypt in transit and at rest throughout migration.** Data moving between source and target environments crosses network boundaries that may not be fully trusted. TLS encryption for replication streams, VPN or private peering for cross-cloud transfers, and audit logging of all migration activity are baseline requirements for any regulated workload. ## How Tessell Simplifies Zero Downtime Database Migration Most enterprises don't fail at zero downtime migration because they chose the wrong strategy. They fail because executing any of these strategies manually, at scale, across multiple engines and clouds, requires more coordination and specialized expertise than most teams have available. Tessell automates the full migration lifecycle — discovery, wave planning, replication setup, cutover orchestration, and post-migration optimization — so teams aren't stitching together runbooks across engines and clouds. For Oracle Exadata workloads specifically, [Tessell Airdrop](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/tessell-lifts-and-shines-oracle-databases-to-azure-a-modern-approach-to-database-migration) handles end-to-end migration with no application rewrites required, using native Data Guard replication rather than abstraction layers your DBAs would need to learn. The [Tessell Availability Machine](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/why-what-how-of-tessell-availability-machine) provides continuous data protection throughout the migration, not just after it, with automated snapshots, log backups, and point-in-time recovery across regions and clouds. Forbes reduced database costs by more than 25% and improved page load times by 42 to 50% post-migration. Tessell was recognized as a 2025 Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management. **Ready to assess your zero downtime migration path?** Talk to Tessell's migration experts to understand your database estate, identify the right strategy for each workload, and build a migration plan that protects revenue, compliance, and customer trust throughout the process. [Talk to a Migration Expert →](https://www.tessell.com/contact-sales) ### FAQs **How do you implement zero-downtime database migration?** Zero downtime migration relies on keeping the source database live while synchronizing data to the target in real time. The standard approach uses replication, either native (Data Guard, streaming replication, DAGs) or CDC-based, to minimize the gap between source and target. When the gap closes to near-real-time, a brief, controlled cutover redirects application traffic. The application never goes fully offline; it experiences at most a few seconds of switchover during final promotion. **How would you reduce downtime during database migration?** The most effective levers are: choosing a replication-based strategy over offline copy; rehearsing the cutover procedure multiple times before production; deploying schema changes in backward-compatible phases so no single change forces an outage; and automating as much of the orchestration as possible to eliminate human coordination delays. Every manual handoff in a migration sequence is a potential delay. **What are the biggest risks during zero-downtime database migration?** Replication lag falling behind under production load, schema incompatibilities between source and target, data integrity gaps that aren't caught until post-cutover, and inadequately tested rollback procedures. The risks compound in cross-engine migrations and large estates where CDC pipelines are managing hundreds of simultaneous change streams. **What is backward compatibility, and why does it matter during migration?** Backward compatibility means that a schema change can be deployed to the database without breaking the version of the application currently running in production. It matters during migration because you often need the old and new application versions to coexist against the same database schema during a rolling deployment. Without backward-compatible schema changes, every schema update becomes a hard cutover moment with its own downtime risk. **Can you achieve zero downtime when migrating across different database engines?** Yes, but it requires CDC-based replication rather than native replication, because native replication (Data Guard, streaming replication) requires source and target to be the same engine. CDC tools operate at the change-event level and can translate between engines. The complexity is higher, as schema mapping, data type normalization, and transformation logic must be designed carefully, but cross-engine zero downtime migration is well-established for Oracle-to-PostgreSQL, SQL Server-to-PostgreSQL, and MySQL-to-Aurora workloads. --- ## high-performance-database-with-nvme-storage URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/high-performance-database-with-nvme-storage Last updated: 2026-08-24 How NVMe storage delivers 2M IOPS for modern databases, how it compares to EBS and SAN, and how to solve the durability gap in production. Storage architecture is the primary determinant of database performance in cloud environments. The gap between what applications demand and what network-attached storage delivers has driven a fundamental shift toward NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) as the storage layer for high-performance databases. This guide covers what makes a database high-performance, how NVMe compares to traditional storage options, and how Tessell delivers durable NVMe at 2 million IOPS across AWS and Azure. ## **What Is a High-Performance Database?** A high-performance database is one designed to handle large volumes of concurrent read/write operations with minimal latency and maximum throughput. In cloud environments, database performance is primarily constrained by the storage layer: the protocol connecting compute to storage, the IOPS ceiling of the storage medium, and the latency introduced by the network path between them. NVMe is the leading storage technology for achieving high-performance database workloads in 2026, delivering microsecond-level latency and millions of IOPS by connecting SSDs directly to the CPU over PCIe. The shift toward NVMe-backed databases is accelerating as organizations adopt AI/ML workloads, real-time analytics, and high-concurrency transactional systems that exceed the performance ceilings of traditional network-attached storage. ## **What Is NVMe?** NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a storage protocol designed specifically for solid-state drives. Unlike SATA and SAS, which were originally designed for spinning disk drives and later retrofitted for SSDs, NVMe was built from the ground up to exploit the parallelism and low latency of flash storage. NVMe communicates between the storage interface and the system CPU using high-speed PCIe sockets, bypassing the bottlenecks of older host controller interfaces like AHCI. NVMe supports up to 65,535 I/O queues with up to 65,536 commands per queue, compared to SATA's single queue with 32 commands. This massive parallelism is what enables NVMe to deliver millions of IOPS with microsecond-level latency, making it the optimal storage protocol for database workloads that require high concurrency and fast response times. ### **NVMe vs SATA vs SAN: The Storage Protocol Stack** | Feature | NVMe (Local) | SATA SSD | SAS SSD | SAN/EBS (Network) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Max IOPS | 1M-2M+ | ~100K | ~200K | Up to 256K (io2) | | Latency | 10-20 µs | 50-100 µs | 30-50 µs | 200-500 µs | | Queue Depth | 65,535 queues | 1 queue (32 cmds) | 256 queues | Varies by tier | | Interface | PCIe Gen 4/5 | AHCI | SCSI | Network (TCP/iSCSI) | | Designed For | Flash SSDs | HDD (retrofitted) | Enterprise HDD/SSD | Shared storage | The key takeaway for database architects: NVMe eliminates the I/O bottleneck. With queue depths 2,000x greater than SATA and latency 10-25x lower than network-attached storage, NVMe is the right architecture for any database workload where I/O wait is the primary performance constraint. ### **NVMe in 2026: PCIe Gen 5 and What Has Changed** PCIe Gen 5 standardization has doubled the per-lane bandwidth compared to Gen 4, pushing theoretical NVMe throughput beyond 14 GB/s for a single drive. For database workloads, this means higher sustained write throughput during bulk loads, faster backup and restore operations, and reduced latency under peak concurrency. NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) is an emerging trend in enterprise data centers that extends NVMe performance across a network fabric, enabling shared NVMe storage pools without the latency penalties of traditional SAN. While NVMe-oF is primarily relevant for on-premises and private cloud architectures, cloud-based managed DBaaS platforms like Tessell deliver similar shared-access benefits by abstracting the underlying NVMe infrastructure into a fully managed service. ## **How Is Storage Organised in Managed Database Offerings of Public Clouds?** ### **The EBS/SAN Architecture Problem** Current managed database services like AWS RDS and Azure managed databases use network-attached SAN storage (EBS, Azure Managed Disks) connected to compute servers over the network. This architecture uses existing SATA or SCSI communication protocols, limiting the throughput you can extract from the underlying SSD hardware. Every I/O operation traverses the network stack, adding 200-500 microseconds of latency per operation compared to 10-20 microseconds for local NVMe. The cost dimension compounds the problem. On AWS, gp3 volumes provide a baseline of 3,000 IOPS free, but additional IOPS cost $0.005 per provisioned IOPS/month. Provisioning 64,000 IOPS on io2 costs approximately $3,200/month for IOPS alone, before accounting for storage capacity. Azure Premium SSD and Ultra Disk follow similar pricing structures. For workloads that need hundreds of thousands of IOPS, network-attached storage becomes both a performance ceiling and a cost problem. This is the fundamental performance ceiling of conventional cloud databases, and why NVMe changes the equation. ### **NVMe vs EBS: Performance at a Glance** | Feature | NVMe Instance Store | EBS gp3 | EBS io2 | Azure Premium SSD | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Max IOPS | 2,000,000+ | 16,000 | 256,000 | 80,000 (P80) | | Latency | 10-20 µs | 200-500 µs | 200-300 µs | 200-400 µs | | Cost Model | Included with instance | $0.08/GB + IOPS fees | $0.125/GB + $0.065/IOPS | Fixed per disk tier | | Durability | Ephemeral (requires replication) | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | ## **Why NVMe Matters for Mission-Critical Database Workloads** The performance difference between NVMe and network-attached storage translates directly into measurable business outcomes for mission-critical workloads. - **Reduced CPU overhead: **Less I/O wait means fewer CPU cycles spent idle, which translates to fewer cores needed for the same throughput. For Oracle and SQL Server workloads where licensing is per-core, this has a direct FinOps impact. - **Faster backup and restore: **NVMe's sequential read throughput dramatically reduces backup window duration and recovery time, shrinking maintenance windows and improving RTO. - **Eliminated noisy-neighbor impact: **Local NVMe storage is dedicated to your instance. Unlike shared EBS volumes, there is no contention with other tenants for I/O bandwidth. - **AI/ML workload enablement: **Vector search (Milvus, pgvector), real-time analytics, and LLM inference pipelines all require high-IOPS, low-latency storage. NVMe is the storage layer that makes these workloads practical on cloud databases. Tessell supports AI workloads through Milvus and pgvector on PostgreSQL, both running on NVMe. ## **How Tessell Uses NVMe and Solves for Data Durability** ### **The Durability Problem with Instance Store NVMe** NVMe instance store volumes in cloud environments are ephemeral by design. When an EC2 or Azure instance is stopped, the underlying hardware is deallocated and the instance store is wiped so the next tenant cannot access previous data. The storage persists across normal reboots but not across stop/start cycles. This is why most managed cloud database providers (AWS RDS, Azure SQL) do not use NVMe: they sacrifice performance for the built-in durability of network-attached storage. Tessell solves this with a different architecture. ### **Tessell Availability Machine: Durable NVMe at 2M IOPS** Tessell's patented Availability Machine provides data durability on NVMe without sacrificing performance. The architecture works in three layers: 1. **NVMe for primary I/O: **All application reads and writes go directly to local NVMe storage, delivering up to 2 million IOPS with microsecond latency. No network hop, no shared storage contention. 2. **Continuous log backup: **Transaction logs are continuously replicated from NVMe to a secondary persistent storage layer (EBS/Azure Managed Disks). Data blocks are also synced to this layer by the Tessell Engine. Logs are further archived to object storage (S3/Blob) at regular intervals. 3. **Automatic recovery: **In the event of an instance failure or stop/start cycle, Tessell automatically recovers the database to the last committed transaction using the replicated logs and data blocks. Multi-HA deployments achieve zero RPO/RTO. Single-instance deployments achieve RPO under 5 minutes. This Availability Machine is provisioned automatically on every Tessell database. It is what makes Tessell unique: the only multi-cloud DBaaS that delivers durable NVMe without requiring customers to choose between performance and data protection. ### **Multi-Cloud NVMe: AWS and Azure from One Platform** Tessell is the only managed DBaaS that delivers durable NVMe storage on both AWS and Azure from a single control plane. PlanetScale Metal supports AWS and GCP but does not offer Azure. Ubicloud operates on a single cloud. For enterprises running workloads across multiple clouds, Tessell eliminates the need to manage separate NVMe database configurations, monitoring, and backup strategies per cloud provider. Tessell supports six database engines on NVMe: Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and Milvus. This multi-engine coverage means teams can standardize on a single DBaaS platform for NVMe-backed databases regardless of engine or cloud, with consistent management, backup, and HA/DR capabilities across all deployments. ## **Tessell Performance Benchmarks** Tessell's NVMe infrastructure has been validated through published benchmarks and production customer deployments. The following results demonstrate the performance advantage of durable NVMe over standard cloud storage. - **IOPS: **Tessell's NVMe-backed instances deliver up to 2 million IOPS, compared to a maximum of 256,000 IOPS on AWS io2 and 80,000 IOPS on Azure Premium SSD P80. - **PostgreSQL SLOB benchmark: **Tessell HPC PostgreSQL on Azure produced 70% higher IOPS compared to Aurora PostgreSQL for an identical SLOB workload, at a lower cost due to Tessell's unmetered IOPS model. - **Customer outcome (Forbes): **Forbes achieved 42-50% faster database-backed page load times after migrating to Tessell's NVMe infrastructure, along with on-demand development environments provisioned in under 7 minutes. - **Cost advantage: **Tessell's pricing model does not meter IOPS. Unlike EBS io2 where 64,000 provisioned IOPS costs over $3,200/month, Tessell's NVMe performance is included in the instance price, providing cost predictability alongside performance. ### **Which Database Workloads Benefit Most from NVMe?** - **High-concurrency OLTP (Oracle, MySQL): **Transaction-heavy workloads with thousands of concurrent sessions benefit most from NVMe's queue depth and low latency. Oracle and MySQL on NVMe show significant reductions in I/O wait time. - **Analytics with large sequential reads (PostgreSQL, SQL Server): **Data warehousing and BI queries that scan large tables benefit from NVMe's sequential read throughput, reducing query execution times. - **AI/ML workloads (Milvus, pgvector): **Vector similarity search and embedding retrieval for LLM applications require low-latency random reads at high concurrency. NVMe is the only storage tier that makes sub-millisecond vector search practical at scale. - **High-write batch processing (MongoDB): **Bulk insert and ETL workloads that generate sustained write throughput benefit from NVMe's write bandwidth and the absence of network-attached write latency. ## **Conclusion** NVMe has become the default storage architecture for high-performance databases in cloud environments. Its combination of microsecond latency, millions of IOPS, and massive queue depth eliminates the I/O bottleneck that limits network-attached storage. The challenge has always been durability: NVMe instance store is ephemeral, and most cloud database providers avoid it entirely. Tessell solves this with its patented Availability Machine, delivering durable NVMe at 2 million IOPS with zero RPO/RTO on multi-HA deployments, across both AWS and Azure from a single platform. For Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and Milvus workloads where performance is critical, Tessell provides the only multi-cloud DBaaS that does not force a choice between speed and data protection. To evaluate Tessell's NVMe performance for your workloads, visit tessell.com/high-performance or book a demo at tessell.com/book-a-demo. ### FAQs **What is a high-performance database?** A high-performance database is one optimized for low latency, high throughput, and high IOPS under concurrent workloads. In cloud environments, storage architecture is the primary performance determinant. NVMe-backed databases deliver microsecond latency and millions of IOPS compared to hundreds of microseconds and tens of thousands of IOPS on network-attached storage. **How does NVMe improve database performance?** NVMe connects SSDs directly to the CPU via PCIe, bypassing the network stack that adds 200-500 microseconds of latency per I/O operation on EBS and SAN. NVMe also supports 65,535 parallel I/O queues compared to SATA's single queue, enabling millions of concurrent operations. **What is the difference between NVMe and EBS for database storage?** NVMe is local, direct-attached storage that delivers 2M+ IOPS at 10-20 microsecond latency. EBS is network-attached storage that delivers up to 256K IOPS (io2) at 200-500 microsecond latency. NVMe is faster but ephemeral by default. EBS is durable but slower. Tessell combines NVMe performance with EBS-level durability. **Is NVMe storage durable enough for production databases?** NVMe instance store is ephemeral by default in cloud environments. However, platforms like Tessell solve this by continuously replicating transaction logs and data blocks from NVMe to persistent storage, enabling automatic recovery to the last committed transaction. Multi-HA Tessell deployments achieve zero RPO/RTO on NVMe. **How does Tessell use NVMe for managed databases?** Tessell uses local NVMe for all primary database I/O (up to 2M IOPS) while the Tessell Availability Machine continuously backs up transaction logs and data blocks to persistent cloud storage (EBS/Azure Disks and S3/Blob). This provides durable NVMe performance without the ephemeral risk. The Availability Machine is provisioned automatically on every Tessell database. **What IOPS can I get with NVMe vs standard cloud storage?** Local NVMe delivers 1M-2M+ IOPS. AWS EBS gp3 provides 16,000 IOPS baseline. AWS EBS io2 provides up to 256,000 IOPS (at significant cost). Azure Premium SSD P80 provides up to 80,000 IOPS. Tessell's NVMe delivers 2M IOPS with no IOPS metering fees. **Which databases benefit most from NVMe storage?** High-concurrency OLTP workloads (Oracle, MySQL), analytics with large sequential reads (PostgreSQL, SQL Server), AI/ML workloads requiring low-latency vector search (Milvus, pgvector), and high-write batch processing (MongoDB) all see significant performance gains on NVMe compared to network-attached storage. --- ## how-tessell-empowers-government-organizations URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/how-tessell-empowers-government-organizations Last updated: 2026-08-24 Federal, state, and local government agencies often face challenges when migrating legacy Oracle databases and applications to the cloud. These obstacles can delay cloud adoption and prevent organizations from realizing its full benefits.**Tessell’s **Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform is designed to address these challenges, ensuring a seamless, secure, and cost-effective transition to the cloud. ## 1. Consistent Performance and Cost Savings **Predictable Costs: **Tessell’s fixed-cost model eliminates the unpredictable costs of IOPS-related expenses, resulting in significant savings on infrastructure, licensing, administration, backup, and disaster recovery. **Optimized Resources: **Tessell leverages advanced compute shapes and storage options, including native NVMe and Oracle Exadata, to ensure consistent performance and efficient resource use. ## 2. Enhanced Control, Security, and Governance **Data Sovereignty: **Tessell ensures government organizations maintain complete control over their data and infrastructure directly within their own Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud tenant. **Robust Security Features: **With high-availability architecture, cross-availability Zone (AZ) support, cross-region one-click disaster recovery, BYOK (Bring your Own Keys) encryption, and automated production data masking, Tessell helps organizations meet stringent regulatory requirements. **Deployment@Customer Terms**: The**Virtual Private Tessell (VPT)**model offers enhanced security with dedicated cloud accounts within their cloud tenancy. This allows customers to customize the SaaS control plane to align with larger government entities' specific data plane requirements. ## 3. Tailored Data Management and Operational Efficiency **Automation and Integration: **Tessell’s Cloud Curation and Data Management Automation tools streamline resource management, Recovery Point Objective (RPO) settings, and license compliance. Integration with Oracle Enterprise Manager and Terraform ensures smooth without compromising security. ## 4. Rapid Learning Curve and Improved Developer Productivity **Ease of Use:**IT teams can confidently manage Oracle and other databases on the public cloud after as little as two 1-hour sessions. **Standardized Developer Environments: **Tessell supports faster deployment of modern, secure applications, boosting developer productivity and enabling better citizen services. ## 5. Smooth Cloud Migration and Ecosystem Integration **Seamless Transition:**Tessell simplifies the migration of existing databases to the cloud, ensuring minimal disruption. Its advanced DBaaS solutions integrate seamlessly into existing cloud ecosystems, enabling organizations to accelerate digital transformation. ## 6. Mission-Critical Single-Point-of-Contact Support **24/7/365 Availability: **Tessell’s support includes a 15-minute response time for Severity 1 issues, providing unparalleled reliability for mission-critical environments. Tessell works collaboratively with the cloud providers and Oracle to resolve any challenges quickly and effectively. ## A fun Take on Tessell: Comic Book Adventures For a lighter look at Tessell's capabilities, explore our comic book series: [The Tessellator Crushes Cloud Costs](https://www.tessell.com/ebook/the-tessellator) [The Tessellator Waltzes Oracle Databases to Azure](https://www.tessell.com/ebook/the-tessellator-book-2). ## Useful Links Websites - [Azure Tessell for Oracle Exadata](https://www.tessell.com/azure/azure-tessell-for-exadata) - [Tessell for Oracle on AWS](https://www.tessell.com/aws/oracle) eBooks - [Migrate, Manage, and Modernize Oracle on AWS with Tessell](https://www.tessell.com/ebook/migrate-manage-and-modernize-oracle-on-aws-with-tessell) - [Zero Data Loss Protection for Oracle on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/ebook/zero-data-loss-protection-for-oracle-on-azure) Blogs - [Maximizing Efficiency: Consolidating Oracle Databases on the Cloud](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/maximizing-efficiency-consolidating-oracle-databases-on-the-cloud) - [Cost-Effective Disaster Recovery with Tessell’s Data Access Policies (DAP)](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/cost-effective-disaster-recovery-strategy-with-tessells-data-access-policies-dap) - Choose the Right Database Deployment Option White Papers - [Tessell Architecture Guide](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/tessell-architecture-guide) - [Tessell Security Architecture on Azure](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/tessell-security-architecture-on-azure) Videos - [Tessell 101: a 5-minute Intro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U4vXNBFoDE) - [Ten Ways to Reduce Cloud Database Cost. Part 1: Cloud Infrastructure](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXF4trv7oTc) - [Ten Ways to Reduce Cloud Database Cost. Part 2: Database Operations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL_P4_NRd-o) - [Eliminate IOPS Metering for Your Cloud Data Infrastructure](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puk0fQ43PmA) - [Tessellator Begins](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3fgPRqmAf8) Forbes Articles - [How Cloud is Changing the Role of DBA to Data Engineer](https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2023/08/21/how-cloud-is-changing-the-role-of-dba-to-data-engineer/) --- ## ai-led-transformation-of-modern-data-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/ai-led-transformation-of-modern-data-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 The field of data management is undergoing a profound transformation, shaped by four key trends: integration, accessibility, enhancement, and budget efficiency. These themes redefine how organizations manage, analyze, and utilize their data assets. At the same time, they present substantial challenges for data teams tasked with meeting rising demands for speed, scalability, and innovation. ## Mounting Challenges for Data Teams Data management teams are feeling the weight of escalating expectations. Business units increasingly require faster and more flexible access to data, while the push to develop advanced applications, including AI-powered solutions, adds further pressure. Many data professionals spend a significant portion of their time troubleshooting workflows, optimizing existing processes, and addressing the soaring costs associated with cloud infrastructure. The advent of generative AI (GenAI) has added complexity to this landscape. On the one hand, it has increased the need for sophisticated data workflows and platforms; on the other, it offers transformative opportunities. By automating repetitive tasks and enhancing productivity, GenAI holds the potential to revolutionize the way organizations manage data. ## The Role of GenAI in Data Management Generative AI is emerging as a critical enabler across the four primary dimensions of modern data management: ### Integrations One of the most persistent challenges in data management has been the fragmented nature of tools and platforms. Traditionally, data teams operated as integrators, patching solutions from disparate systems. This disjointed approach has been inefficient, often requiring substantial time and resources to align tools that lack shared metadata or seamless interoperability. Modern platforms address this problem by adopting interconnected systems that use metadata to unify disparate tools. GenAI takes this further by allowing users to interact with and manage data through conversational interfaces. This shift accelerates the integration process and makes it more intuitive, enabling teams to focus on higher-value tasks rather than struggling with system inefficiencies. ### Enhancement The enhancement of data workflows through automation and advanced analytics is a primary focus for organizations. GenAI plays a pivotal role by embedding capabilities that streamline labor-intensive tasks. For example, data platforms increasingly use AI for code generation, error correction, and documentation, significantly reducing manual effort. Moreover, GenAI can integrate unstructured data, a traditionally challenging aspect of data management. Enabling knowledge graph creation and semantic understanding ensures data is accessible and meaningful, helping organizations extract actionable insights faster. ### Accessibility Self-service tools are revolutionizing how data is accessed and utilized. As organizations strive to empower non-technical users, GenAI is making this vision a reality. By embedding natural language processing capabilities into data platforms, even those without technical expertise can query, analyze, and manipulate data. This democratization is critical for fostering a data-driven culture where decision-making is informed by insights rather than intuition. The impact of GenAI on accessibility is profound. Business users, analysts, and product managers can now interact with data in ways that were previously restricted to highly skilled data engineers. This shift alleviates the workload on technical teams and ensures that data-driven initiatives are more aligned with business needs. ### Budget Efficiency Cloud adoption has been a double-edged sword for many organizations. While it offers scalability and flexibility, the associated costs can spiral out of control without proper governance. Generative AI is helping organizations address this challenge by providing advanced tools for financial oversight. With AI-driven insights, teams can quickly identify inefficiency within their cloud infrastructure and take corrective actions. Whether optimizing workloads, adjusting resource allocations, or forecasting costs, GenAI enables organizations to maintain financial discipline while maximizing value. ## Strategic Implications for Organizations The rapid integration of generative AI into data management systems transforms how organizations handle their data. While this evolution promises unprecedented opportunities, it also demands careful planning and execution. To stay competitive in this data-driven landscape, businesses must adopt strategies that align with the evolving capabilities of AI-powered tools. Here are the key areas where organizations should focus: ### Unifying Data Platforms Fragmentation in data management tools has long been a barrier to efficiency. Historically, teams relied on a patchwork of solutions, each serving a specific purpose, leading to inefficiencies and increased operational overhead. Organizations must shift towards integrated platforms that consolidate these tools into unified ecosystems. AI-enabled platforms are designed to seamlessly handle multiple facets of data management—from integration and transformation to governance and analysis. By leveraging such platforms, businesses can reduce operational complexity, improve data accuracy, and speed up time-to-insight. Unifying data systems also ensure that AI-driven features, such as natural language processing and predictive analytics, can be applied consistently across the organization. ### Enhancing Skill Sets and Team Productivity The introduction of AI tools in data management has significant implications for the skill sets required by data teams. Traditional roles that focus on manual tasks like data cleaning, pipeline management, and metadata tagging are being reshaped by automation. As a result, organizations must invest in upskilling their workforce to take on more strategic responsibilities. AI-powered platforms enable teams to shift their focus from mundane operational work to higher-value activities such as developing advanced analytics, creating innovative data products, and crafting forward-looking data strategies. By providing training and resources to harness these tools effectively, organizations can ensure their teams are equipped to navigate the complexities of AI-augmented data management. ### Empowering Business Users Through Accessibility The democratization of data is a critical goal for modern organizations. Augmented with generative AI, self-service tools allow non-technical users to interact with data meaningfully. This capability reduces the dependency on specialized data teams and accelerates department decision-making. Organizations should prioritize implementing tools that enable natural language interfaces, making data accessible to a broader audience. This shift empowers business analysts, product managers, and other stakeholders to directly query, manipulate, and visualize data without requiring deep technical expertise. As a result, businesses can foster a culture where data-driven insights are available to all, driving innovation and agility. ### Prioritizing Cost Control and Financial Governance The financial implications of cloud operations cannot be ignored. While cloud adoption has revolutionized scalability and accessibility, it often brings unexpected cost burdens. AI-powered tools can address this challenge by offering advanced cost management capabilities. Organizations must adopt a proactive approach to financial governance, using AI to identify inefficiencies in their data ecosystems. For instance, generative AI can analyze cloud usage patterns, highlight opportunities for optimization, and even automate resource allocation based on predefined service level agreements (SLAs). These insights enable teams to balance operational performance and budget efficiency, ensuring that every dollar spent on cloud infrastructure delivers maximum value. ### Strengthening Collaboration Across Teams AI-enabled data management tools are designed to break down silos within organizations. These tools foster greater alignment between technical and non-technical teams by providing a unified platform where data engineers, analysts, and business stakeholders can collaborate. Organizations should encourage cross-functional collaboration by embedding AI tools into their workflows. For example, natural language interfaces and intuitive dashboards can serve as a common ground for teams with varying levels of technical expertise. This shared platform improves communication and ensures that data strategies are aligned with overarching business goals. ### Adopting a Forward-Looking Approach to Innovation Generative AI is not just a tool for improving existing processes—it’s a catalyst for innovation. Organizations can unlock new use cases by integrating AI capabilities into their data ecosystems, such as personalized customer experiences, predictive maintenance, and dynamic supply chain optimization. To capitalize on these opportunities, businesses must adopt a continuous improvement mindset. This includes staying informed about emerging AI technologies, experimenting with new applications, and iterating on their data strategies. Organizations that proactively explore the potential of AI-augmented data management will be better positioned to outpace competitors and deliver value to their stakeholders. ### Establishing Robust Governance and Ethical Frameworks With great power comes great responsibility. As AI becomes more integrated into data management processes, organizations must address the ethical and governance challenges that arise. This includes ensuring data privacy, maintaining transparency in AI-driven decisions, and mitigating biases in AI algorithms. Implementing robust governance frameworks is essential for building trust with customers and stakeholders. Organizations should define clear policies for data usage, invest in AI explainability tools, and regularly audit their AI systems to ensure compliance with regulatory standards. By taking a proactive stance on governance, businesses can mitigate risks while fostering confidence in their AI-driven initiatives. ‍ ## The Road Ahead The transformation of data management is both a challenge and an opportunity. With the integration of GenAI, organizations can overcome traditional obstacles and unlock new levels of efficiency, accessibility, and innovation. The key lies in adopting forward-thinking strategies and leveraging the latest advancements in technology to create data ecosystems that are not only robust but also adaptable to evolving business needs. By embracing these changes, businesses can position themselves for success in an increasingly data-driven world, turning their data management practices into a competitive advantage. The future of data management isn’t just about managing data better—it’s about empowering organizations to innovate and thrive. ‍ ### FAQs **How is generative AI transforming data management?** Generative AI is transforming data management across four dimensions: integrations through conversational interfaces, enhancement through automation, accessibility via natural language tools, and budget efficiency through AI-driven cost optimization. **What are the key trends in modern data management?** Modern data management is shaped by four key trends: integration of fragmented tools, enhancement through automation, accessibility for non-technical users, and budget efficiency in cloud infrastructure governance. **How does GenAI improve data accessibility?** GenAI improves data accessibility by embedding natural language processing into data platforms, enabling business users, analysts, and product managers to query, analyze, and manipulate data without technical expertise. **How does GenAI help control cloud data costs?** GenAI helps control cloud data costs by analyzing usage patterns, identifying inefficiencies, optimizing workloads, automating resource allocation based on SLAs, and forecasting costs for proactive financial governance. **What governance is needed for AI in data management?** AI data management governance requires data privacy controls, transparency in AI-driven decisions, bias mitigation in algorithms, clear data usage policies, AI explainability tools, and regular audits for regulatory compliance. --- ## oracle-gcp-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-gcp-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 Google and Oracle have long been leaders in empowering enterprises with cutting-edge technology stacks. Many Fortune 2000 companies rely on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for its robust security, infrastructure, data, and AI capabilities and its focus on application modernization. At the same time, Oracle Databases are trusted for their unparalleled performance, scalability, reliability, and security. As digital transformation becomes a priority for organizations worldwide, many businesses are modernizing their applications and data architectures. A significant number of these enterprises, already relying on Oracle databases, have chosen GCP as their preferred cloud platform. Historically, the lack of a formal partnership between Oracle and Google Cloud made it difficult for organizations to migrate their Oracle workloads to GCP. However, the recent global collaboration between Oracle and Google Cloud has opened the door to support Oracle databases on native GCP infrastructure and Oracle Exadata infrastructure. This strategic collaboration enables businesses to migrate Oracle-based applications to the cloud as part of their broader transformation strategies. Moving to the cloud offers significant automation benefits, allowing IT teams to focus on innovation rather than administration, but managing self-hosted Oracle databases on GCP presents challenges. These include patch management, provisioning, backups, configuration, availability, and OS management. Additionally, fragmented data management experiences create inefficiencies that limit resources for strategic business initiatives. The absence of a fully managed Oracle service on GCP has been a key obstacle for organizations seeking to modernize. Tessell addresses this challenge by providing a fully managed database service for Oracle on Google Cloud. ‍ ## **Tessell for Google Cloud** Tessell simplifies the deployment and management of Oracle databases on Google Cloud, offering a fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) that takes the complexity out of your cloud infrastructure. Whether you're using Oracle Enterprise Edition or Oracle Standard Edition 2, Tessell ensures a seamless, hassle-free experience by handling all aspects of your database management, from provisioning to maintenance. With Tessell, you can access a robust suite of built-in data management tools designed to automate routine database tasks and eliminate the manual overhead typically associated with Oracle databases. By automating these day-to-day operations, Tessell frees up valuable time for your developers and data engineers, allowing them to focus on driving business growth rather than administrative chores. Tessell’s fully managed solution simplifies the end-to-end lifecycle of your Oracle databases. It offers an elegant and efficient way to manage your data infrastructure while ensuring optimal performance, security, and compliance on Google Cloud. Let’s see how Tessell delivers an end-to-end, fully managed database service. ‍ ## **A Managed Service for the Enterprise** Many enterprises that rely on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications face compatibility challenges when using traditional managed database services. These challenges often stem from rigid automation frameworks, limited customization options, and a lack of support for essential legacy features for specific business-critical applications. As a result, organizations are frequently forced to manage Oracle deployments themselves, which leads to increased operational costs and reduced efficiency. Tessell for Oracle on Google Cloud addresses these pain points by offering a flexible, enterprise-grade solution that adapts to your unique requirements. Unlike conventional managed database services, Tessell enables businesses to maintain their preferred IT configurations, such as monitoring via Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) or audit management through Data Access Management (DAM), while migrating to the cloud. This ensures that the transition to Google Cloud is seamless and that the existing workflows and governance frameworks are preserved. Moreover, Tessell’s platform combines the best of both Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). It provides PaaS's automation and operational efficiency with the flexibility and control of IaaS. This hybrid approach enables businesses to benefit from automated database operations, such as patching, backup, and scaling, while retaining the ability to customize and configure the environment to meet specific business needs. With Tessell, enterprises can leverage a fully managed Oracle database service on Google Cloud without sacrificing the flexibility or control they need. The platform provides an ideal solution for businesses that want to modernize their infrastructure while maintaining the operational characteristics of their on-premise systems. ‍ ## **Easy Backup & Recovery** Tessell ensures enterprise-grade data protection and availability for Oracle databases on Google Cloud with a robust, automated backup and recovery solution. Its Availability Machine automatically takes regular snapshots and log backups, creating a near-zero data loss infrastructure that ensures your data is always safe, accessible, and recoverable. Whether you're dealing with day-to-day operations or critical recovery scenarios, Tessell streamlines the entire process, making it as simple and reliable as possible. Tessell offers flexible options for long-term data retention and compliance needs. Cloud snapshots can be converted into native Oracle RMAN backups, ensuring your data is stored in a format that aligns with your compliance and regulatory requirements. This feature allows you to retain backups for as long as necessary while avoiding vendor lock-in. Whether you're storing backups for years or maintaining them for short-term operational needs, Tessell enables you to manage backup lifecycles to fit your business needs. In case of an incident, urgent business requirement, or routine recovery operation, Tessell makes recovery effortless. With just a single click, your Database Administrators (DBAs) can restore your database to the most recent committed transaction (maximum) or perform a point-in-time recovery. Additionally, Tessell offers the ability to restore from any previous snapshot, allowing you to recover a database to any chosen state—whether it’s a recent or historical backup. This flexibility gives you full control over your recovery options and ensures that no data is ever lost or untraceable. Tessell’s automated backup and recovery options relieve your IT teams of the burden, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum business continuity. The platform’s robust features offer peace of mind that your data is fully protected, whether you are recovering from a system failure, migrating to a new environment, or ensuring compliance with industry regulations. ‍ ## **Patching made simple** Keeping Oracle databases updated with the latest patches is essential for ensuring security, performance, and compliance. However, manual patching can be time-consuming and prone to error, often requiring significant attention from your IT teams. Tessell simplifies this critical task by automating patch management, making the process seamless and efficient. With Tessell, patches for minor version upgrades are applied automatically, ensuring that your Oracle databases always run the most current, secure, and optimized versions. The platform provides full control over your patching schedule, allowing you to either set a preferred time for automatic patch application or initiate on-demand patching with just a click. This flexibility helps minimize disruptions and ensures that updates are applied to best suit your business’s operational needs. Patching automation reduces administrative overhead and enhances consistency, ensuring that patches are applied uniformly across your environment. This eliminates the risk of human error, reduces downtime, and helps maintain system stability—key factors in running mission-critical Oracle workloads in the cloud. Whether you're managing patch cycles for security updates, performance enhancements, or new features, Tessell ensures that patching is handled smoothly and efficiently. With its user-friendly interface, you can monitor patch statuses and gain visibility into the process, all while freeing up your teams from the routine tasks of patch management. This allows them to focus on more strategic initiatives that drive business value. ‍ ## **Multi-AZ High Availability (HA) and Cross-Region Disaster Recovery (DR)** For mission-critical Oracle workloads, maintaining High Availability (HA) and ensuring Disaster Recovery (DR) capabilities are non-negotiable. Tessell offers built-in Multi-Availability Zone (AZ), High Availability (HA), and cross-region Disaster Recovery (DR) to meet the demands of organizations that require the highest levels of data reliability, business continuity, and resilience. With Multi-AZ HA, Tessell ensures that your Oracle databases are continuously available by distributing database instances across multiple availability zones within a region. This geographic redundancy minimizes the risk of downtime in the event of localized failures, such as hardware issues or network outages. Should one availability zone experience a problem, your database will automatically failover to a healthy instance in another zone, ensuring uninterrupted service and minimal disruption to your business operations. In addition to high availability within a region, Tessell provides robust cross-region Disaster Recovery (DR). In the event of a regional failure or catastrophic incident, Tessell enables your database to be swiftly recovered in a secondary region, ensuring business continuity even in the face of major disruptions. This feature is essential for organizations requiring geographic redundancy and cannot afford to risk prolonged downtime, even in extreme scenarios. Tessell's Multi-AZ HA and cross-region DR capabilities deliver four-nines (99.99%) availability, ensuring your databases are always accessible when needed. These built-in features are designed to provide the same level of reliability that businesses expect from traditional on-premises Oracle deployments but with the added flexibility and scalability of Google Cloud. By eliminating the complexity of manual failover management and redundant infrastructure setup, Tessell allows your teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than managing uptime and availability. Whether you're running mission-critical applications or maintaining essential business processes, Tessell’s HA and DR features provide the peace of mind that your data is protected, resilient, and always accessible—regardless of unforeseen events. ‍ ## **Delightful Data Management** Managing data for Oracle databases often involves various administrative tasks—from data masking and sanitization to cloning and exporting—that can consume significant time and resources. Tessell simplifies these processes by providing intuitive, automated tools that make managing and sharing data simple and secure. With Tessell's Availability Machine, even the most complex data management tasks can be performed effortlessly. Whether you need to create snapshots, native backups, sanitized data for testing, or database dumps (logical exports), Tessell enables you to do it all with just a few clicks. This reduces the manual intervention required and streamlines your data management workflows. Tessell also offers powerful data-sharing capabilities through its Data Access Policies (DAP). These policies allow you to securely share specific datasets with different environments, such as User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Quality Assurance (QA), or Development. These data-sharing features are fully customizable, enabling secure access to critical data while ensuring that sensitive information is appropriately masked or sanitized in accordance with your organization's compliance and privacy requirements. Whether you work with data across different regions, environments, or teams, Tessell ensures seamless and compliant data sharing and management. The platform’s easy-to-use interface and automated tools enable users—regardless of their technical background—to manage and access data efficiently, enhancing collaboration and accelerating development cycles. ‍ ## **Flexibility At Your Terms** While Tessell offers a comprehensive suite of out-of-the-box features that meet the needs of most enterprise environments, it also provides unmatched flexibility to accommodate each business's unique requirements. Whether you're migrating existing Oracle workloads, customizing your cloud infrastructure, or maintaining specific operational preferences, Tessell allows you to tailor the service to your exact specifications. Tessell supports a Bring Your Own X (BYOX) approach, allowing you to customize multiple aspects of your Oracle database deployment. This flexibility ensures that your cloud environment integrates seamlessly with your existing infrastructure and security policies, giving you full control over your environment while still benefiting from Tessell’s fully managed database service. ‍ ## **Key elements of Tessell's flexibility include:** - Bring Your Own Cloud Account (BYOA): Manage your Google Cloud account, ensuring you retain full control over billing, cloud resources, and cost management while benefiting from Tessell’s fully managed Oracle service. - Bring Your Own Network (BYON): Seamlessly integrate your existing network architecture (VPC, Subnets, etc.) with Tessell’s managed services, ensuring that your network security and access policies are maintained across cloud and on-premises environments. - Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK): Use your encryption keys to retain control over encryption and data security. Tessell supports various key management solutions, giving you the flexibility to comply with industry-specific security requirements. - Bring Your Own Identity Providers (BYOI): Integrate your existing identity and access management (IAM) system with Tessell to ensure consistent and secure authentication and authorization processes across your cloud environment. - Bring Your Own Software Images (BYOS): You can customize your database environment using your Oracle database images. This allows you to maintain version control and compatibility with legacy configurations. - Bring Your Own Licenses (BYOL): If you already have Oracle licenses, you can bring them along when migrating to the cloud, helping you reduce costs and leverage existing investments. - Bring Your Own Database Parameters (BYOP): Tessell allows you to maintain and apply your custom Oracle database configurations so you can retain the fine-tuned settings that work best for your business. This Bring Your Own architecture ensures that Tessell provides the best of both worlds: the simplicity and automation of a fully managed service combined with the flexibility and control of a more customizable solution. Whether you want to maintain strict governance, adhere to specific compliance standards, or preserve certain configurations, Tessell allows you to manage your cloud environment on your own terms. ‍ ## **Migrations** Migrating Oracle databases to the cloud is often complex and resource-intensive, especially when moving from on-premises environments or transitioning from self-managed databases to the cloud. Tessell streamlines this process, providing comprehensive, end-to-end migration support to ensure a smooth transition to Google Cloud. Whether you're migrating from on-premises infrastructure, another cloud provider, or even a self-managed Oracle deployment, Tessell offers a migration solution that reduces the time, cost, and risk typically associated with database migration projects. Tessell's expert team, equipped with in-depth knowledge of Oracle workloads and cloud infrastructure, handles every aspect of the migration process, ensuring minimal disruption to your business operations. Tessell supports a range of migration scenarios, from small-scale migrations to large, complex enterprise environments. It seamlessly integrates with existing database configurations, ensuring that applications continue to operate smoothly without requiring major reconfiguration. This flexibility makes it ideal for businesses with unique needs or those who rely on customized Oracle environments. With Tessell, database migrations are no longer a roadblock to cloud adoption. The platform simplifies the entire process, delivering a fast, secure, and hassle-free transition to a fully managed Oracle database environment on Google Cloud. ### FAQs **What is Tessell for Oracle on Google Cloud?** Tessell for Oracle on Google Cloud is a fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) that automates provisioning, patching, backups, and high availability for Oracle Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition 2 databases. **Can you run Oracle databases on Google Cloud?** Yes, Oracle databases run on Google Cloud through the Oracle-Google Cloud partnership, supporting Oracle Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition 2 on native GCP infrastructure and Oracle Exadata infrastructure. **How does Tessell handle Oracle database backups and recovery?** Tessell's Availability Machine automates Oracle backups on Google Cloud through regular snapshots and log backups, enabling one-click point-in-time recovery, RMAN-compatible backups, and near-zero data loss. **What is BYOX in Tessell?** Tessell's BYOX (Bring Your Own X) approach supports BYOA cloud account, BYON network, BYOK keys, BYOI identity, BYOS software images, BYOL licenses, and BYOP database parameters for Oracle deployments. **Does Tessell provide high availability for Oracle on Google Cloud?** Yes, Tessell delivers 99.99% (four-nines) availability for Oracle on Google Cloud through Multi-AZ High Availability with automatic failover and cross-region Disaster Recovery for catastrophic regional failures. --- ## tessell-raises-60m-in-series-b-funding-to-fuel-ai-driven-cloud-data-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-raises-60m-in-series-b-funding-to-fuel-ai-driven-cloud-data-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## Celebrating a Milestone: Series B $60M Raise Today marks an exciting moment for Tessell and our entire team of passionate "Tessellators!" We’re thrilled to announce our $60 million Series B funding round, led by **WestBridge Capital**, with continued support from **Lightspeed Venture Partners**. This round also saw investments from **B37 Ventures **and **Rocketship.vc**. This achievement comes just six quarters into our go-to-market journey, where we’ve had the privilege of partnering with over **40 of the world’s largest enterprises**. And the best part? We’re just getting started! I’d like to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has been part of this journey—our dedicated Tessellators, the customers who believed in us, our investors who stood by our vision, and the many well-wishers who’ve supported us along the way. ## A Vision That Is Taking Shape In 2021, AWS’s then-CEO, Andy Jassy, pointed out that only*6% of global IT spend*was in the cloud, despite its rapid adoption. This staggering statistic revealed a massive gap between the potential of cloud technology and its actual adoption by enterprises. This insight became one of the driving forces behind Tessell’s creation. Four years ago, we set out with a bold mission: to revolutionize enterprise data management. Named after the concept of **tessellation**—arranging pieces in an efficient, seamless pattern—our goal from day one has been to make managing data in the cloud effortless, efficient, scalable, and robust. Today, we’re proud to say that mission-critical workloads for Fortune 500 companies are now being managed by Tessell. While there’s still much to achieve, this is a fantastic start. ## The AI Opportunity: A New Era in Data Management With the rapid advancements in AI technologies, we now have a tremendous opportunity to "Tessellate" enterprise data management at an even faster pace. Our mission is to defy the **CAP theorem**—a concept traditionally applied to distributed systems—by addressing three crucial aspects of enterprise data management simultaneously. What does this mean for Tessell and our customers? Let me break it down: ### **C**onversational Imagine simplifying the entire range of operational data management tasks—from provisioning, to ensuring high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR), to optimizing performance, and facilitating smooth data movement (ETL/ELTs, Data Lakes) across systems. We’re also working on lift and shine of data estates, moving them from on-premises to your preferred hyper-scaler, and much more. Soon, you’ll see how we’re turning complex data management into simple conversations. ### **A**ffordable Delivering value is one thing, but making it affordable for businesses of all sizes—whether a startup with a few thousand dollars in spend or a Fortune 500 with millions—poses a completely different challenge. We're committed to making enterprise data management accessible to everyone. ### **P**rescriptive Enterprise data management is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Every customer has unique requirements—security, compliance, data governance, and more. Delivering customized, customer-specific data management solutions at scale is a daunting task, but one we are fully committed to solving. ## Investor Reflections: Fueling the Future Together “From day one, Tessell has demonstrated an unmatched ability to rethink enterprise database management for the cloud era,” said Raviraj Jain, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “Their platform strikes the perfect balance between performance, flexibility, and simplicity—exactly what modern enterprises need to power AI-driven innovation. We’ve seen Tessell consistently execute with technical depth, customer traction, and bold product vision, which is why we’re thrilled to deepen our commitment in this round. As enterprises demand more intelligent, multi-cloud data infrastructure, Tessell is clearly positioned to lead the next wave.” “Tessell is solving one of the most pressing challenges today in enterprise cloud adoption: data fragmentation and inefficiency,” said Rishit Desai, Partner at WestBridge Capital. “Their platform brings unprecedented performance, flexibility, and automation to AI-powered database management, helping enterprises unlock the full potential of their data. We’re thrilled to support their next phase of growth.” ## The Road Ahead: A Daunting Challenge, but an Exciting and Rewarding One Simultaneously solving these three facets of enterprise data management—conversational simplicity, affordability, and prescriptiveness—is no easy feat. But it’s a challenge we’re eager to tackle. We’re ready to make a serious attempt at defying the equivalent of the CAP theorem for enterprise data management. We’re excited about the future and what’s to come. Stay tuned for more updates on how we’re continuing to innovate, grow, and revolutionize enterprise data management in the AI-driven world. ### FAQs **What is Tessell?** Tessell is an enterprise data management platform that simplifies cloud-based database operations through conversational, affordable, and prescriptive AI-driven solutions for Fortune 500 companies. **How much did Tessell raise in its Series B funding round?** Tessell raised $60 million in its Series B funding round, led by WestBridge Capital with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, B37 Ventures, and Rocketship.vc. **Who led Tessell's Series B funding round?** WestBridge Capital led Tessell's $60 million Series B round, with continued investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners and new participation from B37 Ventures and Rocketship.vc. **What does Tessell do?** Tessell manages enterprise data in the cloud, handling provisioning, high availability, disaster recovery, performance optimization, ETL/ELT data movement, and on-premises-to-cloud migrations for mission-critical workloads. **Who uses Tessell?** Tessell is used by over 40 of the world's largest enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies, to manage mission-critical data workloads in the cloud. --- ## gartner-validates-what-weve-known-all-along-tessell-is-changing-the-open-source-database-game URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/gartner-validates-what-weve-known-all-along-tessell-is-changing-the-open-source-database-game Last updated: 2026-08-24 When I first saw Tessell mentioned in Gartner's 2024 research titled "[Survey Analysis: Enterprise Usage of Open-Source Databases](https://www.gartner.com/document-reader/document/6219987)," I had to pause and smile. It's not every day that a company we've built from the ground up gets recognized by one of technology's most respected research firms. This validation isn't just a feather in our cap—it confirms what our customers have been telling us all along: our approach to optimizing open-source database management in the cloud is addressing real pain points that organizations face daily. ## **Key Insights from Gartner's Research** Gartner's survey, conducted in April-May 2024, provides valuable insights into how IT leaders are approaching open-source database management systems (DBMS). The findings align perfectly with the challenges we set out to solve when creating Tessell: 1. **Strong and Growing Adoption**: 75% of surveyed IT leaders are using open-source DBMS solutions, with 70% expecting to increase their reliance on open-source databases in the coming years. 2. **Primary Motivations**: Cost reduction (79%) and vendor lock-in avoidance (60%) are the top reasons organizations choose open-source databases—precisely the pain points Tessell addresses. 3. **Technical Decision-Making**: Technical architects (75%), database administrators (53%), and developers (53%) are the primary roles involved in selecting open-source DBMS solutions. 4. **Commercial vs. Open Source Balance**: Despite strong open-source adoption, commercial DBMS still manages the majority of enterprise data (62% vs. 38% for open source). ## **Where Tessell Fits In—And Why It Matters** I still remember the late nights and intense discussions that shaped Tessell's vision. So I'm particularly pleased to see Gartner specifically mention us in their recommendations:*"If cloud services are the vehicle for OSS DBMS usage, data management leaders should investigate small cloud providers (e.g., Aiven, ****Tessell****) that specialize in optimizing OSS DBMS costs and performance."* This recommendation validates exactly what we've built Tessell to deliver—and the specific features that set us apart: ### **Optimizing Cost and Performance** Cost reduction is the #1 reason enterprises adopt open-source databases. Tessell's platform is purpose-built to maximize the cost efficiency of open-source databases while maintaining enterprise-grade performance. Our intelligent auto-scaling and resource optimization features specifically address this need by: - **Automated right-sizing **that dynamically adjusts compute resources based on actual workload demands - **Pay-per-second billing **rather than hourly commitments, delivering up to 70% cost savings for many customers - **Storage tiering optimization **that automatically moves cold data to lower-cost storage without performance impacts - **Resource hibernation **for development and testing environments when not in use These aren't just marketing claims—we're seeing customers achieve 40-60% cost reductions compared to traditional cloud database implementations while experiencing better performance. ### **Reducing Vendor Lock-in** The survey confirmed that 60% of organizations use open-source databases to reduce vendor lock-in. This resonates deeply with our founding philosophy. Tessell's approach tackles lock-in concerns head-on through: - **Universal management interface **that works consistently across MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and other leading open-source databases - **Multi-cloud deployment options **spanning AWS, Azure, and GCP—with a single management experience - **One-click database migration **between cloud providers without application changes - **Standardized backup/restore operations **that work identically across database engines - **Database-agnostic monitoring and observability **tools that eliminate the need for engine-specific expertise When Gartner notes that "lock-in is always present, whether it presents in the form of the base technology or an enterprise's own staff skill set," it reinforces exactly why we built these capabilities—to minimize both technology and skills lock-in simultaneously. ### **Supporting Technical Decision-Makers** With technical architects leading database selection processes, Tessell delivers the robust, sophisticated platform these professionals demand. Our solution addresses the technical requirements of architects while providing the simplified administration that database teams need. ### **Bridging the Gap Between Commercial and Open Source** Gartner's finding that commercial databases still manage 62% of enterprise data versus 38% for open source confirms what we've observed in the field. This gap exists for good reason—organizations need enterprise-grade capabilities that traditional open-source deployments sometimes lack. Tessell directly addresses this with our "best of both worlds" approach: - **Enterprise-grade security features, **including row-level security, data masking, and encryption that match or exceed commercial offerings - **99.99% uptime SLAs **backed by our distributed architecture and automated failover capabilities - **Point-in-time recovery **with transaction-level precision across all supported database engines - **Advanced compliance capabilities **supporting GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2, and other regulatory requirements - **One-click scaling **to handle enterprise workloads without the traditional open-source scaling complexity These capabilities explain why we're seeing customers successfully migrate mission-critical workloads from commercial databases to Tessell-managed open-source alternatives while maintaining the same level of enterprise readiness. ## **Looking Ahead** Gartner's research indicates that 70% of organizations expect to increase their reliance on open-source DBMS. Tessell is ideally positioned to support this growth by making open-source databases more accessible, manageable, and cost-effective. The research also notes that "data management leaders should look to OSS-compatible API solutions that provide the familiarity of OSS DBMSs, but with additional functionality needed by some enterprise systems." This perfectly describes Tessell's approach to enhancing open-source capabilities with enterprise-ready features. ## **A Personal Note of Thanks** On behalf of our entire team, I want to extend sincere thanks to Gartner for recognizing Tessell's contributions to the open-source database ecosystem. Being mentioned alongside established players isn't just good for business—it's a meaningful acknowledgment of the countless hours our engineers, product teams, and customer success staff have poured into building something truly different in the database space. This recognition energizes us to push harder on our roadmap, which includes exciting upcoming features like: - Enhanced AI-driven performance optimization - Expanded integration with popular DevOps toolchains - New database engine support beyond our current offerings - Advanced database observability with predictive analytics If the challenges described in Gartner's research sound familiar, I'd love to personally show you how Tessell can transform your database operations. Schedule a demo or reach out directly—my team and I are always eager to discuss how we can help you navigate the evolving database landscape. Contact us today to see Tessell in action. ### FAQs **What is the adoption rate of open-source databases?** According to Gartner's 2024 survey, 75% of IT leaders use open-source DBMS solutions, and 70% expect to increase their reliance on open-source databases in the coming years. **Why do organizations adopt open-source databases?** Organizations adopt open-source databases primarily for cost reduction (79%) and vendor lock-in avoidance (60%), according to Gartner's 2024 survey of IT leaders on enterprise DBMS usage **How can you reduce open-source database costs?** Open-source database costs can be reduced through automated right-sizing, pay-per-second billing, storage tiering for cold data, and resource hibernation for dev/test environments, achieving 40-60% savings versus traditional cloud implementations. **Who is involved in selecting open-source databases?** Open-source database selection involves technical architects (75%), database administrators (53%), and developers (53%), according to Gartner's 2024 survey on enterprise open-source DBMS usage. **What percentage of enterprise data runs on open-source databases?** Commercial DBMS still manages 62% of enterprise data while open-source databases manage 38%, according to Gartner's 2024 survey, despite strong open-source adoption and increasing reliance among IT leaders. --- ## why-data-lineage-is-the-backbone-of-trusted-data-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-data-lineage-is-the-backbone-of-trusted-data-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## **The Data Dilemma: So Much Data, So Little Clarity** Businesses today run on data. Every transaction, customer interaction, or digital footprint feeds into the enterprise data ecosystem. But as data flows across multiple applications, cloud environments, and transformation pipelines, it becomes increasingly hard to answer critical questions like: - Where did this data come from? - How has it been transformed along the way? - Can I trust this number on my dashboard? - If something breaks, where exactly do I look? Without clear answers, organizations risk reporting inaccuracies, compliance penalties, and missed business opportunities. This is why **data lineage** has become one of the most critical pillars of modern data management. ## **What is Data Lineage? (And Why It’s Like a GPS for Data)** Data lineage refers to the ability to **trace the journey of****data from its origin to its destination, **including every transformation, enrichment, or movement it undergoes. Think of it like a GPS: just as a navigation app shows you how you got from point A to point B (and what detours you took along the way), data lineage shows you how raw data transformed into insights. ## **Why Data Lineage is Critical for Enterprises** 1. **Building Trust in Analytics. **Lineage ensures that the numbers on your dashboards and reports can be traced back to their sources. Business leaders can trust insights instead of second-guessing them. 2. **Faster Troubleshooting. **When a pipeline breaks, lineage helps data teams pinpoint where the error occurred—whether upstream in source data or downstream in transformation logic. 3. **Cloud Migration Confidence. **As enterprises modernize and move workloads to the cloud, lineage ensures continuity by mapping dependencies and reducing the risk of data loss or corruption. 4. **Regulatory Compliance. **Frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX require clarity on data usage and storage. Lineage provides ready-made audit trails, saving weeks of manual effort during compliance checks. 5. **Observability & Quality. **Lineage provides not just the “where” but also the **state of data**—freshness, latency, and transformations. This makes pipelines more observable and reliable. ## **Best Practices for Implementing Data Lineage** - **Automate, Don’t Manualize** – Relying on spreadsheets or tribal knowledge doesn’t scale. Automated metadata management is the key. - **Think End-to-End** – Start with high-level views, then validate at the dataset and column levels to capture the full lineage picture. - **Integrate with Governance** – Lineage should be part of a broader governance strategy, not an isolated feature. - **Embrace Real-Time** – Static diagrams get outdated fast; real-time lineage ensures accuracy as pipelines evolve. ## **How Tessell Powers Data Lineage for the Modern Enterprise** At **Tessell**, we’ve built lineage into the fabric of our cloud data platform—because we believe visibility, trust, and governance shouldn’t be an afterthought. Here’s how Tessell delivers on the promise of lineage: - **Unified Metadata Mapping. **Tessell auto-discovers and maps data dependencies across your databases, warehouses, and cloud services—so you never lose track of data flows. - **End-to-End Observability. **Lineage is combined with monitoring of freshness, latency, and quality, ensuring not only visibility but also **trust** in your data. - **Compliance at Your Fingertips. **Click-through lineage reports make GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX audits simple, transparent, and fast. - **Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Ready. **Whether you’re migrating or already operating across multiple clouds, Tessell ensures lineage persists seamlessly. - **AI-Enhanced Insights. **By integrating lineage with AI-driven analytics, Tessell enables faster, more confident decisions backed by trustworthy data. ## **From Data Chaos to Data Confidence** In the era of AI, cloud computing, and real-time analytics, **data lineage is no longer optional**. It’s the foundation for data trust, compliance, and competitive advantage. With Tessell, you don’t just get visibility—you get **confidence**. Confidence that your data is accurate, auditable, and ready to power the decisions that move your business forward. 👉 Ready to unlock the power of data lineage with Tessell? [**Get started**](https://www.tessell.com/contact-sales) to explore how we can transform your data management strategy. --- ## tessell-named-a-gartner-cool-vendor URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-named-a-gartner-cool-vendor Last updated: 2026-08-24 We are proud to announce that **Tessell has been recognized as a Gartner® Cool Vendor in Data Management: The ‘Modern Data Stack’ Grows Up**. 🎉 This honor is one of the **highest recognitions Gartner awards to emerging technology companies**, and it validates the vision and relentless innovation that define Tessell. Out of a large number of startups nominated, Tessell was chosen as one of the select few to be featured — a clear signal that what we’re building is not just relevant, but transformative. This recognition follows another milestone earlier this year when our customers voted us a **Great Platform **in Gartner’s **Voice of the Customer (VoC) report**, where we were named a **Strong Performer**. Taken together, these recognitions tell a powerful story:**customers trust us, and analysts validate us.** ## **Why This Recognition Matters** Being named a Cool Vendor is not just about technology — it’s about being seen as a company that is shaping the **future of an entire industry**. Gartner introduced the “Cool Vendor” category to highlight companies that bring **unique, innovative, and impactful solutions **to market. For data management leaders worldwide, these vendors represent **where the industry is headed next.** In their 2025 report, Gartner highlights a shift away from monolithic, one-size-fits-all platforms and toward **lightweight, automation-first, AI-ready solutions**. Enterprises want simplicity, speed, and flexibility — and Tessell is at the forefront of that shift . ## **What Gartner Said About Tessell** According to Gartner’s analysis, Tessell is cool because of the way we bring together **performance, cost savings, and multicloud flexibility **into one unified platform : - **Unified Multicloud DBaaS Platform**: A single control plane for Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MongoDB — giving enterprises one consistent experience across clouds. - **Patented NVMe-to-Persistent Storage Technology**: Unlocks **significant performance gains and cost savings **versus traditional cloud services. - **Multitenancy for Databases**: Allows multiple workloads to run within a single VM, dramatically reducing costs compared to native cloud offerings. - **Cost Optimization & Consolidation**: Particularly impactful for commercial database workloads, helping enterprises reduce overall spend while simplifying management. - **Proven Customer Impact**: Customers report **dramatic reductions in query running times and daily savings **across production workloads. One line from the report stands out in particular: *“Organizations that find entry-level DBMS offerings like RDS to be insufficient in meeting their production requirements but who want to maintain multicloud and multivendor flexibility”*should look to Tessell. This quote perfectly encapsulates the gap Tessell fills: while services like RDS may be “good enough” for entry-level workloads,**enterprises need Tessell to thrive in a multicloud world.** ## **The Customer Story Behind the Recognition** At Tessell, innovation has always been driven by our customers’ real-world challenges. This recognition reflects not just our technology, but the **impact we’re delivering every day**: - **Cost Optimization**: Customers like **Forbes**have modernized critical workloads on Tessell, achieving substantial savings while improving performance. - **Performance Gains**: Companies like **Landys+Gyr **improved speed and efficiency without making application changes — enabling faster, more reliable digital experiences. - **Operational Efficiency**: By eliminating manual database firefighting, Tessell enables DBAs and developers to **provision new environments in minutes **and focus on higher-value innovation. This combination of cost savings, performance improvement, and simplicity is why enterprises are turning to Tessell as the **foundation for their AI-ready data estates**. ## **What This Means for the Industry** The database landscape is at a turning point. For years, enterprises have relied on large, monolithic platforms that promised “one solution for everything.” But those platforms often come with trade-offs: complexity, high costs, and inflexibility. Gartner’s recognition highlights a **new generation of data management tools**— lighter, faster, and built for an AI-driven future. Tessell embodies this shift by delivering: - **Simplicity without compromise**— a single pane of glass for all databases across all clouds. - **Performance and efficiency**— patented technology that unlocks the best of both NVMe performance and cloud persistence. - **Multicloud freedom**— eliminating vendor lock-in while ensuring enterprises can run critical workloads anywhere. For enterprises facing rising costs, complex data estates, and the need for AI readiness, Tessell is proving to be the modern alternative to “good enough” cloud services. ## **A Milestone for Tessell — and What’s Next** This recognition from Gartner is a moment of validation for the vision that drives Tessell: to make databases **cloud-easy, cost-effective, and AI-ready**. But we see this as only the beginning. Our sights are now set on the next milestone: earning our place in the **Gartner Magic Quadrant.** In the months ahead, we’ll continue to expand our platform, deepen partnerships with cloud providers, and scale the impact we deliver to Fortune 500 enterprises and beyond. Most importantly, we’ll keep doing what we’ve always done: **listening to our customers, solving real challenges, and building with innovation at the core.** ## **Thank You** This achievement belongs to every **Tessellator**— the passionate team members who push the boundaries of what’s possible in data management every day. And it belongs to our customers, who trust us with their most critical systems and inspire us to keep raising the bar. 🔥 Onward and upward. This is just the beginning. --- ## tessell-achieves-pci-dss-v4-1-certification URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-achieves-pci-dss-v4-1-certification Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## Why it matters **PCI DSS **is the global baseline for safeguarding cardholder data. Level 1 validation means an independent QSA has assessed Tessell’s controls through a complete ROC/AOC process, covering identity and access management, encryption, vulnerability management, penetration testing, monitoring, and more. For our customers, it translates into **lower vendor risk, faster procurement, and confidence that sensitive workloads are protected by design**. > We’re excited to announce that , the highest assurance tier for protecting financial customer date. This milestone reflects our security-first architecture and strengthens the trust our customers place in Tessell for mission-critical data. ### **What’s new in PCI DSS v4.1 and how Tessell maps** The latest standard emphasizes **stronger authentication, continuous risk assessment, and adaptive controls**, a philosophy we’ve had since day one. In practice, that looks like: - **Stronger authentication & least privilege **across platforms and customer tenants - **Targeted risk analyses **that drive review/testing cadence versus one-size-fits-all schedules - **Modern application protections **(change/tamper detection, supply-chain hygiene) - **Evidence-friendly automation **that simplifies audits and speeds security reviews These capabilities are native to Tessell’s multi-cloud DBaaS: **end-to-end encryption, fine-grained IAM, MFA, immutable audit logs, continuous posture monitoring, and automated patching**, all operated and evidenced by our team. ### **Benefits beyond payments: a win for the public sector** Even when agencies don’t handle payment data, PCI DSS v4.1’s rigor aligns closely with **NIST, FedRAMP, and Zero Trust **practices. With Tessell, public sector teams get: - **Accelerated vendor risk reviews **with current ROC/AOC - **Cloud-first, security-first architecture **aligned to modernization mandates - **Defense-in-depth **for interagency data with segmentation, KMS-backed encryption, and comprehensive auditability ### **Built on a broader compliance foundation** PCI DSS v4.1 adds to Tessell’s existing certifications and attestations, including **SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001 (ISMS), and ISO/IEC 27701 (PIMS)**, underscoring our commitment to data security, privacy, and continuous compliance. ### **For fintech, embedded finance, and regulated enterprises** - **Faster go-to-market **for payment-adjacent features with less integration overhead - **Shared-responsibility clarity **for audits and controls inheritance - **Confidence to modernize **Oracle, PostgreSQL, and other critical databases on the cloud, **security built-in, not bolted-on ** ### **Our philosophy: compliance as an architectural principle** At Tessell, compliance isn’t a box to check; it’s how we design and operate the platform. Achieving PCI DSS v4.1 is **another step **towards helping government and enterprises **modernize securely and confidently**. ‍ **Read the press release:**Tessell Achieves PCI DSS 4.1, Raising the Bar for Cloud Database Security (Aug 6, 2025).[ GlobeNewswire](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/06/3128277/0/en/Tessell-Achieves-PCI-DSS-4-1-Raising-the-Bar-for-Cloud-Database-Security.html) ### FAQs **What is PCI DSS v4.1?** PCI DSS v4.1 is the latest Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, the global baseline for safeguarding cardholder data through stronger authentication, continuous risk assessment, and adaptive controls. **What is PCI DSS Service Provider Level 1?** PCI DSS Service Provider Level 1 is the highest assurance tier for protecting financial customer data, requiring independent QSA assessment through a complete ROC/AOC process covering all controls. **What's new in PCI DSS v4.1?** PCI DSS v4.1 emphasizes stronger authentication, least privilege access, targeted risk analyses, modern application protections including change and tamper detection, supply-chain hygiene, and evidence-friendly automation for simplified audits. **Is Tessell PCI DSS compliant?** Yes, Tessell is validated to PCI DSS v4.1 as a Service Provider Level 1, the highest assurance tier for protecting financial customer data, assessed by an independent QSA. **What certifications does Tessell have?** Tessell holds PCI DSS v4.1 Service Provider Level 1, SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security Management System), and ISO/IEC 27701 (Privacy Information Management System) compliance certifications. --- ## tessell-transaction-log-retention-for-sql-server-backups URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-transaction-log-retention-for-sql-server-backups Last updated: 2026-08-24 At Tessell, our goal is to take the operational headache out of managing databases. One of the things we offer in our **MSSQL DBaaS **is automated backup management which includes full daily backups using Microsoft VDI, and transaction log backups every five minutes. These backups are crucial for point-in-time recovery and are pushed to **Amazon S3**for durable storage. So far, this setup has worked great. But as always, real-world use cases have a way of nudging architectures to evolve. ## Our Existing Transaction Log Backup Flow Here’s how things worked before: - A component called **Logsweep **would periodically grab the transaction logs from the SQL Server. - These logs were temporarily written to the **local disk**. - Once written, they were uploaded to **Amazon S3**. - After a successful upload, the local copy was deleted to keep the disk clean. This design is simple, efficient, and keeps things moving smoothly. The local disk is just a transient hop on the way to S3. ## The Problem: Retain Logs Longer for AWS DMS Some of our customers, especially those using **AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)**, needed to **retain transaction logs on disk for at least 24 hours**. DMS scans the transaction logs directly from the disk for continuous replication, and our default behavior of deleting logs after upload broke that flow. So now we had a challenge: **how do we keep the logs around long enough for DMS to use them, without risking the local disk filling up and bringing down backups?** ## The Fix: Smarter Cleanup with Configurable Retention We decided to keep things flexible. Instead of immediately deleting the logs, we now **retain them by default**, and introduced a new **scheduled cleanup task **that runs every 30 minutes. This task doesn’t just blindly delete files. It uses a bunch of configurable thresholds to decide *how much*to clean up, and *when*. The idea is to free up space **only when the disk is getting full**, and to retain logs as long as possible otherwise. ## Fix: Smarter Cleanup with Configurable Retention We decided to keep things flexible. Instead of immediately deleting the logs, we now **retain them by default**, and introduced a new **scheduled cleanup task **that runs every 30 minutes. This task uses a bunch of configurable thresholds to decide *how much *to clean up, and *when*. The idea is to free up space **only when the disk is getting full**, and to retain logs as long as possible otherwise ### How it’s Configured By default, we ship with a config file here: `T:\tessell\python\Lib\site-packages\tessell\resources\mssql\archive_config.json` But here's the important part: **this file gets overwritten on every upgrade**. So if you're a customer and want to customize retention behavior, you should create your own config file at: `T:\tessell_custom_configs\custom_archive_config.json` Here’s what a typical config looks like: `{  "custom_archive_disk_config_path": "T:\\tessell_custom_configs\\custom_archive_config.json",  "archive_disk_max_limit_in_percentage": 75,  "archive_disk_floor_limit_in_percentage": 35,  "archive_retain_time_in_min": 360,  "reduce_archive_retain_time_in_min": 30,  "minimum_archive_retain_time_in_min": 180,  "archive_disk_location": "R:\\Backup",  "data_disk_location": "E:\\data",  "disk_usage_alert_limit_in_percentage": 90}` - **Retention time **is defined in minutes. Here, we’re keeping logs for at least 6 hours (`360 min`), and will gradually delete them in chunks of 30 minutes if needed. - Cleanup only kicks in when disk usage crosses 75%, and stops once it drops below 35%. - If even after cleanup, disk usage doesn’t drop enough then that’s a red flag. Either the disk is too small, or logs are coming in faster than expected. ## Proactive Alerts To avoid unpleasant surprises, we’ve built in an alert system. If the cleanup isn’t enough to keep the disk below the threshold, we raise an alert so that the **SRE team can step in and resize the disk**. This prevents the backup system from failing due to a full archive disk which is something that can have cascading consequences for log sweep and restore operations. ## Flexibility for Customers One of the best parts of this setup is that it puts **control in the hands of the user**. If a customer needs longer retention for compliance, replication, or audit needs, they can tweak the retention period in their custom config. No code changes needed, just a simple config update. ## Final Thoughts This was one of those changes driven directly by real customer feedback, and it turned out to be a great enhancement for everyone. It gives our platform more resilience, more observability, and gives our users the flexibility they need to integrate with tools like AWS DMS without compromising on safety or efficiency. ### FAQs **How does Tessell back up Microsoft SQL Server?** Tessell backs up Microsoft SQL Server through full daily backups using Microsoft VDI and transaction log backups every five minutes, pushed to Amazon S3 for point-in-time recovery. **How often does Tessell take SQL Server transaction log backups?** Tessell takes SQL Server transaction log backups every five minutes, then uploads them to Amazon S3 for durable storage, enabling fine-grained point-in-time recovery across the database service. **Why does AWS DMS require transaction logs on disk?** AWS DMS (Database Migration Service) requires transaction logs retained on disk because it scans them directly from disk for continuous replication, breaking if logs are deleted immediately after upload. **How does Tessell handle transaction log retention for AWS DMS?** Tessell retains SQL Server transaction logs by default and runs a scheduled cleanup task every 30 minutes, using configurable thresholds so AWS DMS can scan logs for continuous replication. **How do you configure transaction log retention in Tessell?** Configuring transaction log retention in Tessell uses a custom JSON file with thresholds for retain time, max disk usage percentage, floor cleanup percentage, and alert percentage, preserved across upgrades. --- ## tessell-featured-in-s-p-globals-451-researchs-dedicated-report URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-featured-in-s-p-globals-451-researchs-dedicated-report Last updated: 2026-08-24 As a founder, there are moments in the journey of building a company that make you pause and reflect — milestones that affirm not only the direction you’ve chosen but also the relentless work your team has poured into the mission. Today is one of those moments. I’m proud to share that**451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, has published a dedicated analyst report on Tessell.**This is the very first time Tessell has received such in-depth coverage from 451, and it’s a huge milestone for us. ## **Why This Matters** 451 Research has a reputation for deep, independent analysis of the technology landscape. Their reports are widely read by CIOs, CTOs, IT leaders, and investors making critical technology decisions. To have Tessell covered in detail is not just recognition — it’s validation that our approach to solving one of the toughest problems in enterprise IT is resonating. What stood out to me in the report is how clearly they captured our mission: Tessell is*“flipping the script on how enterprises manage their data and databases across multiple clouds.”* They called out our**patented NVMe-based infrastructure**that enables enterprises to achieve performance, cost savings, durability, and availability — a combination rarely seen in today’s database services. They also recognized Tessell as part of a new wave of**cloud DBaaS platform providers**that address gaps left by hyperscaler-native options. ## **Back-to-Back Validation** This recognition comes right on the heels of another milestone that’s close to my heart:**Tessell being named a Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management.** Being a Cool Vendor is one of Gartner’s most prestigious accolades for emerging tech companies. Out of 38 startups nominated, Tessell was chosen as one of the select few to be featured. Gartner highlighted our unified multicloud DBaaS platform, our patented NVMe-to-persistent storage technology, and — most importantly — the impact we’ve had on customers. To receive recognition from**both Gartner and 451 Research within months of each other**is incredibly motivating. It tells me that the story we set out to write when we founded Tessell — about giving enterprises real choice, performance, and flexibility across clouds — is being noticed and valued. ## **The Journey Ahead** When we started Tessell, we wanted to solve a very real frustration we had seen firsthand: cloud databases that were expensive, rigid, and often “just good enough.” Enterprises deserved better. These analyst recognitions don’t mark the finish line — they mark the beginning of a much larger journey. They push us to raise the bar higher, to innovate faster, and to keep solving real-world challenges for our customers. Our north star remains clear:**to make databases cloud-easy, cost-efficient, and AI-ready — across any cloud, for every enterprise.** ## **A Note of Thanks** To the Tessell team: this is your achievement. Every line of code, every late-night discussion, every customer conversation has led us here. To our customers: thank you for trusting us with your most critical workloads. Your belief in Tessell fuels our drive to keep building. And to the analysts at 451 Research and Gartner: thank you for recognizing the work of a passionate team determined to reshape the future of data management. 🔥 This is just the beginning. Onward and upward — next stop, the Magic Quadrant. 👉 You can download and read the full 451 Research report here:[https://www.tessell.com/campaign/451-research-insight-report-tessell](https://www.tessell.com/campaign/451-research-insight-report-tessell) ‍ ### FAQs **What is Tessell?** Tessell is a unified data management platform that handles provisioning, protection, transformation, governance, insights, and migration across on-premises and cloud database environments. **Why was Tessell named a Gartner Cool Vendor?** Tessell was named a Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management for its unified multicloud DBaaS platform, patented NVMe-to-persistent storage technology, and customer impact, selected from 38 nominated startups. **What is Tessell's patented NVMe technology?** Tessell's patented NVMe-based infrastructure enables enterprises to achieve performance, cost savings, durability, and availability simultaneously, a combination rarely available in standard hyperscaler-native cloud database services. **What did 451 Research say about Tessell?** 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, described Tessell as flipping the script on how enterprises manage data and databases across multiple clouds, highlighting its NVMe infrastructure. **What is Tessell's mission?** Tessell's mission is to make databases cloud-easy, cost-efficient, and AI-ready across any cloud, giving enterprises real choice, performance, and flexibility for multi-cloud database management. --- ## exadata-for-aws-is-now-available-in-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/exadata-for-aws-is-now-available-in-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## **New Features** ### **Exadata @ AWS** *Supported Database Engines : Oracle* Support for Exadata infrastructure in AWS is now generally available. Tessell provides the only unified control plane offering both cloud-native IaaS and Exadata as a choice of infrastructure. #### The following are supported on Exadata - **Provision Databases**- Effortlessly create and configure databases on Exadata systems through Tessell’s intuitive console. - **Clone Databases Across Environments**- Instantly clone databases:Within ExadataFrom Exadata to cloud-native VM environments, simplifying dev/test setup.**‍** - **Unified Backup & Restore**- Protect critical data with Tessell-managed backups and perform point-in-time restores across Exadata and cloud-native VMs - **Monitoring & Management**- Gain unified visibility and control across all Exadata databases, along with Tessell’s other supported platforms, from a single management interface. ### **DAP Support for multi-disk for Oracle databases** *Supported Database Engines : All * - Added DAP support for Oracle multi-disk services on AWS and Azure. - Enabled parallel snapshot execution via async/await. - Implemented exponential backoff retries (3 attempts: 2s/4s/8s). - Enforced atomic snapshot operations with full rollback on failure. - Improved AWS/Azure replication workflows**‍** **Impact** - Backward compatible; - up to 3× faster multi-disk snapshots; - ~85% fewer transient failures; - zero orphaned snapshots. ### **IOPS & Throughput Resize Support for open source database engines** *Supported Database Engines :  MySQL and PostgreSQL* Extended Azure PremiumV2_LRS disk support to MySQL and PostgreSQL engines, enabling IOPS and Throughput resize capabilities on Azure for these database engines on both VPT and VPT@Customer #### What's New MySQL and PostgreSQL database services on Azure now support dynamic IOPS and Throughput resize operations. This feature leverages Azure PremiumV2_LRS (Premium SSD v2) disks which allow independent scaling of IOPS and Throughput without resizing the disk. ### **Oracle 19.30 Update** We are rolling out the new Oracle version 19.30.0.0.260120. #### Highlights of this release - This release includes the latest security fixes for the Oracle Database engine, preventing unauthorized access and data corruption - This release includes latest OJVM patch also released by Oracle. ### **Important Bug Fixes** - Microsoft SQL ServerMetric and alert added for last logsweepFix for cleanup issue as per archive configuration. This was causing disk full issues. - Other FixesFixed Exadata provisioning failure due to an empty options profile issueOpsException handling and fixes during patching and switchover operations for Oracle and MySQL databases. ### ‍**Enhancements** - Display current running release version for a customer - Storage account readiness for subscription to onboard - Support compute resize for shared server in Azure - IOPS/Throughput Resize Support for MySql and PostgreSQL databases - Added Percona Support for MySQL 8.0.45 ### **New Compute Shapes Supported** - Azure - La0s_v4 - Standard_M8ms & Standard_M16ms ### FAQs **What is Exadata @ AWS?** Exadata @ AWS is Oracle Exadata infrastructure deployed in AWS datacenters, now generally available through Tessell, the only unified control plane offering cloud-native IaaS and Exadata infrastructure options. **What Exadata features does Tessell support on AWS?** Tessell supports Exadata features on AWS including database provisioning, cross-environment cloning, unified backup and restore with point-in-time recovery, and centralized monitoring across Exadata and cloud-native VM platforms. **What's included in the Oracle 19.30 update?** The Oracle 19.30 release includes the latest security fixes for the Oracle Database engine to prevent unauthorized access and data corruption, plus the latest OJVM patch from Oracle. **How does Tessell support IOPS resizing for MySQL and PostgreSQL on Azure?** Tessell supports dynamic IOPS and throughput resizing for MySQL and PostgreSQL on Azure using PremiumV2_LRS (Premium SSD v2) disks, enabling independent scaling without disk resizing on VPT and VPT@Customer. **What new Azure compute shapes does Tessell support?** Tessell's newly supported Azure compute shapes include La0s_v4 plus Standard_M8ms and Standard_M16ms instances, expanding deployment options for memory-intensive and storage-optimized database workloads across MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle. --- ## new-sql-server-permissions-and-script-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/new-sql-server-permissions-and-script-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## ‍**New Features** ### **Exadata @ AWS** Support for Exadata infrastructure in AWS is now generally available. Tessell provides the only unified control plane offering both cloud-native IaaS and Exadata as a choice of infrastructure. #### The following are supported on Exadata - **Provision Databases** - Effortlessly create and configure databases on Exadata systems through Tessell’s intuitive console. - **Clone Databases Across Environments** - Instantly clone databases: Within ExadataFrom Exadata to cloud-native VM environments, simplifying dev/test setup. - **Unified Backup & Restore** - Protect critical data with Tessell-managed backups and perform point-in-time restores across Exadata and cloud-native VMs - **Monitoring & Management** - Gain unified visibility and control across all Exadata databases, along with Tessell’s other supported platforms, from a single management interface. ### **Script Library Enhancements - Scoped Subscription Support** Previously, any script created in the Script Library was automatically available to all subscriptions within the account. With this enhancement, customers can now select specific subscriptions where each script should be accessible. #### **Key Benefits** - **Granular Access Control:** Limit script access to only the subscriptions you choose. - **Improved Governance:** Prevent unintended usage of scripts across subscriptions. - **Operational Flexibility:** Design scripts for specialised use cases (subscriptions) without exposing them broadly. This enhancement ensures that customers have the flexibility to manage script usage in a way that best aligns with their organisational structure. ### Enable log rotation for Tessell libraries on Windows #### Overview This release introduces automatic log rotation for all Tessell Windows services. Previously, log files could grow indefinitely, causing disk space issues and service failures. Logs are now automatically rotated when they reach 20MB, with automatic cleanup of old files. #### What's New**‍**‍ - Automatic log rotation: Logs rotate at 20MB without service downtime - Automatic cleanup: Retains 7 newest log files, deletes older files every 2 hours - Timestamped files: Rotated logs include timestamp for easier troubleshooting #### **Benefits**‍ - Prevents disk space exhaustion and service failures - Zero downtime during log rotation - No manual intervention required - Easier troubleshooting with timestamped log files ### SQL Server Sysadmin Role Access for Master Users**‍**‍ #### Overview This release introduces automatic sysadmin server role access for SQL Server master users across all new and existing Tessell SQL Server instances. This enhancement ensures parity with industry-standard DBaaS offerings and provides customers with greater control, improved operability, and simplified database management workflows. Note: The master user is not a Windows (AD) account. It is a SQL-authenticated login, and sysadmin privileges are granted specifically to this SQL-authenticated master user. #### Released Feature ##### 1. Sysadmin Role for Newly Provisioned Instances All SQL Server instances provisioned after this release will automatically grant the master user the sysadmin server role.Benefits Immediate elevated permissions for common administrative tasks Consistent behavior across Single Instance (SI), SI+HA, SI+DR, and Switch-over deployments Simplified provisioning workflow with no additional steps required from customers ##### 2. Upgrade Support for Existing Instances Existing SQL Server services will receive this capability through a dedicated upgrade script. ##### 3. Improved User Experience During provisioning or upgrade flows, the UI now clearly informs the customer that the master user will receive sysadmin privileges, ensuring full transparency and control. Sysadmin access is granted only to the designated master user. No impact to existing user roles or database permissions. ##### **Customer Impact**‍ This Feature allows customers to perform a wider range of administrative operations directly, reducing dependency on support, improving operational agility, and aligning with capabilities commonly offered by other cloud database platforms. ### **Monitoring Metrics** #### **Overview** We have introduced new monitoring metrics for **MySQL** and **InnoDB Cluster** services to improve detection of database restarts, cluster node health issues, and unexpected read-only states. These metrics enhance alerting accuracy, reduce detection gaps, and provide better visibility during transient outages or configuration anomalies. The enhancements are fully integrated into the existing monitoring and alerting framework, ensuring proactive detection and faster troubleshooting across managed MySQL deployments. #### **Key Benefits** - Improves reliability of uptime-based alerts by detecting recent database restarts. - Provides real-time visibility into **cluster node health**, including offline and standalone states. - Ensures immediate detection when a **primary node becomes read-only**. - Minimizes false positives during provisioning or expected maintenance windows ‍ --- ## tessell-2025-year-in-review URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-2025-year-in-review Last updated: 2026-08-24 **2025 was a big year for Tessell - and for the DBA and infrastructure teams modernizing mission-critical databases with us.** We shipped capabilities that strengthen operational control, reduce overhead through automation, and expand infrastructure choice. > *Our migration of 500+ critical Oracle databases to Azure with Tessell was a major milestone in our transformation journey. Tessell’s managed service has already reduced complexity and costs, and we’re excited about what’s next. - John Maio, AVP, Data and Analytics, CSX Technology* ### Control #### Governed operations for regulated environments. - **Prod-to-non-prod refresh with automated data masking**- safe, compliant refreshes for dev/test. - **Custom RPO + advanced retention schedules**- recovery policies that match workload needs. - **Cross-subscription snapshot sharing**- secure sharing across complex Azure setups. ### Cost #### Automate the work that burns DBA cycles. - Standardized workflows across refresh, backup/restore, and routine operations - fewer manual runbooks. - Orchestration that reduces operational overhead and variance across environments, especially at scale. > [**Landis+Gyr achieved 50% infrastructure cost savings, 60% DBA efficiency gains, and 99.99% availability with Tessell**](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/06/18/3101856/0/en/Landis-Gyr-Optimizes-Total-Cost-of-Ownership-with-Tessell-on-Google-Cloud-Platform-as-Its-Digital-Backbone-for-Smart-Metering-Applications.html)**. ** > [***Collectors reduced database management costs by nearly 20% after deploying Tessell. ***](https://technologymagazine.com/company-reports/how-collectors-is-digitising-the-world-of-collectibles) ### Choice #### Run what you already run - where you need to run it. - **Exadata support across AWS and Azure**- more options for Oracle infrastructure with consistent operations. - [**Real-time Data Ecosystem pipelines with Microsoft Fabric**](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/16/3150743/0/en/Tessell-Announces-Deep-Integration-with-Microsoft-Fabric-Powered-By-Its-New-Data-Ecosystem-Capability.html)- near real-time operational data delivery for analytics/AI workflows. ## **Customer Momentum** In 2025, enterprises didn’t just choose Tessell, they expanded with us, trusting Tessell with more mission-critical database workloads. > [**The Collectors CTO, Dan Van Tran, described Tessell as “**](https://technologymagazine.com/company-reports/how-collectors-is-digitising-the-world-of-collectibles)[***air traffic control for your databases***](https://technologymagazine.com/company-reports/how-collectors-is-digitising-the-world-of-collectibles)[**"**](https://technologymagazine.com/company-reports/how-collectors-is-digitising-the-world-of-collectibles) ## **Trust and Enterprise Readiness** Built for teams in regulated industries where security and compliance are non-negotiable. ## **What’s ahead in Q1 2026** - PDB management for Oracle multi-tenant environments - OS patching automation - Enhanced IAM controls - Conversational data management (Foundation for assisted operations) We’re evolving Tessell toward **Conversational Data Management**- so DBA and infrastructure teams can complete common operational tasks faster through guided, natural-language workflows, while maintaining **policy controls, audit trails, and approvals**. **Thanks for building with us.**We appreciate your feedback that shaped what we shipped in 2025. Onward to 2026. --- ## collectors-digitising-collectibles-with-tessell-a-technology-magazine-feature URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/collectors-digitising-collectibles-with-tessell-a-technology-magazine-feature Last updated: 2026-08-24 Technology Magazine's September 2025 issue features Collectors Universe, the company behind Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) and Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). The piece covers how the company scaled from processing tens of thousands of collectibles monthly to 2.5 million while working through a 14-million-item backlog. The feature, titled "How Collectors Is Digitising the World of Collectibles," covers the company's shift from on-premise servers to cloud infrastructure powered by Tessell's database automation platform. Chief Technology Officer Dan Van Tran (DVT) explains how a three-person database team now handles work that would typically require thirty people, supporting over 100 million authenticated items while building AI features for their mobile app. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzQHPHT-vf8&t=1s ## From Physical Servers to Cloud-Native Operations Collectors Universe manages four decades of collectibles data - specifications and grading records dating back to the late 1800s. For years, this data lived on physical servers at company headquarters. For an industry now valued at approximately $400 billion worldwide, DVT knew this setup couldn't scale. **"We had to figure out how to make sure that if the power goes out, it doesn't affect all of our customers worldwide," DVT explains in the Technology Magazine feature. The stakes were clear: a single infrastructure failure could impact millions of collectors depending on PSA's authentication services and PCGS's coin grading expertise.** The solution began with migrating everything to AWS for elastic scale. But moving to the cloud was just the first step. The real challenge was managing millions of database records while enabling the company to innovate rapidly particularly as Collectors raced to build AI-powered tools for its mobile applications. ## "Air Traffic Control for Your Databases" This is where database automation became critical. With a small three-person DBA team managing complex, mission-critical databases, Collectors needed a way to eliminate maintenance overhead and focus on innovation. The company turned to Tessell for database automation that could handle backups, failovers, hot patching, and self-healing—all without constant human intervention. DVT describes Tessell's impact with a vivid analogy: "Tessell is like air traffic control for your databases." The platform's self-healing capabilities changed how the team operates. "If it detects an issue, it will determine what to do to fix it and try to fix it without having to involve a human," DVT notes in the feature. **"This helps us to grow quickly without having to spend in a linear or exponential fashion, which allows us to then invest that into more customer-facing features or to grow the team."** > The results: Collectors reduced database management costs by nearly 20% freeung up resources to reinvest in AI and machine learning development. ## Enabling Innovation at Scale The database automation created a multiplier effect on Collectors' technical team. > "Tessell allowed us to take our three-person database administration team and give them the superpowers of a 30-person team," DVT shares in the Technology Magazine interview. This let the team build and iterate on customer-facing AI features without getting bottlenecked by database maintenance. Collectors launched the PSA mobile app with an AI-powered scanner that identifies cards instantly, pulling from decades of specifications and market data. What once took collectors minutes or hours to research now happens in seconds with a smartphone photo. The app's adoption numbers: Coverage for trading card price estimates increased from 81% to 93% in less than six months. 79% of collectors who use the scanner would recommend it to friends. "Transparency really has been key in us growing this hobby and increasing the number of collectors that we see come through our doors," DVT explains. "We're making collecting more accessible. It's no longer something you need to study for years to understand and enjoy." ## Building for the Future As Technology Magazine's feature details, Collectors is pursuing a three-part growth strategy: global expansion into Canada, the EU, and Asia-Pacific; becoming multi-asset by bringing PSA-level confidence to new collectible categories beyond sports cards; and rolling out more AI-driven intelligence features. The database foundation that Tessell helps maintain supports all three priorities. With operational resilience handled through automation, Collectors' technical team can focus on building features for their growing community of collectors. "Every time our AI accurately identifies a card, we help educate and lower the barrier for a new collector," DVT notes. "That openness brings people into the community and allows them to participate faster with more confidence." [Read the full Technology Magazine feature ](https://technologymagazine.com/company-reports/how-collectors-is-digitising-the-world-of-collectibles) --- ## sql-server-high-availability-best-practices URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/sql-server-high-availability-best-practices Last updated: 2026-08-24 The five SQL Server high availability methods compared — Always On AGs, FCI, Log Shipping, Mirroring, and Replication — with setup and cloud guidance. Database downtime directly impacts revenue, customer trust, and regulatory standing. For organizations running SQL Server in production, high availability (HA) is the set of technologies and practices that keep databases operational during hardware failures, software updates, and infrastructure disruptions. The cost of unplanned downtime for enterprise databases ranges from $5,600 to over $100,000 per minute depending on industry, making HA investment a business-critical decision. This guide covers what SQL Server high availability is, the five primary HA methods available, when to use each, how to implement them in cloud environments, and how managed DBaaS platforms like Tessell simplify HA for enterprise teams. ## **What Is SQL Server High Availability?** **SQL Server high availability is the ability of a database system to remain operational and accessible during planned maintenance, unplanned failures, or infrastructure disruptions, with minimal or zero data loss and downtime.** HA is distinct from disaster recovery (DR): HA focuses on minimizing downtime during routine failures (hardware, network, software), while DR focuses on recovering from catastrophic events (data center outages, regional failures). Most enterprise architectures implement both. Availability is measured as a percentage of uptime per year: | Availability % | Annual Downtime | Classification | | --- | --- | --- | | 99.9% (three nines) | 8 hours 46 minutes | Standard availability | | 99.99% (four nines) | 52 minutes 36 seconds | High availability | | 99.999% (five nines) | 5 minutes 16 seconds | Ultra-high availability | **RTO (Recovery Time Objective)** is the maximum acceptable downtime after a failure. **RPO (Recovery Point Objective)** is the maximum acceptable data loss. Together, RTO and RPO define the HA requirements that determine which method to implement. ## **The 5 SQL Server High Availability Methods Compared** SQL Server provides five primary HA mechanisms. The following table summarizes how they differ across key decision criteria. | Method | HA Level | Auto Failover | Shared Storage | Edition | Best For | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Always On AG | Database | Yes | No | Enterprise (full) / Standard (basic) | Modern HA standard | | FCI | Instance | Yes | Yes | Standard / Enterprise | Instance-level protection | | Log Shipping | Database | No (manual) | No | All editions | Budget DR | | Mirroring | Database | Yes (with witness) | No | Standard / Enterprise | Legacy (deprecated) | | Replication | Object | No | No | All editions | Data distribution (not HA) | ## **Always On Availability Groups: The Modern HA Standard** Always On Availability Groups (AG) is the recommended HA method for SQL Server 2016 and later. AGs provide database-level high availability with automatic failover, readable secondary replicas, and no shared storage requirement. An AG consists of a primary replica (accepts reads and writes) and up to eight secondary replicas (receive transaction log updates and can serve read-only workloads). AGs support two commit modes. Synchronous commit guarantees zero data loss by waiting for the secondary to harden the log before acknowledging the transaction on the primary. Asynchronous commit provides better primary performance but allows potential data loss during failover (the secondary may be behind the primary). SQL Server 2025 introduces TDS 8.0 encryption and performance improvements for AGs. ### **Setting Up Always On Availability Groups** AG deployment requires a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) or a domain-independent cluster (for environments without Active Directory). The setup process includes: enabling the Always On feature on each SQL Server instance, creating the WSFC, creating the availability group with primary and secondary replicas, configuring listeners for client connectivity, and setting failover policies. Tessell automates this entire process during SQL Server provisioning, eliminating the manual WSFC and AG configuration steps. ### **Failover Scenarios and Behavior** In a two-node AG configuration, when the primary replica (Node 1) fails, the secondary (Node 2) automatically promotes to primary within 10-30 seconds for synchronous mode. Applications connected through the AG listener are redirected transparently. When Node 1 recovers, it rejoins as a secondary and synchronizes from Node 2. The reverse scenario (Node 2 failure) is handled similarly. Planned failovers (for maintenance) are initiated manually and complete with zero data loss and minimal disruption. ### **Patching and Maintenance with Zero Downtime** AGs enable zero-downtime patching through a rolling update process: patch the secondary replica first, verify the update, perform a planned failover to make the patched secondary the new primary, then patch the original primary (now secondary). This sequence ensures that the database remains available throughout the maintenance window. Tessell automates this rolling patch workflow as part of its managed patching service. ## **Failover Cluster Instances (FCI): Instance-Level HA** Failover Cluster Instances provide instance-level HA, meaning all databases on the SQL Server instance fail over together as a single unit. FCI requires shared storage (SAN, AWS FSx for Windows File Server, or Azure Files) accessible to all cluster nodes. When the active node fails, WSFC moves the SQL Server instance to a passive node that mounts the same shared storage. FCI is simpler than AG for single-instance environments and works with Standard Edition. However, it does not provide readable secondaries, the shared storage is a single point of failure, and it does not support database-level failover granularity. ## **Log Shipping: Simple and Cost-Effective DR** Log Shipping automates the process of backing up transaction logs on a primary database, copying them to one or more secondary servers, and restoring them. It is the simplest and most budget-friendly DR method, working with all SQL Server editions including Express. The secondary database operates in a warm standby state and can be brought online manually during a failover event. RPO depends on the backup frequency (typically 5-15 minutes). Failover is manual and requires application connection string changes. Log Shipping is best suited for DR-only scenarios where cost is a primary constraint and automatic failover is not required. ## **Database Mirroring (Deprecated)** Database Mirroring has been deprecated since SQL Server 2012 but remains supported in current versions. It provides database-level HA using a principal/mirror/witness architecture with synchronous or asynchronous modes. Organizations still using Database Mirroring should plan migration to Always On Availability Groups, which provides the same capabilities with additional features (multiple secondaries, readable replicas, no shared storage dependency). ## **Replication: Data Distribution, Not True HA** SQL Server Replication (Snapshot, Transactional, Merge, Peer-to-Peer) is designed for data distribution across servers, not for high availability. Replication does not provide automatic failover and can introduce data inconsistencies. It is appropriate for distributing read workloads across geographic locations, populating reporting databases, and synchronizing data between environments. Do not rely on replication as your primary HA mechanism. ## **Choosing the Right HA Method: A Decision Framework** Selecting the right HA method depends on your RTO/RPO requirements, SQL Server edition, and infrastructure constraints: - **Automatic failover + readable secondaries needed: **Always On Availability Groups (Enterprise Edition for full features; Standard Edition for Basic AG with two replicas). - **Instance-level protection + shared storage available: **Failover Cluster Instances. Works with Standard Edition. Best for environments where all databases must fail over together. - **Budget-constrained + DR-only: **Log Shipping. Works with all editions. Manual failover with RPO equal to backup frequency. Lowest cost and complexity. - **Legacy environment with existing mirroring: **Plan migration to Always On AG. Mirroring is deprecated and receives no new features. - **Data distribution across locations: **Replication. Not a substitute for HA but complements AG or FCI for read scaling. For many organizations, the complexity of self-managing HA drives adoption of managed database services that handle WSFC, AG configuration, patching, and failover automatically. ## **SQL Server HA in the Cloud: AWS, Azure, and GCP** Each major cloud provider supports SQL Server HA, but with different managed service options and constraints. - **AWS: **RDS for SQL Server supports Multi-AZ deployments with automatic failover. For full AG control, deploy SQL Server on EC2 with WSFC. AWS FSx for Windows File Server provides shared storage for FCI. - **Azure: **Azure SQL Database includes built-in HA at all service tiers. Azure SQL Managed Instance supports AG within managed infrastructure. SQL Server on Azure VMs provides full AG/FCI control with Azure Load Balancer for listeners. - **GCP: **Cloud SQL for SQL Server supports HA with automatic failover. For AG/FCI, deploy SQL Server on Compute Engine with manual WSFC configuration. Tessell provides a managed alternative that works across all three clouds (plus OCI). Tessell provisions SQL Server with Always On AG configured automatically, including WSFC setup, listener configuration, and failover policies. This eliminates the most complex and error-prone aspects of SQL Server HA deployment. ## **Monitoring and Maintaining SQL Server HA** Ongoing HA maintenance requires regular monitoring, testing, and validation. Key monitoring queries include sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states for AG synchronization health, sys.dm_hadr_database_replica_states for database-level sync status, and the SSMS Always On dashboard for visual health monitoring. Best practices include: testing failover at least quarterly, validating backups with test restores monthly, monitoring log send queue and redo queue sizes for replication lag, and documenting all HA configurations for DR planning. Tessell automates monitoring, alerting, and failover testing as part of its managed SQL Server service. ## **Simplifying SQL Server HA with Tessell** Traditional SQL Server HA setup requires expertise in Windows Server Failover Clustering, Active Directory, network configuration, storage provisioning, and AG management. Each component introduces configuration complexity and ongoing maintenance burden. For teams without dedicated SQL Server infrastructure specialists, this complexity is a significant barrier. Tessell's managed SQL Server service eliminates this complexity by automating HA provisioning across AWS, Azure, and GCP: - **Zero RPO/RTO: **Automatic failover with synchronous commit and no data loss. - **Multi-AZ by default: **Primary and secondary replicas deployed across availability zones automatically. - **Zero-downtime patching: **Rolling updates applied to secondaries first, then automatic switchover. - **Cross-cloud HA and DR: **Replicate across clouds for geographic redundancy. - **No WSFC management: **Tessell handles cluster setup, listener configuration, and failover policies. - **Built-in monitoring: **Real-time AG health dashboards and alerting without manual DMV query setup. ## **Conclusion** SQL Server high availability is a foundational requirement for any production database deployment. Always On Availability Groups are the modern standard for most workloads, but understanding when FCI, Log Shipping, or other methods are more appropriate ensures the right balance of cost, complexity, and protection for your specific requirements. For enterprise teams that need production-grade HA without the operational burden of managing WSFC, AG configuration, and failover policies manually, Tessell provides fully managed SQL Server with built-in HA across AWS, Azure, and GCP. Visit tessell.com/services/sqlserver or book a demo to evaluate Tessell for your SQL Server HA requirements. ### FAQs **What is the difference between HA and DR in SQL Server?** High availability (HA) minimizes downtime during routine failures such as hardware issues, network interruptions, and software updates. Disaster recovery (DR) focuses on recovering from catastrophic events like data center outages or regional failures. Most enterprise deployments implement both: AG for HA and cross-region replication or log shipping for DR. **Do I need SQL Server Enterprise Edition for high availability?** Not necessarily. Failover Cluster Instances and Log Shipping work with Standard Edition. Basic Availability Groups (two replicas, no readable secondaries) are available in Standard Edition since SQL Server 2016. Full AG features (multiple replicas, readable secondaries, distributed AGs) require Enterprise Edition. **What is the best SQL Server HA solution?** Always On Availability Groups is the recommended HA method for most modern SQL Server deployments. It provides database-level HA, automatic failover, readable secondaries, and no shared storage dependency. For instance-level protection with shared storage, FCI is appropriate. For budget DR, Log Shipping is the simplest option. **How much downtime can I expect with SQL Server HA?** With synchronous Always On AG and automatic failover, typical failover time is 10-30 seconds. Four-nines availability (99.99%) allows approximately 52 minutes of downtime per year. Five-nines (99.999%) allows approximately 5 minutes per year. Tessell's managed SQL Server targets zero RPO/RTO with automatic failover. **Can I use SQL Server HA in the cloud?** Yes. AWS RDS, Azure SQL, and GCP Cloud SQL all support SQL Server HA through managed services. For full AG control, deploy SQL Server on cloud VMs with WSFC. Tessell provides managed SQL Server HA across AWS, Azure, and GCP from a single control plane, eliminating manual WSFC and AG configuration. --- ## mysql-audit-logs URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-audit-logs Last updated: 2026-08-24 MySQL audit logs are records of database activity that capture connections, queries, schema changes, errors, and administrative actions on a MySQL server. They provide a verifiable trail of who did what, when, and on which objects, enabling security teams to detect unauthorized access, meet compliance requirements, and investigate incidents. Audit logging is available through multiple methods depending on your MySQL edition and deployment environment. This guide covers all major approaches to MySQL audit logging: the General Query Log and MariaDB Audit Plugin for Community Edition users, the MySQL Enterprise Audit Plugin for Enterprise Edition, and cloud-specific implementations for AWS, Azure, and GCP. It also covers filtering, log formats, best practices, performance considerations, and troubleshooting. ## **What Are MySQL Audit Logs?** MySQL audit logs are structured records generated by the MySQL server (or a plugin) that track database events for security, compliance, and operational analysis. Unlike the general query log, which records all SQL statements indiscriminately, audit logs provide selective, configurable recording of specific event types with metadata including timestamps, user accounts, source IP addresses, and affected objects. The MySQL Enterprise Audit Plugin (audit_log) is the most feature-complete solution, supporting JSON, XML, and CSV output formats, granular event filtering, log rotation, and encryption. For MySQL Community Edition users, the MariaDB Audit Plugin provides a free, compatible alternative with similar core functionality. The General Query Log offers basic logging but lacks the filtering and security features needed for production audit requirements. ## **Why MySQL Audit Logs Matter** ### **Security Monitoring and Threat Detection** Audit logs enable real-time and forensic detection of security threats. They capture failed login attempts that may indicate brute-force attacks, privilege escalation events where users gain elevated access, and unauthorized data access or modification. By monitoring audit logs, security teams can identify anomalous patterns such as access from unexpected IP addresses, queries against sensitive tables outside business hours, or bulk data exports that may indicate data exfiltration. ### **Compliance Requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, PCI DSS)** Regulatory frameworks require organizations to maintain audit trails of database access and modification. GDPR requires logging access to personal data and demonstrating accountability for data processing activities. HIPAA mandates audit controls that record and examine access to electronic protected health information (ePHI). SOX requires audit trails for financial data to prevent fraud. PCI DSS v4.1 requires logging all access to cardholder data environments and reviewing logs regularly. Tessell holds ISO 27001, ISO 27701, SOC 2, and PCI DSS v4.1 certifications, directly supporting customers who need to demonstrate audit logging compliance across these frameworks. ### **Troubleshooting and Forensic Analysis** Audit logs provide the event sequence needed to diagnose database issues and perform post-incident analysis. When a schema change breaks an application, audit logs identify who made the change, when, and what the previous state was. When data corruption is detected, audit logs trace the sequence of operations that led to it. This forensic capability is essential for root cause analysis and incident response. ### **Change Management and Accountability** In environments with multiple database administrators and application service accounts, audit logs provide accountability by recording every configuration change, DDL operation, and privilege modification. This supports change management processes by creating a verifiable record that can be reviewed during change approval workflows and audited retrospectively. ## **MySQL Audit Log Methods Compared** MySQL supports three primary methods for audit logging, each suited to different editions and use cases. | Feature | General Query Log | MariaDB Audit Plugin | Enterprise Audit Plugin | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Edition | All editions | Community + Enterprise | Enterprise only | | Event Filtering | None (logs everything) | Basic (connection, query, table) | Granular (user, event, object) | | Output Formats | File or table | File (syslog compatible) | JSON, XML, CSV | | Performance Impact | High (logs all queries) | Low to moderate | Low (async mode available) | | Log Rotation | Manual (FLUSH LOGS) | Manual | Built-in (audit_log_rotate) | | Encryption | No | No | Yes (Enterprise feature) | | Best For | Development/debugging | Community Edition production | Enterprise compliance | ## **How to Enable MySQL Audit Logging (Community Edition)** MySQL Community Edition does not include the Enterprise Audit Plugin. Two alternative methods provide audit logging capabilities for Community Edition deployments. ### **Using the General Query Log** The General Query Log records every SQL statement received by the MySQL server. It is the simplest audit method but generates significant overhead and volume because it cannot filter events. `-- Enable the General Query Log` `SET GLOBAL general_log = 'ON';` `SET GLOBAL log_output = 'FILE';` `SET GLOBAL general_log_file = '/var/log/mysql/general.log';` `-- Verify` `SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'general_log%';` **Limitation:** The General Query Log is not suitable for production audit requirements. It logs all queries without filtering, generates large log files quickly, and has no built-in rotation, encryption, or structured output. Use it only for development, debugging, or short-term diagnostics. ### **Using the MariaDB Audit Plugin** The MariaDB Audit Plugin (server_audit) is a free, open-source plugin that works with both MariaDB and MySQL Community Edition. It provides connection and query logging with basic filtering, making it the most practical audit solution for Community Edition production environments. This is the method that Bytebase and other community guides recommend. `-- Install the MariaDB Audit Plugin` `INSTALL PLUGIN server_audit SONAME 'server_audit.so';` `-- Configure audit logging` `SET GLOBAL server_audit_logging = 'ON';` `SET GLOBAL server_audit_events = 'CONNECT,QUERY,TABLE';` `SET GLOBAL server_audit_file_path = '/var/log/mysql/server_audit.log';` `SET GLOBAL server_audit_file_rotate_size = 104857600; -- 100MB` `SET GLOBAL server_audit_file_rotations = 10;` `-- Verify the plugin is active` `SHOW PLUGINS;` `SELECT * FROM information_schema.plugins` `WHERE plugin_name = 'server_audit';` To make the configuration persistent across restarts, add the following to your my.cnf: `[mysqld]` `plugin-load-add = server_audit.so` `server_audit_logging = ON` `server_audit_events = CONNECT,QUERY,TABLE` `server_audit_file_path = /var/log/mysql/server_audit.log` `server_audit_file_rotate_size = 100M` `server_audit_file_rotations = 10` ## **How to Install and Configure MySQL Enterprise Audit Plugin** ### **Prerequisites and Compatibility** The MySQL Enterprise Audit Plugin requires MySQL Enterprise Edition (commercial license). It is supported on MySQL 5.7, 8.0, 8.4, and 9.x. Verify your edition before proceeding: `SELECT @@version, @@license;` `-- Must show 'Commercial' for Enterprise Edition` ### **Installation Steps** `-- Install the audit_log plugin` `INSTALL PLUGIN audit_log SONAME 'audit_log.so';` `-- Verify installation` `SHOW PLUGINS;` `SELECT plugin_name, plugin_status` `FROM information_schema.plugins` `WHERE plugin_name = 'audit_log';` `-- Status must show 'ACTIVE'` If the INSTALL PLUGIN command returns an error, verify that the audit_log.so file exists in the MySQL plugin directory (SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'plugin_dir') and that the MySQL user has file system permissions to load it. ### **Key Configuration Parameters** | Parameter | Recommended Value | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | audit_log_file | /var/log/mysql/audit.log | Path and filename for the audit log output | | audit_log_format | JSON | Output format: JSON (recommended), XML (legacy), CSV | | audit_log_rotate_on_size | 100MB | Automatic rotation when log reaches this size | | audit_log_rotations | 10 | Number of rotated log files to retain | | audit_log_strategy | ASYNCHRONOUS | Write strategy: ASYNCHRONOUS (lowest overhead), PERFORMANCE, SEMISYNCHRONOUS, SYNCHRONOUS | | audit_log_buffer_size | 16MB | Buffer size for async writes. Increase for high-throughput servers. | `-- Apply configuration` `SET GLOBAL audit_log_file = '/var/log/mysql/audit.log';` `SET GLOBAL audit_log_format = 'JSON';` `SET GLOBAL audit_log_rotate_on_size = 104857600;` `SET GLOBAL audit_log_rotations = 10;` `SET GLOBAL audit_log_strategy = 'ASYNCHRONOUS';` ### **Audit Log Filtering** The Enterprise Audit Plugin supports granular filtering using the audit_log_filter functions. Filters control which events are recorded, reducing log volume and performance overhead. `-- Create a filter that logs only connection and DDL events` `SELECT audit_log_filter_set_filter(` `'connection_ddl_only',` `'{"filter": {"class": [{"name": "connection"}, {"name": "general", "event": [{"name": "status", "log": {"on_completion": {"abort": {"log": true}, "status": {"log": true}}}}]}]}'` `);` `-- Assign the filter to a specific user` `SELECT audit_log_filter_set_user('%', 'connection_ddl_only');` `-- Remove all filtering (log everything)` `SELECT audit_log_filter_remove_filter('connection_ddl_only');` Common filtering patterns include: logging all activity for privileged accounts (root, admin), logging only connection events for application service accounts, and excluding monitoring or health-check queries from the audit trail. ### **Log Format Options (XML, JSON, CSV)** JSON is the recommended format for new deployments. It provides structured, machine-parseable output that integrates cleanly with SIEM tools and log aggregation platforms. XML is the legacy format supported since MySQL 5.6. CSV is the simplest format but lacks nested event metadata. **Sample JSON output:** `{` `"timestamp": "2026-03-15T10:23:45Z",` `"class": "general",` `"event": "status",` `"connection_id": 42,` `"account": {"user": "app_user", "host": "10.0.1.50"},` `"login": {"user": "app_user", "os": "", "ip": "10.0.1.50"},` `"general_data": {"command": "Query", "sql_command": "select",` `"query": "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE id = 1234"}` `}` ## **MySQL Audit Logs on Cloud Platforms** Each major cloud provider offers a native mechanism for enabling MySQL audit logging on their managed MySQL services. The following sections cover the implementation specifics for each platform. ### **AWS RDS and Aurora MySQL** On AWS RDS and Aurora MySQL, enable the server_audit_logging parameter in the DB parameter group. Set server_audit_events to CONNECT, QUERY, and TABLE as needed. Audit logs are published to Amazon CloudWatch Logs, where they can be queried, filtered, and forwarded to SIEM tools. Aurora MySQL also supports the advanced audit plugin with JSON output on MySQL 8.0+ compatible versions. ### **Azure Database for MySQL** On Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server, enable audit logging by setting the audit_log_enabled server parameter to ON. Configure audit_log_events to specify which event types to capture. Audit logs are accessible through Azure Diagnostic Settings and can be streamed to Azure Log Analytics, Event Hubs, or a storage account for long-term retention and analysis. ### **Google Cloud SQL for MySQL** On Google Cloud SQL, enable the cloudsql.enable_data_access_audit flag on the instance. Audit events are captured in Cloud Audit Logs and accessible through the Cloud Logging console. Cloud SQL supports filtering by event type and integrating logs with BigQuery for analytical queries on audit data. ### **Simplified Multi-Cloud Auditing with Tessell** For organizations running MySQL across multiple clouds, Tessell provides a unified audit logging experience across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. Rather than configuring audit logging separately on each platform with different parameter names and log destinations, Tessell abstracts the cloud-specific complexity into a consistent management interface. Tessell handles audit log configuration, rotation, storage, and retention automatically as part of its managed MySQL service. Combined with Tessell's ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS v4.1 certifications, this provides end-to-end audit compliance without platform-specific configuration overhead. ## **Audit Log Management Best Practices** ### **Log Rotation and Retention** Configure automatic log rotation to prevent audit logs from consuming excessive disk space. For the Enterprise Audit Plugin, use audit_log_rotate_on_size with a value of 100MB and retain 10 to 30 rotated files depending on your compliance retention requirements. For manual rotation, call the audit_log_rotate() function during maintenance windows. Define a retention policy that meets your regulatory requirements (GDPR typically requires 6 to 12 months; PCI DSS requires at least 12 months with 3 months immediately available). ### **Encryption and Tamper Protection** The MySQL Enterprise Audit Plugin supports audit log encryption to prevent unauthorized reading of log files. Enable encryption to protect sensitive query data captured in audit logs. Store audit logs on encrypted file systems and restrict file system access to the MySQL service account and authorized security personnel. Consider forwarding logs to a centralized, append-only log management system (SIEM) to provide tamper evidence. ### **Performance Optimization** Audit logging introduces write overhead. Use the ASYNCHRONOUS write strategy (audit_log_strategy = ASYNCHRONOUS) for the lowest performance impact. Increase the audit_log_buffer_size to 16MB or higher for servers handling thousands of queries per second. Use filtering to log only the events required for your compliance and security objectives, rather than logging all activity. In benchmark testing, asynchronous audit logging with appropriate filtering typically adds less than 2% overhead on high-throughput OLTP workloads. ### **Reading and Analyzing Audit Logs** JSON-format audit logs can be parsed with standard tools (jq, Python, Elasticsearch) or loaded into SIEM platforms (Splunk, Datadog, ELK Stack) for centralized analysis. For quick analysis, use MySQL shell commands to search for specific events: `# Search for failed login attempts` `cat /var/log/mysql/audit.log | jq 'select(.class == "connection" and .event == "connect" and .general_data.status != 0)'` `# Search for DDL statements` `cat /var/log/mysql/audit.log | jq 'select(.general_data.sql_command | test("create|alter|drop"))'` ## **Troubleshooting Common MySQL Audit Log Issues** | Issue | Solution | | --- | --- | | Plugin installation fails with "cannot open shared object file" | Verify the .so file exists in the plugin directory (SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'plugin_dir'). On Linux, check file permissions. For Community Edition, use server_audit.so instead of audit_log.so. | | Audit log file not created after enabling | Check the directory path exists and the MySQL service account has write permissions. Verify audit_log_file is set correctly. Restart MySQL if the plugin was installed but the path was changed after startup. | | Significant performance degradation after enabling | Switch from SYNCHRONOUS to ASYNCHRONOUS write strategy. Increase buffer_size. Apply filtering to reduce logged events. Ensure the audit log is on a separate disk from data files. | | Permission denied errors in audit log | The MySQL user running the server must have read/write access to the audit log directory. On SELinux systems, add the audit log path to the MySQL SELinux context. | | Audit log growing indefinitely | Configure audit_log_rotate_on_size and audit_log_rotations. For Community Edition, set up a cron job with logrotate to manage file sizes. | ## **Conclusion** MySQL audit logging is a foundational security and compliance capability for any production MySQL deployment. The right approach depends on your MySQL edition and deployment environment: the General Query Log provides basic visibility for development, the MariaDB Audit Plugin delivers practical audit logging for Community Edition production systems, and the MySQL Enterprise Audit Plugin provides the granular filtering, encryption, and format options that enterprise compliance requires. For cloud deployments, each major platform offers native audit log integration with their respective monitoring and SIEM ecosystems. Organizations running MySQL across multiple clouds benefit from a unified approach that abstracts platform-specific configuration complexity. Tessell's managed MySQL service provides automated audit log configuration, rotation, and retention across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, backed by ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS v4.1 certifications. For teams that need production-grade audit logging without the operational overhead of manual setup and maintenance, evaluate Tessell for MySQL as a next step. ### FAQs **How do I enable MySQL audit logs?** The method depends on your MySQL edition. For Enterprise Edition, install the audit_log plugin using INSTALL PLUGIN audit_log SONAME 'audit_log.so'. For Community Edition, install the MariaDB Audit Plugin (server_audit.so) and set server_audit_logging = ON. For managed cloud services (AWS RDS, Azure MySQL, GCP Cloud SQL), enable the audit logging parameter in the service configuration. **What is the difference between the MySQL general log and the audit log?** The general query log records every SQL statement the server receives, without filtering or structured metadata. The audit log plugin provides selective event recording with filtering, timestamps, user context, and structured output (JSON, XML, CSV). The general log is useful for debugging; the audit log is designed for security and compliance. **Does MySQL Community Edition support audit logging?** MySQL Community Edition does not include the Enterprise Audit Plugin. However, the MariaDB Audit Plugin (server_audit) is a free, open-source alternative that works with MySQL Community Edition and provides connection and query logging with basic filtering. The General Query Log is also available on all editions but is not suitable for production audit requirements. **What is the performance impact of MySQL audit logging?** With the Enterprise Audit Plugin using ASYNCHRONOUS write strategy and appropriate filtering, performance overhead is typically less than 2% on OLTP workloads. The General Query Log has the highest overhead because it logs all queries without filtering. The MariaDB Audit Plugin falls between the two. Use filtering to log only required events and increase the buffer size for high-throughput servers. **How do I view and analyze MySQL audit logs?** JSON-format audit logs can be parsed with command-line tools (jq, grep), loaded into SIEM platforms (Splunk, Datadog, ELK Stack), or queried in cloud-native log analytics services (CloudWatch, Azure Log Analytics, Cloud Logging). For quick searches, use jq to filter by event class, user, or SQL command type directly from the log file. --- ## oracle-performance-benchmarking-with-hammerdb URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/oracle-performance-benchmarking-with-hammerdb Last updated: 2026-08-24 How to benchmark Oracle with HammerDB TPROC-C — tool comparisons, step-by-step setup, metrics, best practices, and multi-cloud testing. Benchmarking is essential for assessing the performance and scalability of Oracle databases, particularly when simulating real-world transaction-heavy workloads. Whether you are planning a cloud migration, comparing infrastructure options, or validating a configuration change, benchmarks provide the quantitative evidence needed to make informed decisions. This guide covers the fundamentals of Oracle benchmarking, compares the major tools available, and provides a step-by-step walkthrough for running the TPROC-C (TPC-C) benchmark using HammerDB on Tessell for Oracle. It also covers benchmark metrics, best practices, and multi-cloud benchmarking considerations for 2026. ## **What Is Oracle Database Benchmarking?** Oracle database benchmarking is the process of running standardized workloads against an Oracle database instance to measure performance under controlled conditions. Key metrics include transactions per second (TPS), new orders per minute (NOPM), I/O operations per second (IOPS), query latency, and throughput. These metrics allow DBAs and cloud architects to evaluate hardware, storage, network, and configuration choices objectively. Organizations benchmark Oracle databases for several reasons. During cloud migrations, benchmarks establish baselines on the source environment and validate that target environments deliver comparable or better performance. For capacity planning, benchmarks reveal the point at which a given configuration starts to degrade under load. Benchmarks also support FinOps optimization by comparing cost-per-transaction across cloud providers and instance types, helping teams identify the most cost-effective infrastructure for their workload profile. ## **Oracle Benchmark Tools: HammerDB vs SLOB vs Swingbench** Several tools exist for benchmarking Oracle databases, each designed for different workload types. The three most widely used are HammerDB, SLOB, and Swingbench. Understanding their differences is critical for selecting the right tool for your testing objective. ### **HammerDB (TPROC-C / TPROC-H)** HammerDB is an open-source, multi-database benchmarking tool hosted by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC). It implements TPROC-C (derived from TPC-C for OLTP workloads) and TPROC-H (derived from TPC-H for analytical workloads). HammerDB supports Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, and MariaDB, making NOPM (New Orders Per Minute) a cross-database comparable metric. HammerDB v5.0 introduced improved time-based profiling and enhanced CLI automation. It is the recommended tool for transaction throughput benchmarking. ### **SLOB (Silly Little Oracle Benchmark)** SLOB is an Oracle-specific tool created by Kevin Closson, designed for I/O and storage performance testing. Unlike HammerDB, SLOB is non-transactional and generates pure I/O workloads that isolate storage layer performance from application-level overhead. It is ideal for evaluating NVMe, flash storage, and cloud block storage performance. Tessell has published SLOB benchmark results comparing NVMe-backed storage performance across cloud providers. ### **Swingbench** Swingbench is a free, Java-based, Oracle-specific load generator created by Dominic Giles (Oracle). It supports Order Entry (OLTP), Sales History (DSS), and JSON workloads. Swingbench is particularly useful for Oracle RAC testing and multi-schema concurrent load generation. The April 2025 release added JSON-based result storage. Swingbench is not officially supported by Oracle but is widely used within the Oracle community. ### **Tool Comparison** | Feature | HammerDB | SLOB | Swingbench | Orion | calibrate_io | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Workload Type | OLTP / Analytical | I/O / Storage | OLTP / DSS / JSON | Storage I/O | Storage I/O | | Key Metric | NOPM, TPM | IOPS, Latency | TPS, Response Time | IOPS, MB/s | IOPS, Latency | | Best For | Transaction throughput | Storage layer testing | Oracle RAC, OLTP | Pre-DB storage | In-DB storage | | Multi-DB Support | Yes (6 databases) | Oracle only | Oracle only | No (storage tool) | Oracle only | | License | Open source (GPLv2) | Free | Free | Oracle utility | Oracle built-in | For transaction processing benchmarks that simulate real-world OLTP workloads, HammerDB is the recommended choice. The remainder of this guide focuses on running HammerDB TPROC-C benchmarks against Oracle. ## **What Is the TPC-C (TPROC-C) Benchmark?** TPC-C is a standard OLTP benchmark that simulates order processing across multiple warehouses, measuring transaction throughput and latency. It was defined by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) and is the industry standard for evaluating database transaction processing capability. HammerDB implements an open-source derivative called TPROC-C (Transaction Processing over C). TPROC-C follows the same workload model as TPC-C but is not an officially audited TPC benchmark. This distinction matters: TPC-C results require formal auditing and cannot be directly compared with TPROC-C results. However, TPROC-C provides a reliable, repeatable, and free method for comparative benchmarking across environments. The benchmark simulates five transaction types: New Order, Payment, Order Status, Delivery, and Stock Level. It uses a configurable number of warehouses to scale the dataset and concurrent virtual users to simulate load. The primary metric is NOPM (New Orders Per Minute), which counts completed New Order transactions and is comparable across database engines. TPM (Transactions Per Minute) is the database-specific metric that includes all transaction types plus system overhead. ## **Why Benchmark Your Oracle Database?** Benchmarking serves multiple purposes across the database lifecycle. Before a cloud migration, benchmarks establish a performance baseline on the source environment. Running the same benchmark on the target environment provides a direct, quantifiable comparison that de-risks the migration decision. This is especially valuable when moving from on-premises infrastructure to cloud-based DBaaS platforms, where storage and network characteristics differ significantly. For capacity planning, benchmarks reveal how performance degrades as concurrency increases. By scaling virtual users and warehouse counts, teams can identify the inflection point where their current configuration becomes insufficient and proactively add resources before end users experience latency. Benchmarks also support FinOps and cost optimization. Running identical workloads across different cloud providers or instance types produces cost-per-transaction comparisons that inform infrastructure purchasing decisions. This is particularly relevant for organizations evaluating Oracle on AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, where instance pricing, storage tiers, and network costs vary significantly. Additionally, benchmarks validate the impact of configuration changes, patches, operating system upgrades, and Oracle version upgrades. Running a benchmark before and after a change provides objective evidence of performance improvement or regression. ## **Understanding Oracle Benchmark Metrics** Before running benchmarks, it is important to understand the key metrics and what they measure. - **NOPM (New Orders Per Minute): **The primary cross-database comparable metric in HammerDB. Counts completed New Order transactions per minute. Use NOPM when comparing Oracle vs PostgreSQL vs SQL Server performance. - **TPM (Transactions Per Minute): **Database-specific metric that includes all five transaction types plus system-level overhead. Always higher than NOPM. Use TPM for Oracle-to-Oracle comparisons only. - **TPS (Transactions Per Second): **TPM divided by 60. Often used in reporting for easier readability. - **Latency (Response Time): **Time taken to complete a single transaction, typically measured in milliseconds. Lower is better. Critical for user-facing applications. - **IOPS (I/O Operations Per Second): **Measures storage layer throughput. Relevant for SLOB and storage-level benchmarks. Tessell NVMe infrastructure supports up to 2M IOPS. - **AWR Reports: **Oracle Automatic Workload Repository reports capture database-level performance data, including wait events, SQL statistics, and resource consumption. Take AWR snapshots before and after benchmark runs for comprehensive analysis. ## **How to Benchmark Oracle with HammerDB: Step-by-Step Guide** This section walks through the complete process for running a TPROC-C benchmark against an Oracle database using HammerDB. The instructions reference Tessell for Oracle on GCP, but the same process applies on AWS and Azure with Tessell. ### **Prerequisites and Environment Setup** To run an accurate benchmark, the HammerDB load driver must be installed on a separate machine in the same VPC and subnet as the Oracle database instance. This eliminates network latency as a variable. The recommended setup uses a GCE Windows VM in the same VPC as the Tessell for Oracle instance. Provision a Windows Server VM with sufficient CPU and memory to drive the benchmark load (minimum 8 vCPUs, 32 GB RAM for production-scale tests). Ensure network connectivity between the VM and the Oracle listener port (default 1521). With Tessell, the Oracle database itself is provisioned in minutes through the Tessell console, eliminating the manual configuration required for self-managed Oracle on cloud VMs. ### **Install HammerDB and Oracle Instant Client** Download and install HammerDB from hammerdb.com. For Windows, use the MSI installer. For Linux, the Docker-based HammerDB CloudTK image provides a pre-configured environment that avoids manual dependency management. Install the Oracle Instant Client matching your Oracle database version. Configure the PATH and TNS_ADMIN environment variables to point to the Instant Client directory. Verify connectivity using tnsping before proceeding to HammerDB configuration. ### **Connect HammerDB to Oracle Database** In the HammerDB interface, navigate to the Database section and select Oracle from the dropdown. In the Schema Settings, provide the connection details: hostname (Tessell Oracle endpoint), port (1521), service name, and credentials. HammerDB uses a tpcc schema by default for its test data. Ensure this schema user exists and has the necessary privileges before proceeding. **Troubleshooting tips:** If the connection fails, verify the listener is running (lsnrctl status), check firewall rules for port 1521, and confirm the service name matches the database configuration. Use tnsping to validate TNS resolution independently. ### **Configure and Run the TPROC-C Benchmark** Under the Settings tab, configure the workload parameters. Set the number of warehouses (10 for quick validation tests, 100 or more for production-scale loads). Set the virtual users for schema build to match the CPU core count on the benchmark driver machine. Build the schema first: click Build under the Schema section. This executes DDL statements and loads test data into the tpcc schema. Wait for the schema build to complete before proceeding. Configure the benchmark driver: select the Timed Driver Script option for production benchmarks (as opposed to the Test driver, which runs a fixed number of transactions). Set the test duration to a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes per HammerDB documentation. Configure the ramp-up period (typically 2 to 5 minutes) to allow the database to reach steady state before measurements begin. Start the benchmark and monitor the Transaction Counter for real-time NOPM and TPM values. Allow the full test duration to elapse before reviewing results. ### **Interpreting Benchmark Results** After the benchmark completes, HammerDB reports NOPM and TPM values. Focus on NOPM for cross-database comparisons and TPM for Oracle-specific analysis. A higher NOPM indicates better transaction throughput. To evaluate results effectively, run a minimum of three iterations and average the results. Discard the first run if it shows significantly different values (cold cache effects). Compare results across different configurations by changing one variable at a time: instance type, storage tier, warehouse count, or virtual user count. For deeper analysis, use Oracle AWR reports. Take an AWR snapshot immediately before and after the benchmark run. The AWR diff report highlights top wait events, SQL execution statistics, and I/O patterns that explain the observed throughput numbers. AWR is the gold standard for Oracle performance analysis and should be used alongside HammerDB metrics for comprehensive evaluation. ## **Oracle Benchmark Best Practices** Following consistent best practices ensures benchmark results are reliable, repeatable, and meaningful. - **Environment isolation: **Run benchmarks on a dedicated test environment, not shared infrastructure. Other workloads introduce contention that skews results. - **Network proximity: **Place the HammerDB driver in the same VPC and subnet as the Oracle database. Cross-region or cross-VPC tests measure network latency, not database performance. - **Storage warm-up: **Run a short pre-test workload before the actual benchmark to warm the buffer cache and storage layer. Cold storage reads produce artificially low results. - **Multiple iterations: **Run at least three iterations per configuration and average the results. A single run may not be representative due to cache effects and background processes. - **Ramp-up time: **Allow 2 to 5 minutes of ramp-up before measurements begin. This lets connection pools stabilize and the database reach steady state. - **Document everything: **Record instance type, storage tier, Oracle version, HammerDB version, warehouse count, virtual user count, and test duration for every run. Reproducibility requires complete configuration records. - **DeWitt clause awareness: **Oracle and other commercial database vendors restrict the publication of benchmark results without authorization. Keep detailed benchmark results for internal use. If publishing comparisons, consult Oracle licensing terms and the TPC fair use policy. ## **Multi-Cloud Oracle Benchmarking with Tessell** One of the most valuable applications of Oracle benchmarking is comparing performance across cloud providers before committing to a migration target. Tessell is the only DBaaS platform that supports Oracle on AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI with a consistent management layer, making it possible to run identical benchmarks across all four clouds from a single platform. This eliminates the setup overhead of provisioning Oracle manually on each cloud. With Tessell, teams can provision an Oracle instance on any supported cloud in minutes, run the same HammerDB TPROC-C benchmark with identical parameters, and directly compare NOPM, latency, and cost-per-transaction results. The infrastructure variable (storage type, compute shape, network) becomes the only difference between test runs. Tessell's NVMe-backed high-performance storage delivers up to 2M IOPS, which is particularly relevant for I/O intensive Oracle workloads where storage is the primary bottleneck. SLOB benchmarks on Tessell NVMe have demonstrated significant throughput advantages over standard cloud block storage across all supported clouds. For teams evaluating cross-cloud migration or multi-cloud deployment strategies, benchmarking on Tessell provides the objective performance data needed to make informed infrastructure decisions. Tessell offers free trial credits for running your own benchmarks across clouds. ## **Conclusion** Oracle benchmarking is a critical practice for any team managing Oracle databases in production. Selecting the right tool for your workload type, following established best practices, and interpreting results correctly are the foundations of a reliable benchmarking process. For OLTP workloads, HammerDB TPROC-C provides the most widely used and cross-database comparable benchmark. For I/O and storage testing, SLOB isolates storage performance from application overhead. For Oracle RAC and multi-schema testing, Swingbench offers purpose-built capabilities. Before migrating Oracle to the cloud, benchmark your current environment, then run the same benchmark on your target platform. If you are evaluating multiple clouds, Tessell enables consistent Oracle benchmarking across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI from a single platform with NVMe-backed performance. Start a free trial or request a demo at tessell.com to benchmark Oracle on your target cloud. ### FAQs **What is the best tool for benchmarking Oracle databases?** It depends on what you are testing. HammerDB is the best choice for OLTP transaction throughput benchmarks. SLOB is ideal for I/O and storage performance testing. Swingbench is best for Oracle RAC and multi-schema concurrent load testing. For most migration and capacity planning scenarios, HammerDB TPROC-C is the recommended starting point. **What is the difference between NOPM and TPM in HammerDB?** NOPM (New Orders Per Minute) counts completed New Order transactions and is comparable across different database engines. TPM (Transactions Per Minute) includes all transaction types plus database system overhead and is only meaningful for same-database comparisons. Use NOPM for cross-database evaluations and TPM for Oracle-to-Oracle comparisons. **How many warehouses should I configure for a HammerDB benchmark?** Use 10 warehouses for quick validation tests. For production-representative results, use 100 or more warehouses. The warehouse count determines dataset size and concurrency potential. A general rule is at least one warehouse per virtual user, though larger ratios reduce contention. **Can I publish Oracle benchmark results?** Oracle's licensing terms include a DeWitt clause that restricts publication of benchmark results without authorization. Keep detailed benchmark data for internal use. If you need to publish comparisons, consult Oracle licensing terms and the TPC fair use policy first. **How long should a HammerDB benchmark run last?** HammerDB documentation recommends a minimum test duration of 15 to 20 minutes after the ramp-up period. Shorter tests may not capture steady-state performance and can be influenced by cache warm-up effects. For production-grade results, 30-minute tests with a 5-minute ramp-up are common practice. **Can I benchmark Oracle across multiple clouds?** Yes. Tessell supports Oracle on AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, enabling teams to run identical benchmarks across all four clouds from a single platform. This allows direct cost-per-transaction and throughput comparisons across cloud providers without the overhead of provisioning Oracle separately on each cloud. --- ## gartner-peer-insights-voice-of-the-customer-2026 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/gartner-peer-insights-voice-of-the-customer-2026 Last updated: 2026-08-24 For the second year running, Tessell is recognized in the Gartner® Peer Insights™ Voice of the Customer for Cloud Database Management Systems, rated 4.6 out of 5 by verified enterprise customers. What matters most is who left the reviews: teams in banking, insurance, and government running systems they cannot afford to break. **What Banks, Insurers, and Government Teams Say About Running Databases on Tessell** *Tessell's second year in the Gartner® Peer Insights™ Voice of the Customer for Cloud DBMS.* > Gartner Peer Insights is a free peer review and ratings platform designed for enterprise software and services decision makers. Reviews are organized by products in live markets that align to Gartner markets, defined as Magic Quadrant or Market Guide-defined markets, or GPI-defined markets that are opened at the discretion of the GPI team and do not require insights published to open the space on Peer Insights “ “The “Voice of the Customer” is a document that applies a methodology (documented here) to aggregated Gartner Peer Insights’ reviews in a market to provide an overall perspective for IT decision makers. This aggregated peer perspective, along with the individual detailed reviews, can also complement analyst insights such as Magic Quadrants and Market Guides. It can play a key role in your buying process, as it focuses on direct peer experiences of buying, implementing and operating a solution A database is the one part of the stack most companies are afraid to touch. It holds the data everything else depends on, it has usually been running for years, and the cost of getting a migration wrong is measured in outages and audit findings, not story points. So when an enterprise evaluates a new database platform, it is not really shopping for features. It is trying to answer one question: can I trust this with the thing I cannot afford to break? That question is almost impossible to answer from a vendor website. “Digital-first competitors are accelerating ahead with cloud-native data platforms, making modernization urgent for organizations that want to stay relevant. This note guides data and analytics leaders to learn from ratings and reviews by their peers shared on Gartner Peer Insights.” For the second year running, Tessell is in that report, rated 4.6 out of 5 by verified customers and 4.4 or higher across every category Gartner measures. We are proud of the score. But the number we keep coming back to is not the rating. It is who wrote the reviews. **We believe the reviews came from the hardest rooms in the enterprise** The reviewers work in banking, insurance, government, energy, and retail. If you have ever shipped software into those environments, you know what that means. These are the teams with change-advisory boards, disaster-recovery mandates, and regulators who ask hard questions. They do not adopt infrastructure because it is interesting, and they do not leave public praise casually. In our opinion a strong review from a bank's platform team is worth more than a stack of five-star ratings from low-stakes deployments, because it was earned under real constraints. Here is how one of them, an engineer at a bank, described it: ["My overall experience with Tessell has been excellent. The platform is intuitive, reliable and designed with real-world data management challenges in mind."](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/cloud-database-management-systems/vendor/tessell/product/tessell/review/view/6557732) — Engineer, Banking A government team pointed to the moment that usually decides these evaluations, the proof of concept: ["A great end-to-end experience. Tessell offered a free POC to test the main functionality including HA and failover scenarios."](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/cloud-database-management-systems/vendor/tessell/product/tessell/review/view/6415070) — IT Manager, Government And a team running Oracle in the cloud, the workload most enterprises consider untouchable: ["Tessell's Oracle DBaaS in AWS has been a game changer for our organization. The platform makes provisioning, scaling and managing databases significantly easier while maintaining enterprise-grade security and compliance."](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/cloud-database-management-systems/vendor/tessell/product/tessell/review/view/6412872) — IT Associate, Software ## One signal inside a bigger picture This feedback lines up with what we have seen across the business. Fortune 500 companies, global banks, and government agencies, including CSX, Moody's, Citizens Bank, and Forbes, run mission-critical data on Tessell today. They report 25 to 50 percent lower total cost of ownership, provisioning up to 10x faster, and availability up to 99.99 percent. The Voice of the Customer report is one independent signal inside that trajectory. As more enterprises move more of their critical data onto the platform, more of them are willing to say so publicly, and that is exactly the kind of proof that is impossible to manufacture. We read every review, the praise and the pushback alike, because a roadmap shaped by production users is exactly how the we believe we received this recognition in the first place. ## Read it for yourself If you are weighing a database platform, we would rather you hear from the people running one than from us. Read the verified reviews and download the full Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer for Cloud Database Management Systems report below. And if you are already a Tessell customer, your review helps the next team make a decision they cannot easily undo. We would be grateful for it. [**Access the report →**](https://www.tessell.com/gartner-voc-report-2026) `Gartner® 2026 Peer Insights™ Voice of the Customer for Cloud Database Management Systems, Peer Community Contributor, 24 April, 2026` `Gartner and Peer Insights are trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates.` `Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.` --- ## mysql-benefits-features-and-use-cases URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-benefits-features-and-use-cases Last updated: 2026-08-24 A complete 2026 guide to MySQL, how it works, key features and benefits, top use cases, and how it compares to PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and MongoDB. *MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) that uses Structured Query Language (SQL) to store, retrieve, and manage structured data. Developed originally by MySQL AB and now maintained by Oracle Corporation, MySQL organizes data into tables with defined relationships, enabling fast and reliable access to information at scale. It is the second-most widely used RDBMS globally according to DB-Engines rankings, powering applications from small web projects to large-scale enterprise platforms.* *As one of the foundational database technologies of the modern web, MySQL remains a top choice for organizations that need proven performance, a mature ecosystem, and broad community support. This guide covers how MySQL works, its key benefits and features, common use cases, and how it compares to alternative database technologies in 2026.* ## **How MySQL Works: Core Concepts** Understanding MySQL starts with its underlying architecture: a relational data model, structured storage, and a query processing engine. The following subsections explain each layer. ### **What Is a Relational Database?** A relational database organizes data into tables (also called relations) that consist of rows and columns. Each table represents an entity — such as customers, orders, or products — and relationships between tables are defined using primary keys and foreign keys. MySQL is a relational database management system, meaning it enforces this structured model and provides tools for defining, querying, and maintaining relationships between tables. This structure ensures data consistency and supports complex queries across multiple related datasets. ### **How Does MySQL Store Data?** MySQL stores data in tables within databases (schemas). Each table has a defined structure: columns specify data attributes and their types (integers, text, dates, JSON, spatial data), while rows contain individual records. MySQL supports multiple storage engines, with InnoDB as the default. InnoDB provides ACID-compliant transactional support, row-level locking, and foreign key enforcement, making it suitable for production workloads that require data integrity and concurrent access. ### **How Does MySQL Process Queries?** MySQL processes queries written in SQL (Structured Query Language). When a user or application submits a query, MySQL’s query optimizer analyzes the request, evaluates available indexes, and determines the most efficient execution plan. Indexes — built on B-tree or hash structures — accelerate data retrieval by reducing the number of rows scanned. MySQL also supports stored procedures, triggers, views, subqueries, window functions, and common table expressions (CTEs), providing the flexibility needed for both simple lookups and complex analytical operations. With this foundation in place, MySQL’s value becomes clearer when examining its specific benefits and features. ## **Key Benefits and Features of MySQL** MySQL’s enduring popularity is driven by a combination of technical capabilities and practical advantages. The following are the key benefits that make MySQL a preferred choice for developers, DBAs, and enterprise teams. 1. **Open-Source and Cost-Effective. **MySQL Community Edition is free to use under the GPL license, eliminating expensive licensing fees for development and production use. For enterprises requiring advanced features, MySQL Enterprise Edition offers commercial support, backup tools, and security extensions. This dual-licensing model gives organizations flexibility to start without cost barriers and scale into commercial support when needed. 2. **High Performance and Speed. **MySQL is optimized for read-heavy and mixed workloads. Its query optimizer, efficient indexing (B-tree, hash, full-text), and InnoDB buffer pool caching deliver fast query execution even at scale. For enterprises running MySQL as a managed cloud service, platforms like Tessell provide NVMe-backed storage capable of up to 2M IOPS, ensuring consistently high throughput for demanding production workloads. 3. **Reliability and ACID Compliance. **With InnoDB as its default storage engine, MySQL provides full ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) compliance. Multi-statement transactions, rollback support, and crash recovery ensure data integrity even during unexpected failures. This makes MySQL suitable for financial, e-commerce, and any application where transactional reliability is critical. 4. **Scalability. **MySQL supports vertical scaling through hardware upgrades and horizontal scaling through read replicas and sharding strategies. MySQL Group Replication and InnoDB Cluster provide built-in high-availability clustering. While horizontal scaling requires more architectural planning compared to some distributed databases, MySQL’s replication capabilities handle the majority of web-scale and enterprise workloads effectively. 5. **Security. **MySQL includes robust security features: user authentication with pluggable authentication modules, role-based access control, SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit, tablespace-level encryption for data at rest, and enterprise audit logging. These capabilities meet the security requirements of regulated industries including financial services and healthcare. 6. **Ease of Use and Developer Community. **MySQL’s straightforward installation, comprehensive documentation, and intuitive tooling (MySQL Workbench, command-line client) make it accessible to both beginners and experienced engineers. One of the largest open-source database communities provides extensive support through forums, tutorials, third-party tools, and integrations with virtually every programming language and framework. 7. **Cross-Platform Compatibility and Ecosystem Integration. **MySQL runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and major cloud platforms. It integrates natively with popular development frameworks (Django, Rails, Laravel, Spring), CI/CD pipelines, and data tools. Native support for JSON data types, spatial data (GIS), and full-text search extends MySQL beyond traditional relational workloads. 8. **Active Development and Long-Term Support. **MySQL continues to receive active development from Oracle. MySQL 8.x introduced significant improvements including window functions, CTEs, JSON enhancements, and improved optimizer performance. MySQL 9.x is continuing this trajectory with additional cloud-native and AI-adjacent capabilities. Despite increasing competition from PostgreSQL, MySQL remains the second most-used database globally with no signs of declining adoption for its core use cases. These benefits position MySQL as a reliable, cost-effective, and performant database engine for a wide range of applications. ## **What Is MySQL Used For?** ## **Use Cases and Applications** MySQL is used for web applications, enterprise software, e-commerce platforms, SaaS products, data warehousing, and embedded systems. Its combination of reliability, performance, and ecosystem maturity makes it a default choice across industries. ### **Web Applications and CMS Platforms** MySQL is the default database for the world’s most popular content management systems, including WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. These platforms depend on MySQL’s ability to handle concurrent read-heavy queries, manage user-generated content, and scale with traffic. The LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) remains one of the most widely deployed web application architectures globally. ### **E-Commerce and Transactional Systems** E-commerce platforms including Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce rely on MySQL for product catalogs, customer records, order processing, and payment transactions. ACID compliance ensures that financial transactions are processed reliably, while indexing and caching deliver the low-latency query performance that online retail demands. ### **SaaS and Cloud Applications** Multi-tenant SaaS applications use MySQL for its mature replication capabilities, schema flexibility, and predictable performance. MySQL’s support for connection pooling and read replicas makes it well-suited for applications that need to scale database access alongside their customer base. For teams managing MySQL at scale in cloud environments, a managed DBaaS approach removes the operational burden of provisioning, patching, backups, and high-availability configuration. Tessell’s managed MySQL service provides multi-cloud and multi-AZ deployment across AWS, Azure, and GCP with automated HA and disaster recovery. ### **Data Warehousing and Analytics** MySQL supports data warehousing workloads where structured data is aggregated, stored, and queried for business intelligence and reporting. Its support for complex joins, aggregation functions, window functions, and partitioning enables analytical queries on large datasets. While dedicated analytical engines (such as ClickHouse or BigQuery) may outperform MySQL for petabyte-scale analytics, MySQL remains a practical and cost-effective choice for organizations with moderate analytical requirements or those consolidating OLTP and reporting workloads on a single platform. ### **Embedded Systems and IoT** MySQL’s lightweight footprint and cross-platform compatibility make it suitable for embedded systems, IoT devices, routers, and edge computing environments. MySQL Embedded provides a library-based deployment option for applications that need a local database without a separate server process, enabling data persistence in resource-constrained environments. ## **MySQL vs Other Databases: When to Choose MySQL** Selecting a database requires understanding how MySQL compares to the major alternatives. The following table provides a high-level comparison across key evaluation criteria. | Criteria | MySQL | PostgreSQL | SQL Server | MongoDB | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Best For | Web apps, SaaS, OLTP | Complex analytics, geospatial, AI extensions | Windows/.NET enterprise environments | Flexible schemas, document-oriented apps | | Performance | Excellent for read-heavy and mixed workloads | Strong for complex queries and analytics | High performance with Microsoft ecosystem | Fast writes, horizontal scaling | | Cost | Free (Community); paid Enterprise | Free and open-source | Commercial license required | Free (Community); paid Atlas/Enterprise | | ACID Compliance | Full (InnoDB) | Full | Full | Multi-document transactions (4.0+) | | Ease of Use | Simple setup, large community | Moderate learning curve, powerful features | Integrated with Windows tooling | Developer-friendly, flexible schema | MySQL is the optimal choice for web applications, SaaS platforms, and OLTP workloads where reliability, ecosystem maturity, and cost-effectiveness are priorities. PostgreSQL offers advantages for complex analytical queries and workloads requiring advanced extensions such as pgvector for AI. MongoDB suits applications with flexible, document-oriented data models and high-velocity write requirements. SQL Server is best suited for enterprises invested in the Microsoft ecosystem. This comparison is purely a database technology evaluation. The choice of managed service or deployment platform is a separate decision that depends on your operational requirements. ## **Conclusion** MySQL remains one of the most widely adopted and trusted relational databases in 2026. Its combination of open-source accessibility, proven performance, ACID compliance, and a massive ecosystem makes it a practical default for web applications, SaaS platforms, e-commerce systems, and enterprise workloads. Active development through MySQL 8.x and 9.x ensures continued relevance as applications evolve toward cloud-native, JSON-rich, and AI-adjacent architectures. For enterprise teams running MySQL in production at scale, a managed DBaaS approach eliminates the operational overhead of provisioning, patching, backup management, and high-availability configuration. Tessell’s managed MySQL service provides fully managed MySQL across AWS, Azure, and GCP with automated HA/DR, NVMe-backed performance, and enterprise-grade compliance. Teams looking to modernize their MySQL operations should evaluate Tessell for MySQL as a next step. ### FAQs **What is MySQL?** MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) that uses SQL to store, query, and manage structured data. It is developed and maintained by Oracle Corporation and is the second most popular database engine globally. **What is MySQL used for?** MySQL is used for web applications, content management systems, e-commerce platforms, SaaS products, data warehousing, analytics, and embedded systems. It powers the database layer of platforms including WordPress, Shopify, and thousands of enterprise applications. **Is MySQL free to use?** MySQL Community Edition is free to use under the GNU General Public License (GPL). MySQL Enterprise Edition is a paid commercial product that includes advanced monitoring, backup, security, and support features for production deployments. **Is MySQL a relational database?** Yes. MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS). It organizes data into tables with rows and columns, uses primary and foreign keys to define relationships between tables, and supports SQL for data querying and manipulation. **What is the difference between MySQL and SQL?** SQL (Structured Query Language) is a programming language used to interact with relational databases. MySQL is a specific database management system that implements SQL. SQL is the language; MySQL is the software that processes it. **What are the main advantages of MySQL?** The main advantages of MySQL include open-source cost savings, high performance for read-heavy workloads, ACID compliance for transactional integrity, ease of use, cross-platform compatibility, and a large active community providing support and ecosystem integrations. **Is MySQL still relevant in 2026?** Yes. MySQL remains the second most-used RDBMS globally according to DB-Engines rankings. Active development through MySQL 8.x and 9.x continues to add capabilities including improved JSON support, enhanced optimizer performance, and cloud-native features. While PostgreSQL has gained significant ground, MySQL’s installed base, ecosystem maturity, and performance characteristics ensure its continued relevance for web, SaaS, and transactional workloads. --- ## rethinking-finops-with-platform-anchored-solutions-the-tessell-advantage URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/rethinking-finops-with-platform-anchored-solutions-the-tessell-advantage Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell's unique capabilities, from multi-DB support and dynamic licensing to integrated functionalities and enhanced FTE productivity, position it as a game-changer in the FinOps space. In today's rapidly evolving IT landscape, traditional FinOps approaches are becoming less effective. For database managers, the need for more sophisticated and integrated solutions is paramount. Enter [Tessell](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tessell-inc/)—a revolutionary platform-anchored FinOps solution that promises to redefine how financial operations are managed in the Database Management System (DBMS) space. ## Traditional FinOps The Status Quo Traditional FinOps focuses on tools that measure performance, monitor usage, and right-size infrastructure to optimize costs. Industry leaders like Gartner and ISG highlight tools such as Enteros and Ottertune, which excel in measuring performance and suggesting adjustments to right-size infrastructure and optimize database licenses. However, these tools have a narrow focus and lack seamless integration with diverse and complex IT infrastructures. ## The Tessell Difference: Platform-Anchored FinOps Tessell represents a paradigm shift in FinOps, offering a comprehensive platform that goes beyond mere performance measurement and right-sizing. Here are some innovative capabilities that set Tessell apart: ### Multi-DB Capability Tessell supports multiple databases within a single platform, providing flexibility and efficiency in managing diverse database environments. This allows organizations to optimize their database infrastructure holistically. ### Dynamic DB Licensing Methodologies Tessell offers dynamic licensing options, enabling organizations to choose between shared instances or dedicated hosts. This flexibility allows for tailored licensing strategies that can significantly reduce costs. ### Elimination of I/O Meter with NVMe By leveraging native cloud-based NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) technology, Tessell eliminates the need for I/O metering, simplifying input/output operations management while enhancing performance and reducing associated costs. ### Integrated Backup, Restore, HA/DR, and Masking/Cloning Software Tessell consolidates critical functions like backup, restore, high availability (HA), disaster recovery (DR), and data masking/cloning into a single platform. This integration reduces the need for third-party software, cutting down on both complexity and costs. ### Enhanced FTE Productivity in Core DBA Lifecycle Tasks Tessell improves Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) productivity by automating core DBA lifecycle tasks. This automation not only reduces operational costs but also frees up valuable human resources for more strategic initiatives. ### Tapping Potential Collaboration Understanding the transformative potential of platform-anchored FinOps is crucial for the industry. Collaboration with leading analysts and research firms is essential to incorporate new perspectives on FinOps. Working with these experts, we aim to showcase how solutions like Tessell deliver unprecedented value. The goal of this collaboration is to expand the current FinOps narrative to include platform-anchored approaches. By highlighting Tessell as a prime example, we can demonstrate that true FinOps optimization extends beyond right-sizing and performance measurement. It involves leveraging comprehensive platforms that integrate multiple functions, automate routine tasks, and provide unparalleled flexibility and efficiency. ## Conclusion A New Era for FinOps The FinOps landscape is ripe for transformation. Traditional tools have laid a solid foundation, but the future lies in platform-anchored solutions like Tessell. By embracing this new paradigm, organizations can achieve cost savings and operational efficiencies that were previously unimaginable. Tessell's unique capabilities, from multi-DB support and dynamic licensing to integrated functionalities and enhanced FTE productivity, position it as a game-changer in the FinOps space. As we continue to work with industry leaders and analysts, the hope is to redefine what is possible with FinOps, ensuring that organizations are equipped to navigate the complexities of modern IT environments with greater agility and cost-effectiveness. It is time for the FinOps community to recognize and embrace the full potential of platform-anchored solutions. By doing so, we can move beyond the limitations of traditional tools and unlock new levels of optimization and efficiency, driving better financial and operational outcomes across the board. --- ## sql-server-updates-across-dev-workflows-data-protection-and-high-availability URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/sql-server-updates-across-dev-workflows-data-protection-and-high-availability Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell's SQL Server update delivers automated clone refresh, native backups with PITR, and Single Instance to HA conversion on AWS and Azure. Tessell's latest release expands SQL Server capabilities across three areas: automated clone refresh for development and test environments, native backup support for long-term retention and compliance, and post-provisioning conversion from Single Instance to High Availability. Here's what's new and what it means for your teams. ## Automated Clone Refresh for SQL Server Dev and Test Environments Keeping non-production environments in sync with production data has traditionally required manual effort — recreating clones, scheduling custom scripts, or coordinating between operations and development teams. This release introduces automated clone refresh for SQL Server, eliminating that overhead. Database service owners can now configure SQL Server dev and QA clones with a built-in refresh schedule. Tessell pulls the latest data from the source production or staging service automatically, on a defined cadence or on demand. No manual intervention is required to keep lower environments current. The feature includes several controls designed for enterprise workflows: - **Pre- and post-refresh scripting:** teams can attach .ps1 and .sql scripts to automate environment preparation tasks such as disabling jobs, truncating temporary tables, re-enabling logins, restoring permissions, or running data validation checks - **Sanitized clone support:** clones can be refreshed with raw production data or with sanitization routines applied before data reaches lower environments - **Automatic rollback:** a defensive snapshot is taken before every refresh operation; if the refresh fails at any point, the clone reverts to its last known good state - **Cross-region refresh** via DAP policy - **Self-service schedule management:** refresh cadences can be paused, resumed, modified, or deleted without reprovisioning the service The feature is supported on AWS and Azure, across Standard and HPC shapes, and on both single-disk and multi-disk configurations. Edition and version compatibility is enforced, and refreshes proceed only when source and destination are a valid match. ## Native Backup Support for SQL Server Tessell now supports native SQL Server backups as a complement to the existing EBS snapshot-based approach, addressing use cases around backup portability, compliance readiness, and long-term retention cost. When configured, the backup engine runs a full backup on first execution and automatically switches to differential backups on subsequent daily runs. Transaction log backups are taken every 15 minutes, enabling point-in-time recovery. Backups are streamed directly to blob storage in native .bak format, making them suitable for WORM storage policies required under frameworks such as DORA, and compatible with long-term retention workflows that snapshot-based backups cannot support. The same RPO retention tiers available for snapshots — Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly — apply to native backups, with lower associated storage costs. Snapshot-based backups continue to work unchanged. Customers can choose their preferred backup method per database. ## Post-Provisioning Conversion: Single Instance to High Availability SQL Server deployments on Tessell can now be converted from Single Instance to High Availability after provisioning, without recreating or migrating the database. This is supported on both AWS and Azure. Supported conversion paths: - SI to SI + HA - SI + DR to SI + HA + DR - SI to SI + Read Replica / DR The feature supports single and multi-replica architectures, same-region and cross-region deployments, and both standard and NVMe HPC storage tiers. ## What This Release Delivers Together, these three capabilities address some of the most operationally demanding aspects of running SQL Server at enterprise scale: keeping development environments aligned with production, ensuring backup strategies meet compliance and portability requirements, and giving teams the flexibility to evolve their availability architecture without starting from scratch. Each is available today on Tessell's multi-cloud platform across AWS and Azure. --- ## a-year-of-excellence-tessells-award-winning-journey-in-2023-2024 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/a-year-of-excellence-tessells-award-winning-journey-in-2023-2024 Last updated: 2026-08-24 At Tessell, we are thrilled to share the remarkable accolades our company has received over the past year. These awards highlight our dedication to innovation, excellence, and leadership in cloud data infrastructure. Each recognition is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our team, and the trust and support of our clients and partners. ## Finalist in the 2023 Microsoft OSS on Azure Partner of the Year Award We are honored to be recognized as a finalist for the 2023 Microsoft OSS on Azure Partner of the Year Award. This prestigious award celebrates our excellence in innovation and customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Being acknowledged among a global field of top Microsoft partners underscores our commitment to delivering outstanding open-source software solutions on the Azure platform. Our high-performance infrastructure and simplified database management have been instrumental in helping our clients achieve seamless operations and significant cost savings. This recognition is particularly significant as it highlights our role in enhancing the interoperability and performance of cloud-based databases. Our fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) on Azure enables customers to benefit from high-performance infrastructure with unparalleled price-performance ratios, governed data management, and seamless integration with Azure Data Services. This award reaffirms our mission to revolutionize database management and support our customers’ digital transformation journeys. ## CRN® 2023 Stellar Startups List Being named to the CRN® 2023 Stellar Startups List is another proud moment for Tessell. This accolade recognizes emerging technology manufacturers under six years old who are committed to delivering innovative solutions that drive growth in the IT channel. Our revolutionary approach to cloud-based data management, which offers higher performance at lower costs, has set us apart in the industry. This recognition by CRN validates our efforts to innovate and disrupt the traditional data management landscape. The inclusion in the Stellar Startups List is a testament to our ability to meet the evolving needs of our customers. By providing intuitive, high-performance data infrastructure solutions, we empower businesses to focus on their core operations without worrying about the complexities of database management. This accolade not only highlights our past achievements but also sets a high bar for our future endeavors as we continue to innovate and lead in the cloud data infrastructure space. ## CRN Big Data 100 List for 2024 Tessell’s recognition in the CRN Big Data 100 List for 2024 is a significant milestone that underscores our impact on the data management ecosystem. This list acknowledges the coolest database system companies that have made substantial contributions to the field of big data. Our inclusion in this list is a testament to the effectiveness and reliability of our cloud-based database solutions, which are designed to handle large-scale data operations with ease and efficiency. This recognition is not just an honor but also a motivation for us to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible in data management. As data grows exponentially, our solutions provide the scalability, performance, and security businesses need to stay competitive. Being part of the Big Data 100 List reaffirms our commitment to helping organizations harness the power of their data to drive innovation and achieve their business objectives. ## Redpoint Ventures’ InfraRed 100 List We are proud to be featured in Redpoint Ventures’ InfraRed 100 List as one of the most innovative private companies in cloud data infrastructure. This list celebrates companies that are leading the way in technological advancements and shaping the future of data management. Our innovative solutions and commitment to excellence have earned us a place among the top players in the industry, and this recognition by Redpoint Ventures validates our efforts and vision. Inclusion in the InfraRed 100 List is particularly meaningful as it highlights our role in driving innovation and transformation in the cloud data infrastructure space. Our solutions are designed to simplify complex data management tasks, improve performance, and reduce costs for our customers. This recognition inspires us to continue our innovation journey, helping businesses navigate the challenges of data management and unlocking new opportunities for growth and success. ## The Journey Ahead These awards and recognitions are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire Tessell team. We thank our clients, partners, and supporters for their trust and collaboration. As we look to the future, we remain committed to delivering innovative, high-performance data management solutions that drive success and transformation for businesses worldwide. --- ## reimagine-data-management-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/reimagine-data-management-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 Managing data across various environments is increasingly challenging. Tessell’s innovative data ecosystem offers a revolutionary approach to data management, enabling organizations to harness the full potential of their data assets. Here’s a closer look at how Tessell’s platform is transforming data management and why it should be a priority for data and analytics leaders. ## **Key Insights from Tessell’s Data Ecosystem** ### **Comprehensive Data Management** Tessell’s platform is designed to handle all types of data—internal and external—across cloud, multi-cloud, inter-cloud, and hybrid environments. This unified approach eliminates the need for multiple fragmented tools, streamlining operations, reducing costs, and significantly enhancing productivity. By providing a centralized hub for data management, Tessell ensures seamless integration across various environments, maintaining data integrity and enhancing accessibility for timely decision-making. ### **Enhanced Decision-Making and Strategic Insights** One of Tessell’s core strengths is its ability to support better decision-making through comprehensive data integration and robust analytics capabilities. The platform empowers organizations to aggregate, analyze, and visualize data from multiple sources, transforming raw data into actionable intelligence. This leads to more informed and strategic decisions, driving business success and competitive advantage. ### **Scalability and Adaptability** Tessell’s data ecosystem is scalable and adaptable, meeting the evolving needs of modern enterprises. As businesses grow and their data management requirements become more complex, Tessell’s platform can seamlessly scale to accommodate these demands. This ensures that organizations can rely on Tessell as their primary data management solution, preparing them for future technological advancements and data needs. ## **Core Components and Benefits** ### **Integration Efficiency** Tessell’s ecosystem includes a pre-integrated set of tools, reducing the time and cost associated with data management. This integration efficiency simplifies the management of data across disparate environments, enhancing productivity and reducing overall costs. ### **Flexible Data Access** The platform’s data fabric allows for the flexible use of both internal and external data sources. This approach ensures high-quality and reliable data management, enabling organizations to leverage various data sources for their analytics and decision-making needs. ### **User-Friendly Interfaces** With low-code and no-code tools, Tessell empowers business users to manage data without extensive IT assistance. This democratization of data management enhances productivity and allows a broader range of users to leverage data for strategic insights. ### **Centralized Control and Financial Governance** Tessell provides robust governance features, including metadata catalogs for data security and compliance. Integrated FinOps tools manage the financial aspects of data usage, offering detailed insights into data consumption and costs. This centralized control ensures data governance and financial efficiency, reducing the risk of data breaches and optimizing spending. ## **Addressing Risks and Ensuring Flexibility** ### **Mitigating Vendor Lock-In** Tessell’s platform is open and compatible with third-party tools, reducing the risk of vendor lock-in. This openness ensures flexibility and allows organizations to integrate additional capabilities as needed. ### **Innovation and Future-Proofing** Tessell remains open and compatible with third-party tools, ensuring continuous innovation. This approach allows organizations to build a data ecosystem that meets their unique needs and adapts to future technological advancements. ## **Strategic Recommendations for Data and Analytics Leaders** ### **Evaluate Tessell’s Ecosystem** Data and analytics leaders should assess Tessell’s platform as a potential solution for comprehensive data management. A thorough evaluation should consider its capabilities in data integration, governance, security, and scalability. ### **Selective Tool Usage** While prioritizing Tessell’s tools, leaders should remain open to integrating third-party tools when essential functionalities are missing. This selective approach ensures flexibility and adaptability. ### **Ensure Robust Financial Governance** Incorporating third-party FinOps tools where needed enhances financial management, particularly in multi-cloud scenarios. This integration supports comprehensive financial governance across the data ecosystem. ### **Strategic Prioritization** Adopting Tessell’s data ecosystem should be a priority, as it offers a robust, future-proof solution. This strategic approach aligns with future trends and innovations, ensuring long-term business success. ## **Conclusion** Tessell’s revolutionary data ecosystem represents the future of data management, offering a cohesive and integrated approach to handling diverse data workloads. By embracing Tessell’s platform, organizations can enhance productivity, reduce costs, and ensure effective governance and control over their data assets. Data and analytics leaders must prioritize the evaluation and adoption of Tessell’s data ecosystem to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. --- ## building-a-data-driven-culture-with-dataops-and-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/building-a-data-driven-culture-with-dataops-and-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 Data and analytics leaders face significant challenges in streamlining data operations, ensuring agile practices, and delivering trusted data. The goal is to connect data initiatives with tangible business outcomes. This is where DataOps becomes crucial. DataOps is an emerging practice that enhances communication, integration, automation, and operations of data flows between data engineers and data consumers. This blog will delve into the importance of DataOps and how Tessell can play a pivotal role in implementing effective DataOps practices. ## **What Business Challenges Does DataOps Address?** DataOps is essential for addressing technical and organizational impediments that slow down data delivery across organizations. With businesses undergoing rapid change, there’s an increasing demand for trusted, decision-quality data. Enterprises have invested in multiple data consumer personas, such as line-of-business data leaders, data domain experts, and data scientists, who drive the need for rapid, reliable data access. DataOps practices help overcome these challenges by eliminating inefficiencies and misalignments between data management and consumption use cases. This streamlines data delivery processes and operationalizes data workloads, ensuring that data is delivered quickly and efficiently. ## **Why Is DataOps Important?** 1. **Improving Organizational Speed**: DataOps enhances the speed of delivering trusted data, allowing organizations to respond swiftly to business needs. Faster data delivery translates to quicker insights and more agile decision-making processes. 2. **Reducing Excess Efforts**: By focusing on value flows connected to business impact, DataOps removes unnecessary efforts in data delivery. This allows teams to concentrate on tasks that drive business value rather than getting bogged down by redundant processes. 3. **Fostering Collaboration**: DataOps promotes cross-functional collaboration among data, business, governance, and technical personas. This collaboration ensures that all stakeholders are aligned and working towards common goals, enhancing overall efficiency. 4. **Managing Interdependencies**: It helps in managing data operation interdependencies across data pipelines, supporting various business processes. Proper management of these interdependencies ensures seamless data flow and reduces the risk of bottlenecks. 5. **Increasing Reusability**: Through automation and standardization, DataOps increases the reusability of data engineering products. Reusable data components reduce development time and costs, making the data management process more efficient. 6. **Ensuring Accountability**: DataOps ensures accountability of data-delivery commitments, meeting service-level agreements. Clear accountability structures help maintain high standards of data quality and reliability. ## **Who Benefits From DataOps?** • **Organizations**: They benefit from increased data literacy, productivity gains, enhanced data governance, self-service enablement, and a collaborative culture. These advantages lead to faster and more informed decision-making, ultimately driving business success. • **Data Engineers**: They experience increased productivity, robust change management, and improved data delivery service levels such as quality, lineage, and security. Data engineers can focus on innovation rather than troubleshooting, leading to higher job satisfaction and better outcomes. • **Data Consumers**: They enjoy reduced cycle times for accessing ready-to-use data and improved data trust to meet business goals. Reliable and timely data access empowers data consumers to make data-driven decisions more effectively. ## **How to Introduce DataOps Practices?** Introducing DataOps involves overcoming challenges caused by silos and delays in data delivery. Organizations can achieve operational excellence through agile delivery practices, monitored change management of data, and implementing DataOps tools and practices tied to process and culture changes. This involves bringing together data managers and data consumers in cross-functional teams to ensure seamless data delivery. 1. **Agile Delivery Practices**: Adopt agile methodologies to enhance the flexibility and responsiveness of data operations. 2. **Monitored Change Management**: Implement continuous monitoring of data quality, skews, and freshness to ensure reliable data delivery. 3. **Cross-functional Teams**: Create teams that include data managers (data engineers, data integration developers, data architects, and data stewards) and data consumers (analysts, domain experts, casual users, and data scientists) to foster collaboration and efficiency. ## **Recommendations for Data and Analytics Leaders** 1. **Target Struggling Projects**: Focus on projects that lack collaboration, suffer from data pipeline failures, or have overburdened resources. Addressing these pain points can demonstrate the value of DataOps and build momentum for broader adoption. 2. **Track Metrics**: Measure key performance indicators such as time-to-deploy changes, code quality, data quality, failure rates in production, cost efficiencies, and business impact. Use these metrics to continuously improve data operations and demonstrate ROI. 3. **Revisit Data Operations Ownership**: Focus on predictability and ensure that DataOps teams own the full data delivery life cycle. Clear ownership and accountability enhance the reliability and quality of data delivery. 4. **Leverage DevOps Practices**: Collaborate with application leaders who have successfully applied DevOps practices to jump-start foundational activities. This includes setting up version control, building automated regression tests, and establishing release pipelines. ## **How Tessell Can Help** Tessell is at the forefront of enabling DataOps practices, providing tools and solutions that address the friction points in data operations. Here’s how Tessell can assist: • **End-to-End Data Management**: Tessell offers comprehensive tools for managing data from inception to production, ensuring seamless data flows. These tools streamline the entire data lifecycle, reducing complexity and improving efficiency. • **Automation and Standardization**: Tessell’s solutions automate repetitive tasks and standardize processes, increasing the reusability of data products. Automation reduces manual errors and accelerates data delivery, while standardization ensures consistency and quality. • **Enhanced Collaboration**: Tessell facilitates cross-functional collaboration, ensuring that data engineers and consumers work together effectively. Collaborative tools and workflows enable teams to align on goals and share insights, driving better outcomes. • **Robust Monitoring and Analytics**: With Tessell, organizations can monitor data pipelines, track performance metrics, and gain insights to continuously improve data operations. Real-time monitoring and analytics provide visibility into data processes, helping teams identify and resolve issues promptly. • **Agile Practices**: Tessell supports agile methodologies, enabling rapid adaptation to changing business needs and improving the speed of data delivery. Agile tools and frameworks help teams iterate quickly and respond to feedback, ensuring that data solutions meet evolving requirements. In conclusion, DataOps is a critical practice for modern organizations looking to become data-driven and achieve operational excellence in data delivery. Tessell’s suite of tools and solutions makes it an invaluable partner in implementing effective DataOps practices, driving business outcomes, and fostering a collaborative and efficient data culture. By embracing DataOps with the support of Tessell, organizations can overcome data delivery challenges, enhance data quality and reliability, and unlock the full potential of their data assets. --- ## mongodb-best-practices-with-tessell-database-service URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/mongodb-best-practices-with-tessell-database-service Last updated: 2026-08-24 Managing a MongoDB database can be complex, but it does not have to be. Our managed service removes the burden, allowing you to focus on your business operations. This document outlines our comprehensive strategy, ensuring optimal performance, robust data protection, proactive monitoring, and unwavering security. ## **Database Management** MongoDB database management is simplified by managed services. It allows you to store, manage and retrieve data in a reliable manner. ### **Optimized Performance ** - **Tailored Storage:**Based on your workload, we chose SSD storage and XFS file system to optimize your database's performance. - **Read-Replicas:**The read-Replica feature is available to distribute read workload. - **Auto-Scaling (Considered):**We explored the possibility of implementing auto-scaling for your MongoDB deployment to handle fluctuating workloads. ### **Robust Backups and Recovery ** - **Regular Backups:**We established a robust Snapshot backup strategy to create regular backups of your MongoDB database, ensuring data availability in case of incidents. - **Documented Recovery Procedures:**Recovery procedures are documented to facilitate swift restoration from backups in the event of an outage. - **Planned Maintenance:**We maintain and execute planned and informed maintenance operational practices to ensure minimum downtime as well as seamless user experience. ### **Proactive Monitoring and Alerting ** - **Monitoring Tools:**We implemented monitoring tools to track key performance metrics (e.g., CPU, memory, IOPS) and proactively identify potential issues. - **Automated Alerting System:**An alerting system is established to notify us of any anomalies or performance degradations requiring attention. ### **Version Control and Planned Upgrades ** - **Version Control System:**We used a version control system to track changes to MongoDB configuration and schema, facilitating rollbacks if necessary. - **Planned Upgrades:**MongoDB upgrades can be executed in a controlled manner to minimize disruption and ensure compatibility with client applications. ## **Security ** MongoDB security considerations cover a wide basis. This ensures your data and systems are set up with a strong security posture. ### **Authentication and Authorization** - **Unique Credentials:**Separate usernames and passwords were created for each user or process requiring MongoDB access. Shared accounts or generic credentials were avoided. - **Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):**RBAC is implemented to grant specific permissions based on user roles. This minimizes the risk associated with compromised credentials. - **Maintain Strong Passwords:**Enforced strong password policies for managed and system user accounts. - **Least Privilege:**Applications were configured to connect to MongoDB with the least privilege necessary for their operation. Unnecessary permissions were not granted. ### **Data Encryption ** - **Data at Rest Encryption:**Whenever possible, MongoDB instances leveraged the WiredTiger storage engine's built-in encryption for data at rest. For other storage engines, file-system, device, or physical encryption on the host machine was used. - **Data in Transit Encryption:**TLS/SSL encryption was enforced for all communication between applications, MongoDB instances (mongod, mongos), and other components. This ensured data confidentiality during transmission. - **Client-Side Field Level Encryption (Considered):**The possibility of implementing client-side field-level encryption for sensitive data transmission was evaluated. ### **Network Security ** - **Limited Network Exposure:**MongoDB instances were run in a trusted network environment. Firewalls or security groups were configured to restrict inbound and outbound traffic to authorised IP addresses and ports. - **Disabled Direct SSH Root Access:**Direct SSH access with root privileges was disabled to strengthen server security. ### **Auditing and Monitoring ** - **Auditing Enabled:**MongoDB was configured to log user activities and database operations for identification of suspicious behavior and potential security incidents. - **Updates Maintained:**Security patches and updates for MongoDB servers and client applications were applied promptly to address vulnerabilities. ## Proactive Alert Management At Tessell, the health and performance of your MongoDB deployment are part of the managed service. A key element of this strategy is a robust alerting system that notifies us of potential issues before they can significantly impact your applications or data. By being promptly notified of potential issues, we can take swift action to maintain the security, performance, and reliability of your MongoDB deployment. ### **Types of Alerts We Monitor** **Performance Metrics** - **CPU Usage:**Alerts are triggered if CPU utilization exceeds predefined thresholds, indicating potential bottlenecks or resource constraints. - **Memory Usage:**Alerts notify us of high memory usage, which could lead to performance degradation or slow queries. - **Disk Space:**We monitor available disk space and trigger alerts when it reaches predefined limits to avoid unexpected outages due to storage exhaustion. - **Storage Alerts:** Alerts notify us if disk space is running low or nearing capacity, allowing proactive scaling measures to be taken. - **Backup and Recovery Alerts:**The system monitors and alerts us of any failures during scheduled backups, ensuring your data protection. - **I/O Operations Per Second (IOPS):**High IOPS can signal excessive disk activity. Alerts help identify potential bottlenecks or inefficient queries requiring optimization. - **Connections:**A sudden surge in connections or a sustained high number of concurrent connections might indicate overloading or denial-of-service attempts. Alerts allow us to investigate and take necessary actions. - **Database logs monitoring**: Database log files are monitored to keep track of the database backend. ### **Replication Health** - **Replica Set Status:**Alerts notify us if the replica set encounters any issues, such as a missing primary node or lagging secondaries(**considered**). This ensures data replication remains healthy and up-to-date. - **Oplog Window(Considered):**The operation log (oplog) tracks changes made to the primary node. We monitor the oplog window size and trigger alerts if it falls behind significantly, indicating potential inconsistencies between the primary and secondary nodes. ### **Alert Notification and Resolution** - **Real-time Notifications:**Our administrators are notified in real-time via email, SMS, or team collaboration tools when an alert is triggered. - **Prompt Resolution:**We prioritize investigating and resolving alerts swiftly to minimize any potential impact on your applications or data. ### **Customization for Client Needs** The specific alerts monitored and notification channels used can be customized to meet your unique requirements and risk tolerance. We work with you to define the most relevant alerts for your specific deployment. ## **Conclusion: Confidence and Future-Proofing Your MongoDB** This document has outlined a comprehensive MongoDB management strategy designed to deliver optimal performance, robust backups and recovery, proactive monitoring, and unwavering security. We understand your business needs are dynamic, and we are committed to continuous improvement. ## **Looking Ahead: Innovation for Agility and Enhanced Security** We're actively exploring promising features like auto-scaling to handle fluctuating workloads seamlessly. Additionally, we are looking to add more security features to provide an extra layer of data security. ### FAQs **What is a MongoDB managed service?** A MongoDB managed service handles database administration tasks including performance optimization, backups, monitoring, security, and upgrades, allowing organizations to focus on business operations instead of database management. **How do you secure a MongoDB database?** MongoDB security best practices include unique credentials per user, role-based access control (RBAC), least privilege configurations, TLS/SSL encryption in transit, WiredTiger encryption at rest, and network access restrictions. **What MongoDB metrics should you monitor?** Key MongoDB monitoring metrics include CPU usage, memory usage, disk space, IOPS, connection counts, replica set status, oplog window, backup success, and database log activity for proactive issue detection. **How do you back up a MongoDB database?** MongoDB backups use snapshot strategies for regular data capture, documented recovery procedures for swift restoration, planned maintenance to minimize downtime, and automated alerts for any backup failures. **How is MongoDB data encrypted?** MongoDB data is encrypted at rest using WiredTiger's built-in encryption or file-system encryption, and in transit through TLS/SSL across all communication between applications, mongod, and mongos instances. --- ## best-practices-for-mysql-security-and-database-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-mysql-security-and-database-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 MySQL is a powerful relational database management system widely used in various applications. To ensure its optimal performance and security, following best practices is crucial. This blog outlines key MySQL best practices focusing on security, database management, and alerts. ## **Security Best Practices** ### **1. Use Strong Passwords** • Ensure all MySQL user accounts have strong, complex passwords. Simple or weak passwords can be easily guessed or cracked, making your database vulnerable. • Enforce password policies using the `validate_password `plugin. This plugin allows you to set rules for password strength, including length, complexity, and expiration. ### **2. Least Privilege Principle** • Grant users only the minimum privileges they need. Avoid giving users more access than necessary to limit potential damage from compromised accounts. • Regularly review and audit user privileges to ensure they are still necessary. Remove any unnecessary privileges to tighten security. ### **3. Encrypt Data** • Use SSL/TLS to encrypt data in transit to prevent eavesdropping. This ensures that data transmitted between the client and server is protected from interception. • Enable storage encryption for data at rest to protect against unauthorized access. Encrypting stored data ensures that it remains secure even if physical storage is compromised. ### **4. Firewall Configuration** • Do not open MySQL access to the world; limit access to trusted IP addresses only. This reduces the attack surface and helps prevent unauthorized access. • Implement network-level security measures, such as using a firewall to control which IP addresses can connect to your MySQL server. ### **5. Regular Updates** • Keep MySQL up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates to protect against known vulnerabilities. Regular updates ensure you benefit from the latest security enhancements and bug fixes. ### **6. Audit and Log** • Enable the MySQL audit plugin to log all database activities. This provides a record of actions taken within the database, which is essential for detecting and investigating suspicious activities. • Regularly review logs for suspicious activities and take appropriate action. Proactive log analysis helps you identify potential security breaches early. ### **7. Backup and Recovery** • Regularly test restore procedures to ensure backups are reliable and can be restored quickly in case of a failure. Frequent testing helps you verify that your backup processes are working correctly and can save valuable time during a disaster recovery situation. ## **Database Management Best Practices** ### **1. Indexing** • Use indexes to improve query performance. Indexes help the database quickly locate the data needed for a query, significantly speeding up data retrieval. • Regularly analyze and optimize indexes to maintain their effectiveness. Over time, changes to the database can make indexes less efficient, so regular maintenance is necessary. ### **2. Query Optimization** • Use EXPLAIN to analyze and optimize slow queries. This command provides insights into how MySQL executes a query, helping you identify and fix performance bottlenecks. • Avoid using SELECT *; specify only the required columns to reduce data retrieval time. Retrieving unnecessary data wastes resources and slows down query performance. ### **3. Capacity Planning** • Monitor disk space, CPU, and memory usage regularly. Keeping an eye on resource usage helps you identify potential issues before they impact performance. • Plan for scaling as data grows to avoid performance bottlenecks. As your database grows, you may need to add more resources or optimize your infrastructure to maintain performance. ### **4. Regular Maintenance** • Schedule regular database maintenance tasks such as ANALYZE TABLE and OPTIMIZE TABLE to keep the database running efficiently. These tasks help maintain the integrity and performance of your database. • Regular maintenance prevents data fragmentation and keeps your database healthy. ### **5. Monitoring** • Monitor key metrics such as query performance, connections, and replication status to detect and address issues promptly. Proactive monitoring helps you maintain a high level of database performance and reliability. • Use monitoring tools to set up alerts for critical metrics, ensuring you are notified of potential issues in real-time. ### **6. Data Archiving** • Archive old data to improve performance and manage disk space effectively. Keeping unnecessary data in the main database can slow down performance. • Implement an archiving strategy that moves old data to a separate storage location, where it can still be accessed if needed. ## **Alerts for MySQL** Setting up alerts helps in proactive monitoring and immediate response to potential issues. Here are some essential alerts to configure: ### **1. Connection Errors** • Monitor max_connections and active connections to ensure the database can handle the load. Alert if the number of active connections approaches the maximum limit. • Connection errors can indicate issues with application performance or potential attacks. ### **2. Slow Queries** • Alert for slow queries exceeding a certain threshold and monitor the slow_query_log for detailed information. Slow queries can significantly impact the performance of your application. • Identifying and optimizing slow queries helps maintain a responsive database. ### **3. Replication Issues** • Alert for replication lag or failures to ensure data consistency across replicas. Replication issues can lead to data inconsistencies and impact application performance. • Regular monitoring and alerting help ensure that replication processes run smoothly. ### **4. Disk Space** • Alert if disk space usage exceeds a certain threshold to prevent storage-related issues. Running out of disk space can cause database crashes and data loss. • Proactive disk space monitoring helps you plan for capacity upgrades before problems arise. ### **5. CPU and Memory Usage** • Alert if CPU or memory usage is too high, indicating potential performance issues. High resource usage can slow down your database and affect application performance. • Monitoring resource usage helps you identify and address performance bottlenecks. ### **6. User Activity** • Alert for unusual or suspicious user activity by monitoring audit logs and user login attempts. Unusual activity can indicate potential security breaches. • Proactive monitoring of user activity helps you detect and respond to security threats quickly. ## **Conclusion** By following these best practices and setting up appropriate alerts, you can ensure the security, performance, and reliability of your MySQL databases. Regularly reviewing and updating your practices will help you stay ahead of potential issues and maintain a robust database environment. Investing time in these practices now can save you significant effort and resources in the long run. ### FAQs **What are MySQL security best practices?** MySQL security best practices include strong passwords with the validate_password plugin, least privilege access, SSL/TLS encryption in transit, storage encryption at rest, firewall restrictions, regular patching, and audit logging. **How do you optimize MySQL performance?** MySQL performance is optimized by adding indexes for faster queries, using EXPLAIN to analyze slow queries, avoiding SELECT *, scheduling ANALYZE TABLE and OPTIMIZE TABLE maintenance, and archiving old data. **What is the principle of least privilege in MySQL?** The principle of least privilege in MySQL grants user accounts only the minimum permissions required, limiting potential damage from compromised accounts and requiring regular audits to remove unnecessary access. **What alerts should you set up for MySQL?** Essential MySQL alerts include connection errors approaching max_connections, slow queries exceeding thresholds, replication lag or failures, disk space usage, high CPU or memory usage, and suspicious user activity. **How do you secure MySQL databases?** MySQL databases are secured through strong passwords, least privilege access, SSL/TLS encryption, firewall IP restrictions, regular security updates, audit plugin logging, and tested backup and recovery procedures. --- ## the-enterprise-security-conundrum URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/the-enterprise-security-conundrum Last updated: 2026-08-24 The recent breaches and outages experienced by Snowflake and CrowdStrike have spotlighted the vulnerabilities that exist within large enterprises. Security, compliance, audit, resilience, and disaster readiness require constant attention to maintain the integrity and trust of enterprise operations. These factors influence customer centricity, vendor relationships, and the reputation of IT leaders within organizations. ## What Went Wrong The Snowflake breach resulted in unauthorized access to multiple accounts hosted on their platform including several well-known large brands. In contrast, the CrowdStrike outage, which impacted organizations globally, stemmed from a software update deployed directly to production without undergoing testing in a non-production environment first. Both incidents underscore the importance of robust operational measures to prevent or quickly identify and react to large-scale damage. ## Enhanced Cloud Resiliency **Why It Matters**: Enterprises depend on their workloads, applications, and databases to be consistently available and resilient. Ensuring High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) across multiple availability zones (AZ) or regions is crucial. **Best Practices**: From a cost perspective, even in constrained environments, enterprises should implement at least a low-cost storage replica in a different AZ or region. This can be programmatically commissioned at will to contain the outage. ### **How Tessell Enhances Cloud Resiliency** Tessell addresses these concerns by offering enhanced cloud resiliency with both Active-Compute resiliency and Active-Storage resiliency for any database on any cloud. This guarantees the minimal level of resiliency for Production and Non-Production workloads. ## Data Redaction **Why it Matters**: Sensitive data exposure can lead to severe breaches and regulatory fines. Data redaction is essential in protecting sensitive information when cloning or refreshing data in downstream environments like development, testing, staging, and user acceptance testing (UAT). ### Tessell’s Approach to Data Redaction Tessell offers built-in capabilities to redact sensitive data from production environments. This ensures that sensitive data is always protected and reduces the risk of exposure and breaches. ## Up-to-Date Patches and Versions **Why It Matters: **Keeping ecosystems at current patched levels is vital for security. However, many organizations find this challenging with traditional FTE-based managed services models. The CrowdStrike outage could have been averted if the patches had been properly tested on non-production environments before being released to production. ### Tessell’s Automated Patching Solution Tessell’s Automated Patching Solution is designed to help organizations keep their ecosystems secure by automating upgrades and patching of operating systems and databases.This solution allows customers to schedule and roll out upgrades and patches to non-production environments, such as Dev/QA databases, for testing before pushing them to production. By automating these complex tasks, Tessell ensures that patches are applied efficiently and reduces the risk of security vulnerabilities. This approach helps organizations stay up-to-date with patches and versions, which is vital for maintaining security in today’s threat landscape. ## Security for Data at Rest and in Transit **Why It Matters:** Security for data at rest and in transit is paramount. Adopting SaaS platforms with proprietary key management mechanisms can increase the attack surface. ### Tessell’s Security Measures Tessell allows enterprises to use their own network and security policies while managing their own encryption keys. This ensures customer control and security throughout the service. ## Self-Managed IT Ecosystems **Why It Matters:** Many enterprises hesitate to use legacy DBaaS environments due to the lack of control and flexibility. They need a solution that offers both control and cost-efficiencies. ### Tessell’s Revolutionary Approach Tessell’s architecture provides customers with control over their self-managed IT ecosystems while benefiting from the flexibility and cost-efficiencies of a secure enterprise-wide Platform-as-a-Serivce (PaaS) for their operational datastores. Tessell also supports utility consumption with a pay-as-you-go model and offers volume and time commitment discounts for customers with large database footprints. ## Why Choose Tessell **Proven Success:** Tessell’s innovative approach to database management is rapidly gaining popularity and has been recognized in [Redpoint Ventures’ InfraRed 100](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tessell-named-redpoint-2024-infrared-130000501.html) list as one of the most innovative private companies in cloud data infrastructure. ### **Customer Testimonials** - "Firm adopts digital-first with Tessell’s Oracle PaaS on Azure, yielding 40% faster databases, 20% better APIs, and 50% less CPU usage sans code changes." - "Tessell enables Forbes’ mission, reducing database costs >25%, improving customer database-backed page load times 42%-50%, and providing internal on-demand development environments in less than 7 minutes." - "Tessell's DBaaS boosts operations, data security allowing focus on core goals. Aurionpro integrates Tessell for all solutions." - "Lack of resiliency and recoverability was formerly our biggest issue. With Tessell, it is no longer a concern." - "Would like to thank the team's excellent support in migrating the databases from AWS RDS as well as Azure platforms to much more cost-effective and security-compliant Tessell DBaaS." ## Conclusion The recent incidents with Snowflake and CrowdStrike are stark reminders of the importance of robust security measures, data protection, and operational resilience. Tessell stands out by providing all these features and more, ensuring that enterprises can operate securely and efficiently in an increasingly complex digital landscape. For more information and to see how Tessell can transform your enterprise’s data management, reach out to our sales team at [sales@tessell.com](mailto:sales@tessell.com). --- ## data-management-and-metadata-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/data-management-and-metadata-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 Organizations are constantly grappling with the complexities of data distribution, multi-cloud environments, and overworked data teams. As we venture further, the landscape of data management solutions is evolving to meet these challenges head-on. Two key elements at the forefront of this evolution are metadata management and data management solutions, which are crucial in optimizing data operations and enhancing business outcomes. ## The Foundations of Metadata Management Metadata, often described as “data about data,” provides essential context and information that enables better understanding and utilization of data assets. Effective metadata management is fundamental for data and analytics (D&A) leaders aiming to leverage the full potential of their data. ### Key Aspects of Metadata Management 1. **Educating Stakeholders: **A comprehensive understanding of metadata and its management is essential. D&A leaders must help stakeholders grasp the importance of metadata to drive informed investment decisions and sustain business value. This educational effort includes defining metadata, explaining its benefits, and showcasing how proper metadata management can enhance data quality, improve searchability, and support compliance efforts. By creating a well-informed stakeholder base, organizations can ensure everyone is aligned on the goals and benefits of metadata initiatives. 2. **Presenting Metadata Concepts: **Metadata management involves various components, including metadata repositories, models, and standards. Effective management also requires robust governance and stewardship practices to ensure accuracy and reliability. Organizations must implement structured metadata models and adopt industry standards to facilitate interoperability and consistency across systems. Moreover, establishing clear governance policies and assigning dedicated stewards can help maintain the integrity and quality of metadata, ensuring it remains a valuable asset for data-driven decision-making. 3. **Emerging Trends: **Automation and machine learning are revolutionizing metadata management. Technologies like automated metadata capture and integrating metadata with other D&A technologies pave the way for more efficient and insightful data management practices. For instance, machine learning algorithms can automatically tag and categorize data, reducing the manual effort required and increasing metadata accuracy. Additionally, integrating metadata management with data catalogs and other D&A tools can provide a unified view of data assets, enhancing discoverability and usability. 4. **Common Understanding and Vision: **It is crucial to align team members and key stakeholders on the goals and benefits of metadata management. This shared vision fosters collaboration and ensures everyone works towards the same objectives. Creating a shared understanding involves educating stakeholders and developing a clear and consistent strategy for metadata management. This strategy should outline metadata initiatives' objectives, benefits, and expected outcomes, helping to align efforts across the organization and drive coordinated action toward achieving the set goals. ## Addressing Data Management Challenges Let’s look at D&A leaders' multifaceted challenges and strategies to navigate this complex landscape. ### Core Data Management Themes 1. **Balancing Performance and Cost: **The transition to cloud-first strategies has significantly impacted the database management system (DBMS) market. While the cloud offers flexibility, it also poses cost management challenges. Vigilance in cost control and strategic cloud deployments are necessary to avoid overruns. Organizations must develop comprehensive cost management frameworks, including monitoring and optimization tools to track cloud usage and expenses. By implementing policies for efficient resource allocation and leveraging cloud-native cost management features, businesses can balance performance and cost-effectiveness, ensuring sustainable cloud adoption. 2. **Generative AI and Data Management: **Generative AI (GenAI) transforms data management by enhancing AI readiness and literacy. However, its limitations necessitate focusing on data management fundamentals, including integration, quality, and governance. D&A leaders must invest in training and upskilling their teams to understand and leverage GenAI technologies while maintaining a strong foundation in traditional data management practices. This dual focus ensures that organizations can harness GenAI's innovative potential while mitigating risks associated with its use, such as data biases and hallucinations. 3. **Next-Generation Architectures: **Data fabric, active metadata, and data mesh are emerging as key architectural choices. These models offer a balanced approach to centralized and decentralized data management, promoting governance and self-service capabilities. Implementing a data fabric involves creating a unified architecture that integrates various data sources and provides seamless access to data across the organization. Active metadata, on the other hand, ensures that metadata is continuously updated and utilized to enhance data discovery and governance. Adopting a data mesh operating model empowers business domains to manage their data, fostering agility and innovation while maintaining overall data governance. 4. **Unified Data Ecosystems: **The goal is to create interrelated data and analytics ecosystems that streamline operations and enhance decision-making. This involves leveraging data fabric design patterns, mesh operating models, and active metadata utilization. By integrating these elements, organizations can develop cohesive data ecosystems that provide comprehensive visibility into data assets, facilitate collaboration, and support real-time analytics. These ecosystems enable D&A leaders to break down data silos, improve data accessibility, and drive more informed business decisions, ultimately leading to better outcomes and competitive advantage. 5. **Financial Governance and DataOps: **Efficient data operations (DataOps) and augmented financial operations (FinOps) are critical for optimizing data management practices and ensuring financial sustainability. DataOps practices focus on automating and streamlining data workflows, enhancing collaboration between data engineers, analysts, and other stakeholders. This leads to faster and more reliable data delivery. FinOps, on the other hand, involves implementing financial governance practices to manage and optimize cloud spending. By integrating FinOps with DataOps, organizations can achieve better cost control, improve resource utilization, and ensure that data initiatives are financially sustainable. ## Practical Applications and Emerging Trends D&A leaders are exploring practical applications of data management technologies in industry-specific and domain-specific scenarios. These include creating and governance domain-oriented data products and developing real-time data management capabilities. ### Emerging Trends 1. **AI-Ready Data: **Preparing data for AI applications involves ensuring quality, integration, and observability. Organizations must evaluate whether their data is ready to support AI initiatives. This includes assessing data quality to ensure accuracy and consistency, integrating data from various sources to provide a comprehensive view, and implementing data observability tools to monitor data health and detect issues proactively. AI-ready data is crucial for the success of AI projects, as it ensures that AI models are trained on reliable and relevant data, leading to more accurate and impactful outcomes. 2. **Generative AI Impact: **GenAI influences data management practices by offering new ways to analyze and utilize data. Understanding its potential and limitations is crucial for effective implementation. GenAI can generate new data insights, automate data analysis tasks, and enhance decision-making processes. However, organizations must be aware of the risks associated with GenAI, such as data biases and the potential for generating inaccurate information. By developing robust governance frameworks and continuously monitoring AI outputs, businesses can leverage GenAI effectively while minimizing risks. 3. **Data Observability: **Proactive data quality management through observability tools is becoming increasingly important. This approach helps organizations detect and resolve data issues in real time. Data observability involves monitoring data pipelines, tracking data changes, and analyzing data flow to ensure that data is accurate, consistent, and reliable. By implementing observability tools, organizations can gain real-time visibility into their data infrastructure, quickly identify and address data quality issues, and maintain the integrity of their data assets, ultimately supporting more effective decision-making. 4. **Cloud Ecosystems: **The shift to cloud ecosystems necessitates a strategic approach to managing cloud data services. D&A leaders must engage with multiple cloud service providers and independent software vendors to optimize their data management infrastructure. This involves developing multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies that leverage the strengths of different cloud platforms while ensuring interoperability and seamless data integration. By adopting a cloud ecosystem approach, organizations can achieve greater flexibility, scalability, and resilience in their data management practices, enabling them to adapt to changing business needs and technological advancements. ‍ Metadata and data management solutions drive business value and optimize data operations. By educating stakeholders, leveraging emerging trends, and adopting next-generation architectures, organizations can overcome data management challenges and achieve their strategic goals. Embracing these innovations will enable D&A leaders to create unified, efficient, and resilient data ecosystems that support informed decision-making and sustainable growth. ## Conclusion Metadata management and modern data strategies are no longer back-office concerns. They decide whether an organization can control cloud costs, trust its data for AI, and break down the silos that slow decision-making. The path forward is consistent across every theme in this guide. Educate stakeholders, automate where machine learning can reduce manual effort, adopt architectures like data fabric and data mesh that balance governance with self-service, and pair DataOps with FinOps so data initiatives stay financially sustainable. The organizations that treat these as one connected strategy, rather than separate projects, are the ones that turn their data into a durable competitive advantage. A unified DBaaS platform like Tessell supports this shift by bringing multi-cloud data operations, governance, and cost visibility into a single control plane, so D&A teams can focus on outcomes instead of infrastructure. ### FAQs **What is metadata?** Metadata is "data about data" that provides essential context and information about data assets, enabling better understanding, searchability, governance, and utilization across organizational systems. **What is metadata management?** Metadata management is the practice of organizing, governing, and maintaining metadata through repositories, models, standards, and stewardship to ensure data accuracy, reliability, and interoperability across systems. **What are the benefits of metadata management?** Metadata management benefits include enhanced data quality, improved searchability, regulatory compliance support, better data discoverability, increased interoperability across systems, and more informed data-driven decision-making across the organization. **What is the difference between data fabric and data mesh?** Data fabric creates a unified architecture integrating various data sources for seamless centralized access, while data mesh decentralizes data ownership across business domains for agility and self-service. **How is AI changing metadata management?** AI is changing metadata management through automated metadata capture, machine learning-based tagging and categorization, reduced manual effort, increased metadata accuracy, and integration with data catalogs for unified data visibility. --- ## enhancing-data-engineering-practices-to-meet-growing-consumer-demand URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/enhancing-data-engineering-practices-to-meet-growing-consumer-demand Last updated: 2026-08-24 The demand for usable data has skyrocketed, putting pressure on organizations to enhance their data engineering practices. To meet this challenge, data and Analytics (D&A) leaders can adopt several key strategies to foster collaboration, prove business value early, automate processes, manage data as a product, and eliminate operational overhead. By 2026, data engineering teams that adopt DataOps practices and tools will be ten times more productive than those that do not. To enhance data engineering, D&A leaders should embrace the following best practices: ## Cross-Functional Collaboration - Establish small cross-functional teams comprising data, business, and technical personnel. This structure ensures that all relevant skills are available within the team, promoting effective and efficient data solutions. - Assign a product owner/manager to drive stakeholder engagement and guide feature priorities. This role is crucial for focusing on business objectives and ensuring data products deliver maximum value. - Measure performance using progress metrics (e.g., cycle time, code quality) and impact metrics (e.g., incremental revenue improvements). These metrics help track improvements in data delivery processes and their alignment with business goals. ## Value-First Model - Prioritize business value before embarking on significant data engineering initiatives. By focusing on value from the outset, organizations can avoid wasted efforts and ensure that projects contribute meaningfully to business objectives. - Conduct feasibility and value tests in controlled sandbox environments to prototype solutions. This approach allows teams to experiment and validate ideas without risking disruption to core operations. - Launch engineering efforts only for initiatives that pass both tests, ensuring efficient resource use. This disciplined approach helps maintain focus on high-impact projects that deliver measurable benefits. ## Recurring Manual Tasks - Encourage a culture that celebrates automation to increase release velocity and business value. Automation should be seen as an investment in long-term efficiency and productivity. - Upskill teams with software engineering practices, particularly in infrastructure and test automation. Providing training and resources helps teams develop the skills needed to implement effective automation solutions. - Automate individual tasks and orchestrate these into release pipelines to minimize manual intervention and improve efficiency. Comprehensive automation reduces the likelihood of errors and accelerates the delivery of data products. ## Data as Products - Treat data as products to enhance operational value through increased use and reuse. Viewing data as a product encourages a focus on quality, usability, and customer satisfaction. - Break down monolithic data systems into modular products that can be developed and deployed independently. This approach allows for more flexible and scalable data management. - Ensure data products are consumption-ready, up-to-date, approved, and have quantifiable costs and measurable business value. These criteria help maintain high standards and ensure data products meet users' needs. ## Operations Overhead - Offload operational tasks from non-IT citizen users to prevent operational overhead. This strategy frees up valuable time for business users to focus on strategic activities rather than routine maintenance tasks. - Monitor usage metadata to identify business-critical processes and operationalize them through a gatekeeping process. Organizations can improve overall data operations by understanding how data is used and ensuring critical processes are managed efficiently. - Promote successful exploratory use cases to production to drive experimentation and measure business outcomes effectively. Encouraging innovation while maintaining control ensures that data initiatives deliver real business value. [Software Engineers](https://azumo.com/) from Azumo state, "As consumer demand for faster and more personalized experiences grows, enhancing data engineering practices is essential. By adopting scalable architectures, optimizing data pipelines, and leveraging advanced analytics, we empower businesses to turn raw data into actionable insights efficiently." --- ## mysql-archive-binary-logs-replication-recovery URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/mysql-archive-binary-logs-replication-recovery Last updated: 2026-08-24 For MySQL databases, Binary Logs (BinLogs) stand out as a crucial feature. They provide a detailed audit trail of all changes made to a MySQL database, serving multiple purposes from data recovery to replication and performance monitoring. This blog delves into the significance, use cases, and practical implementation of MySQL BinLogs. ## **Overview** The MySQL Binary Log is a comprehensive record of all SQL statements that modify data in a MySQL database. Essentially, it functions as an archive, capturing every change to ensure an accurate and reliable log of database modifications. This detailed record is not just about maintaining an audit trail; it has far-reaching applications that enhance the robustness and reliability of database systems. ### **Purpose and Scope** #### **Replication** One of the primary uses of MySQL BinLogs is data replication. In scenarios where multiple servers operate within a cluster, replication ensures data synchronization across all servers. The process involves recording binlog statements, which detail the changes made to the database. These statements are then transmitted to other servers, ensuring consistency and enhancing the system’s reliability. #### **Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)** MySQL BinLogs are indispensable for Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR). They store comprehensive information on all database changes, enabling the restoration of data to a specific point in time. This capability is crucial for recovering from data corruption or accidental data loss, providing a safety net for database administrators. ## **Use Cases** ### **Backups** MySQL BinLogs significantly streamline the backup process by enabling incremental backups. Instead of creating a full backup every time, which can be resource-intensive and time-consuming, BinLogs allow administrators to capture only the changes made since the last backup. This not only saves storage space but also reduces the time required for backup operations. Additionally, in case of data corruption or loss, incremental backups can be combined with the most recent full backup to restore the database to its latest state, ensuring minimal downtime and data loss. ### **Replication** Data replication is crucial for maintaining consistency across multiple servers in a cluster. MySQL BinLogs play a pivotal role in this process by recording every change made to the database. These recorded changes, known as binlog statements, are sent to other servers in the cluster, ensuring that each server has an up-to-date copy of the data. This replication process enhances data availability and reliability, allowing for load balancing and failover solutions. In the event of a server failure, another server with the replicated data can take over, minimizing service disruption. ### **Auditing** Auditing is an essential aspect of database management, especially for compliance and security purposes. MySQL BinLogs provide a detailed and tamper-proof record of all changes made to the database, serving as an invaluable audit trail. Administrators can review the BinLogs to monitor user activity, track changes, and detect unauthorized modifications. This comprehensive logging helps in identifying potential security breaches and ensures that the database operations comply with regulatory standards, thereby protecting sensitive data and maintaining the integrity of the database. ### **Disaster Recovery** Disaster recovery planning is critical for any organization to ensure business continuity. MySQL BinLogs are integral to this planning, as they enable the restoration of the database to its state before a catastrophic event. By replaying the binlog statements, administrators can recover the database to the exact point in time just before the disaster occurred. This ability to perform Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) minimizes data loss and reduces downtime, helping businesses quickly resume normal operations after unexpected incidents such as hardware failures, natural disasters, or cyber-attacks. ### **Performance Monitoring** Performance monitoring and optimization are continuous processes in database management. MySQL BinLogs offer insights into the database’s performance by logging all the changes and the corresponding SQL statements. By analyzing these logs, administrators can identify slow-running queries, bottlenecks, and inefficient operations that may be impacting performance. This detailed analysis allows for targeted optimizations, such as query tuning, indexing improvements, and resource allocation adjustments. Consequently, leveraging BinLogs for performance monitoring helps maintain a high-performing and responsive database system. ## Lifecycle Management ### **Enabling Binary Log** To activate the MySQL Binary Log, you need to update the `my.cnf`configuration file with the following settings: `[mysqld] log-bin=/mysql/archive/binlog/mysql-bin-host-1 expire-logs-days=2 binlog_transaction_dependency_tracking=WRITESET` ### **Disabling Binary Log** If you need to deactivate the MySQL Binary Log, you can modify the `my.cnf`file or create a new configuration file (e.g., tessell_disable_binary_log.cnf) with the following setting:  `[mysqld] skip-log-bin` Using a separate configuration file for disabling BinLogs allows for flexible archiving process management without altering the primary configuration file.

Disabling the archive log has significant implications. Specifically, it prevents the creation of High Availability (HA) setups using an existing Server Instance (SI) and the addition of Disaster Recovery (DR) or Read Replica (RR) nodes to an existing SI.

MySQL Binary Logs are a versatile and powerful feature that significantly enhances database management. By supporting incremental backups, data replication, comprehensive auditing, effective disaster recovery, and detailed performance monitoring, BinLogs ensure that the database remains reliable, secure, and efficient. Understanding and utilizing these capabilities can transform how administrators manage and protect their data, leading to more resilient and robust database systems. ### FAQs **What are MySQL Binary Logs?** MySQL Binary Logs (BinLogs) are a record of all SQL statements that modify data in a MySQL database, used for replication, point-in-time recovery, auditing, and performance monitoring. **What are MySQL BinLogs used for?** MySQL BinLogs are used for data replication across servers, point-in-time recovery, incremental backups, auditing user activity, disaster recovery, and performance monitoring of slow queries and bottlenecks. **How do you enable MySQL Binary Logs?** MySQL Binary Logs are enabled by adding log-bin, expire-logs-days, and binlog_transaction_dependency_tracking=WRITESET settings under the [mysqld] section of the my.cnf configuration file. **How do you disable MySQL Binary Logs?** MySQL Binary Logs are disabled by adding skip-log-bin under [mysqld] in the my.cnf file or a separate configuration file like tessell_disable_binary_log.cnf for flexible management. **What is Point-in-Time Recovery in MySQL?** Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) in MySQL uses Binary Logs to restore a database to a specific moment before data corruption, accidental deletion, or disaster occurred, minimizing data loss and downtime. --- ## tessell-for-mysql-security-overview-and-guidelines URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-for-mysql-security-overview-and-guidelines Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## **Introduction** Tessell for MySQL—a fully managed MySQL database service on the cloud of your choice and at your terms—is available with the most advanced security features. Several security best practices measures have already been implemented by default at provisioning. Customers can implement additional security practices to further protect against unauthorized access or to get certified for industry-standard compliance levels like PCI-DSS, ISO, etc.This document describes the current security measures implemented with Tessell for MySQL and additional available options that can be implemented at the customer’s discretion. ## **Authentication and Authorization** ### Username and Password with Default Plugin Tessell implements an OPA policy for username and password validation. By default, the new instance comes with **a master **user and the option to configure the password with the enforcement of complex password rules during provisioning: 1. Length: Min 12 Characters. Max 32Characters. 2. Should not be the same as Login - Username. 3. At least 1 Character should be Lowercase and Uppercase. 4. Should have at least 1 Number. 5. Should have at least 1 symbol or special character.

During database migration, the same users' passwords and plugin methods are copied from the source to Tessell. The customer must explicitly review these usernames and passwords.

It is advisable to use **the caching_sha2_password **plugin which encrypts the password with SHA-256 hashing and RSA-based exchange mechanisms instead of **the mysql_native_password **plugin for passwords which use deprecated algorithms. ### validate_password Plugin This plugin, which can be enabled using parameter profiles, can help implement additional security and strict policies for database usernames and passwords. It can also help set up complex passwords and enforce strict guidelines. More information can be found at [MySQL :: MySQL 8.0 Reference Manual :: 8.4.3 The Password Validation Component](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/validate-password.html) Please raise a support ticket on the Tessell console to enable this plugin. ### Active Directory and LDAP Authentication plugin Tessell supports the most advanced and secure form of MySQL authentication using Enterprise Active Directory, which is implemented using natively available plugins - LDAP and Kerberos.With this available authentication method, you can integrate existing Windows AD users with email addresses as usernames and password policies set by AD AdminThis feature can be configured directly from the Tessell UI’s DB Governance Page, and AD users can be added to the MySQL database. For further help in enabling Active Directory, please raise a support ticket on the Tessell console. ### Privileges for master account user The master account created at provisioning has the following privileges: `SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, RELOAD, PROCESS, REFERENCES, INDEX, ALTER, SHOW DATABASES, CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES, LOCK TABLES, EXECUTE, REPLICATION SLAVE, REPLICATION CLIENT, CREATE VIEW, SHOW VIEW, CREATE ROUTINE, ALTER ROUTINE, CREATE USER, EVENT, TRIGGERP` The above privileges ensure seamless database tasks for CREATING or ALTERING all user database-level tasks. Additionally, the master user can be used to create additional users with the same or lower privileges that can be useful for other contexts.The root-level privilege SUPER is not granted to the master user, and hence, it protects against any unauthorized activity, including altering system-level Global Variables, Server Stop/Restart, etc. ## **Encryption** ### Storage Encryption at Rest Tessell supports 256-Bit Encryption for Data Volume, a full-disk storage-level encryption of a Tessell Database instance using default available or customer-managed keys in Azure or AWS cloud. This safeguards the data files and snapshots and ensures data remains encrypted.This option be selected during provisioning as below: ### Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) at Table/Database Level Additionally, MySQL supports TDE-based encryption for InnoDB Engine Tables using plugin and server-level variables. This encryption can help in compliance with regulations, including GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, through an uncomplicated approach to encrypting data at rest. More information is available at [MySQL :: MySQL Secure Deployment Guide :: A Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and MySQL Keyring](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-secure-deployment-guide/8.0/en/secure-deployment-data-encryption.html) ### Encrypt data in Transit (SSL) Tessell provides an option to enable SSL during the provisioning of MySQL Instances. When enabled, this feature encrypts the connection using a key exchange mechanism and the data shared between Client Machines and the Tessell Database over a TCP connection.The available key can be downloaded (Tessell Account Level Access Users Only) and used for authentication using MySQL client or database endpoint connectivity string. By default MySQL allows the connection to fail back to non-SSL mode (default) even with SSL enabled at the server level.Strict SSL connection can be enabled at the database User level. It can be modified by the MySQL command below: `alter user 'my_user'@'host' REQUIRE SSL;` ## **Network Security** ### Limited Network Access Tessell implements a virtual firewall between the Instances hosted in Tessell to the outside world or even to resources within the same cloud account, VPC, or Resource Groups using AWS Security Groups or Azure Network Security Group.Only IPs listed or added in the Allowed IP addresses will be allowed to connect to the database instance on a specific port configured for the instance. ### No direct SSH access Tessell Instance VMs are disabled for SSH access by default even hardening further. ## **Audit Logging and Security Monitoring** ### Error Log Monitoring By default, any unauthorized attempt to connect to the Tessell MySQL database is logged in the Error Logs. This can be reviewed to strengthen security and prevent this access.Error Log Monitoring is enabled by default for all the instances. ### Audit Log Plugin Tessell MySQL comes with a feature - Audit Log Plugin, which enables monitoring and logging of connections and query activity at the host, user, or database level.This plugin-based auditing solution helps organizations to be ready and compliant with various regulations like HIPPA, PCI-DSS, etc. As more sensitive data is collected, this audit log is generated. It is encrypted using the AES-256 algorithm and decrypted only by security admins with encryption keys.Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions can help centralize and analyze logs from various security sources, including your MySQL database. ## **Backups** ### Storage Snapshots in the Cloud Tessell MySQL is configured for a daily incremental snapshot routine which is a snapshot of the data disk of Tessell Instance. This strategy allows you to restore the database in any case, be it - hardware failures, software errors, or security incidents like ransomware attacks.The snapshots use the same encryption key used for encryption at rest for storage. ### Native Backup Tessell also provides an encrypted Native backup solution at the file level that can be stored in secure cloud storage solutions like AWS S3 or Azure Blobs. This feature is available in the Data Flix app in the Tessell Console. ## **Conclusion** Implementing database security is a complex process and involves multiple challenges. Tessell for MySQL comes with several out-of-the-box security features and additional options, making it easy to implement. An organization planning for compliance can easily leverage the above features with Tessell. ### FAQs **How does Tessell secure MySQL databases?** Tessell secures MySQL databases through complex password policies, Active Directory authentication, 256-bit storage encryption, SSL for data in transit, restricted network access, audit logging, and encrypted backups. **What is Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) in MySQL?** Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) in MySQL is a plugin-based encryption method that encrypts InnoDB engine tables at rest using server-level variables, supporting GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS compliance requirements. **Does MySQL support Active Directory authentication?** Yes, MySQL supports Active Directory authentication through native LDAP and Kerberos plugins, allowing enterprises to integrate existing Windows AD users with email-based usernames and centralized password policies. **What are Tessell's MySQL password requirements?** Tessell MySQL password requirements include minimum 12 and maximum 32 characters, at least one uppercase and lowercase letter, one number, one special character, and must differ from the username. **How does Tessell encrypt MySQL data?** Tessell encrypts MySQL data using 256-bit storage encryption at rest for data volumes and snapshots, Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for InnoDB tables, and SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit. --- ## best-practices-for-optimizing-mongodb-collections-on-tessell-dbaas URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-optimizing-mongodb-collections-on-tessell-dbaas Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## Introduction Tessell offers MongoDB as a Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) solution with High Availability (HA) through read replicas. To ensure optimal performance and replication efficiency, it’s crucial to follow best practices when creating collections in MongoDB. This blog will guide you through essential strategies for schema design, performance enhancement, and effective replication management. ## Understanding MongoDB Schema Design MongoDB’s schema-less nature allows for flexibility, but proper schema design remains essential for performance and query efficiency. Documents within a collection can have varying structures, but thoughtful planning is necessary to avoid performance pitfalls. When designing schemas, consider how the data will be queried and updated, and aim for a balance between normalization and denormalization to achieve optimal performance. ## Best Practices for Performance ### Data Modeling **1. Embed Related Data**: Embed closely related data within a document to reduce join operations and enhance query performance. This approach is particularly effective for use cases where the data is frequently accessed together, such as user profiles with embedded addresses and contact information. By reducing the need for joins, you minimize the query complexity and improve read performance, though this may increase document size. 2. **Normalize Carefully**: Avoid over-normalization as it can increase write operations and query complexity. While normalization helps to reduce data redundancy and improve write consistency, it can lead to performance issues if taken to an extreme. Carefully analyze your use case to determine the right level of normalization, ensuring that it doesn’t adversely affect query performance. 3. **Denormalize When Necessary**: For scenarios where read performance is paramount and write frequency is low, denormalize to store frequently accessed data together. Denormalization can significantly speed up read operations by reducing the number of database calls needed to gather related data. This approach is suitable for applications like reporting systems, where read operations dominate write operations. ### Indexing **1. Create Indexes Strategically**: Indexes boost query performance but impact write operations. Create indexes for frequently queried fields. Each index comes with a cost in terms of storage space and write performance. Therefore, it’s crucial to identify the fields that are most often used in queries and ensure that indexes are created for these fields to strike a balance between read and write performance. 2. **Compound Indexes**: For complex queries involving multiple fields, use compound indexes. Compound indexes index multiple fields within a document, which can significantly enhance the performance of queries that filter on these fields. However, it’s important to carefully consider the order of fields in a compound index, as this order affects the performance and the types of queries that can efficiently use the index. 3. **Index Sparsity**: Consider index sparsity for large datasets to reduce index size and enhance query performance. Sparse indexes only contain entries for documents that include the indexed field, which can save significant space and improve performance when dealing with large collections that have many documents missing the indexed field. 4. **Unique Indexes**: Use unique indexes to enforce data integrity and prevent duplicates. Unique indexes ensure that no two documents in a collection have the same value for the indexed field(s), thereby maintaining data integrity. This is particularly useful for fields that must be unique, such as user emails or IDs. ### Data Types 1. **Choose Appropriate Data Types**: Select data types that accurately represent your data to optimize storage and query performance. Using the right data type not only saves storage space but also enhances the performance of queries and aggregations. For instance, using integers for numerical data instead of strings can significantly speed up numerical operations. 2. **Avoid Oversized Documents**: Large documents can degrade performance. Partition or split data into smaller documents if necessary. MongoDB has a document size limit of 16MB, but even before reaching this limit, excessively large documents can slow down read and write operations. Consider splitting large documents into multiple smaller, related documents to maintain performance. ### Query Optimization 1. **Limit Data Returned**: Use projection to retrieve only the necessary fields. By specifying the exact fields you need in your query results, you can reduce the amount of data transferred over the network and processed by your application, which can lead to significant performance gains, especially for large documents or collections. 2. **Utilize Query Hints**: Guide the MongoDB query optimizer with query hints for complex queries. Query hints allow you to override the default index selection by the query optimizer, ensuring that the most appropriate index is used for specific queries. This can be particularly useful when you know more about the query patterns and data distribution than the optimizer. 3. **Leverage Explain**: Use the explain() method to analyze and optimize query performance. The explain() method provides detailed information about how MongoDB executes a query, including index usage and execution statistics. Analyzing this information can help you identify performance bottlenecks and optimize your queries accordingly. ## Best Practices for Replication ### Replication Latency 1. **Monitor Replication Lag**: Regularly check replication lag to identify potential issues. Replication lag occurs when there is a delay between the primary and secondary nodes in a replica set. Monitoring this lag can help you detect and address issues before they impact the performance and reliability of your application. 2. **Optimize Network Connectivity**: Ensure reliable network connectivity between replica sets for efficient data replication. Poor network connectivity can cause increased replication lag and affect the consistency and availability of your data. Invest in robust network infrastructure and consider geographic proximity of replica nodes to minimize latency. ### Failover and Recovery 1. **Test Failover Procedures**: Regularly test failover procedures to verify data consistency and application availability. Failover testing ensures that your application can seamlessly switch to a secondary node in the event of a primary node failure, maintaining data consistency and minimizing downtime. 2. **Implement Backup Strategies**: Maintain regular backups to protect data from unexpected failures. Backups are essential for data recovery in case of catastrophic failures or data corruption. Regularly test your backup and recovery processes to ensure they are reliable and can be executed quickly when needed. ### Specific Use Cases 1. **Large Collections**: Employ partitioning, indexing, and query optimization techniques to manage large datasets efficiently. Techniques such as sharding, which distributes data across multiple servers, can help manage the load and ensure high performance even as your data grows. 2. **Recommendation Systems**: Optimize for fast read performance, use embedded documents for related data, and consider materialized views for precomputed recommendations. Recommendation systems often require quick access to related data and fast query performance. Materialized views can precompute and store frequently accessed recommendations to speed up read operations. 3. **Caching Systems**: Implement efficient caching strategies, such as in-memory caching or caching frequently accessed data, to reduce database load. By caching the results of frequent queries, you can significantly reduce the number of database reads and improve application performance. ## Additional Considerations 1. **Schema Validation**: Use schema validation to enforce data consistency and prevent invalid documents. MongoDB allows you to define validation rules for your collections, ensuring that documents adhere to a specified structure and contain valid data before they are inserted or updated. 2. **Data Consistency**: Understand MongoDB’s read consistency models (snapshot, linearizable, monotonic) and choose the appropriate level for your application. Different consistency models offer various guarantees and trade-offs between performance and consistency. Choose the model that best aligns with your application’s requirements. 3. **Performance Monitoring**: Continuously monitor database performance to identify bottlenecks and optimize accordingly. Tessell provides built-in monitoring and performance analytics, helping you track key metrics and make informed decisions about optimization. ## Conclusion By adhering to these best practices, you can create high-performing and resilient MongoDB collections on the Tessell DBaaS platform. Effective data modeling, indexing, and query optimization are key to performance, while data distribution and replication management ensure data availability and consistency. Always conduct thorough testing and performance benchmarking to fine-tune your MongoDB implementation according to your specific application requirements. ### FAQs **What are MongoDB schema design best practices?** MongoDB schema design best practices include embedding closely related data, careful normalization, strategic indexing on queried fields, choosing appropriate data types, avoiding oversized documents, and schema validation for consistency. **When should you embed vs normalize data in MongoDB?** Embed related data in MongoDB when accessed together frequently to reduce joins; normalize when write consistency matters; denormalize when read performance is paramount and writes are infrequent. **What is a compound index in MongoDB?** A compound index in MongoDB indexes multiple fields within a document, enhancing query performance for filters across those fields, with field order affecting both performance and supported query patterns. **What is the maximum document size in MongoDB?** MongoDB has a maximum document size limit of 16MB, but performance can degrade well before reaching this limit, so splitting large documents into smaller related documents is recommended. **How do you optimize MongoDB query performance?** MongoDB query performance is optimized through projection to limit returned fields, query hints to guide the optimizer, the explain() method for execution analysis, and strategic compound and sparse indexing. --- ## from-insights-to-business-impact-for-your-data-function URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/from-insights-to-business-impact-for-your-data-function Last updated: 2026-08-24 The Data & Analytics (D&A) function is pivotal for business success in the contemporary landscape where data drives decisions. However, many executives still question its value. D&A leaders must build trust and establish themselves as essential business enablers to shift this perception. This involves crafting a strong, distinct, and successful brand for the D&A function. Here’s how to achieve that. ## Support Role to Business Enabler Altering how stakeholders perceive the D&A function involves showcasing its critical role in enabling business success. This requires balancing technological and data governance approaches with a focus on people and value. ### Tangible Value Align your D&A strategy with the broader business strategy. Identify key stakeholders and demonstrate how D&A can help them achieve their goals. Begin by prototyping high-impact use cases to illustrate potential benefits. This proactive approach ensures that stakeholders can see the direct impact of D&A on their objectives, fostering a sense of partnership and trust. By presenting real-world examples of how D&A can drive significant business outcomes, leaders can bridge the gap between data initiatives and business goals, making the value of D&A unmistakable. ### Talent and Culture Employ D&A translators to connect technical teams with business units. Foster a data-driven culture through targeted training and skills development. Building a data-driven culture means more than hiring skilled professionals; it involves creating an environment where data is at the heart of decision-making. This can be achieved through continuous learning programs, workshops, and hands-on training that equip employees with the necessary skills to leverage data effectively. By fostering an organizational mindset that values data, D&A leaders can ensure data initiatives are supported and utilized across all enterprise levels. ### Trust and Data Ensure certified, global data is accessible via a well-organized catalog. Implement a data marketplace and provide training on data structures and their use. Trust in data is paramount. By certifying data and making it accessible through a structured catalog, organizations can ensure that users have reliable and accurate information at their fingertips. A data marketplace can further enhance this by allowing users to discover, access, and utilize data products quickly. Training programs that help users understand data structures and how to use them effectively can demystify data and encourage its broader use across the organization, thereby building trust. ### Platforms and Technologies Partner with the CIO to develop D&A platforms and IT standards. Focus on creating an operating model that supports cost-effective and secure IT capabilities. The proper technological infrastructure is crucial for the success of D&A initiatives. By collaborating with the CIO, D&A leaders can ensure their platforms are robust, scalable, and aligned with IT standards. Developing a comprehensive operating model that integrates data and technology capabilities can streamline processes and reduce costs. This partnership ensures that D&A initiatives are technologically sound and aligned with the broader IT strategy, making them more effective and sustainable. ## Control to Collaboration D&A leaders need to shift from a top-down, control-oriented approach to one centered on collaboration and enterprise enablement to strengthen connections with stakeholders. ### Identify Key Stakeholders Determine how D&A initiatives can support the enterprise business strategy and the goals of key stakeholders. Understanding the needs and objectives of key stakeholders is the first step toward effective collaboration. By mapping out how D&A can support these goals, leaders can tailor their initiatives to provide maximum value. This involves regular communication with stakeholders to understand their challenges and priorities, ensuring that D&A efforts are aligned with their needs. This alignment enhances the relevance of D&A initiatives and fosters a sense of ownership and commitment among stakeholders. ### Engage with Stakeholders Use interviews, workshops, and collaborative methods to gain buy-in and support for D&A initiatives—prototype high-value use cases where applicable. Engaging stakeholders through interactive methods like interviews and workshops can build stronger relationships and meet their needs. Prototyping high-value use cases provides tangible proof of concept, demonstrating the potential benefits of D&A initiatives. This hands-on approach allows stakeholders to see the practical applications of data and analytics, making them more likely to support and champion these efforts within their areas of influence. ### Address Regional Needs Balance support for the global strategy with regional and local initiatives, effectively tailoring efforts to meet diverse needs. Recognizing the unique needs of different regions and localities is essential for the success of D&A initiatives. While a global strategy provides overarching direction, local adaptations ensure relevance and effectiveness. By balancing global support with tailored local efforts, D&A leaders can address specific challenges and opportunities unique to each area. This localized approach enhances the impact of D&A initiatives and fosters greater acceptance and engagement at all levels of the organization. ## Enterprise Enablement To meet expectations, D&A leaders should focus on delivering business outcomes rather than maintaining enterprise consistency. ### Unify Leadership Place the D&A function under single leadership for accountability and value creation. Ensure consistency while enabling regional and local initiatives. Consolidating leadership for the D&A function ensures a unified vision and strategy. This centralized approach can streamline decision-making processes and provide clear accountability for outcomes. At the same time, it’s essential to enable regional and local initiatives to address specific needs effectively. By balancing centralized leadership with decentralized execution, D&A leaders can ensure consistency and coherence in their strategies while responsive to local requirements. ### Business Strategy Integrate the D&A strategy with the overall business strategy to shift from an internal support role to a business enabler. Alignment with the broader business strategy ensures that D&A initiatives are not isolated projects but integral parts of the organization’s overall objectives. This alignment helps to position the D&A function as a critical enabler of business success rather than a mere support function. By ensuring that D&A efforts directly contribute to strategic goals, leaders can demonstrate the value of data and analytics in driving business performance and achieving enterprise-wide success. ### Product Portfolio Develop products and services that help stakeholders achieve their goals and improve enterprise performance. Creating a portfolio of D&A products and services tailored to stakeholder needs can significantly enhance their ability to achieve their objectives. This portfolio should include tools and solutions that address specific challenges and opportunities. By continuously refining and expanding this portfolio, D&A leaders can ensure they are providing relevant and impactful support to their stakeholders, thereby enhancing overall enterprise performance and demonstrating the value of D&A initiatives. ### Communicate Create value maps to demonstrate how D&A supports stakeholder success. Use business terms to explain how global D&A initiatives contribute to regional outcomes. Effective communication is critical to showcasing the impact of D&A initiatives. Value maps visually represent how D & A efforts contribute to stakeholder success, making clear the connection between data initiatives and business outcomes. By using business terms and focusing on regional outcomes, D&A leaders can ensure their messages resonate with stakeholders at all levels. This transparent communication helps to build understanding and support for D&A initiatives, enhancing their perceived value and impact. ## Business Impact D&A leaders must transition from measuring internal progress to demonstrating the business impact of their initiatives. ### Data Strategy Evaluate the alignment of data-driven initiatives with strategic goals. Regularly assessing how well D&A initiatives align with strategic goals ensures that efforts are focused on delivering business value. This involves setting clear metrics and benchmarks to measure progress and success. By continually evaluating and adjusting the data strategy, D&A leaders can ensure that their initiatives remain relevant and impactful, driving the organization toward its strategic objectives and demonstrating the value of data-driven decision-making. ### Monetize Track revenue from data-related products and services to highlight the value of data monetization. Monetizing data involves leveraging it to generate revenue through products, services, or insights. By tracking and showcasing the financial impact of these efforts, D&A leaders can demonstrate the tangible value of data initiatives. This highlights the profitability of data-related ventures and underscores the strategic importance of data in driving business growth and innovation. ### Innovate Measure the impact of innovative data-driven projects on business opportunities and process improvements. Innovation is a crucial driver of business success, and data can be critical in fostering it. By measuring the impact of data-driven projects on new business opportunities and process improvements, D&A leaders can demonstrate how innovation leads to tangible business benefits. This focus on innovation showcases the potential of data and encourages a culture of continuous improvement and experimentation within the organization. ### ROI Calculate the ROI of D&A projects to illustrate financial benefits. Calculating the return on investment (ROI) for D&A projects clearly measures their financial impact. By showcasing the ROI, D&A leaders can demonstrate the value of data initiatives in cost savings, revenue generation, and overall economic performance. This quantitative approach helps to build a compelling business case for continued investment in D&A, highlighting its contribution to the organization’s bottom line. ### Dashboard Create a D&A leader dashboard to display progress against key performance indicators publicly. A well-designed dashboard can provide a transparent view of the D&A function’s performance. By publicly displaying progress against key performance indicators (KPIs), D&A leaders can enhance accountability and visibility. This dashboard can serve as a powerful communication tool, showcasing the achievements and impact of D&A initiatives in a clear and accessible format. It helps to build trust and confidence among stakeholders, reinforcing the value of the D&A function. ## Effective Communication Effective communication is crucial for building a solid brand for the D&A function. ### The Message Develop a visual identity for the D&A function, including a name, logo, and slogan. Creating a strong visual identity helps to brand the D&A function effectively. A distinctive name, logo, and slogan can make the function more recognizable and memorable. This branding effort helps to establish a clear and cohesive image for the D&A function, making it easier to communicate its value and impact to stakeholders. A solid visual identity can also enhance the credibility and professionalism of the D&A function, reinforcing its importance within the organization. ### Awareness Organize events, hackathons, and presentations to showcase the function’s contributions to stakeholders’ goals. Raising awareness of the D&A function’s contributions involves actively engaging with stakeholders through various events and initiatives. Hackathons, presentations, and internal events can provide platforms to demonstrate the impact of data initiatives. Sharing success stories and case studies helps to illustrate how D&A efforts have contributed to achieving stakeholders’ goals. These activities build awareness and foster a sense of community and collaboration around data-driven initiatives. ### Transparency Discuss challenges and plans to overcome them. Collaborate with stakeholders to find solutions. Transparency is critical to building trust and credibility. By openly discussing challenges and the steps to address them, D&A leaders can foster a culture of honesty and collaboration. Engaging stakeholders in problem-solving helps build a sense of ownership and partnership. This collaborative approach strengthens relationships and enhances the effectiveness of D&A initiatives by leveraging diverse perspectives and expertise. ### Encourage Adoption Simplify D&A processes and systems to encourage their use in decision-making and workflows. Simplifying D&A processes and systems makes it easier for stakeholders to incorporate data into their decision-making. Streamlining workflows and integrating data tools into everyday applications can enhance user adoption. By making data accessible and user-friendly, D&A leaders can ensure that data-driven decision-making becomes integral to the organization’s culture. This focus on usability and accessibility helps to maximize the impact of D&A initiatives and encourages widespread adoption. ### Collaborate and Experiment Establish cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams. Encourage the prototyping of high-value use cases and measure the results. Collaboration and experimentation are essential for driving innovation and continuous improvement. D&A leaders can leverage diverse skills and perspectives by forming cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams. Encouraging the prototyping of high-value use cases allows for testing and refinement of new ideas. Measuring these experiments' results helps to identify and scale successful initiatives. This iterative approach fosters a culture of innovation and agility, driving the organization forward. ### Enable Support Gain top-down backing and work with local champions to train and educate others. Securing top-down support is crucial for the success of D&A initiatives. Engaging senior leaders and ensuring their endorsement can provide the necessary resources and backing. Working with local champions to train and educate others helps to build grassroots support and drive adoption. These champions can act as advocates and change agents, spreading the message and encouraging others to embrace data-driven practices. This dual approach ensures that support for D&A initiatives is broad and deep, enhancing their impact and sustainability. By following these steps, D&A leaders can build a robust brand that positions the D&A function as a vital business enabler, driving enterprise success through strategic data initiatives. --- ## best-practices-for-oracle-table-design-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-oracle-table-design-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## Introduction Tessell offers Oracle as a Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) solution with High Availability and Disaster Recovery features. This blog post outlines best practices for creating tables in Oracle within the Tessell environment, focusing on optimizing performance and ensuring robust data protection. We will explore critical aspects such as data modeling, query optimization, hardware configuration, and specific use cases, including handling large tables, partitioning, and index-organized tables. ## Understanding Oracle Table Design Oracle is a powerful relational database system known for its structured schema and normalization capabilities. Effective table design in Oracle ensures performance, data integrity, and ease of maintenance. The following best practices are designed to help you achieve these goals. ## Best Practices for Performance ### Data Modeling #### Normalization Adhering to normalization principles, such as 1NF, 2NF, and 3NF, is essential for reducing data redundancy and improving data integrity. Normalization ensures your database structure is organized into tables where each table stores data about a single subject, minimizing data duplication and potential inconsistencies. This approach enhances the accuracy and reliability of your data and makes your database more straightforward to maintain and extend as your application evolves. #### Indexing Indexes are crucial in speeding up data retrieval operations by creating a direct path to table data. By creating indexes on columns that are frequently queried, you can significantly reduce the time it takes to execute SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, and other data-related operations. Depending on the nature of your queries, you might consider using functional indexes (which index the result of a function applied to a column), bitmap indexes (ideal for low-cardinality columns), or composite indexes (which involve multiple columns). Proper indexing can greatly enhance query performance, but be mindful that excessive or inappropriate indexing can lead to increased storage use and slower write operations. #### Partitioning Partitioning is a powerful technique for managing large tables by dividing them into smaller, more manageable pieces called partitions. Each partition can be accessed and managed independently, leading to significant performance improvements, especially for queries that only need to access a subset of the data. Depending on your use case, you can choose from different partitioning strategies, such as range partitioning (based on a range of values), hash partitioning (where data is distributed evenly across partitions based on a hash function), or list partitioning (based on a predefined list of values). Partitioning improves query performance and makes data management tasks like backups, archiving, and purging more efficient. #### Index-Organized Tables Index-organized tables (IOTs) are a unique type of Oracle table where the data is stored in a B-tree index structure rather than in a separate heap. This means that the table is physically ordered based on its primary key, which can lead to faster retrieval times for queries that use the primary key for lookup. IOTs are particularly useful for tables with high update and retrieval rates, where clustering data based on the primary key can reduce the amount of I/O required to fetch the necessary data. However, they are not suitable for all use cases and should be used judiciously when the performance benefits outweigh the additional complexity. #### Very Large Tables Managing very large tables (VLTs) presents unique challenges, particularly in performance and storage efficiency. Partitioning is one of the most effective strategies for handling VLTs, which allows you to break the table into smaller, more manageable segments that can be accessed and maintained independently. In addition to partitioning, compression techniques can reduce the storage footprint of large tables, notably for columns with repetitive or low-variability data. Archiving old or infrequently accessed data to less expensive storage can also help manage growth and maintain performance. For analytical workloads, columnar storage, which stores data column-by-column rather than row-by-row, can offer significant performance benefits by reducing the amount of data that needs to be read from disk during query execution. #### Data Types Choosing the appropriate data types for your columns is critical for optimizing storage and query efficiency. Using data types that are too large can waste valuable storage space and slow down query processing while using data types that are too small can lead to data truncation or overflow errors. For example, if a column is meant to store small integer values, using a data type like NUMBER(3) is more efficient than using a larger data type like NUMBER(10). Similarly, using VARCHAR2 for variable-length strings can save space compared to using CHAR, which allocates fixed-length space regardless of the actual data length. The key is to balance precision and storage efficiency according to the specific needs of your application. ### Query Optimization #### Explain Plan The EXPLAIN PLAN command is essential to the database administrator’s toolkit. It lets you see the execution plan that Oracle’s query optimizer has chosen for a given SQL statement. By analyzing the execution plan, you can identify potential performance bottlenecks, such as full table scans or inefficient joins, and take steps to address them. For example, if the execution plan reveals that a query is performing a full table scan when an index scan would be more efficient, you can add an index or modify the query to take advantage of existing indexes. Regular use of EXPLAIN PLAN helps ensure your queries run efficiently. #### Query Hints Query hints are directives you can include in your SQL statements to influence the behavior of Oracle’s query optimizer. While the optimizer generally makes good decisions based on the available statistics and database configuration, there are cases where it might not choose the most efficient execution plan for your specific needs. In such cases, you can use query hints to override the optimizer’s decisions. For example, you can use the INDEX hint to force the use of a particular index or the PARALLEL hint to enable parallel processing for a query. However, query hints should be used sparingly, as they can lead to suboptimal performance if the underlying data or workload changes over time. #### Materialized Views Materialized views are a powerful feature in Oracle that allows you to store the results of a complex query in a separate table-like structure. This can significantly improve the performance of queries involving complex joins, aggregations, or subqueries, as the database can retrieve the precomputed results from the materialized view rather than recalculating them each time the query is run. Materialized views can be refreshed periodically or on demand to keep them in sync with the underlying data. They are instrumental in reporting and data warehousing environments where the same complex queries are run repeatedly. #### SQL Tuning Advisor Oracle’s SQL Tuning Advisor is an automated tool that analyzes the performance of SQL statements and provides recommendations for improving their efficiency. It examines factors such as execution plans, statistics, and system configuration and suggests changes that enhance query performance. For instance, the advisor might recommend creating a new index, restructuring a query, or updating statistics to ensure the optimizer has accurate information. Regularly using the SQL Tuning Advisor as part of your database maintenance routine can help identify and resolve performance issues before they impact your application. ### Infrastructure and Configuration #### Compute Resources Your Oracle database's performance heavily depends on the underlying hardware resources, including CPU, memory, and storage. Ensuring your database has sufficient resources is critical to preventing bottlenecks and ensuring smooth operation. For example, having enough CPU ensures that your queries can be processed quickly, while adequate memory allows for efficient caching of frequently accessed data, reducing disk I/O. Storage performance is also crucial, especially for I/O-intensive operations such as backups, batch processing, and large queries. It’s essential to regularly monitor resource usage and scale your hardware as needed to keep pace with growing workloads. #### Database Configuration Fine-tuning your Oracle database configuration is a key step in optimizing performance. This involves adjusting parameters such as the shared pool size, buffer cache size, and Program Global Area (PGA) size to match the specific needs of your workload. For example, increasing the buffer cache size can improve the performance of read-heavy applications by allowing more data to be cached in memory, reducing the need for disk I/O. Similarly, configuring the PGA appropriately can enhance the performance of complex queries that require sorting or hashing operations. Database configuration is not a one-size-fits-all task; it requires careful analysis and tuning based on your application’s behavior and performance goals. ## Best Practices for Data Protection (High Availability and Disaster Recovery) ### High Availability #### Oracle Data Guard Oracle Data Guard is a comprehensive solution for ensuring high availability at the database level, offering protection against planned and unplanned outages. It provides real-time data replication to standby databases, ensuring your data remains available even if the primary database fails. Data Guard also supports automatic failover, which can dramatically reduce downtime in the event of a failure. Implementing Data Guard as part of your high availability strategy can help ensure that your applications remain available and responsive, even in the face of hardware or software failures. #### Failover Testing Regularly testing your failover procedures is essential to ensure that your high availability and disaster recovery plans work as intended. Failover testing involves simulating different failure scenarios to verify that your database can switch to a standby system with minimal disruption. This includes testing automatic and manual failovers and verifying that data consistency and integrity are maintained during the transition. Regular failover testing helps you identify and address potential issues before they can impact your production environment, ensuring that your business can continue to operate smoothly even in the event of a failure. ### Disaster Recovery #### Backup and Recovery A robust backup strategy is the cornerstone of any disaster recovery plan. Regular backups ensure you can recover your data in the event of a catastrophic failure, data corruption, or accidental deletion. Your backup strategy should include both full and incremental backups, as well as archive logs, to allow for point-in-time recovery. In addition to taking backups, it is equally important to regularly test your recovery procedures to ensure that you can restore your data quickly and accurately when needed. A well-tested backup and recovery plan can differentiate between a minor inconvenience and a significant business disruption. #### Oracle Data Guard Beyond high availability, Oracle Data Guard also offers powerful disaster recovery capabilities by maintaining standby databases that can be quickly activated during a disaster. Data Guard supports physical and logical standby databases, allowing you to choose the best option for your recovery needs. Physical standby databases are kept in sync with the primary database through real-time log shipping, ensuring they are ready to take over immediately. Logical standby databases, however, allow for read-write operations and can be used for reporting or testing, providing additional flexibility in your disaster recovery strategy. ## Additional Considerations ### Table Compression Table compression is a valuable feature in Oracle that can significantly reduce the storage requirements for large tables, particularly those with repetitive data. Compression eliminates redundancy at the block level, allowing more data to be stored in the same space. This reduces storage costs and can improve query performance by reducing the amount of data that needs to be read from disk. However, compression can add overhead to write operations, so it’s essential to carefully consider the trade-offs and test the impact on your specific workload before enabling compression. ### Statistics Keeping your database statistics current is crucial for ensuring Oracle’s query optimizer has the accurate information it needs to generate efficient execution plans. Statistics include information about the distribution of data in your tables, the number of rows, and the number of distinct values in each column. Without accurate statistics, the optimizer may choose suboptimal plans that result in poor query performance. Regularly gathering statistics, especially after significant changes to your data, helps ensure that your queries run as efficiently as possible. ### Monitoring and Tuning Continuous database performance monitoring is essential for identifying issues early and optimizing your system over time. Tools like Oracle Enterprise Manager provide comprehensive monitoring capabilities, allowing you to track resource usage, query performance, and system health. By proactively monitoring your database, you can detect and address performance bottlenecks, configuration issues, and resource constraints before they become critical problems. Regular tuning based on monitoring data helps ensure your database performs well as your workload evolves. ## Conclusion These best practices will help you design high-performing and resilient Oracle tables on the Tessell DBaaS platform. By focusing on effective table design, query optimization, and robust data protection strategies, you can ensure that your Oracle database delivers optimal performance and data availability. **Note:** These guidelines provide general recommendations. Depending on your application’s requirements and workload characteristics, thorough performance testing and tuning are essential to achieve the best results. ## Additional Resources - [Database Administrator’s Guide](https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/21/admin/managing-tables.html) - [Performance Tuning Guide](https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/21/tgdba/database-performance-tuning-guide.pdf) --- ## best-practices-for-mysql-table-design-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/best-practices-for-mysql-table-design-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 As businesses increasingly rely on data-driven decisions, the importance of robust database management cannot be overstated. Tessell offers MySQL as a Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) solution equipped with High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) features, ensuring your data is both performant and secure. This blog delves into the best practices for creating and managing MySQL tables within the Tessell environment, focusing on performance optimization, specific use cases, and data protection strategies. ## Understanding MySQL Table Design MySQL is a powerful relational database management system widely used for its structured schema and normalized data, promoting consistency and efficiency. Designing tables within MySQL requires careful consideration of various factors such as data types, indexing, and normalization to ensure the database performs optimally. Effective table design lays the foundation for a high-performing database by enabling faster query execution, reducing storage requirements, and improving overall system stability. When working within the Tessell environment, designing tables with high availability and disaster recovery capabilities is essential to leverage Tessell’s advanced DBaaS features fully. ## Best Practices for Performance ### Data Modeling #### Normalization Adhering to database normalization principles is crucial for reducing data redundancy and improving data integrity. You can streamline database operations and enhance performance by organizing data into tables that minimize duplication. Proper normalization also simplifies data management, making it easier to maintain consistency across large datasets. For instance, applying normalization techniques like the First Normal Form (1NF), Second Normal Form (2NF), and Third Normal Form (3NF) ensures that your data is logically stored, which is essential for maintaining data integrity and preventing anomalies during database operations. #### Primary Keys Primary Keys are not just identifiers for rows within a table—they are fundamental to the integrity and performance of your MySQL database, especially in environments that require High Availability and Read Replicas. In Tessell, Primary Keys are necessary to operate MySQL Group Replication, which underpins HA deployments efficiently. Without Primary Keys, the replication process may encounter issues, leading to potential data inconsistencies. When designing your tables, always ensure that each table has a well-defined Primary Key, and if that’s not possible, use an auto-incrementing Non-Null Unique Key as an alternative to maintain replication efficiency. #### Indexing Indexing is one of MySQL's most effective ways to improve query performance. By creating indexes on frequently queried columns, you can significantly reduce the time it takes for MySQL to retrieve data. However, while indexes speed up read operations, they can slow down write operations, so striking a balance is essential. Avoid duplicate indexes and focus on clustered or composite indexes where they make the most sense. For example, if your application frequently filters data based on multiple columns, a composite index can significantly enhance performance by reducing the need for MySQL to scan entire tables. #### Partitioning For very large tables, partitioning can be a game-changer. Partitioning divides a table into smaller, more manageable pieces, which MySQL can process more quickly. You might choose range, hash, or list partitioning depending on your data access patterns. Range partitioning, for example, is particularly useful when dealing with historical data, as it allows you to store and query data based on specific ranges, such as date ranges. This approach speeds up query performance and makes data management more accessible by allowing you to archive or delete old partitions without impacting the rest of the table. #### Data Types Choosing the right data types for your columns is essential for optimizing storage and query efficiency. Using the appropriate data type can reduce the amount of storage space required and improve the speed of queries. For example, if a column only needs to store small integers, using a data type like TINYINT instead of INT can save space and increase performance. Similarly, using VARCHAR for variable-length strings instead of CHAR can reduce the storage footprint. Always use the most efficient data types that meet your application’s requirements. ### Query Optimization #### Explain Plan The EXPLAIN PLAN command is invaluable for understanding how MySQL executes your queries. By analyzing the execution plan, you can identify potential bottlenecks and optimize your queries accordingly. For example, if the execution plan shows that MySQL is performing a full table scan on a large table, you might need to add an index to improve performance. Regular use of EXPLAIN PLAN can help you fine-tune your queries and ensure they run as efficiently as possible, particularly in high-traffic environments where query performance is critical. #### Indexing Proper indexing is a cornerstone of query optimization. When queries frequently access specific columns, adding indexes can dramatically reduce query execution time. However, it’s essential to monitor the impact of indexing on write operations, as too many indexes can slow down data insertion and updates. In scenarios where multiple columns are frequently used together in query conditions, a composite index can be more efficient than individual indexes on each column. Regularly reviewing and updating your indexing strategy is vital to maintaining optimal database performance. #### Query Hints Query hints allow you to influence the MySQL optimizer’s decisions, potentially improving query performance in specific scenarios. While MySQL’s optimizer is generally effective at determining the best execution plan, there are cases where you might want to guide its choices. For instance, if you know that a particular index should be used for a query, but the optimizer is choosing a different path, a query hint can override the optimizer’s decision. However, use query hints sparingly, as over-reliance on them can lead to maintenance challenges if the database schema or data characteristics change. #### DML Queries for HA/RR In Tessell MySQL HA deployments, managing the size of Data Manipulation Language (DML) transactions is critical to maintaining performance and preventing bottlenecks. Group Replication in Tessell supports transactions up to 150 MB by default, with the option to increase this limit to 2 GB. However, large transactions can still slow down the system, so splitting them into smaller batches is advisable. This approach optimizes throughput and reduces the risk of conflicts and replication delays, ensuring smoother operation of your HA deployment. ### Infrastructure and Configuration #### Compute Resources The performance of your MySQL database is closely tied to the hardware resources available. Ensuring that your MySQL instance has sufficient CPU, memory, and storage is crucial for handling the demands of your workload. Under-provisioning resources can lead to slow query performance, increased latency, and potential system failures. Monitoring resource usage and scaling your hardware will help maintain optimal performance. In addition, leveraging Tessell’s cloud infrastructure allows you to adjust resources dynamically based on current demands, ensuring your database remains responsive to varying workloads. #### Database Configuration Fine-tuning your MySQL configuration is essential for optimizing performance. Parameters such as innodb_buffer_pool_size, which controls the amount of memory allocated to the InnoDB storage engine, and innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit, which determines the frequency of transaction log flushing, can significantly impact database performance. Properly configuring these and other parameters based on your specific workload can improve throughput, reduce latency, and ensure data durability. Regularly reviewing and adjusting these settings as your workload evolves will help you maintain an optimized MySQL environment. ### Specific Use Cases #### Very Large Tables Managing very large tables in MySQL presents unique challenges, particularly in performance and storage efficiency. To address these challenges, consider partitioning to divide the table into smaller, more manageable pieces. This can significantly reduce the time it takes to execute queries, especially those that only need to access a subset of the data. Additionally, applying table compression can reduce storage requirements without sacrificing performance. In cases where large datasets are primarily used for analytical workloads, columnar storage can provide substantial performance benefits by optimizing how data is stored and retrieved. #### Clustered Index Clustered indexes are handy for tables that experience high rates of updates and retrievals. In a clustered index, the data is stored in the order of the index, which can significantly reduce IO operations and improve query performance. This is especially beneficial when queries frequently retrieve data based on the primary key or another indexed column. Organizing data this way can minimize the number of disk reads required to satisfy queries, leading to faster response times. When designing tables that will be frequently accessed or updated, consider using clustered indexes to enhance performance. ## Best Practices for Data Protection ### High Availability #### InnoDB Cluster Tessell’s implementation of MySQL Multi-AZ Deployment using InnoDB Cluster is designed to provide maximum availability and automated failover. This setup leverages MySQL Group Replication to create synchronous replication channels between nodes, ensuring that all data is consistently available across multiple locations. Primary Keys or Non-Null Auto Increment Unique Keys are essential in this environment to ensure data synchronization between nodes. Tessell’s approach automatically adds a Primary Key if one is missing, using the sql_generate_invisible_primary_key server variable. This feature is critical for preventing data synchronization issues and achieving 100% availability across all tables. #### Failover Testing Regular failover testing ensures your high-availability setup can handle unexpected outages or disruptions. Tessell’s console provides tools for testing failover procedures, allowing you to simulate a switchover and assess the system’s readiness for potential service interruptions. By conducting these tests regularly, you can identify and address any weaknesses in your HA deployment before they become critical issues. This proactive approach to failover testing helps ensure that your database remains highly available, even in the face of hardware failures, network issues, or other challenges. ### Read Replica #### InnoDB Cluster Set Tessell’s use of InnoDB ClusterSet for Read Replica deployments allows for asynchronous replication, which maximizes performance by decoupling read operations from the primary database. This setup is beneficial for applications with high read loads, as it allows you to scale out your read capacity without impacting the performance of write operations. However, it’s important to note that failover to Read Replica nodes is not supported by the Tessell console, so careful planning is required to ensure that your Read Replica strategy aligns with your overall HA and DR objectives. As with HA deployments, Primary Keys are mandatory for all tables in a Read Replica setup to ensure data integrity and efficient replication. #### Disaster Recovery In addition to HA and Read Replica capabilities, Tessell provides robust Disaster Recovery options through cross-region replication. This approach ensures that your data is replicated in a different geographic region, protecting against regional outages or catastrophic events. Tessell’s DR implementation uses the same InnoDB Cluster technology, ensuring consistent and reliable replication across regions. By configuring cross-region replication, you can achieve high data protection and minimize downtime in the event of a disaster, ensuring business continuity and data availability. ### Backups #### Disk Snapshots Regular backups are a critical component of any data protection strategy. Tessell’s platform supports disk snapshots, allowing you to capture the state of your database at specific points in time. These snapshots can be scheduled and used to create testing, development, or recovery clones. Snapshots provide a fast and efficient way to back up your data, minimizing the impact on database performance while ensuring you have a reliable copy of your data in an emergency. #### PITR using Binlog Point-In-Time Recovery (PITR) is a powerful feature that allows you to restore your database to a specific moment based on the MySQL binary logs. This capability is beneficial for recovering from accidental data loss or corruption. Tessell’s platform makes it easy to perform PITR using the Dataflix app in the Tessell console. By defining your Service Level Agreement (SLA) based on business requirements, you can ensure that your PITR strategy aligns with your organization’s data protection goals. Regularly testing your PITR process is also essential to ensure you can meet your recovery objectives when needed. ## Additional Considerations ### Table Compression Table compression effectively reduces storage requirements and improves query performance, particularly for large datasets. By compressing data, you can minimize the amount of disk space used, leading to cost savings, especially in cloud environments. Compressed data often requires fewer disk IO operations to read, which can speed up query execution. MySQL supports various compression techniques, so choosing the one that best fits your workload is essential. Regularly evaluating the effectiveness of your compression strategy can help you balance storage efficiency with performance needs. ### Statistics Accurate and up-to-date database statistics are essential for effective query optimization. MySQL uses these statistics to determine the most efficient way to execute queries, so keeping them current is essential. Regularly using the ANALYZE command ensures that your statistics reflect the actual state of your data, leading to more accurate query plans and improved performance. Additionally, monitoring changes in your data distribution and updating statistics accordingly can help prevent performance degradation over time, ensuring that your database continues to operate efficiently. ### Monitoring and Tuning Continuous monitoring and tuning of your MySQL database are crucial to maintaining optimal performance. Tessell’s platform provides various tools, including the Monitoring Dashboard and Performance Insights, to help you track key metrics and identify potential issues. Regularly reviewing these metrics lets you detect and address performance bottlenecks before they impact your users. Tuning your database based on these insights—whether it involves adjusting configuration settings, revising indexing strategies, or optimizing queries—can significantly improve performance and ensure that your MySQL environment remains responsive and reliable. ## Conclusion Following these best practices, you can optimize MySQL table design and management within the Tessell DBaaS platform, ensuring high performance and robust data protection. Effective table design, strategic query optimization, and data protection measures are key to maintaining a reliable and performant database environment. Whether you’re dealing with large datasets, complex queries, or the need for High Availability, the strategies outlined in this blog will help you build a MySQL environment that meets your business’s needs and adapts to its growth. **Note**: These guidelines are general recommendations. Your specific application requirements and workload characteristics may necessitate different approaches. Conduct thorough performance testing and tuning to tailor your MySQL database configuration to your needs. ## Additional Resources - [MySQL :: MySQL 8.4 Reference Manual :: 17.1.2 Best Practices for InnoDB Tables](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.4/en/innodb-best-practices.html) - [MySQL :: MySQL 8.0 Reference Manual :: 20.3.1 Group Replication Requirements](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/group-replication-requirements.html) ### FAQs **What are best practices for MySQL table design?** MySQL table design best practices include database normalization, defining primary keys, strategic indexing, table partitioning for large datasets, choosing efficient data types, and applying table compression for storage optimization. **How do you optimize MySQL query performance?** MySQL query performance is optimized through EXPLAIN PLAN analysis, composite indexing, query hints for optimizer guidance, splitting large DML transactions, and tuning parameters like innodb_buffer_pool_size. **What is InnoDB Cluster in MySQL?** InnoDB Cluster is a MySQL high availability technology using Group Replication to create synchronous replication channels between nodes, ensuring consistent data availability and automated failover across multiple locations. **Why are primary keys important in MySQL?** Primary keys are essential in MySQL for row identification, maintaining data integrity, and supporting Group Replication in high availability deployments, with auto-incrementing non-null unique keys as a viable alternative. **How does Tessell ensure MySQL high availability and disaster recovery?** Tessell ensures MySQL high availability through InnoDB Cluster Multi-AZ deployment, Group Replication, cross-region disaster recovery, disk snapshots, and Point-in-Time Recovery using binary logs. --- ## tessells-pivotal-role-in-revolutionizing-cloud-database-management-and-tco-savings-for-global-enterprises URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessells-pivotal-role-in-revolutionizing-cloud-database-management-and-tco-savings-for-global-enterprises Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell is at the forefront of cloud database management, providing cutting-edge solutions that help large enterprises navigate the complexities of the digital age. Specializing in the migration, management, and modernization of data estates, Tessell offers a comprehensive approach that not only enhances operational efficiency but also significantly reduces Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). By leveraging Tessell’s expertise, organizations across diverse industries—from finance to healthcare, energy to transportation—can streamline their digital infrastructure, resulting in substantial cost savings and improved business outcomes. Tessell’s unique value proposition lies in its ability to tailor its solutions to meet each client's specific needs. Whether it’s reducing the complexities of cloud operations, improving scalability, or optimizing costs, Tessell’s flexible and robust platform ensures enterprises can focus on what they do best. At the same time, their digital infrastructure is managed seamlessly in the background. The following case studies illustrate how Tessell has helped some of the world’s largest organizations achieve significant TCO savings and operational improvements. ## Fortune 250 Transportation Giant Enhances Digital Infrastructure Efficiency and reliability are critical in the transportation industry, where even minor disruptions can lead to significant operational challenges. A Fortune 250 transportation giant was struggling with an outdated digital infrastructure that was expensive to maintain and prone to inefficiencies. The company required a more robust and cost-effective platform to manage its vast logistics operations and support its growth. Tessell provided the company with a comprehensive migration solution that resulted in a [38% reduction in cloud spending](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/fortune-250-transportation-giant). The migration to a more modern and scalable platform led to streamlined operations and improved system reliability, ensuring that the company’s logistics operations could run more efficiently. Tessell’s solution not only reduced costs but also enhanced the company’s ability to manage its data more effectively, leading to better decision-making and operational outcomes. The significant TCO savings have allowed the transportation giant to invest in further innovations, driving operational efficiency and positioning the company for future growth. With Tessell’s support, the company has ensured that its digital infrastructure is not only capable of meeting current demands but is also scalable enough to support its ambitious growth plans. This partnership with Tessell has thus provided the company with a strong foundation for continued success in the competitive transportation sector. ## Smart Metering Company Optimizes TCO The energy sector, particularly the field of smart metering, requires robust and cost-effective digital infrastructures to manage large volumes of data and support real-time operations. A multinational smart metering company found its existing infrastructure increasingly expensive to maintain and difficult to scale. The company needed a solution that would optimize its Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) without compromising on performance or scalability. Tessell provided a comprehensive digital backbone that significantly improved the company’s operational efficiency while [reducing its overall costs by 40%](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/multinational-smart-metering-company-optimizes-tco-with-tessell-as-its-digital-backbone). This dramatic reduction in TCO was achieved by optimizing the company’s cloud operations, simplifying data management processes, and implementing a more scalable infrastructure that could easily adapt to future demands. Tessell’s solution allowed the company to better manage its data workloads, ensuring that operations were not only more efficient but also more reliable. The partnership with Tessell has enabled the smart metering company to reinvest the savings into innovation and expansion. With a more agile and cost-effective digital infrastructure, the company can now respond more quickly to market demands and regulatory changes. This has strengthened their competitive position in the energy sector, ensuring that they can continue to grow and innovate without being constrained by digital infrastructure costs. ## Big Four Accounting Firm Modernizes Data Estate Data management is crucial in the highly regulated and competitive financial services sector. A Big Four accounting firm was facing increasing challenges with its legacy data infrastructure, which was hosted on Amazon RDS. The system was becoming increasingly costly to maintain and could not scale efficiently with the firm’s growing data needs. Recognizing the need for modernization, the firm turned to Tessell for a solution to reduce costs while improving system performance and scalability. Tessell facilitated the migration of the firm’s vast databases to a more modern and scalable platform, resulting in a [35% reduction in overall database management costs](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/a-big-four-accounting-firm-modernizes-its-data-estate-by-moving-from-rds-to-tessell). The transition was managed with minimal downtime, ensuring the firm’s operations remained uninterrupted. Post-migration, the firm experienced enhanced data processing speeds, which improved the efficiency of their financial services and allowed them to meet client demands more effectively. The significant TCO savings have enabled the firm to reinvest in other strategic areas, maintaining its competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving market. In addition to cost savings, Tessell’s solution provided the firm greater flexibility in managing its data infrastructure. The new platform is more scalable and easier to manage, allowing the firm to respond more quickly to market changes and regulatory requirements. This modernization has positioned the firm to handle future growth better, ensuring that their digital infrastructure can scale in tandem with their business needs. ## Clinical Research Organization Accelerates Data Modernization In the healthcare sector, particularly in clinical research, managing and processing large volumes of sensitive data is a critical challenge. A large clinical research organization recognized that its data infrastructure was becoming outdated and costly, hindering its ability to conduct timely and accurate research. The organization needed a modern solution that could handle its growing data needs while providing significant cost savings. Tessell stepped in to provide a tailored migration solution that resulted in a [45% reduction in data management costs](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/large-clinical-research-organization-accelerates-data-modernization-with-superior-cost-savings). The migration to a modern, cloud-based platform was executed with minimal disruption to the organization’s ongoing research activities, ensuring that critical operations continued smoothly. Tessell’s advanced data management capabilities enhanced data processing efficiency, allowing the organization to conduct research more quickly and accurately. The substantial TCO savings realized through this modernization have been redirected into research and development, enabling the organization to accelerate its mission of advancing healthcare. The new infrastructure supports current operations and is scalable, ensuring that the organization can handle future growth in data volume and complexity. Tessell’s solution has thus provided the organization with the tools it needs to stay at the forefront of clinical research. ## What Next? Tessell’s impact on cloud database management is evident across various industries, from financial services and healthcare to energy and transportation. By helping large enterprises migrate, manage, and modernize their data estates, Tessell is driving significant TCO savings and operational improvements. The detailed percentages from each case study highlight the substantial financial benefits these enterprises realize. Tessell’s ability to tailor its solutions to the unique challenges of each sector proves its versatility and effectiveness in helping organizations achieve their strategic goals. Through its comprehensive approach to cloud management, Tessell is setting a new standard for large enterprises to optimize their digital infrastructures. Whether through enhancing scalability, reducing complexity, or optimizing costs, Tessell empowers organizations to focus on their core business while ensuring that their digital infrastructure is robust, efficient, and future-proof. This diversity in industries also highlights Tessell’s adaptability, demonstrating that their solutions can be customized to meet the specific needs of any sector, ensuring that all their clients are well-positioned for success in the digital age. --- ## discover-differentiated-data-management-at-oracle-cloudworld-2024-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/discover-differentiated-data-management-at-oracle-cloudworld-2024-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 The pace of digital transformation is accelerating, and enterprises are swiftly migrating their mission-critical databases to the cloud. This shift brings tremendous opportunities but also significant challenges. [Tessell](http://www.tessell.com/), a leader in database and data management services, is uniquely equipped to guide Global 2000 companies, as well as federal and local government entities, through this complex yet rewarding journey. At the upcoming Oracle CloudWorld 2024, Tessell will host an eagerly anticipated session titled "**Differentiated Data Management on ExaCS and More Oracle Multicloud Offerings**" [LRN3483]. Here’s a sneak peek at what you can expect from this insightful session. ## Key Session Highlights ### Comprehensive Data Management Solutions Tessell provides a full spectrum of database and data lifecycle management services. Our advanced tools, such as Availability Machine and Dataflix, are designed to ensure data security, integrity, and accessibility throughout its lifecycle. From data masking and export/import to backup compliance and data governance, Tessell’s solutions are tailored to meet the diverse needs of Global 2000 companies and government entities. ### Overcoming Migration Challenges Migrating to the cloud comes with its own set of challenges, particularly the need to serve application users while simultaneously moving data into analytics and machine learning environments. Tessell excels in enabling seamless data movement, ensuring that critical datasets are readily available to the right users within your organization. For example, financial services can sanitize and prepare datasets for analysis and decision-making while adhering to stringent data availability and recovery best practices. ### Lifting and Shining Oracle Estates to the Cloud Tessell specializes in what we refer to as “lifting and *shining*” Oracle estates to the cloud, specifically Oracle Exadata Cloud Service (ExaCS) and Oracle Database@Azure. Our unified control plane and Airdrop feature simplify the migration process, making it seamless and efficient. This ensures that organizations can transition their databases without fear of vendor lock-in, allowing them to fully leverage the capabilities of cloud platforms. ## Why Attend Tessell’s Session? ### Future-Proof Your Database Management Tessell’s session will provide invaluable insights into how enterprises can future-proof their database management strategies. With the announcement of additional support for Oracle Database@Azure, Tessell continues to demonstrate its commitment to making enterprise data easily consumable, whether running on Exadata or native cloud infrastructure. ### Learn from Real-World Success Stories Attendees will have the opportunity to hear firsthand accounts of how Tessell has helped Fortune 1000 companies overcome data management challenges and achieve seamless cloud migrations. These stories will offer practical takeaways that can be applied within your own organization. ### Engage with Industry Leaders Oracle CloudWorld 2024 is an excellent opportunity to engage with industry leaders, network with peers, and explore innovative solutions that can drive your business forward. Tessell’s session promises to be a highlight, offering both strategic insights and practical advice. ## Conclusion With rapid advancements in cloud technology, having a trusted partner like Tessell is crucial for navigating the complexities of cloud migration and data management. Tessell’s comprehensive suite of services ensures that your organization can leverage the full potential of its mission-critical databases in the cloud, implementing best practices for data availability and recovery. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the experts at Oracle CloudWorld 2024. Mark your calendar for Tessell’s session and take the next step in your cloud transformation journey. Ready to elevate your data management strategy? Join Tessell at Oracle CloudWorld 2024 and discover how to unlock the full potential of your enterprise data. --- ## tessells-exciting-debut-at-oracle-cloud-world-2024 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessells-exciting-debut-at-oracle-cloud-world-2024 Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell made a powerful entrance as a first-time sponsor at Oracle Cloud World 2024, held at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Our presence at this premier event marked a significant milestone for us, as we engaged with more than 1,000 attendees and offered them an exclusive look at how our platform transforms data operations in the cloud. ## Unveiling the Power of Tessell’s Platform: A Hands-On Demo Experience Oracle Cloud World attendees had the opportunity to experience Tessell’s platform through an immersive demo. At our booth, visitors saw firsthand how our DataOps solutions are designed to simplify and automate data workflows and seamlessly integrate with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The demo showcased Tessell’s comprehensive platform, focusing on how it helps enterprises easily manage complex data environments. We emphasized our support for Exadata on OCI, demonstrating how Tessell brings unprecedented efficiency and automation to data management, provisioning, and scaling—especially for high-performance workloads in Exadata environments. This combination enables businesses to optimize their cloud strategies while taking full advantage of Exadata’s powerful capabilities on OCI. ## Learning Session: Unlocking Data Agility with Tessell and Exadata on OCI The momentum continued with our 45-minute learning session,**“Differentiated Data Management on ExaCS and More Oracle Multicloud Offerings,”**on September 11. The session was filled with cloud architects, data engineers, and IT leaders eager to learn about the transformative potential of Tessell’s platform, particularly in the context of Exadata on OCI. During the session, we explored how Tessell empowers enterprises to streamline data operations in Exadata environments hosted on Oracle Cloud. Attendees learned how Tessell integrates deeply with Exadata on OCI, providing a single platform to manage data pipelines, automate workflows, and enhance scalability while maintaining the high performance, security, and resilience that Exadata is known for. Key takeaways included: - How Tessell simplifies the management of Exadata on OCI by automating everyday administrative tasks such as provisioning, scaling, and backups. - Real-world examples of how organizations have used Tessell to unlock the full potential of Exadata, reducing time to insights and improving operational efficiency. - Strategies for leveraging Tessell’s platform to build more agile, responsive data operations across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This session allowed attendees to see how Tessell’s support for Exadata on OCI offers a complete solution for enterprises seeking to modernize their data infrastructure in the cloud. ## A Groundbreaking Product Announcement: Tessell’s DBaaS for Exadata on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure One of the biggest highlights of Oracle Cloud World was our announcement of **Tessell’s Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) solution for Exadata on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure**. Officially announced just days before the event, this cutting-edge product brings the future of database management to organizations using Exadata on OCI. Our DBaaS offering simplifies the complexity of managing Exadata databases by introducing fully automated workflows for provisioning, scaling, backups, and performance optimization. Tessell’s DBaaS for Exadata is designed to help enterprises maximize their investment in Oracle’s leading database technology. This allows them to focus on business-critical initiatives instead of day-to-day database management. This new solution enables: - **Automated provisioning and scaling **of Exadata environments, reducing the time and effort required to deploy and manage large-scale databases. - **Advanced backup and recovery **capabilities that ensure business continuity and data protection, all managed through Tessell’s intuitive platform. - **Seamless integration **with existing data ecosystems allows businesses to manage Exadata and other database instances across hybrid cloud environments with a single pane of glass. The launch of Tessell’s DBaaS for Exadata on OCI represents a significant leap forward for enterprises looking to harness the full power of Oracle’s cloud and database technologies. It demonstrates our commitment to empowering organizations with next-gen tools for data agility and operational excellence. ## A Vision for the Future: Tessell’s Expanding Role in the Oracle Cloud Ecosystem Our debut at Oracle Cloud World 2024 was an opportunity to showcase Tessell’s existing capabilities and lay the groundwork for our expanding role in the Oracle Cloud ecosystem. The interest we received from attendees and the excitement surrounding our demo and product announcement underscored the growing demand for solutions that simplify and accelerate data management in cloud environments—especially in Exadata-powered ecosystems. Tessell’s presence at the event marks the beginning of a new chapter in our journey to help businesses unlock the full potential of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Exadata. Our commitment to driving innovation and delivering exceptional value to enterprises will continue to guide us as we develop new features, enhancements, and products designed to make data operations faster, more innovative, and more efficient. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who visited our booth, attended our learning session, and engaged with us throughout the event. The conversations we had and the feedback we received will fuel our passion for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with Tessell on Oracle Cloud. ## Stay Tuned for More Exciting Developments As we look ahead, we’re thrilled about the future of Tessell and our continued growth within the Oracle Cloud ecosystem. We’ll roll out more updates, features, and product innovations in the coming months to further enhance our platform’s capabilities, particularly in Exadata management, automation, and cloud integration. Be sure to follow us as we continue to transform how businesses manage their data, optimize cloud infrastructure, and leverage the power of Exadata on OCI. --- ## how-tessell-delivers-superior-value-over-amazon-rds URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/how-tessell-delivers-superior-value-over-amazon-rds Last updated: 2026-08-24 The shift to cloud-hosted databases is a pivotal aspect of digital transformation. Organizations are increasingly migrating their Database Management Systems (DBMS) to the cloud, drawn by promises of enhanced performance, operational efficiency, and cost savings. While many solutions on the market cater to these needs, Tessell’s comprehensive DBaaS platform redefines the standards for cloud-based database management. Tessell offers organizations a compelling alternative to traditional solutions like Amazon RDS by providing significant savings, superior performance, and unmatched flexibility. As companies grow and their databases need to expand, the limitations of traditional cloud services like Amazon RDS become more apparent. Managing sprawling database instances across different environments, controlling costs, and ensuring performance consistency are critical challenges that organizations face. Tessell steps in as a more versatile and cost-efficient solution, especially for businesses dealing with large, complex database workloads. By rethinking how databases are managed in the cloud, Tessell turns these challenges into opportunities, enabling companies to manage data more effectively and achieve measurable improvements in both cost and performance. ## The Case for Tessell: What Makes It Stand Out? Tessell’s multi-cloud database-as-a-service (DBaaS) platform supports various popular database engines, including Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and NoSQL databases. Tessell is engineered to handle the complexities of modern cloud infrastructure by automating workflows, standardizing operations, and delivering seamless performance at a lower cost. But how does Tessell truly differentiate itself, especially when compared to Amazon RDS? The difference lies in Tessell’s ability to reduce operational costs while enhancing performance significantly—an essential combination for enterprises that manage mission-critical data on a large scale. At the heart of Tessell’s value proposition is its ability to deliver substantial savings through database consolidation and license optimization. Instead of having to manage one database instance per Amazon RDS, which often results in underutilized resources and inflated costs, Tessell allows multiple databases to run on a single instance. This approach optimizes resource allocation, reduces infrastructure costs, and enhances overall efficiency. Additionally, Tessell’s built-in tools for managing licenses streamline operations, cutting down the need for third-party software while further lowering costs, offering a holistic solution that addresses both cost and operational challenges. ## Cost Efficiency: Substantial Savings on TCO One of the most significant advantages Tessell offers is its ability to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO). A [recent study](https://www.tessell.com/whitepapers/tessell-savings-over-amazon-rds) highlighted that Tessell delivers up to 72.5% TCO savings over three years compared to Amazon RDS. This reduction is achieved through consolidation, optimization, and strategic use of compute resources. Tessell allows businesses to consolidate multiple Oracle databases into fewer instances, enabling them to make the most of their infrastructure investments. The consolidation reduces the number of licenses required and helps cut down on support costs, allowing organizations to channel resources into innovation instead of merely maintaining existing systems. Additionally, Tessell’s ability to eliminate unnecessary licenses further increases savings. By reducing reliance on third-party tools for functions like data masking and backup, Tessell provides a fully integrated platform that eliminates redundancy. This holistic approach ensures that organizations do not pay for overlapping services, a common problem when using a variety of cloud solutions. With Tessell, businesses can significantly reduce their reliance on third-party software, lowering license fees and simplifying operations. The result is a much more cost-effective approach to cloud database management without sacrificing functionality or performance. ## Performance Gains: 321% Higher IOPS Tessell isn’t just about cost savings—it also delivers unparalleled performance improvements. [Benchmarks](https://www.tessell.com/blog-tags/benchmark) show that Tessell achieves up to 321% higher Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) than Amazon RDS for the same workloads. This performance boost comes from Tessell’s advanced architecture, which is optimized to handle more data transactions simultaneously, ensuring smoother and faster data processing. This level of performance is particularly beneficial for organizations handling large-scale databases that require constant high-speed read and write operations. With Tessell, enterprises can meet the demands of data-heavy applications without incurring the additional cost of upgrading to more expensive infrastructure. The enhanced performance also translates into operational efficiency. With faster data operations, businesses can reduce the need for extra compute resources, lowering costs and complexity. Moreover, Tessell’s performance improvements directly impact business outcomes by reducing latency and improving response times for mission-critical applications. These performance gains can be a game-changer for companies that rely on real-time data processing, such as in financial services or e-commerce. Tessell allows these businesses to stay agile and responsive while keeping their infrastructure lean and cost-effective. ## Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Simplified Management One common challenge with Amazon RDS is the operational overhead of managing a 1:1 instance-to-database mapping. This results in significant resource and time consumption for organizations managing hundreds of databases, as each instance requires individual management and monitoring. Tessell eliminates this burden by allowing organizations to consolidate multiple databases into one instance. This multi-tenant architecture streamlines management simplifies tasks, and reduces the required instances, allowing companies to focus on more strategic initiatives rather than operational maintenance. With Tessell, the complexity of managing databases across different cloud environments is reduced. By integrating backup, recovery, high availability (HA), and disaster recovery (DR) features within its platform, Tessell simplifies what would otherwise be a fragmented process involving multiple tools and systems. This unified platform approach helps reduce operational strain, allowing database administrators (DBAs) to automate routine tasks like patching, scaling, and resource optimization. DBAs can focus on higher-value activities such as improving data quality or contributing to broader business strategies. ## Advanced DataOps and FinOps Capabilities Tessell’s platform is designed with both DataOps and FinOps in mind, making it ideal for organizations operating in multi-cloud environments. With more enterprises adopting multi-cloud strategies, managing databases across different platforms can be complex and costly. Tessell addresses this by providing integrated FinOps capabilities, which include detailed performance measurement, license optimization, and infrastructure right-sizing. By offering more granular control over database resources, Tessell enables businesses to fine-tune their infrastructure, avoiding overprovisioning and reducing waste. On the DataOps side, Tessell excels at automating workflows and fostering collaboration between data engineers and other stakeholders. Its platform enhances communication and data flow operations, ensuring data initiatives are closely aligned with business outcomes. Tessell supports agile methodologies, which allow organizations to adapt quickly to changing business requirements. By leveraging these advanced DataOps capabilities, companies can ensure faster time-to-insight and more efficient use of their data resources, creating a more data-driven culture that directly contributes to business success. ## End-to-End Data Management and Security Tessell offers a complete suite of data management tools, covering everything from provisioning to backup, disaster recovery, and compliance. Its high-availability architecture guarantees that critical business data is protected and recoverable in the event of failure, with automated workflows ensuring that data is consistently backed up and secure. Tessell’s disaster recovery capabilities are robust, enabling organizations to restore data to any point in time, ensuring business continuity even in the event of a major outage or system failure. In addition to these operational benefits, Tessell excels at ensuring data governance and compliance. Tessell helps organizations adhere to industry regulations and security standards by providing granular controls over who can access specific data. Features like encryption, data masking, and audit trails ensure that sensitive data is always protected, reducing the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches. For organizations dealing with stringent regulatory environments, Tessell’s integrated security features make it easier to maintain compliance while still taking full advantage of the scalability and flexibility that the cloud provides. ## Real-World Impact: Case Study Highlights A Fortune 500 financial services company in the mortgage industry recently adopted Tessell to replace Amazon RDS for Oracle. This company had been running two cloud environments for over six years: one cloud-native and the other for legacy workloads. The high costs associated with Amazon RDS, particularly due to the limitations of 1:1 instance mapping and Oracle licensing fees, made it difficult for the company to scale efficiently. With Tessell, the company was able to consolidate its Oracle databases, reduce Oracle license fees by 50%, and save 70% on compute costs by leveraging Tessell’s advanced features for resource pooling and instance management. In addition to the financial benefits, the company also saw reduced operational complexity. Tessell’s platform eliminated the need for third-party backup software, reduced the number of database instances, and enabled the company to use its existing infrastructure better. By switching to Tessell, the organization realized significant cost savings and improved its agility and ability to innovate. With these improvements, the company is better positioned to scale its operations while staying within budget and maintaining performance. ## Conclusion: Tessell as the Future of DBaaS As enterprises continue to migrate to the cloud, the need for a robust, scalable, and cost-efficient database management solution has never been more critical. Tessell’s superior performance, cost-saving capabilities, and comprehensive management tools make it a powerful alternative to Amazon RDS and other traditional DBaaS solutions. By enabling organizations to optimize their cloud database strategies, Tessell is not just addressing the challenges of today—it’s paving the way for the future of cloud database management. The future of cloud computing lies in platforms that can seamlessly integrate performance with cost savings, and Tessell has positioned itself as a leader in this space. ### FAQs **How does Tessell reduce database costs?** Tessell reduces database costs by consolidating multiple databases on a single instance, optimizing Oracle licenses, eliminating third-party backup software, and right-sizing infrastructure to deliver 72.5% TCO savings. **What is the difference between Tessell and Amazon RDS?** Tessell delivers up to 72.5% TCO savings and 321% higher IOPS than Amazon RDS by consolidating multiple databases on a single instance instead of 1:1 instance mapping. **Is Tessell cheaper than Amazon RDS?** Yes, Tessell is cheaper than Amazon RDS, delivering up to 72.5% total cost of ownership savings over three years through database consolidation, license optimization, and reduced third-party dependencies. **How does Tessell improve database performance?** Tessell improves database performance by achieving up to 321% higher IOPS than Amazon RDS through advanced architecture optimized for simultaneous data transactions, reducing latency for mission-critical applications. **What are the benefits of Tessell DBaaS?** Tessell benefits include 72.5% TCO savings, 321% higher IOPS, multi-database consolidation, integrated backup and disaster recovery, license optimization, and built-in compliance with encryption and audit trails. --- ## tessells-fully-managed-database-service-with-aws-fsx-for-netapp-ontap URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessells-fully-managed-database-service-with-aws-fsx-for-netapp-ontap Last updated: 2026-08-24 We’re excited to announce that AWS FSx for NetApp ONTAP (FSx for ONTAP) is now generally available as a storage option for database services on Tessell. Built on top of NetApp’s ONTAP in AWS, FSx for ONTAP is optimized for high-performance, scalable database workloads, offering customers enhanced efficiency and flexibility. At Tessell, our mission is to empower customers with choice at every level, supporting businesses across cloud platforms, infrastructure layers, and database engines. With Azure NetApp Files (ANF) already supported, the integration of AWS FSx for NetApp ONTAP introduces another powerful storage option, enabling customers to deploy database services on ONTAP solutions in both AWS and Azure -[Read more about our collaboration with Microsoft and NetApp here.](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tessell-collaborates-microsoft-azure-netapp-173000945.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=linkedin) ## Managed DB service with FSx for ONTAP Customers leveraging ONTAP, a powerful and scalable storage system for databases—often face challenges due to the lack of managed database service support. They are required to self-host databases with FSx for ONTAP, which results in longer time-to-value and increased operational expenses. Tessell addresses this with comprehensive end-to-end management of database services, seamlessly integrated with FSx for ONTAP. Customers can deploy infrastructure within their own cloud accounts and leverage a range of supported database engines such as Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and more. ### DB Provisioning and Management Tessell offers a seamless DB service management with just a single click, taking care of the complete provisioning and management of the underlying infrastructure including FSx for ONTAP. Customers can customize their database requirements - such as storage, IOPS, database parameters, and maintenance windows - both during provisioning and at any later time as needed. ### High Availability Tessell’s managed DBaaS ensures high availability by supporting replication across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) and regions with FSx for NetApp ONTAP, minimizing downtime and guaranteeing that mission-critical applications remain operational. Tessell supports all high-availability topologies, providing peace of mind for businesses relying on critical applications. ### Application consistent Backup and Recovery Tessell natively supports application-consistent snapshots for all database engines, ensuring reliable backup and recovery without the need for additional plugins or complex configurations. Leveraging the powerful snapshot capabilities of FSx for NetApp ONTAP, Tessell ensures snapshots are created swiftly and efficiently, with minimal impact on database performance. This is achieved by quiescing and unquiescing I/O at the database level during snapshot requests, seamlessly aligning with ongoing database operations. Additionally, Tessell provides sanitized snapshots with data masking features to protect sensitive information, ensuring both security and operational efficiency. ### Cloning and Database Refresh Tessell provides seamless cloning capabilities, enabling users to create copies of databases quickly and efficiently. This allows for the rapid provisioning of test, development, or staging environments without affecting the production database. In addition to cloning, Tessell supports both on-demand and scheduled database refreshes, ensuring non-production environments are consistently updated with the latest production data. ### **Monitoring** Tessell provides comprehensive monitoring across OS, database, and storage, including FSx for ONTAP, giving users full visibility into the health and performance of their entire database environment. With the ability to create custom alerts, users can proactively track critical metrics, monitor anomalies, and receive notifications for potential issues. This ensures early detection and swift resolution, maintaining optimal performance and minimizing downtime. ## Cost Efficiency Tessell helps customers save costs by bringing efficiency to both database management and storage through the integration of AWS FSx for NetApp ONTAP. Key benefits include: - **Consolidated Database Management**: Tessell’s multi-DB capabilities support consolidated database management, allowing for significant reductions in commercial database licensing costs and more efficient resource utilization. - **ONTAP’s Cost Optimization Features**: Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP offers a highly cost-effective solution with performance on par with comparable services, delivering sub-millisecond latencies with SSD storage. Additionally, ONTAP’s advanced features—such as capacity pool storage, compression, and deduplication—further reduce storage costs. ## Performance Tessell’s DBaaS, integrated with FSx for ONTAP, delivers unmatched performance for high-demand database workloads. These capabilities are essential for running mission-critical databases that require speed, scalability, and consistency. - **High Storage, IOPS, and Throughput: **FSx for ONTAP supports database workloads with substantial performance requirements. In scale-out systems, it supports up to 1 PiB of storage, handling up to 2.4 million IOPS and providing a baseline throughput of up to 72 GBps. This level of scalability allows **Tessell to power databases that require extreme performance**, which other storage services, such as EBS, do not support. - **NVMe Storage and Protocol Flexibility: **FSx for ONTAP’s low-latency NVMe storage ensures faster database operations, optimizing response times for demanding applications. The unified storage layer supports multiple protocols, including NFS and iSCSI, providing flexibility and adaptability to various database architectures and needs. - **Support for Spiky Workloads: **FSx for ONTAP supports spiky database workloads by allowing bursts in network and disk I/O operations beyond baseline speeds. This capability ensures consistent performance during periods of peak demand, which is crucial for handling the short, intense I/O bursts that are common in database environments. ## Try it yourself The availability of FSx for ONTAP marks a new phase in Tessell’s commitment to offering best-in-class database services. This integration enables customers to leverage a powerful storage solution characterized by extreme performance and cost efficiency, all seamlessly bundled with Tessell’s managed DBaaS for an optimized, hassle-free experience. We encourage you to explore the enterprise-grade capabilities that Tessell, in combination with AWS FSx for NetApp ONTAP, can bring to your database workloads. Take advantage of our free trial to experience these capabilities firsthand. To get started or learn more, reach out to us and drive a proof-of-value aligned with your business needs:AWS Free Trial Credits for Tessell | Tessell. ‍ --- ## microsoft-active-directory-authentication-using-kerberos-for-mysql-enterprise URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/microsoft-active-directory-authentication-using-kerberos-for-mysql-enterprise Last updated: 2026-08-24 Beginning with MySQL 8.0.26, MySQL Enterprise Edition supports an authentication method that enables users to authenticate to MySQL Server using Kerberos, provided that appropriate Kerberos tickets are available or can be obtained. Kerberos-based pluggable authentication is a part of MySQL Enterprise security. This method of authentication essentially enables you to integrate MySQL security with existing security infrastructure like Microsoft Active Directory or Azure AD. The same user names, passwords, and permissions can be used to enhance security by leveraging existing AD rules for strong password enforcement, password expiry, etc. **MySQL Native Kerberos Authentication **enables customers to leverage existing Kerberos authentication infrastructure such as single sign-on. Both MIT (GSSAPI) and Microsoft (SSPI) Kerberos implementations are supported. Kerberos Server Side plugin used for Microsoft AD integration with MySQL is only available for MySQL Enterprise Edition from 8.0.26. ## **Integrate existing AD to MySQL Enterprise hosted in Linux in 3 steps** Prerequisites - Microsoft AD or Azure AD. - Sufficient privileges to create a AD user in Windows AD Domain Controller or Azure. - Connectivity between Domain Controller (DC) to Linux Server. Appropriate TCP/UDP ports needs to be allowed, and whitelisted to Security Groups or Firewalls. - ~ Windows AD DNS port: 53 - ~ Windows AD Kerberos port: 88,750 - ~ MySQL Server port for Client: Default 3306. For example below we have used Microsoft AD implementation from AWS Directory Services. For creating a new AD in AWS  please refer [Active Directory – AWS Directory Service – AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/). ### **Enable Kerberos in Linux and authenticate to Active Directory Server** - Install Kerberos Client Libraries in MySQL Server.   `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$ sudo yum install krb5-workstation` - Obtain AD Domain Controller Server IP address by login to AD Server.     `PS C:\Users\admin> Get-ADDomainController ComputerObjectDN           : CN=IP-C6130110,OU=Domain Controllers,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com DefaultPartition           : DC=tessellpoc,DC=com Domain                     : tessellpoc.com Enabled                    : True Forest                     : tessellpoc.com HostName                   : IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com InvocationId               : 94ec4b1f-b172-47fd-8f84-a7538a2f27ce IPv4Address                : 172.31.19.107 IPv6Address                : IsGlobalCatalog            : True IsReadOnly                 : False LdapPort                   : 389 Name                       : IP-C6130110 NTDSSettingsObjectDN       : CN=NTDS Settings,CN=IP-C6130110,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com OperatingSystem            : Windows Server 2019 Datacenter OperatingSystemHotfix      : OperatingSystemServicePack : OperatingSystemVersion     : 10.0 (17763) OperationMasterRoles       : {SchemaMaster, DomainNamingMaster, PDCEmulator, RIDMaster...} Partitions                 : {DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com, DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com, CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com, CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com...} ServerObjectDN             : CN=IP-C6130110,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com ServerObjectGuid           : 6ad48e82-e469-49ec-8f53-fd05a7a3eb91 Site                       : Default-First-Site-Name SslPort                    : 636 PS C:\Users\admin>` - Test whether telnet successful to DC from MySQL Server. - ~ Make a manual entry in /etc/hosts file in in MySQL Server if unable to resolve DNS `172.13.19.107 IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com` - Configure Kerberos Client file (krb5.conf) as following. - ~ Configure REALM name (in uppercase). - ~ default_realm if needed to authenticate with only user name instead of user@REALM - ~ default_enctypes, permitted_enctypes as per requirement. We are using AES256_CTS - 256 bit encryption that is compatible in current use case. - ~ More info: [krb5.conf — MIT Kerberos Documentation](https://web.mit.edu/kerberos/krb5-1.12/doc/admin/conf_files/krb5_conf.html)   `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$ more /etc/krb5.conf # To opt out of the system crypto-policies configuration of krb5, remove the # symlink at /etc/krb5.conf.d/crypto-policies which will not be recreated. includedir /etc/krb5.conf.d/ [logging]    default = FILE:/var/log/krb5libs.log    kdc = FILE:/var/log/krb5kdc.log    admin_server = FILE:/var/log/kadmind.log [libdefaults]    dns_lookup_realm = true    ticket_lifetime = 24h    renew_lifetime = 7d    forwardable = true    rdns = true    pkinit_anchors = FILE:/etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt    spake_preauth_groups = edwards25519    default_realm = TESSELLPOC.COM    default_ccache_name = KEYRING:persistent:%{uid}    default_tgs_enctypes = rc4-hmac des3-hmac-sha1 arcfour-hmac des-hmac-sha1 des-cbc-md5 des-cbc-crc    default_tkt_enctypes = rc4-hmac des3-hmac-sha1 arcfour-hmac des-hmac-sha1 des-cbc-md5 des-cbc-crc    permitted_enctypes = rc4-hmac des3-hmac-sha1 arcfour-hmac des-hmac-sha1 des-cbc-md5 des-cbc-crc aes256-cts-hmac-sha1-96 aes256-cts-hmac-sha384-192 camellia256-cts-cmac aes128-cts-hmac-sha1-96 aes128-cts-hmac-sha256-128 camellia128-cts-cmac [realms]    TESSELLPOC.COM = {      kdc = IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com      admin_server = IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com      default_domain = TESSELLPOC.COM  } [domain_realm] .tessellpoc.com = TESSELLPOC.COM tessellpoc.com = TESSELLPOC.COM` - Create AD user in Windows AD. This user is also going to be used for connecting to MySQL Server. Ignore if user is already created.   `PS C:\Users\admin> $splat = @{ >>     Name = 'mysqladuser' >>     AccountPassword = ( ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText 'R3allyStr0ngPa$$w0rD' -Force) >>     EmailAddress = 'mysqladuser@tessellpoc.com' >>     PasswordNeverExpires = 1 >>     KerberosEncryptionType = 'AES128, AES256' >>     ChangePasswordAtLogon = 0 >>     Enabled = $true >> } PS C:\Users\admin> New-ADUser @splat` KerberosEncryptionType variable needs to adjusted as per encryption method configured. - Test AD user authentication in Linux server using kinit.   `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$ kinit mysqladuser@TESSELLPOC.COM -V Using existing cache: 1000 Using principal: mysqladuser@TESSELLPOC.COM Password for mysqladuser@TESSELLPOC.COM: Authenticated to Kerberos v5 [ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$` ### **Enable Kerberos Server Side plugin in MySQL Enterprise** - Server side plugin file authentication_kerberos.so is already present with MySQL Enterprise software distribution under /lib/plugin/ - ~ Modify or Add following Server side variables in my.cnf.   `[mysqld] plugin-load-add=authentication_kerberos.so authentication_kerberos_service_principal=mysql/IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com@TESSELLPOC.COM authentication_kerberos_service_key_tab=/mysql/data/data/mysql.keytab` Format for SPN is <service name>/<AD Server>@<REALM NAME> - Alternatively we can load the plugin at runtime using below steps.   `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 plugin]$ mysqlsh root@localhost:3306 --sql MySQL Shell 8.0.33 Copyright (c) 2016, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Type '\help' or '\?' for help; '\quit' to exit. Creating a session to 'root@localhost:3306' Fetching global names for auto-completion... Press ^C to stop. Your MySQL connection id is 404 Server version: 8.0.34 MySQL Community Server - GPL No default schema selected; type \use schema to set one. MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > INSTALL PLUGIN authentication_kerberos SONAME 'authentication_kerberos.so'; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.0181 sec) MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > SET PERSIST authentication_kerberos_service_principal='mysql/IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com@TESSELLPOC.COM'; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.0029 sec)` - Check Plugin status   `MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > SELECT PLUGIN_NAME, PLUGIN_STATUS FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.PLUGINS WHERE PLUGIN_NAME = 'authentication_kerberos'; +-------------------------+---------------+ | PLUGIN_NAME             | PLUGIN_STATUS | +-------------------------+---------------+ | authentication_Kerberos | ACTIVE        | +-------------------------+---------------+ 1 row in set (0.0008 sec) MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL >` - Create MySQL User with same user name as AD user as below. You can repeat this for `MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > CREATE USER mysqladuser IDENTIFIED WITH 'authentication_kerberos' BY 'TESSELLPOC.COM'; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.0068 sec)` ### **Map MySQL SPN to AD user for authentication** - In Windows AD, create a keytab file for AD user and map it with MySQL Kerberos SPN (Service Principal Name).  Only one user can be mapped to SPN. Typically this user should be MySQL master/admin user or AD Admin user.  ` PS C:\Users\admin> ktpass -out mysql.keytab -princ  mysql/IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com@TESSELLPOC.COM -ptype KRB5_NT_PRINCIPAL -mapuser pguser -pass Tessell@123 /crypto AES256-SHA1 Targeting domain controller: IP-C61302BA.tessellpoc.com Using legacy password setting method Successfully mapped mysql/IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com to mysql_aduser. Key created. Output keytab to mysql.keytab: Keytab version: 0x502 keysize 98 mysql/IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com@TESSELLPOC.COM ptype 1 (KRB5_NT_PRINCIPAL) vno 10 etype 0x12 (AES256-SHA1) keylength 32 (0xb381c1832113e68417bd7d70d082e42f068c8eea5ce059a6ec0cb3aad613bbf1) PS C:\Users\admin>` - Copy Keytab file to MySQL Server directory as mentioned in the MySQL variable. This will validate SPN registered in MySQL variable with the AD Server.     `MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > show global variables like '%key%tab%'; +-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+ | Variable_name                           | Value                         | +-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+ | authentication_kerberos_service_key_tab | /mysql/data/data/mysql.keytab | +-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+` - Ensure permissions and owner for mysql.keytab file     `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 data]$ sudo chown mysql:mysql mysql.keytab` - Get TGT tickets using kinit and klist in Linux Server.   `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$ kinit mysqladuser@TESSELLPOC.COM -V Using default cache: 1000 Using principal: mysqladuser@TESSELLPOC.COM Password for mysqladuser@TESSELLPOC.COM: Authenticated to Kerberos v5` - Validate if TGT ticket is available and created    `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$ klist -A Ticket cache: KCM:1000 Default principal: mysqladuser@TESSELLPOC.COM Valid starting     Expires            Service principal 01/23/24 11:34:01  01/23/24 21:34:01  krbtgt/TESSELLPOC.COM@TESSELLPOC.COM renew until 01/30/24 11:33:56 [ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$` - Use MySQL Client to authenticate. Here we are using the MySQL client which resides in the MySQL Server.   `[ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$ mysql -h mysqladdocumentation-aekjt.cs.tessell-stage.com  -u mysqladuser --default-auth='authentication_kerberos_client' --plugin-dir='/mysqlbin/lib/plugin' --password Enter password: Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g. Your MySQL connection id is 437 Server version: 8.0.34 MySQL Community Server - GPL Copyright (c) 2000, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement. mysql> SHOW DATABASES; +--------------------+ | Database           | +--------------------+ | information_schema | | performance_schema | +--------------------+ 2 rows in set (0.01 sec) mysql>` - Login success with Kerberos based AD authentication. - For use with client different with Server host, follow same steps for enabling Kerberos client in Linux. We can now successfully integrate AD authentication leveraging advanced security features and ease of user credential management using readily available plugins for MySQL Enterprise edition. ‍ ### FAQs **What is MySQL Kerberos authentication?** MySQL Kerberos authentication is an Enterprise Edition method available from MySQL 8.0.26 that lets users authenticate using Kerberos tickets, integrating MySQL with Microsoft Active Directory or Azure AD. **How does MySQL integrate with Active Directory?** MySQL integrates with Active Directory through the authentication_kerberos.so plugin, mapping a Service Principal Name (SPN) to an AD user via a keytab file generated using ktpass on the Domain Controller. **What ports are required for MySQL Kerberos authentication with AD?** MySQL Kerberos authentication with Active Directory requires DNS port 53, Kerberos ports 88 and 750, and the MySQL client port (default 3306) open between the Domain Controller and Linux server. **What Kerberos implementations does MySQL support?** MySQL supports both MIT (GSSAPI) and Microsoft (SSPI) Kerberos implementations, with the Server Side plugin for Microsoft AD integration available only in MySQL Enterprise Edition from version 8.0.26. **How do you enable the Kerberos plugin in MySQL?** The Kerberos plugin is enabled by adding plugin-load-add=authentication_kerberos.so, authentication_kerberos_service_principal, and authentication_kerberos_service_key_tab to my.cnf, or by running INSTALL PLUGIN authentication_kerberos SONAME at runtime. --- ## microsoft-active-directory-authentication-using-ldap-for-mysql-enterprise URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/microsoft-active-directory-authentication-using-ldap-for-mysql-enterprise Last updated: 2026-08-24 ## **Introduction** MySQL Enterprise Edition supports an authentication method that enables MySQL Server to use LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) to authenticate MySQL users by accessing directory services such as X.500. MySQL uses LDAP to fetch user, credential, and group information. The same user names, passwords and permissions can be used to enhance the security by leveraging existing AD rules for strong password enforcement, password expiry, etc. LDAP authentication enables MySQL Server to accept connections from users defined outside the MySQL grant tables in LDAP directories. ## **Integrate existing AD to MySQL Enterprise hosted in Linux in 2 steps** Prerequisites - Microsoft AD or Azure AD. - Sufficient privileges to create a AD user in Windows AD Domain Controller or Azure. - Connectivity between Domain Controller (DC) to Linux Server. Appropriate TCP/UDP ports needs to be allowed, and whitelisted to Security Groups or Firewalls. - ~ Windows AD DNS port: 53 - ~ Windows AD LDAP port: 389 - ~ MySQL Server port for Client: Default 3306. - For this experiment, we used AD domain/forest as [tessellpoc.com](http://tessellpoc.com/) and user as <[user_name>@tessellpoc.com](mailto:user@tessellpoc.com) for credentials. For example below we have used Microsoft AD implementation from AWS Directory Services. For creating a new AD in AWS please refer [Active Directory – AWS Directory Service – AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/). ### **Enable/Install LDAP Client Libraries in Linux OS** - Install openldap Client Libraries in MySQL Server. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     [ec2-user@ip-10-10-60-217 ~]$ sudo yum install openldap-clients.x86_64 - Obtain AD Domain Controller Server IP address by login to AD Server. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     PS C:\Users\admin> Get-ADDomainController ComputerObjectDN           : CN=IP-C6130110,OU=Domain Controllers,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com DefaultPartition           : DC=tessellpoc,DC=com Domain                     : tessellpoc.com Enabled                    : True Forest                     : tessellpoc.com HostName                   : IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com InvocationId               : 94ec4b1f-b172-47fd-8f84-a7538a2f27ce IPv4Address                : 172.31.19.107 IPv6Address                : IsGlobalCatalog            : True IsReadOnly                 : False LdapPort                   : 389 Name                       : IP-C6130110 NTDSSettingsObjectDN       : CN=NTDS Settings,CN=IP-C6130110,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com OperatingSystem            : Windows Server 2019 Datacenter OperatingSystemHotfix      : OperatingSystemServicePack : OperatingSystemVersion     : 10.0 (17763) OperationMasterRoles       : {SchemaMaster, DomainNamingMaster, PDCEmulator, RIDMaster...} Partitions                 : {DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com, DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com, CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com, CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com...} ServerObjectDN             : CN=IP-C6130110,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com ServerObjectGuid           : 6ad48e82-e469-49ec-8f53-fd05a7a3eb91 Site                       : Default-First-Site-Name SslPort                    : 636 PS C:\Users\admin> - Test whether telnet is successful to DC (Port: 389) from MySQL Server. - ~ Make a manual entry in /etc/hosts file in in MySQL Server if unable to resolve DNS Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     172.13.19.107 IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com - Test ldap authentication by using `ldapsearch` to AD Server. - `~ ldapsearch` using SIMPLE authentication. For example below we have user `john.smith@tessellpoc.com` registered in AD Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     [ec2-user@ip-10-10-54-42 ~]$ ldapsearch -x  -h 172.31.19.107 -D "cn=john smith, ou=users, ou=tessell, dc=tessellpoc, dc=com" -b "cn=john smith, ou=users, ou=tessell, dc=tessellpoc, dc=com" -W Enter LDAP Password: # extended LDIF # # LDAPv3 # base cn=john smith, ou=users, ou=tessell, dc=tessellpoc, dc=com with scope subtree # filter: (objectclass=*) # requesting: ALL # # john smith, Users, tessell, tessellpoc.com dn: CN=john smith,OU=Users,OU=tessell,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com objectClass: top objectClass: person objectClass: organizationalPerson objectClass: user cn: john smith sn: smith givenName: john distinguishedName: CN=john smith,OU=Users,OU=tessell,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com instanceType: 4 whenCreated: 20240131120639.0Z whenChanged: 20240131121658.0Z displayName: john smith uSNCreated: 59907 uSNChanged: 59953 name: john smith objectGUID:: 4s0CMuyRo0ecQ6MvPpvGPQ== userAccountControl: 512 badPwdCount: 0 codePage: 0 countryCode: 0 badPasswordTime: 133518346365243210 lastLogon: 133518346452412448 pwdLastSet: 133511763990930643 primaryGroupID: 513 objectSid:: AQUAAAAAAAUVAAAAbQoP3GssrQfjyE8lXwYAAA== accountExpires: 9223372036854775807 logonCount: 0 sAMAccountName: john.smith sAMAccountType: 805306368 userPrincipalName: john.smith@tessellpoc.com objectCategory: CN=Person,CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com dSCorePropagationData: 16010101000000.0Z lastLogonTimestamp: 133511770189880265 # search result search: 2 result: 0 Success # numResponses: 2 # numEntries: 1 ### **Enable LDAP Server Side plugin in MySQL Enterprise** - MySQL supports two types of authentication methods using LDAP - LDAP Simple and LDAP SASL. We will demonstrate the use of LDAP Simple method due to its compatibility with Microsoft AD Server. - Server side plugin file authentication_ldap_simple.so is already present with MySQL Enterprise software distribution under `/lib/plugin/` - ~ Modify or Add following Server side variables in `my.cnf` Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     [mysqld] plugin-load-add=authentication_ldap_simple.so authentication_ldap_simple_server_host="IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com" authentication_ldap_simple_bind_base_dn="OU=Users,OU=tessell,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com" - Alternatively we can load the plugin at runtime using below steps. Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     MySQL Shell 8.0.33 Copyright (c) 2016, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Type '\help' or '\?' for help; '\quit' to exit. Creating a session to 'root@localhost:3306' Fetching global names for auto-completion... Press ^C to stop. Your MySQL connection id is 23 Server version: 8.0.33-commercial MySQL Enterprise Server - Commercial No default schema selected; type \use schema to set one. MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > INSTALL PLUGIN authentication_ldap_simple SONAME 'authentication_ldap_simple.so'; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.0047 sec) MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > SET PERSIST authentication_ldap_simple_server_host="IP-C6130110.tessellpoc.com"; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.0024 sec) MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > SET PERSIST authentication_ldap_simple_bind_base_dn="OU=Users,OU=tessell,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com" ; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.0026 sec) MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > - Check Plugin status Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > SELECT PLUGIN_NAME, PLUGIN_STATUS FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.PLUGINS WHERE PLUGIN_NAME LIKE '%ldap%'; +----------------------------+---------------+ | PLUGIN_NAME                | PLUGIN_STATUS | +----------------------------+---------------+ | authentication_ldap_simple | ACTIVE        | +----------------------------+---------------+ 1 row in set (0.0008 sec) - Create MySQL User with same user name as AD user as below. You can repeat this for all the users to be added for accessing databases. - ~ The Distinguished Name suffix you can obtain from AD Server using ldapsearch (example given above). - ~ For `john.smith@tessellpoc.com` we have DN as `CN=john smith,OU=Users,OU=tessell,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com` Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     MySQL  localhost:3306 ssl  SQL > CREATE USER 'john.smith' IDENTIFIED WITH authentication_ldap_simple AS 'CN=john smith,OU=Users,OU=tessell,DC=tessellpoc,DC=com'; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.0108 sec) - Use MySQL Client to authenticate. Here we are using the MySQL client which resides in the MySQL Server. - ~ For LDAP simple authentication configured with the use of server-side authentication_ldap_simple plugin, invoke client programs (mysql client) with the --enable-cleartext-plugin option to enable the client-side mysql_clear_password plugin. For example below: Copy Code      Copied to clipboard!     [ec2-user@ip-10-10-54-42 ~]$ mysql -u 'john.smith' -p --enable-cleartext-plugin --protocol=tcp Enter password: Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g. Your MySQL connection id is 49 Server version: 8.0.33-commercial MySQL Enterprise Server - Commercial Copyright (c) 2000, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement. mysql> We can now successfully integrate AD authentication using LDAP leveraging advanced security features and ease of user credential management using readily available plugins for MySQL Enterprise edition. References: [MySQL :: MySQL 8.0 Reference Manual :: 6.4.1.7 LDAP Pluggable Authentication](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/ldap-pluggable-authentication.html) ‍ --- ## announcing-tessell-technical-advisory-board URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessell-technical-advisory-board Last updated: 2026-08-24 We are excited to announce the launch of our Technical Advisory Board, an initiative aimed at fostering collaboration and innovation within the database community. As stewards of a databases, we recognize the invaluable insights and expertise our community members bring to the table. That's why we're inviting you to join us in shaping the future of managed Tessell DBaaS platform. **Why Join?** By becoming a member of our Technical Advisory Board, you'll have the opportunity to directly influence the development of DBaaS offerings at Tessell. Your input will help us prioritize features, address pain points, and ensure that our product roadmap aligns with the needs of our diverse user base. Whether you're a seasoned developer, a database administrator, or simply a passionate database user, your perspective is invaluable to us. **What to Expect** As a member of the Technical Advisory Board, you'll have access to: - **Exclusive sneak peeks:** Be the first to preview upcoming features and enhancements of Tessell platform. - **Direct communication channels: **Engage with our development team and fellow community members in dedicated forums and discussions. - **Impactful decision-making**: Help shape the direction of the DBaaS platform by providing feedback, sharing insights, and suggesting new ideas. **How to Join** Participation in the Technical Advisory Board is open to all members of the database community. If you're interested in contributing your expertise and shaping the future of our databases, please drop us a note [here](http://www.tessell.com/landing/join-the-tessell-technical-advisory-board). We welcome participants from all backgrounds and experience levels. Get involved today**, **together we can continue to innovate and push the boundaries of what's possible with databases. **About Tessell** Tessell is a cloud-native DBaaS that is revolutionizing data infrastructure and management for cloud-born and cloud-defining enterprises. Tessell works well with both AWS and Azure and offers self-service access based on policies, DevOps integration, full production monitoring, and lifecycle management for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Milvus, and MongoDB database engines. Leveraging the high-performance NVMe storage capabilities of the cloud, Tessell excels in handling demanding production workloads and optimizing database consolidation for maximum economic efficiency. Tessell’s robust, cross-region replication capabilities and high-performance data infrastructure make it the optimal choice for hosting mission-critical databases. With an intuitive deployment process that eliminates manual data management tasks, Tessell liberates developers and data engineers to focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, and driving business triumphs. ‍ --- ## postgresql-16-whats-new---part-ii URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-16-whats-new---part-ii Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the first part of our series on the features of PostgreSQL 16, we delved into a detailed discussion about the significant upgrades that have been made to PostgreSQL. These improvements included the implementation of `Effective Parallel Joins`, the introduction of `SQL/JSON`standard functions, changes to the `Incremental Sort`feature, and the establishment of`Custom Collation Rules`. These enhancements have significantly boosted the performance and functionality of PostgreSQL, solidifying its place as a leading choice for database management. This blog post serves as a continuation to the previous discussion, and in it, we will be exploring additional major improvements that have been integrated into the PostgreSQL 16 release. PostgreSQL 16 introduces a new`libpq `connection option,`load_balance_hosts`. This feature is particularly useful when an application needs to connect to multiple target nodes randomly to execute SQL queries. For instance, consider running a series of SQL queries on a group of read replicas `synchronized `with the primary node. This approach will yield better results, as it prevents all application queries from hitting the same replica or a limited set of servers. We can also balance the report-related SQL queries by using one primary and one replica node, instead of always relying on the reporting server to produce the data. Consider below example, where we are trying make a random connections to the primary, replica node by using the `load_balance_hosts `connection option. Below are the server details. 1. 10.27.62.66 - Primary 2. 10.27.62.150 - Replica Now, let's randomly establish a connection to these servers using the `load_balance_hosts `connection option. We'll use the client `psql `to do this. Alternatively, we can use the latest JDBC or Python drivers to connect to the specified hosts. Set the environment variables that `psql `recognises. `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ export PGDATABASE=db1 [postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ export PGHOSTS=10.27.62.150,10.27.62.66 [postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ export PGUSER=master [postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ export PGPASSWORD=Tessell123` Now, let's establish a connection to one of the `PGHOSTS `using the `load_balance_hosts `connection option. Try executing the query below with `psql `which connects to `postgres `and prints the server IP address. Note that the connection is made randomly to the server. `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql -h $PGHOSTS -c "select inet_server_addr()" 'load_balance_hosts=random' inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.66 (1 row)` Now, attempt to connect to the server and check if it connects to the same host or a different one.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql -h $PGHOSTS -c "select inet_server_addr()" 'load_balance_hosts=random' inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.150 (1 row)` As you see above, the client made a connection to the different instance and it gave a different ip address. Now, try by shutting down one of the pg instance and see how the connections are making to the servers.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ pg_ctl -D /pgsql/data/data/ stop -mf waiting for server to shut down.... done server stopped [postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql -h $PGHOSTS -c "select inet_server_addr()" 'load_balance_hosts=random' inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.150 (1 row)` `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql -h $PGHOSTS -c "select inet_server_addr()" 'load_balance_hosts=random' inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.150 (1 row)` As you can see, even after the primary node is shut down, psql can still route its request to the next available Postgres instance. The above demonstration provides a basic understanding of the `load_balance_hosts `operation. We can apply this example to real-world applications where we have a group of read-write and read-only instances. Consider a scenario with multiple logically `sharded `PG instances. Some servers handle both read and write requests, while others only handle read requests. If two services are constantly communicating with these two groups of instances, you can use the `target_session_attrs `connection option. Used with the `load_balance_hosts `option, it always directs the connection to the correct group of nodes. `PGHOSTS=ReadWrite1, ReadWrite2, ReadWrite3, ReadOnly1, ReadOnly2, ReadOnly3 PGDATABASE=db1 PGUSER=master PGPASSWORD=Tessell123` Now, we can configure one service to randomly communicate with an available `read-write `instance by specifying `target_session_attrs=read-write`. Similarly, we can configure another service to consistently connect with an available `read-only `instance by specifying `target_session_attrs=read-only`. For example, consider below `psql `connection, where we always connect to `a randomly available read-write `instance always.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql -h $PGHOSTS -c "select inet_server_addr()" 'load_balance_hosts=random target_session_attrs=read-write' inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.66 (1 row)` As you see in the above example, we specified`read-write`option to the `target_session_attrs `connection option. To connect to the read only instances, then we have to use the`read-only`option to `target_session_attrs `option as like below.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql -h $PGHOSTS -c "select inet_server_addr()" 'load_balance_hosts=random target_session_attrs=read-only' inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.150 (1 row)` If there are no available read-write or read-only servers to establish a connection, the client will throw the following error message. This error occurs, for example, when all read-only instances are shut down and a database connection is attempted.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql -h $PGHOSTS -c "select inet_server_addr()" 'load_balance_hosts=random target_session_attrs=read-write' psql: error: connection to server at "10.27.62.66", port 5432 failed: Connection refused` Is the server running on that host and accepting TCP/IP connections? connection to server at "10.27.62.150", port 5432 failed: session is read-only In conclusion, the newly introduced `load_balance_hosts `connection option, when used with `target_session_attrs`, effectively routes connections to a target group of servers. This allows the application to direct database connections to target servers randomly, eliminating the need for a middle proxy. This impressive feature, provided by PostgreSQL, enables JDBC apps to randomly route their requests to a cluster of instances. ## Require auth In PostgreSQL 16, a new client connection option,`require_auth`, has been introduced. This option allows for enabling SASL (Simple Authentication Secure Layer) for non `SSL`,`SCRAM-SHA-256 `authentication modes. If `channel_binding `is used in`SSL`,`SCRAM-SHA-256`, the SASL authentication is enforced. In simpler terms,`SASL`enables the server and client to reach a common agreement. The server first approves the type of authentication sent by the client before exchanging authorization details, such as the password. This usually happens during`channel_binding`with`SSL`and`SCRAM-SHA-256`. Now, non-SSL authentications like md5, password, gss, and scram-sha-256 follow a similar approach with the help of`require_auth`. To keep this simple, let’s configure`pg_hba.conf`entry as to allow all the connections from all the users has to be authenticated by scram-sha-256 password. Below is the entry, which we configure in the database systems.     `host    all             all             0.0.0.0/0              scram-sha-256` If an application tries to connect using the `password `authentication mode (plain text), the server should reject it. This is because the server is configured to accept connections that authenticate solely by `scram-sha-256`, not by any other authentication modes. Now, attempt to connect to this server using the `password`in`require_auth `mode from the application side, as shown below.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 data]$ psql -h 10.27.62.66 -c "SELECT 1"  'dbname=postgres user=master require_auth=password' psql: error: connection to server at "10.27.62.66", port 5432 failed: authentication method requirement "password" failed: server requested SASL authentication` As shown above, the connection fails due to the`password`authentication mode. The server only accepts `scram-sha-256`, adding an extra layer of security to application connections. Here,`SASL`validates the authentication mode against the entries in`pg_hba.conf`before allowing the application to send all its data back to the server. The`require_auth`connection option triggers authentication mode validation in the PostgreSQL server, and only the server sends a response back to the client. This ensures that the server validates client authentication, preventing potential client request hijacking. The client connection can specify a list of authentication modes to be evaluated from the`pg_hba.conf`file. If one of these modes is present in the`pg_hba.conf`entries, the server will send a SASL acceptance. For example, in the below case, we listed the list of authentications which server has to validate against the`pg_hba.conf` `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 data]$ psql -h 10.27.62.66 -c "select inet_server_addr()"  'dbname=postgres user=master require_auth=scram-sha-256,md5' Password for user master: inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.66 (1 row)` Please note that if`pg_hba.conf`uses`md5`and the user's password is generated by SCRAM, then the user's`SCRAM`will be verified instead of`md5`. The`negate`operator can be used to deny specific authentication modes, allowing only those that the server is configured to accept. For instance, if a user is set to disallow`password`and`md5`, but support all other authentication methods,`require_auth`can be set as`!password,!md5`.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 data]$ psql -h 10.27.62.66 -c "select inet_server_addr()"  'dbname=postgres user=master require_auth=!password,!md5' Password for user master: inet_server_addr ------------------ 10.27.62.66 (1 row)` In summary, the`require_auth`connection significantly enhances the security of application connections by verifying the authentication mode with the server. ## Explain generic In PostgreSQL 16, a new option,`GENERIC_PLAN`, is added to the`EXPLAIN`plan. This allows us to generate execution plans for queries that include parameter placeholders like`$1`,`$2`. Previously, generating the execution plan for such queries was a bit cumbersome, requiring us to replace all query placeholders with actual values before using the`EXPLAIN`command. Consider the example below, where`GENERIC_PLAN`is used to obtain the execution plan of a SQL query.   `postgres=# EXPLAIN (GENERIC_PLAN ON) SELECT * FROM pg_class WHERE relname=$1;                                         QUERY PLAN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Index Scan using pg_class_relname_nsp_index on pg_class  (cost=0.27..8.29 rows=1 width=273)   Index Cond: (relname = $1) (2 rows)` In the example above, we obtained the index plan of the submitted SQL query. Here, an index scan is performed on the`pg_class`table as to retrieve the`relname`records. Without GENERIC_PLAN, we would be getting error message like below as the placeholder value is required to generate the plan. `postgres=# EXPLAIN (GENERIC_PLAN OFF) SELECT * FROM pg_class WHERE relname=$1; ERROR:  there is no parameter $1 LINE 1: ... (GENERIC_PLAN OFF) SELECT * FROM pg_class WHERE relname=$1;` This option is useful for debugging SQL queries, which are logged into the database logs. Here, we only see queries with placeholders like`$1`,`$2`instead of the actual values. This option also applies to SQL queries without query placeholders. For instance, consider the usecase below. `postgres=# EXPLAIN (GENERIC_PLAN ON) SELECT * FROM pg_class WHERE relname='test';                                         QUERY PLAN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Index Scan using pg_class_relname_nsp_index on pg_class  (cost=0.27..8.29 rows=1 width=273)   Index Cond: (relname = 'test'::name) (2 rows)` ## Logical replication - replica PostgreSQL 16 introduces a remarkable feature allowing users to obtain the logical stream of changes from the replica node. In other words, the physical replica node can stream logical changes to the downstream using logical replication slots. This is not to be confused with cascade replication, where one replica transfers its changes, received from the primary node, to another replica. In this instance, we are streaming the logical changes via the logical replication slots. This feature allows us to create a PUBLICATION on the primary node and subscribe to the replica to receive these changes. Alternatively, we can also create a dedicated logical replication slot, usually only found on the primary node, on the replica node. This feature can help offload work from the primary node, which is responsible for processing and sending the stream of changes to subscribers. Consider below example, where we create the logical replication slot on replica node, and subscriber to it.   `postgres=# SELECT pg_create_logical_replication_slot('logical_replica', 'test_decoding'); pg_create_logical_replication_slot ------------------------------------ (logical_replica,5/8B0001B0) (1 row)` `postgres=# SELECT pg_is_in_recovery(); pg_is_in_recovery ------------------- t (1 row) postgres=# SHOW wal_level; wal_level ----------- logical (1 row)` As seen in the above output, we have created a logical replication slot on the replica node. To enable this logical replication, ensure that the`wal_level`on the replica node is set to`logical`. Next, start the`pg_recvlogical`process to retrieve these streams from the replica node, as shown below. `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-150 ~]$ pg_recvlogical -h -d postgres -S logical_replica -f - --start` Then, go to the primary node, create a`test`table, and perform some`insert`operations into this table.   `postgres=# CREATE TABLE test(t INT); CREATE TABLE postgres=# INSERT INTO test VALUES(2); INSERT 0 1 postgres=# SELECT pg_is_in_recovery(); pg_is_in_recovery ------------------- f (1 row)` Finally, observe the`pg_recvlogical`process, which retrieves these values via the`logical`replication slot.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-150 ~]$ pg_recvlogical -h -d postgres -S logical_replica -f - --no-loop --start BEGIN 1936 COMMIT 1936 BEGIN 1937 table public.test: INSERT: t[integer]:2 COMMIT 1937` As demonstrated above, we can fetch the stream of changes that occurred on the primary. However, the replication slot is actually created on the replica. Please note, if the`replication slot`we created is inactive or its subscriber is inactive, the replica node will retain all necessary WAL files in the`pg_wal`directory. The`primary`will not have this information and will not maintain these WAL data. Another added feature is that`SUBSCRIBERS`can now utilize parallel workers. This set of parallel workers is designed to consume data from`PUBLISHERS`, significantly improving the handling of large data streams from`PUBLISHER`nodes. ## New I/O catalog - pg_stat_io In PostgreSQL, there are several dedicated worker processes. For instance,`autovacuum worker`is a process that logically reclaims disk space from underlying tables. Another process,`checkpointer worker`, flushes dirty buffers from memory to disk. The`background worker`process manages`shared_buffers`by routinely cleaning up memory. This includes flushing dirty buffers and determining which buffers need to be cleared for memory reuse. The role of these worker processes is to maintain the stability of the Database system. They achieve this by storing data in memory and sometimes on persistent disks. All these workers will be busy, either reading from the disk or writing into it, depending on the database request. Essentially, what all these workers are doing is I/O. That is, read data from disk or write data into the disk. In PostgreSQL 16, there's a new catalog table,`pg_stat_io`, that tracks all the I/O requests made by each worker process. This is extremely useful for analyzing which backend worker is generating more I/O in the system, allowing for more informed decision-making based on trends. For instance, if the`checkpointer worker`is causing heavy writes into the system, we may decide to adjust this setting to conduct longer`checkpoint`operations. This I/O tracking is particularly beneficial in cloud environments, where services are billed based on IOPS. We can use it to determine which backend is generating more IOPS in the system. Let's run a simple`pgbench`test and observe the`IOPS`footprint on the system. We can use the`pg_stat_io`catalog table to see how each backend behaves. Start by restarting the database to flush all the`shared_buffers`and then run the`pgbench`command.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ pg_ctl -D /pgsql/data/data/ restart waiting for server to shut down...... done server stopped waiting for server to start....2024-02-15 15:43:10.325 GMT [283792] LOG:  redirecting log output to logging collector process 2024-02-15 15:43:10.325 GMT [283792] HINT:  Future log output will appear in directory "log". done server started` Before running the benchmark, reset all the previous`IO`related statuses using the SQL query below. `postgres=# SELECT pg_stat_reset_shared('io'); pg_stat_reset_shared ---------------------- (1 row)` Let's confirm that all the read and write counters are set to`0`before we run the benchmark.   `postgres=# SELECT SUM(reads) as reads, SUM(writes+extends) as writes FROM pg_stat_io; reads | writes -------+--------     0 |      0 (1 row)` Run the benchmark with the following command:   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ pgbench -c 20 -T 100 pgbench (16.1) starting vacuum...end. transaction type: scaling factor: 1 query mode: simple number of clients: 20 number of threads: 1 maximum number of tries: 1 duration: 100 s number of transactions actually processed: 81992 number of failed transactions: 0 (0.000%) latency average = 24.399 ms initial connection time = 44.747 ms tps = 819.708802 (without initial connection time)` After the test completes, let's see what kind of I/O PostgreSQL performed on this database system. Use the same SQL query above to calculate the IOPS in the database system.   `[postgres@ip-10-27-62-66 ~]$ psql psql (16.1) Type "help" for help. postgres=# SELECT SUM(reads) as reads, SUM(writes+extends) as writes FROM pg_stat_io; reads | writes -------+--------  2476 |    580 (1 row)` As you can see, the test ran for`100`seconds and produced a total of`2476`reads and`580`write operations. This totals to`3056`IOPS for 100 seconds, which means we produced`30 IOPS`on this system with`20`concurrent users. Please note that these are approximate calculations. The`pg_stat_io`view only calculates the`IO`actions performed on the database files. It does not account for the`IO`used when writing the`temp`files. Hence, consider this`IOPS`value as an approximate rather than a complete`IOPS`value. Apart from the above major features what we discussed, there are other major improvements in the logical dumps (`pg_dump`), where PostgreSQL started supporting the ZSTD, LZ4 compression algorithms for taking the logical dumps. This significantly improves the compression and the logical dump time when compared to the default widely used`gzip`compression algorithm. There are a few new roles introduced as well: 1. `pg_create_subscriptions` 2. Users or groups with this permission can now create subscriptions in the database. 3. `pg_use_reserved_connections` 4. Users or groups with this privilege can now utilize connections defined in the`reserved_connections`number of connections. In`VACUUM`, there are three additional flags that manage the updating of database statistics about the oldest unfrozen xids. The`SKIP_DATABASE_STATS`and`ONLY_DATABASE_STATS`flags allow you to control when these statistics are updated by the`VACUUM`job. The`BUFFER_USAGE_LIMIT`flag lets you allocate a portion of`shared_buffers`for the`VACUUM`job. In summary, PostgreSQL 16 introduces several new features and improvements. The`load_balance_hosts`connection option allows applications to connect to multiple target nodes randomly, improving load balancing. The`require_auth`option enhances security by enabling SASL for non SSL, SCRAM-SHA-256 authentication modes. The`GENERIC_PLAN`option in the`EXPLAIN`plan allows for generating execution plans for queries with parameter placeholders. Logical replication can now be obtained from the replica node, offloading work from the primary node. The new catalog table`pg_stat_io`tracks all I/O requests made by each worker process, aiding in performance analysis. Other improvements include support for ZSTD, LZ4 compression algorithms in logical dumps, new roles for creating subscriptions and using reserved connections, and additional flags in`VACUUM`for managing database statistics. ### FAQs **What is load_balance_hosts in PostgreSQL 16?** load_balance_hosts is a new libpq connection option in PostgreSQL 16 that randomly distributes client connections across multiple target nodes, eliminating the need for a middle proxy in JDBC and Python applications. **What is require_auth in PostgreSQL 16?** require_auth is a PostgreSQL 16 client connection option that enables SASL for non-SSL SCRAM-SHA-256 authentication, validating authentication modes against pg_hba.conf before exchanging credentials. **What does GENERIC_PLAN do in PostgreSQL 16?** GENERIC_PLAN is a new EXPLAIN option in PostgreSQL 16 that generates execution plans for queries containing parameter placeholders like $1, $2 without requiring actual values to be substituted first. **Can PostgreSQL 16 do logical replication from a replica?** Yes, PostgreSQL 16 supports logical replication from a replica node through logical replication slots, offloading streaming work from the primary node and requiring wal_level set to logical. **What is pg_stat_io in PostgreSQL 16?** pg_stat_io is a new PostgreSQL 16 catalog table that tracks I/O requests made by each worker process, including autovacuum, checkpointer, and background workers, helping analyze IOPS in cloud environments. --- ## tessell-awarded-aws-migration-and-modernization-competency URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-awarded-aws-migration-and-modernization-competency Last updated: 2026-08-24 [**Tessell**](https://wandisco.com/), the Cloud Database-as-a-Service company, announced today that it has been awarded the **Amazon Web Services (AWS) Migration and Modernization Competency **status for AWS Partners. With this expanded designation, AWS recognizes the success of Tessell's Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) to accelerate data and application modernization journeys at scale.  AWS customers looking to modernize databases as part of their digital transformation, while also ensuring business continuity, can turn to Tessell with confidence. Tessell supports Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB, and Milvus database engines. Tessell ensures the success of application and database modernization initiatives for AWS. AWS launched the AWS Migration and Modernization Competency to enable customers to easily recognize and confidently engage highly specialized AWS Partners that modernize applications. Tessell provides an AWS cloud-native DBaaS with both proven success and technical prowess.  Furthermore, AWS established the AWS Competency Program to help customers take out the heavy lifting identifying and selecting leading AWS Partners with deep industry experience and expertise. When it comes to data modernization, Tessell has demonstrated these capabilities on a global scale. > "Tessell is proud to be awarded the AWS Migration and Modernization Competency status," said Perren Walker, Partner Management at Tessell. "As an AWS partner, Tessell’s proven track record and data-first approach to helping large enterprises more rapidly and safely achieve their database modernization goals is unmatched. As a next-generation cloud-native DBaaS provider, our team works with strategic systems integrators and independent software vendors (ISVs), helping enterprises accelerate their AWS transaction-to-analytics journey with the industry's most advanced cloud database modernization platform. We want every customer to unlock the agility and pace of innovation made possible by AWS." Achieving the AWS Migration and Modernization Competency highlights Tessell's deep domain expertise in enabling customers to more rapidly and safely embrace cloud and application transformation—effectively reducing, and optimizing operational costs, licensing costs and improving performance with agility and resiliency. As a next-generation AWS-native database-as-as-service (DBaaS),Tessell provides customers with Oracle self-service, DevOps automation, production operations without having to deploy and manage the underlying infrastructure. Tessell disrupts DBaaS market by providing predictable, instance-based pricing, improved data resilience and fleet management. Tessell’s patents and proprietary technology unlocks AWS’ fastest storage for the most demanding production workloads and enable the full economic benefit of database consolidation. The Tessell DBaaS supports data modernization and transformation of both transactional and AI/ML data platforms, allowing customers to benefit more easily from machine learning, analytics, and other capabilities in AWS for any amount of data. ## About Tessell Tessell is a cloud-native DBaaS that is revolutionizing data infrastructure and management for cloud-born and cloud-defining enterprises. Tessell provides self-service access based on policies, DevOps integration, full production monitoring, and lifecycle management for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Milvus, and MongoDB database engines. Leveraging the high-performance NVMe storage capabilities of the cloud, Tessell excels in handling demanding production workloads and optimizing database consolidation for maximum economic efficiency. Tessell’s robust, cross-region replication capabilities and high-performance data infrastructure make it the optimal choice for hosting mission-critical databases. With an intuitive deployment process that eliminates manual data management tasks, Tessell liberates developers and data engineers to focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, and driving business triumphs. For more information on Tessell, visit [**www.tessell.com.**](http://www.tessell.com/) **Media Contact: **Perren Walker for Tessell [**contact@tessell.com**](mailto:contact@tessell.com)+1 866 837 5462 --- ## tessell-awarded-iso-27001-and-27701-certifications URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-awarded-iso-27001-and-27701-certifications Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell, the leading next-generation database-as-a-service (DBaaS) that supports AWS and Azure clouds, announced today that it has achieved ISO 27001 and 27701 certifications, certifying its data privacy program has implemented rigorous measures that ensure the protection and appropriate use of institutions' data. In addition to expanding the scope of its certifications with ISO 27001 and 27701 certifications, Tessell is also certified for SOC I and SOC II, validating its security controls and standards for cloud services and the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) in public clouds. The broad scope of certifications across multiple solution sets reflects Tessell’s deep commitment to data security and privacy best practices. > "Institutions across the globe entrust Tessell with their most sensitive business data, and ensuring we meet high privacy and security standards is at the heart of every decision we make," said Perren Walker, Customer Advocate, Tessell. "Tessell is committed to ensuring our AWS and Azure cloud services have robust data protections in place to secure customer data." Tessell’s suite of ISO & SOC safety and security standards is one of the most comprehensive in the industry as it applies to Tessell’s solutions including Tessell for Oracle on Azure, Tessell for Oracle on AWS, Tessell for PostgreSQL on Azure, Tessell for PostgreSQL on AWS, MongoDB on Azure, Tessell for MongoDB on AWS, Tessell for SQL Server on AWS, Tessell for Milvus on Azure, and Tessell for Milvus on AWS. Tessell’s certifications were issued by Prescient Security, a U.S. independent and accredited certification body, based on the successful completion of a formal audit process of rigorous international standards. These independent assessments and certifications demonstrate Tessell’s continued commitment to data privacy and security protections in all areas of the organization. ## About Tessell Tessell is a cloud-native database-as-a-service (DBaaS) that is revolutionizing data infrastructure and management for cloud-born and cloud-defining enterprises. Tessell provides self-service access based on policies, DevOps integration, full production monitoring, and lifecycle management for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Milvus, and MongoDB database engines. Leveraging the high-performance NVMe storage capabilities of the cloud, Tessell excels in handling demanding production workloads and optimizing database consolidation for maximum economic efficiency. Tessell’s robust, cross-region replication capabilities and high-performance data infrastructure make it the optimal choice for hosting mission-critical databases. With an intuitive deployment process that eliminates manual data management tasks, Tessell liberates developers and data engineers to focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, and driving business triumphs. For more information on Tessell, visit [www.tessell.com.](http://www.tessell.com/) ‍ Media Contact: Perren Walker for Tessellcontact@tessell.com+1 866 837 5462 ‍ --- ## crn-honors-tessell-with-a-spot-on-its-2024-big-data-100-list URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/crn-honors-tessell-with-a-spot-on-its-2024-big-data-100-list Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell, The Next Generation Cloud Database-as-a-Service, announced today that [CRN](http://www.crn.com/)[®](http://www.crn.com/), a brand of [The Channel Company](http://www.thechannelco.com/)®, included Tessell on its 2024 Big Data 100 list in the [Coolest Database System](https://www.crn.com/news/software/2024/the-coolest-database-system-companies-of-the-2024-big-data-100?page=19) Companies Of The 2024 Big Data 100 category. This annual list recognizes technology vendors committed to delivering continuous innovation across their big data portfolios in areas such as business analytics; data warehouse and data lake systems; database systems; management and integration tools; systems and platforms; and DataOps and data observability. CRN’s Big Data 100 list is an invaluable resource for solution providers seeking best-of-breed products and services they can harness to help their customers become data-driven. The companies spotlighted on the list are providing data intelligence and analytics technology that acts as the building blocks of cutting-edge solutions that bring real-world advantages to customers. > ‍“As one of the fastest growing cloud database and data management companies, Tessell is honored to be recognized and included in CRN’s 2024 Big Data 100 list,” said Perren Walker from Tessell. “Whether satisfying the production requirements moving transactional, production databases to the cloud, or the real-time feed of transactional records into analytical systems, Tessell is the central nervous system for data. With Tessell, Azure and AWS customers have the best of both worlds, the flexibility to run their custom technology stack on any infrastructure shape, on their terms, and the automation of DBaaS management at scale.” “The companies honored on CRN’s 2024 Big Data 100 list are trailblazers in data-driven technologies. They demonstrate an unwavering commitment to delivering data intelligence, insight, and analytics tools that solution providers can use to improve business outcomes for clients,” said Jennifer Follett, VP, U.S. Content, and Executive Editor, CRN at The Channel Company. “CRN is pleased to recognize the dedication each vendor on the 2024 list shows to empowering solution providers with innovative data tools that help them grow their businesses.” The 2024 Big Data 100 list is available online at [www.CRN.com/BigData100](http://www.crn.com/BigData100). ** About Tessell** Tessell is a cloud-native DBaaS that is revolutionizing data infrastructure and management for cloud-born and cloud-defining enterprises. Tessell provides self-service access based on policies, DevOps integration, full production monitoring, and lifecycle management for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Milvus, and MongoDB database engines. Leveraging the high-performance NVMe storage capabilities of the cloud, Tessell excels in handling demanding production workloads and optimizing database consolidation for maximum economic efficiency. Tessell’s robust, cross-region replication capabilities and high-performance data infrastructure make it the optimal choice for hosting mission-critical databases. With an intuitive deployment process that eliminates manual data management tasks, Tessell liberates developers and data engineers to focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, and driving business triumphs. For more information on Tessell, visit [**www.tessell.com.**](http://www.tessell.com/) **About The Channel Company**® The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by over 40 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. [www.thechannelcompany.com](http://www.thechannelcompany.com/) **Follow The Channel Company****®****:**[X](https://twitter.com/TheChannelCo), [LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-channel-company), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/TheChannelCompany?fref=ts) © 2024 The Channel Company, Inc. The Channel Company logo is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved. **The Channel Company Contact:** Kristin DaSilva The Channel Company [kdasilva@thechannelcompany.com](mailto:kdasilva@thechannelcompany.com) **Tessell Contact:        ** Perren Walker for Tessell [contact@tessell.com](mailto:contact@tessell.com?subject=CRN%202024%20Big%20Data%20100)+1 866 837 5462 ‍ --- ## open-source-dbaas-success-stories URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/open-source-dbaas-success-stories Last updated: 2026-08-24 Data is the lifeblood of every organization, driving decision-making, innovation, and growth. As businesses increasingly rely on open-source databases to manage their data, the need for scalable, high-performance, and cost-effective solutions has never been more critical. Enter Tessell, a pioneer in Database as a Service (DBaaS), whose bleeding-edge platform is revolutionizing and modernizing the open-source database journeys of its customers. In this blog, we'll explore how Tessell's DBaaS platform is transforming the database landscape through real-world use cases from Forbes, Aurionpro, and Lightning eMotors. ## Tessell's DBaaS Platform: A Closer Look At the heart of Tessell's offerings lies its state-of-the-art DBaaS platform, designed to meet the evolving needs of modern businesses. Leveraging advanced cloud technologies and innovative architecture, Tessell delivers a comprehensive suite of features and capabilities that empower organizations to optimize their database performance, ensure high availability, and scale seamlessly as their data requirements grow. With a focus on simplicity, reliability, and efficiency, Tessell's platform streamlines database management processes, freeing up valuable resources and enabling teams to focus on strategic initiatives. ### Key Features and Capabilities Tessell's DBaaS platform boasts a range of features and capabilities that set it apart in the market: 1. Multi-Cloud Architecture: Leveraging the power of leading cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft Azure, Tessell offers a multi-cloud architecture that provides flexibility, scalability, and resilience. This enables organizations to deploy their databases across multiple cloud environments, ensuring optimal performance and redundancy. 2. Live Migration: Tessell's live migration capabilities facilitate seamless transitions from on-premises databases to the cloud, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity. This feature was instrumental for organizations like Aurionpro, enabling them to migrate their databases quickly and efficiently in response to unexpected events. 3. Intuitive Self-Service Onboarding: With Tessell's intuitive self-service onboarding process, organizations can onboard and provision databases with ease, without the need for extensive technical expertise. This feature proved invaluable for Lightning eMotors, allowing their IT team to explore Tessell's platform independently and create production databases effortlessly. 4. Daily Data Backups: Tessell's automated, continuous snapshotting ensures that organizations have robust disaster recovery capabilities, with the ability to roll back to any transaction within a specified timeframe. This feature provided peace of mind for Lightning eMotors, knowing that their critical data was protected against loss or corruption. 5. Advanced Monitoring and Auto-Scaling: Tessell's platform offers advanced monitoring and auto-scaling capabilities, allowing organizations to monitor database performance in real-time and automatically scale resources to meet demand. This feature was crucial for Forbes, enabling them to optimize utilization and reduce costs while maintaining performance benchmarks. ## Real-World Success Stories [Forbes](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/forbes-revolutionizes-their-data-estate-with-tessell), [Aurionpro](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/aurionpro-handling-3x-demand-at-half-the-cost), and [Lightning eMotors](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/how-lightning-emotors-has-improved-efficiency-with-tessell) are just a few examples of organizations that have benefited from Tessell's DBaaS platform. ### Forbes: Optimizing Performance and Cost Efficiency Forbes, a global media and information company, faced the challenge of rebalancing costs while maintaining performance benchmarks for its SQL server database estate. Tessell's DBaaS platform offered the perfect solution, enabling Forbes to optimize utilization, reduce costs, and enhance performance. By leveraging multi-cloud architecture and conducting comprehensive workload analysis, Tessell helped Forbes achieve impressive results, including a 42%-50% decrease in query times and over 25% cost savings compared to their legacy environment. Additionally, Tessell's platform provided Forbes with flexibility in operating systems and versions, aligning perfectly with their technology stack requirements. ### Aurionpro: Ensuring High Availability and Scalability Aurionpro Solutions, a global technology solutions leader, needed to migrate its PostgreSQL database to the cloud following a fire scare incident. Tessell's DBaaS platform offered the perfect solution, ensuring high availability, scalability, and disaster recovery capabilities. With Tessell's live migration capabilities, intuitive self-service onboarding, and daily data backups, Aurionpro was able to seamlessly transition its database to the cloud without any disruptions. The result? Improved customer satisfaction, increased repeat bookings, and a 50% reduction in hardware costs, showcasing the transformative impact of Tessell's platform on Aurionpro's database journey. ### Lightning eMotors: Empowering Real-Time Reporting and Data Management Lightning eMotors, a provider of zero-emission vehicle solutions, faced the challenge of migrating its MySQL database to the cloud and ensuring real-time reporting capabilities as its fleet and customer base expanded. Tessell's DBaaS platform provided the perfect solution, offering high performance, scalability, and intuitive data management capabilities. With Tessell's live migration, self-service onboarding, and daily data backups, Lightning eMotors was able to seamlessly migrate its database to the cloud and empower real-time reporting for its customers. The result? Improved service performance, enhanced availability, and increased customer satisfaction, showcasing the transformative power of Tessell's platform on Lightning eMotors' database journey. ## Conclusion As organizations continue to embrace open-source databases to manage their data, the need for scalable, high-performance, and cost-effective solutions becomes increasingly important. Tessell's bleeding-edge DBaaS platform is revolutionizing and modernizing the open-source database journeys of its customers, empowering them to optimize performance, ensure high availability, and scale seamlessly as their business grows. Through real-world use cases from Forbes, Aurionpro, and Lightning eMotors, we've seen how Tessell's platform is driving innovation, efficiency, and success in the modern database landscape. With Tessell, the future of database management is brighter than ever before. ### FAQs **What is DBaaS (Database as a Service)?** DBaaS (Database as a Service) is a cloud computing model that provides scalable, high-performance database management capabilities without requiring organizations to handle physical infrastructure or complex administration. **What are the key features of Tessell's DBaaS platform?** Tessell's DBaaS platform features multi-cloud architecture across AWS and Azure, live migration, intuitive self-service onboarding, daily automated backups, advanced monitoring, and auto-scaling for performance optimization. **What databases does Tessell support?** Tessell supports open-source and commercial databases including PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server, deployed across multi-cloud environments on AWS and Microsoft Azure with high availability and disaster recovery. **How does Tessell help with database migration?** Tessell helps with database migration through live migration capabilities that enable seamless on-premises to cloud transitions, minimizing downtime, ensuring business continuity, and supporting PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server. **Which companies use Tessell?** Companies using Tessell include Forbes (SQL Server, achieving 42-50% faster queries and 25%+ cost savings), Aurionpro (PostgreSQL, 50% hardware cost reduction), and Lightning eMotors (MySQL, real-time reporting). --- ## enhancing-oracle-migration-to-azure-with-tessell-dbaas URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/enhancing-oracle-migration-to-azure-with-tessell-dbaas Last updated: 2026-08-24 The realm of Oracle migration and optimization within Azure has become increasingly pivotal, as underlined by the ongoing efforts of experts, including the insightful contributions from Microsoft Global Black Belt (GBB) team members like [Patrik Bihammar](https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrikbihammar/) out of Australia. His recent [blog post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/patrikbihammar_exadata-rac-autonomousdb-activity-7193841732835241985-UY05?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop) update on migrating Oracle workloads to Azure has garnered significant interest from the community. Patrik briefly touched on Tessell in his article, motivating me to delve deeper into the innovative capabilities of Tessell designed for Oracle migrations. ## Why Migrate Oracle? In the ever-evolving landscape of business technology, migrating Oracle workloads to the cloud is not just a trend but a strategic initiative for organizations aiming to leverage the benefits of scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency. At the forefront of simplifying this transition is Tessell DBaaS, a platform that epitomizes simplicity in the migration process. It promises and delivers on the critical aspects of zero downtime and zero data loss, ensuring that businesses can migrate their Oracle workloads without disrupting service delivery. ### Streamlining Packaged Apps Migration Transitioning key Oracle packaged Oracle applications such as EBS and PeopleSoft to the cloud no longer needs to be a daunting task. Tessell DBaaS provides an efficient and seamless migration path, ensuring continuous operations and offering robust support throughout the migration process. This enables businesses to relocate critical applications with minimized concerns, backed by Tessell’s advanced migration capabilities. ### Consistent Licensing Models Recognizing the importance of cost predictability in cloud migration, Tessell DBaaS mirrors the familiar licensing structures of on-premise deployments. This strategic approach helps businesses avoid the complications and typical higher costs associated with any cloud not named OCI, thereby maintaining cost effectiveness as they adopt Azure. ### Consolidation Benefits Migrating to Tessell DBaaS opens up extensive consolidation advantages, allowing enterprises to leverage Azure’s scalability. Organizations can realize significant savings on hardware and operational costs through proactive database consolidation. Tessell’s architecture is purpose-built to foster optimal efficiency and cost savings, reinforcing the value proposition of cloud migration. ### Managed DBaaS Enhancements Beyond merely facilitating migration, Tessell DBaaS introduces a suite of managed services designed to simplify the ongoing routine administration of Oracle databases. Automated patching, regular backup, and one-click recovery solutions are just the tip of the iceberg, assuming minimal operational database management responsibilities for businesses. This enables focusing on core activities, with Tessell ensuring database availability, security, and performance. ## Seamless Exadata@Azure Integration Enterprises leveraging Exadata on-premises can benefit immensely from Tessell’s solutions for a smooth transition to Exadata@Azure, without compromising on uptime or cost.Tessell Airdrop offers seamless simple migration with no downtime. Tessell also provides a **unified control plane **to manage and transfer data between Exadata and Azure’s native IaaS. Furthermore, [Tessell Database Lifecycle Management (DBLM) for Exadata@Azure](https://www.tessell.com/blogs/announcing-tessell-database-lifecycle-management-dblm-for-exadata-azure), a Microsoft Marketplace [offering](https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/tessellinc1655919615020.dblm_for_oracle_exadata?tab=Overview) that includes a suite of services for improved efficiency and flexibility.  allows organizations to leverage Exadata’s power coupled with cloud scalability and flexibility. Tessell’s commitment to seamless integration underscores its role as a comprehensive solution for Oracle workload management in the cloud era. ### Achieving Exadata-like Performance in Native Azure Tessell also caters to customers wishing to run resource-intensive Oracle workloads in native Azure. Tessell utilizes the platform’s local NVMe storage solutions to enable extremely high-performance . Its patented technology ensures data durability and exceptionally high IOPS at no cost for the IOPS, a testament to Tessell’s commitment to efficiency and customer-centric solutions. ## Migrating Oracle Databases@Your Terms Tessell stands out by allows for the hosting of the data plane within a customer's own Azure environment—a compelling draw for large enterprises seeking unparalleled customization flexibility. This groundbreaking approach provides organizations with unprecedented operational autonomy over their databases and infrastructure, balancing control with the convenience of a fully managed database service. Tessell is redefining what it means to manage data in the cloud, delivering [Data @Your Terms](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tessell-datayour-terms-steven-kaplan-42sjc/?trackingId=OxXBPlx%2BRP2N9NQ1GE4XPw%3D%3D). ## Conclusion Tessell DBaaS emerges as a holistic and forward-thinking solution poised to redefine Oracle cloud migration. With its suite of features catering to the nuanced demands of enterprise migrations—Tessell stands as a pivotal ally for businesses. It promises not just a migration but a transformation, ensuring a smooth, efficient, and uninterrupted transition of Oracle workloads to the cloud. As organizations look towards harnessing the cloud's potential, Tessell DBaaS positions itself as the enabler of this evolutionary leap, offering a seamless bridge to a more scalable, flexible, and cost-effective future. --- ## tessell---data-your-terms URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell---data-your-terms Last updated: 2026-08-24 In an industry where I've played various roles—entrepreneur, employee, investor—for over 35 years, it's a rarity to see early and widespread enterprise adoption for a new tech venture. Yet, Tessell defies the norm, having onboarded multiple large enterprises, including [Forbes](https://www.tessell.com/success-stories/forbes-revolutionizes-their-data-estate-with-tessell), in an unprecedented nod to its innovative services—even when still in its first year of selling. While enterprises have many different reasons for entrusting their database estates to Tessell, a common thread is Tessell’s flexibility in letting them manage data at their terms. ## Breaking Through to Big Business For startups, making headway into the large corporation market is notoriously challenging. Getting a foot in the door is tough, and persuading an assortment of stakeholders to take a chance on a new player is tougher still. Then comes the complex process of becoming an approved vendor. Tessell boasts several unique Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) capabilities that appeal to large enterprises ranging from its patented technology enabling millions of IOPS in native Azure and AWS, to features like 1-click disaster recovery to automated data masking. And then there’s the matter of cost savings: one major organization is saving approximately $4 million annually by switching its on-premises databases to Tessell. However, beyond the financial savings and numerous other benefits, many large enterprises remain cautious of legacy DBaaS solutions, which tend to offer a limited set of configurations and options. This often results in a lack of customization capability for the database environment, catering poorly to specific needs or complex scenarios. Such constraints can prevent organizations from adhering to existing security policies, integrating with current monitoring tools, and optimizing performance or troubleshooting effectively. ## Data @ Your Terms Contrasting with these legacy DBaaS offerings, Tessell’s innovative approach allows enterprises to deploy Tessell within their own cloud tenant, offering several key advantages: **Flexibility**: With Data@Your Terms, you have the freedom to choose the database technology that best suits your needs. Whether it's a relational database like MySQL or PostgreSQL, or a NoSQL database like MongoDB or Cassandra, Tessell supports a wide range of database technologies. **Scalability**: Tessell's Data@Your Terms allows you to scale your database resources up or down based on your requirements. This ensures that you have the necessary resources to handle increasing data volumes and user traffic without any performance issues. **Cost-effectiveness**: By using Tessell's Data@Your Terms, you only pay for the resources you actually use. This eliminates the need for upfront investments in hardware and software licenses, making it a cost-effective solution for managing your data. **Security**: Tessell prioritizes the security of your data. With Data@Your Terms, you have full control over your data and can implement your own security measures to protect it. Tessell also provides built-in security features such as encryption at rest and in transit, ensuring that your data is secure at all times. **Simplified management**: Tessell's Data@Your Terms simplifies the management of your databases. It provides a user-friendly interface and automation tools that make it easy to provision, monitor, and manage your databases, saving you time and effort. Overall, Tessell's Data@Your Terms empowers you to have full control over your data, choose the right database technology, scale as needed, and ensure the security and cost-effectiveness of your data management. ## Virtual Private Tessell: a New Paradigm of Flexibility The Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) model further innovates beyond traditional DBaaS confines, providing a dedicated cloud account for enhanced adaptability and customization, paralleling [Snowflake’s strategy](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tessell-snowflake-operational-databases-steven-kaplan/). With the VPT@Customer model, Tessell allows for the hosting of the data plane within a client's own Azure or AWS environment—a compelling draw for large enterprises seeking unparalleled customization flexibility. Tessell's commitment to client control doesn't end with the data plane; enterprises and government entities also benefit from operating the Tessell control plane within their preferred cloud ecosystem, spanning Azure or AWS—and Tessell is actively broadening its support to include additional cloud platforms. This groundbreaking approach provides organizations with unprecedented operational autonomy over their databases and infrastructure, balancing control with the convenience of a fully managed database service. Tessell is redefining what it means to manage data in the cloud, delivering Data @ Your Terms. ## Conclusion Tessell's unparalleled flexibility marks a milestone for organizations that prioritize top-tier security, stringent compliance requirements, and highly customized solution capabilities. This isn't merely a reflection of the current trajectory of database services—it's setting the direction. For companies eyeing the horizon, adopting Tessell’s forward-thinking methodology may well be the strategic advantage needed to stay ahead in the swiftly shifting tech environment. --- ## tessell-lifts-and-shines-oracle-databases-to-azure-a-modern-approach-to-database-migration URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-lifts-and-shines-oracle-databases-to-azure-a-modern-approach-to-database-migration Last updated: 2026-08-24 When it comes to database migration, moving [Oracle](https://www.linkedin.com/company/oracle/)databases to [Microsoft Azure](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/microsoft-azure/) has traditionally relied on the tried-and-true "lift and shift" method. But what if there was a more innovative way to achieve not just migration, but also optimization? Enter [Tessell](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tessell-inc/) a cutting-edge Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform that revolutionizes how we migrate and enhance Oracle databases in the cloud. Tessell "lifts and shines" Oracle databases, offering superior performance, scalability, and data management capabilities compared to the conventional approach. ## Unmatched Performance and Scalability Tessell taps into the robust infrastructure of Azure to deliver exceptional database input/output operations per second (IOPS) and impressively low latency. Imagine your Oracle production database workloads achieving over 1 million IOPS, outperforming even on-premises systems like Exadata. Tessell accomplishes this through directly attached NVMe storage, ensuring that even the most demanding workloads are managed effortlessly. This performance boost means enterprises can power their applications with Tessell, enjoying unparalleled performance and scalability in the Azure cloud. ## Enterprise-Grade Data Protection and Availability Your data is precious, and Tessell treats it as such. Offering enterprise-grade data protection and availability on Azure, Tessell ensures zero data loss through automated snapshots and log backups. Plus, you can convert these cloud snapshots into native Oracle RMAN backups for long-term storage and compliance. Should an incident occur, Tessell's 1-click recovery feature means minimal downtime and data loss, allowing for swift, efficient database recovery. With Tessell, your data remains safeguarded and always at your fingertips. ## Simplified Patching and Upgrades Patching and upgrading Oracle databases has traditionally been a laborious task. Tessell changes that by automating patches for minor version upgrades, whether you prefer a scheduled or on-demand approach. This streamlined process frees DBAs to concentrate on more critical tasks, enhancing efficiency and reducing administrative overhead. ## Rock-Solid High Availability and Disaster Recovery When it comes to mission-critical databases, business continuity is non-negotiable. Tessell provides out-of-the-box Multi-Availability Zone (AZ) High Availability (HA) and cross-region Disaster Recovery (DR) services, ensuring reliable HA and DR for Oracle workloads. Tessell offers even higher reliability than on-premises deployments, vital for maintaining uninterrupted operations and safeguarding against data loss. ## Streamlined Data Management Data management shouldn't be a chore, and with Tessell, it isn’t. A few clicks are all it takes to create and store various data formats, including snapshots, native backups, sanitized snapshots/backups, and database dumps. Secure data sharing with secondary environments such as UAT, QA, and development across different geographies is also a cinch. Tessell eliminates the manual drudgery of data management, empowering DBAs to focus on value-added activities that drive productivity and speed up time-to-market. ## Data@Your Terms With its VPT@Customer model, Tessell allows for the hosting of the data plane within your own Azure or AWS environment—a compelling draw for enterprises seeking unparalleled customization flexibility. Enterprises and government entities can also benefit from operating the Tessell control plane within Azure, providing organizations with unprecedented operational autonomy over their databases and infrastructure, balancing control with the convenience of a fully managed database service. Tessell is redefining what it means to manage data in the cloud, delivering Data@Your Terms. ### **Lower Cost** Tessell lets organizations migrate every Oracle database to Azure “as is” - no refactoring, special tools, or proprietary infrastructure required. This makes it very fast, easy, and inexpensive to migrate even hundreds of databases. And once in Azure, Tessell further reduces costs through optimizing database operations, infrastructure, and licensing. ## Transform Your Data Management with Tessell Tessell is not just about migrating Oracle databases to the cloud; it's about transforming them. By "lifting and shining" Oracle databases, Tessell delivers unmatched performance, scalability, data protection, and availability. This modern approach offers enterprises the chance to unlock the full potential of their Oracle workloads in the Azure cloud, ensuring exceptional performance, reliability, and operational efficiency. Experience the future of database management with Tessell. ### FAQs **What is the difference between "lift and shift" and "lift and shine"?** Lift and shift moves Oracle databases to the cloud unchanged, while Tessell's lift and shine approach migrates Oracle to Azure as-is and adds performance, scalability, and data management optimizations. **How do you migrate Oracle databases to Azure?** Migrating Oracle databases to Azure with Tessell uses an as-is migration approach—no refactoring, special tools, or proprietary infrastructure required—enabling fast, low-cost transitions of hundreds of databases. **What performance can Tessell deliver for Oracle on Azure?** Tessell delivers over 1 million IOPS for Oracle workloads on Azure using directly attached NVMe storage, outperforming even on-premises Exadata systems with impressively low latency. **How does Tessell protect Oracle data on Azure?** Tessell protects Oracle data on Azure through automated snapshots, transaction log backups, RMAN backup conversion for long-term storage, 1-click recovery, Multi-AZ high availability, and cross-region disaster recovery. **What is Tessell's VPT@Customer model?** VPT@Customer is a Tessell deployment model that hosts the data plane within the customer's own Azure or AWS environment, offering enterprises unparalleled customization flexibility and operational autonomy over databases. --- ## considerations-for-successful-database-migrations URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/considerations-for-successful-database-migrations Last updated: 2026-08-24 As more organizations transition their databases to the cloud, they encounter significant challenges in database management system (DBMS) migrations. These migrations often take longer and cost more than anticipated, with many projects failing to meet expectations. However, the potential for substantial cost savings, significant performance enhancements, and strategic benefits should not be overlooked. Despite the perceived risks, these benefits can be a powerful motivator for organizations to undertake these critical projects. Ensuring success in DBMS migrations requires meticulous planning, specialized skills, and unwavering commitment. ## Critical Challenges in DBMS Migrations Several compelling factors drive DBMS migrations: - **Cost Savings**: Organizations seek to reduce maintenance, upgrade charges, and runtime costs. - **Performance Improvements**: Enhancements in scalability, throughput, and response times are key motivators. - **Enhanced Capabilities**: Strategic innovations, such as leveraging new DBMS capabilities and increased agility, are critical. - **Vendor Dissatisfaction**: Dissatisfaction with current vendor products, roadmaps, support, or terms can drive the need for change. - **Obsolescence**: Aging DBMS platforms often necessitate migration to more modern systems. However, these projects are often hindered by inadequate planning and resource allocation. According to [Gartner](https://www.gartner.com/document/3984504), by 2023, over 70% of organizations would have faced stalled strategic goals, reduced profits, and adverse career impacts due to poorly planned migrations. The key to overcoming these challenges lies in thorough preparation and a disciplined approach to each phase of the migration process. ## Recommendations for Successful Migrations To ensure a successful DBMS migration, data and analytics leaders should adhere to the following structured approach: **1. Preparation and Familiarization**: **Management Commitment**: Secure unwavering support from senior management to ensure the project is properly staffed and budgeted. - **Clear Objectives**: Define specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives, such as cost savings, performance enhancements, and strategic innovations. - **Core Team Assembly**: Assemble a team with a project manager, an architect of the target system, and a migration specialist. Ensure the team is familiar with migration issues and the target platform. **2. High-Level Assessment**:**Feasibility Study**: Conduct a short initial assessment to determine the project's feasibility, size, and scope. - **Target Architecture**: Define the target architecture and configuration, including sizing and identification of significant risk factors. - **High-Level Estimates**: Provide preliminary time and cost estimates, ensuring there is a viable business case to proceed. **3. Detailed Migration Study**:**Comprehensive Assessment**: Perform a thorough assessment of all code and data, delivering a detailed and fully costed migration plan. - **Risk Mitigation**: Identify potential risks and implement mitigation strategies to avoid major surprises during the migration. **4. Execution of Migration**:**Development and Testing**: Execute the migration, including the full development and testing cycle, ensuring the team is prepared for this phase without unexpected challenges. **5. Cutover to Production**:**Parallel Running**: Ensure a smooth transition to production, including parallel running and the ability to address last-minute issues. - **Decommissioning**: Decommission the old system once the new system is fully operational. ## Strategic Planning and Execution DBMS migrations involve three core phases—initial assessment, detailed assessment, and actual migration—supported by preparation and follow-up activities. Each phase is designed to progressively reduce risk, ensuring that the migration is well-planned and executed. ### Preparation and Familiarization The preparation and familiarization phases are crucial for laying the foundation of a successful migration project. These phases ensure that the organization has the right resources, skills, and understanding to begin the migration. Key steps include: - **Management Support**: The backing of senior management is crucial for the success of a DBMS migration project. It ensures clear objectives, provides necessary resources, and can potentially offer executive support in case of problems. This includes staffing, budgeting, and the potential need for executive support in case of problems. - **Core Team**: The core team, consisting of a project lead, an architect, and a migration specialist, plays a pivotal role in DBMS migrations. Their experience and expertise help to mitigate risks associated with migration. It's crucial to fill these roles with experienced professionals. - **Clear Objectives**: Set specific goals such as cost savings, performance improvements, and strategic innovations. These objectives should be realistic and achievable within a set timeframe. ### Initial Assessment The initial assessment phase focuses on understanding the project's feasibility, size, and scope. This phase includes: - **Feasibility Study**: Conduct a high-level assessment to determine whether the migration is viable and beneficial. Identify significant risk factors and estimate the project's time and cost. - **Target Architecture**: Defining a clear target architecture is a crucial step in DBMS migrations. It includes data platforms, data flows, operating systems, and languages to be used. This ensures everyone involved understands the destination before planning the journey. - **High-Level Estimates**: Provide preliminary estimates for the project's cost and duration, helping to inform the decision to proceed with a detailed assessment. ### Detailed Migration Study The detailed migration study involves a comprehensive assessment of the code and data, leading to a fully costed migration plan. Key steps include: - **Inventory of Code and Data**: Take a complete inventory of every piece of code and data, assessing each item methodically. - **Effort Estimation**: Estimate the effort required to convert each item, considering the complexity and number of objects. - **Risk Mitigation**: Identify potential risks and plan for mitigation, turning them into costs to avoid unexpected problems. ### Execution and Cutover The execution phase is where the actual migration takes place. This phase includes: - **Development and Testing**: Follow a detailed migration plan, ensuring all aspects of the migration are thoroughly tested before moving to production. - **Cutover to Production**: Transition to the new system with parallel running to address any residual issues. Decommission the old system once the new one is operational. ## Analysis and Best Practices The overarching goal of a successful DBMS migration is to avoid surprises, with each phase building on the previous one to mitigate risks. Proper preparation and familiarization ensure the team is equipped to handle migration challenges. High-level and detailed assessments provide clear insights into the project's feasibility and requirements, leading to a well-executed migration and smooth transition to the new system. ## Summary of Best Practices - **Preparation and Familiarization**: Secure management support, define clear objectives, and assemble a skilled core team. - **Initial Assessment**: Conduct a high-level feasibility study and define the target architecture and preliminary estimates. - **Detailed Migration Study**: Perform a comprehensive assessment, create a detailed migration plan, and identify risk mitigation strategies. - **Execution and Cutover**: Execute the migration, test thoroughly, and ensure a smooth transition to production with parallel running. By following these best practices, organizations can achieve successful DBMS migrations, realizing the benefits of improved performance, cost savings, and enhanced capabilities in their new database environments. This recommended approach, backed by meticulous planning, specialized skills, and unwavering commitment, provides a secure and confident path for data and analytics leaders to navigate the challenges of DBMS migrations and drive their organizations toward a more efficient and agile future. ### FAQs **What is a DBMS migration?** A DBMS migration is the process of moving a database management system from one platform to another, typically driven by cost savings, performance improvements, or strategic modernization goals. **Why do organizations migrate their DBMS?** Organizations migrate their DBMS for cost savings, performance improvements, enhanced capabilities, vendor dissatisfaction, and platform obsolescence, seeking scalability, throughput, and strategic innovation benefits. **What are the phases of a DBMS migration?** DBMS migration includes five phases: preparation and familiarization, high-level assessment, detailed migration study, execution with development and testing, and cutover to production with parallel running and decommissioning. **What are the challenges of DBMS migrations?** DBMS migration challenges include inadequate planning, resource allocation gaps, and underestimated complexity, with Gartner reporting over 70% of organizations facing stalled goals and reduced profits from poor migrations. **What are best practices for a successful DBMS migration?** DBMS migration best practices include securing management support, defining SMART objectives, assembling a core team of project manager, architect, and migration specialist, conducting feasibility studies, and parallel-running production cutover. --- ## saas-companies-to-stand-out-by-leveraging-finops URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/saas-companies-to-stand-out-by-leveraging-finops Last updated: 2026-08-24 The software as a service (SaaS) market is fiercely competitive, with approximately [31,000 companies](https://colorlib.com/wp/saas-statistics/) vying for dominance. One emerging methodology gaining traction is financial operations, or FinOps. At its core, FinOps unites finance, engineering and product teams to optimize cloud costs and enhance financial decision-making. Here are five key ways that SaaS companies can effectively integrate FinOps into their platforms to drive success and growth. ## 1. Developing Comprehensive FinOps Features To successfully adopt FinOps into their platforms, SaaS companies must develop robust features that address diverse financial needs. Key elements to consider include: ### Real-Time Cost Monitoring A primary benefit of FinOps is the ability to monitor costs in real time. SaaS platforms should incorporate dashboards and analytics tools that offer immediate insights into cloud expenditures. This transparency enables teams to make data-driven decisions quickly, optimizing costs and preventing budget overruns. ### Automated Cost Allocation Manual cost allocation can be time-consuming and error-prone. Automating this process ensures that expenses are accurately assigned to the appropriate departments, projects or customers. This precision enhances financial reporting and helps identify cost-saving opportunities. SaaS companies, inherently cloud-based, should ensure their tagging capabilities support multiple clouds as customers increasingly adopt hybrid solutions. ### Predictive Analytics Leveraging predictive analytics can significantly enhance a company’s ability to forecast future expenses. By analyzing historical data and market trends, predictive models, particularly when utilizing AI, can provide accurate financial projections, enabling better budgeting and resource allocation. ## 2. Fostering Cross-Functional Collaboration FinOps thrives on collaboration between finance, engineering and product teams. SaaS companies should create an environment that encourages cross-functional teamwork through strategies. This can be achieved by integrating communication platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams into their FinOps tools. These platforms streamline interactions between different departments and make it easier to coordinate efforts and share insights. ## 3. Incorporating A TCO Consciousness While companies may purchase a SaaS solution based strictly on its attributes, it’s advisable to help them understand the value they’re receiving. A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) tool can identify potential savings vs. on-premises solutions, in cloud infrastructure, administrator costs or even other SaaS package eliminations. Additionally, showcasing potential business enhancements—such as improved user productivity, enhanced data resiliency, boosted security, facilitated compliance and revenue increases—can further demonstrate value. ## 4. Addressing Risk SaaS companies should strive to reduce their customers’ risk of purchasing their solutions both in terms of finance and security. ### Financial Risk SaaS companies can help mitigate financial risk by incorporating real-time FinOps dashboards. This facilitates decision-making on aspects such as time commitment for the SaaS solution and the related cloud infrastructure, departmental or business unit usage, cost breakdowns of different components and predicted future costs based on current trends. ### Security Risk [According to IBM](https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach), the global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was $4.45 million, a 15% increase over the past three years. Ensuring data security and compliance is paramount. SaaS companies should prioritize security measures such as encryption, access controls and regular audits to protect financial data. Compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA and SOC 2 builds trust with customers and avoids legal complications. ## 5. Educating And Enabling Customers Education is a crucial component of FinOps. SaaS companies should invest in educating their customers about the benefits of FinOps and how to use the tools effectively. This can be achieved through: ### Training Programs Offering webinars, workshops and tutorials that teach customers how to leverage FinOps features can be highly beneficial. These training sessions can cover topics such as cost monitoring, automated allocation and predictive analytics, providing customers with the knowledge they need to maximize the value of FinOps-enabled software. ### Customer Support Providing dedicated customer support to assist with FinOps-related queries and challenges is essential. Offering personalized assistance can help customers navigate the complexities of FinOps and ensure they are getting the most out of the platform. ## Final Thoughts There is a potential downside of FinOps to note, though: the tendency to focus on small incremental improvements of existing architectures, potentially missing opportunities for order-of-magnitude innovations. For example, the[separation](https://www.snowflake.com/blog/5-reasons-to-love-snowflakes-architecture-for-your-data-warehouse/)of compute from cloud storage by cloud-based data company, Snowflake, revolutionized data warehousing economics. By incorporating FinOps into their platforms, SaaS companies can break through the myopia and grab the attention of FinOps experts. These experts can build the financial case for trying and ultimately incorporating the new technologies. Developing comprehensive FinOps features, fostering cross-functional collaboration, educating customers and prioritizing security and compliance can help SaaS providers stand out in the crowded marketplace. As the demand for cloud services grows, the integration of FinOps will be a key differentiator that drives success and growth for SaaS companies. FinOps is more than just a set of practices; it is a strategic approach that can transform financial management within SaaS companies. By embracing FinOps, SaaS providers can enhance their competitiveness, deliver greater value to customers, and achieve sustainable growth in the dynamic cloud services market. ### FAQs **What is FinOps?** FinOps, or financial operations, is a methodology that unites finance, engineering, and product teams to optimize cloud costs and enhance financial decision-making within organizations. **How does FinOps work?** FinOps works by combining real-time cost monitoring, automated cost allocation, and predictive analytics to give teams immediate visibility into cloud expenditures and accurate financial forecasts. **What are the benefits of FinOps for SaaS companies?** FinOps benefits SaaS companies through real-time cost monitoring, automated cost allocation, predictive analytics, cross-functional collaboration, and reduced financial and security risk across cloud operations. **Which teams are involved in FinOps?** FinOps involves finance, engineering, and product teams working collaboratively, often using communication platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams to coordinate cloud cost decisions and share insights. **What is the difference between FinOps and TCO?** FinOps is an ongoing methodology to optimize cloud costs across teams, while TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) calculates total savings versus on-premises solutions and other alternatives. --- ## whats-your-multi-cloud-strategy URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/whats-your-multi-cloud-strategy Last updated: 2026-08-24 Leveraging multiple cloud service providers (CSPs) has become increasingly common in this era of digital transformation. However, managing multi-cloud environments introduces a host of challenges. This blog explores effective strategies for data and analytics (D&A) leaders to navigate these complexities and optimize their multi-cloud deployments. ## **Overview** The 2023 Gartner Cloud End-User Behavior Survey revealed that 81% of organizations using public clouds utilize more than one CSP. This widespread adoption of multi-cloud strategies often occurs organically, without a cohesive plan, complicating usage tracking and cost management. Each CSP's ecosystem maturity varies, requiring significant integration efforts akin to on-premises platforms. Furthermore, ISVs offer cloud-agnostic solutions that fill functionality gaps and increase complexity. ### **Key Findings** The key findings from the Gartner survey highlight the extensive use of multi-cloud environments. While 81% of respondents use multiple CSPs, the majority (63%) have a primary provider supplemented by additional ones, and 18% use various providers without a primary one. This widespread adoption stems from the inability to enforce strict adherence to a single provider, driven by factors such as SaaS products, vendor lock-in avoidance, shadow IT, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory requirements, point solutions, and flexibility. ## **Recommendations for D&A Leaders** ### **1. Deploy Multi-cloud and Inter-cloud Architectures as Needed** D&A leaders should embrace multi-cloud and inter-cloud architectures when necessary. Policies must be created to govern cloud usage, preventing the adoption of nonstrategic offerings, redundant services, and uncontrolled spending. The goal is not to restrict cloud usage but to ensure that it aligns with organizational strategies and provides maximum benefit. Multi-cloud deployments should be approached strategically. Each cloud service should be chosen based on its ability to meet specific organizational needs. This requires a thorough understanding of each CSP's benefits and limitations. By doing so, organizations can harness the strengths of multiple providers, ensuring resilience, geographic localization and avoiding CSP lock-in. ### **2. Track Usage Across Clouds** Effective management of multi-cloud environments necessitates robust tracking of usage and costs. D&A leaders should utilize cloud monitoring and optimization tools to gain visibility into resource allocation and latency issues. These tools help prevent uncontrolled spending and identify architectural pain points requiring remediation. Due to the complexity and scale of data flow, tracking usage across multiple clouds can be challenging. It is essential to monitor not only the volume of data but also its direction and usage patterns. This monitoring provides insights into inefficiencies and areas for improvement. Additionally, investing in metadata management solutions can enhance visibility into data relationships and usage across the organization. ### **3. Choose Deployment Tiers Based on Use Case Needs** When selecting multi-cloud or inter-cloud deployment tiers, organizations must consider the specific optimization needs of their use cases. This involves a trade-off between flexibility and optimization. Each tier—application, DBMS, or object storage—offers different benefits and should be chosen based on the particular requirements of the deployment. The application tier focuses on querying data across clouds, addressing latency and performance concerns. The DBMS tier supports geographically distributed clusters, ensuring local read/write capabilities and data sovereignty policy enforcement. The object storage tier provides the greatest flexibility by allowing data distribution across clouds and optimizing costs and governance. D&A leaders must weigh these factors to determine the most suitable tier for their needs. ### **4. Integrate ISV Capabilities** Incorporating ISV capabilities into multi-cloud environments can enhance functionality beyond what CSPs natively offer. ISVs provide cloud-agnostic solutions that support a wide array of platforms, offering advanced maturity in data integration, metadata management, data quality, data governance, and master data management (MDM). Integrating ISV solutions with CSP offerings can reduce complexity. This requires careful planning and strategizing to ensure seamless integration and governance. While CSPs are slowly enhancing their native offerings, ISVs continue to advance at a rapid pace and play a critical role in providing specialized, mature solutions that address specific organizational needs. ## **Analysis** ### **Intentionally Plan Your Cloud Architecture** Multi-cloud and inter-cloud architectures often arise naturally, but intentional planning is crucial for managing these environments effectively. According to the Gartner survey, many organizations use multiple CSPs without a primary provider, leading to challenges such as performance issues, unplanned cost overruns, and data integration difficulties. Intentional planning involves creating a deliberate cloud adoption strategy. This includes identifying the primary CSP and justifying the use of additional providers. Organizations should simplify and optimize the onboarding process to the preferred primary CSP, driving adoption and ensuring alignment with strategic goals. Policies should be established to manage cloud usage and mitigate the risks associated with multi-cloud environments. ### **Centralized Management and Data Ecosystems** Centralized management of multi-cloud environments can streamline operations and enhance governance. CSP services enable organizations to manage on-premises infrastructure and create a unified data management platform. These services extend cloud capabilities into on-premises environments, providing common security, governance, and monitoring policies. Data ecosystems aim to unify various point solutions, moving away from a fragmented approach to a cohesive, single-product experience. These ecosystems simplify data management across multiple clouds, reducing the complexity and overhead of managing separate environments. ### **Deployment Tiers** Selecting the appropriate deployment tier is critical for optimizing multi-cloud environments. Each tier—application, DBMS, or object storage—offers unique benefits and challenges. The application tier manages queries and data access across clouds, addressing latency and performance concerns with caching layers. The DBMS tier supports geographically distributed clusters, ensuring local read/write capabilities and data sovereignty policy enforcement. The object storage tier provides flexibility by allowing data distribution across clouds and optimizing costs and governance. When integrating data management environments that reside in multiple clouds, organizations must consider the specific requirements of their use cases. A solution that extends cloud object storage to multiple clouds offers the greatest flexibility, while the application or DBMS tier may be better suited for specific needs. D&A leaders should carefully evaluate these trade-offs to determine the most suitable deployment tier. ### **Use ISVs for Cloud-Agnostic Solutions** ISVs provide mature, cloud-agnostic solutions that extend beyond CSP-native capabilities. They support various platforms, offering advanced functionality in data integration, metadata management, data quality, data governance, and master data management (MDM). However, ISVs face challenges from CSPs, which are enhancing their native offerings and integrating tightly with the underlying infrastructure. To remain competitive, ISVs must emphasize their differentiation in multi-cloud portability and mature product offerings. They should also highlight their ability to provide specialized solutions that address specific organizational needs. Integrating ISV solutions with CSP offerings can reduce complexity and help with planning and strategizing. ### **Recommendations** To leverage ISV offerings effectively, D&A leaders should use them when they provide superior functionality or scope compared to native CSP offerings. Integrating ISV and CSP solutions can streamline governance and financial management complexity. Organizations should plan accordingly, ensuring seamless integration and efficient management of multi-cloud environments. ## **Conclusion** As the digital landscape evolves, a well-thought-out multi-cloud strategy is essential. By intentionally planning cloud architectures, tracking usage, choosing appropriate deployment tiers, and leveraging ISV capabilities, D&A leaders can navigate the complexities of multi-cloud environments and optimize their cloud resources. Embracing multi-cloud deployments can offer reliability and geographic localization, and mitigate the risk of CSP lock-in, providing a robust foundation for digital transformation. ### FAQs **What is a multi-cloud strategy?** A multi-cloud strategy is the use of two or more cloud service providers (CSPs) within one organization, adopted to avoid vendor lock-in, meet regulatory needs, and improve resilience. **Why do organizations use multiple cloud providers?** Organizations use multiple cloud providers to avoid vendor lock-in, meet regulatory requirements, support SaaS products, manage mergers and acquisitions, address shadow IT, and gain deployment flexibility across CSPs. **What are the main challenges of multi-cloud environments?** Multi-cloud environments create challenges including untracked usage, uncontrolled spending, data integration complexity, latency issues, governance gaps, and varying CSP ecosystem maturity requiring significant integration effort. **What are the deployment tiers in a multi-cloud architecture?** The three multi-cloud deployment tiers are application tier for cross-cloud querying, DBMS tier for geographically distributed clusters with data sovereignty, and object storage tier for flexible data distribution and cost optimization. **What is the difference between multi-cloud and inter-cloud?** Multi-cloud uses multiple CSPs independently for separate workloads, while inter-cloud connects services across CSPs to operate together, enabling data flow, querying, and integration between cloud environments. --- ## is-your-data-ai-ready URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/is-your-data-ai-ready Last updated: 2026-08-24 Data-driven decision-making, artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative force capable of revolutionizing industries. However, many organizations fall into the trap of assuming that traditional data management practices are sufficient for AI. This misconception can significantly hinder the success of AI initiatives. For data and analytics (D&A) leaders, understanding and implementing the principles of AI-ready data is crucial. This blog delves into the concept of AI-ready data, explores its defining characteristics, and outlines the steps necessary to achieve and maintain this readiness. ## **Understanding AI-Ready Data** ### **The Contextual Nature of AI-Ready Data** AI-ready data is defined by its suitability for specific AI use cases. Unlike traditional data management, which often prioritizes clean and error-free data, AI-ready data must encompass the full range of real-world conditions, including errors, outliers, and unexpected values. This diversity is essential for training AI models to handle the complexities and unpredictability of real-life scenarios. The contextual nature of AI-ready data means that its fitness can only be assessed relative to the specific AI technique and application in question. ### **Misconceptions About AI-Ready Data** Several misconceptions can hinder the effective preparation of AI-ready data. First, there's the belief that high-quality data, as judged by traditional data quality (DQ) standards, is automatically AI-ready. AI models require data that includes anomalies and diverse scenarios to learn effectively. Second, while responsible data governance is crucial, the principles may differ for AI. AI models can benefit from data that might not fit traditional governance standards but is still valid and representative. Lastly, the idea that data can be made AI-ready in a generic sense is flawed. Data readiness depends on the specific AI technique and use case; what works for one application may not be suitable for another. ## **Steps to Achieve AI-Ready Data** Achieving AI readiness involves a continuous process of aligning, qualifying, and governing data according to the needs of specific AI use cases. ### **1. Aligning Data to Use-Case Requirements** Every AI use case has unique data requirements that may evolve over time. Aligning data involves ensuring it meets these specific needs. First, different AI techniques, such as generative AI or simulation models, impose unique data requirements. Understanding these nuances is critical for data alignment. For instance, training data for a generative AI model will differ significantly from that needed for a predictive maintenance algorithm. Each technique dictates specific data characteristics, which must be identified and met. In addition to understanding AI techniques, quantification of data is essential. Ensuring there is sufficient data volume, especially for use cases with seasonal patterns, is crucial. Synthetic data can augment real data to meet these needs, providing a broader and more comprehensive dataset for training AI models. Moreover, enriching data with semantics, annotations, and labeling enhances model accuracy. For example, annotated images or videos, along with well-defined taxonomies and ontologies, can significantly improve the performance of AI models, particularly in applications involving complex visual data. Quality of data is another critical aspect. Data must meet the quality standards specific to the AI use case, considering factors such as sparsity and completeness. High-quality data for AI is not just about being clean but also about being representative of all possible scenarios the AI model might encounter. Trust in data sources and the reliability of contributing pipelines are also paramount. Ensuring the integrity and trustworthiness of data sources helps maintain confidence in the AI model’s outputs. Diversity in data sources prevents bias and enhances model fairness. Ensuring that the data includes a wide range of scenarios and demographics helps build fair and unbiased models. Lastly, lineage provides transparency about data origins and transformations. Understanding the data's journey from its source through various transformations and into the AI model is essential for traceability and accountability. ### **2. Qualifying Data to Meet AI Confidence Requirements** Qualifying data involves continuously meeting the confidence requirements for AI use cases through various parameters. Validation and verification are essential processes that ensure all data requirements are consistently met during development and operational phases. Regular checks and balances are necessary to maintain data integrity and suitability for AI models. Performance, cost, and nonfunctional requirements must also be addressed. Data must fulfill operational service level agreements (SLAs), including response time, availability, and cost-efficiency. For instance, the cost of inference in AI applications can be significant, and data management strategies must account for this to ensure sustainable operations. Versioning is critical for maintaining consistency and enabling rollbacks when necessary. Tracking and managing data versions ensures that any changes in data can be traced back and previous versions can be restored if needed. This is particularly important in AI, where models and data pipelines frequently evolve. Continuous regression testing helps detect issues and ensures the AI model remains reliable over time. By developing various test cases, teams can identify potential data drift and other anomalies affecting model performance. Observability metrics and monitoring are vital for maintaining the health of AI systems. These metrics track various aspects, such as data accuracy, delivery timeliness, and operational costs. By continuously monitoring these factors, teams can proactively address any issues that arise, ensuring the AI models remain effective and reliable. ### **3. Governing AI-Ready Data in Context** Ongoing governance ensures that AI-ready data adheres to relevant policies and standards, supporting ethical and compliant AI use. Data stewardship involves enforcing policies throughout the data lifecycle, including observability metrics and model access controls. Proper stewardship guarantees that data management practices align with organizational goals and regulatory requirements. Compliance with data and AI standards and regulations is non-negotiable. Emerging AI standards, such as the AI EU Act and existing regulations like GDPR, impose specific requirements on data management practices. Adhering to these standards ensures that AI applications remain legally compliant and ethically sound. AI ethics requirements form a crucial part of governance. Ethical considerations, such as the acceptability of using real customer data for training models, must be addressed to prevent misuse and ensure fair treatment of individuals. Controlled inference and derivation are also important. Tracking and governing the use of AI model outputs, especially in composite AI systems, helps maintain transparency and accountability. Data bias and fairness are specific challenges in AI. Bias in training data can lead to unfair and discriminatory outcomes. Governing data to anticipate and mitigate bias proactively ensures that AI models produce fair and unbiased results. Finally, data sharing supports delivering AI-ready data across various use cases. Facilitating data and metadata sharing promotes reuse and accelerates the development of AI-ready practices. Organizations can leverage a broader range of data sources and enhance their AI capabilities by enabling data sharing. ## **Conclusion** Preparing data for AI is a dynamic and iterative process that extends beyond traditional data management principles. For D&A leaders, understanding the specific requirements of AI-ready data is essential for leveraging AI effectively. Organizations can ensure their data is truly AI-ready by aligning data with use-case requirements, qualifying its use to meet confidence standards, and governing it within the context of AI applications. Embracing these practices will pave the way for successful AI implementations that drive innovation and deliver tangible business value. ### FAQs **What is AI-ready data?** AI-ready data is data suitable for specific AI use cases, encompassing real-world conditions including errors, outliers, and unexpected values needed to train AI models effectively. **What is the difference between AI-ready data and high-quality data?** AI-ready data includes anomalies, outliers, and diverse scenarios for AI model training, while traditional high-quality data prioritizes clean, error-free records that may not represent real-world complexity. **How do you make data AI-ready?** Making data AI-ready involves three steps: aligning data to specific use-case requirements, qualifying data to meet AI confidence and performance needs, and governing data through ethics and compliance. **What are the characteristics of AI-ready data?** AI-ready data characteristics include sufficient volume, semantic enrichment, quality matched to use case, trusted sources, diversity to prevent bias, clear lineage, and contextual fitness for the AI technique. **How do you govern AI-ready data?** Governing AI-ready data involves data stewardship, compliance with regulations like GDPR and the EU AI Act, AI ethics enforcement, bias mitigation, controlled inference tracking, and data sharing policies. --- ## unleashing-the-potential-of-cloud-database-migration-key-success-factors URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/unleashing-the-potential-of-cloud-database-migration-key-success-factors Last updated: 2026-08-24 During the recent [earnings call](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/events/fy-2024/earnings-fy-2024-q1.aspx) on October 24, 2023, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella underscored the significance of Oracle’s partnership in propelling Oracle customers who are yet to transition their databases to the cloud. Historically, impediments such as complexity, compliance, cost, and criticality have deterred the shift of databases to the cloud. Nevertheless, with technological advancements and strategic collaborations like Oracle Database@Azure, the migration of even the most demanding and mission-critical of databases from on-premises to the cloud has become increasingly enticing. To guarantee a smooth and successful migration, meticulous planning and implementation is crucial. Here are ten expert-recommended strategies to help you navigate the intricacies and hurdles associated with migrating legacy databases to the cloud: ## Evaluate your Database Environment Prior to initiating the migration, conduct a thorough assessment of your existing database environment. This should include considerations like the type of database system, its size, and dependencies. Assess performance and security needs to select an appropriate cloud database service and devise an effective migration plan. ## Monitor Performance Closely Public cloud providers frequently depend on traditional compute and storage infrastructures for databases, which can adversely affect performance. If your databases require substantial IOPS, seek out cloud solutions equipped with specific hardware or technologies that effectively utilize compute shapes with local NVMe. ## Conduct a Comprehensive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Analysis Undertake a detailed TCO analysis to understand both short-term and long-term costs related to different options, including retaining on-premises operations. A TCO analysis aids in comparing cloud-to-cloud scenarios and self-managed versus Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) alternatives, empowering you to make informed decisions that resonate with your strategic objectives. Always uses precise figures when possible, and ensure transparent calculations to boost credibility among stakeholders and senior management. Your TCO analysis should encompass all relevant costs influencing each scenario. These include elements such as licenses for database, backup, and data masking, along with compute, storage, egress, administration, and the impact on user productivity. The insights gained from a thorough TCO analysis invariably aid in ensuring a more successful migration. ## Assess Self-Managed vs. DBaaS Options Weigh the benefits of a DBaaS provider managing your cloud-hosted databases against an in-house, self-managed setup. An effective DBaaS can alleviate the burden of routine tasks, allowing your database administrators (DBAs) to concentrate on driving business success rather than maintaining operational consistency. On the other hand, an on-premise setup enables more direct control over security protocols and may even be required for compliance purposes in some industries. ## Ensure High Availability For mission-critical databases, opt for a platform that offers real-time high availability across multiple availability zones. This setup guarantees continuous operation, barring region-wide outages, even if a data center fails. ## Formulate Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Plans Take advantage of the cloud’s capabilities to build a straightforward yet robust disaster recovery solution. Regularly test your failover and failback procedures and ensure your disaster recovery solution spans regions, thus reducing the risks associated with regional failures. ## Institute Backup and Restore Mechanisms Go beyond storage snapshots and implement comprehensive native database backups. Native backups provide the flexibility to transfer databases between clouds or back on-premises, making them a crucial component of a multi-cloud strategy. Also, empower users with the capability to restore or clone databases from any point in time. ## Enhance Security Measures Database breaches frequently occur in secondary environments, underscoring the importance of a sensitive data masking strategy.. This approach ensures data is scrambled once it departs the production server. Enforce automatic data encryption, both at rest and during transit. If adopting a provider’s cloud tenancy is required, consider the cost and effort associated with complying with new security policies. ## Devise Your Migration Strategy A well-articulated migration strategy is key to a successful transition. Choose between a lift-and-shift approach, moving the entire database as is, or a more intricate migration that involves refactoring your applications for cloud-native databases. No matter the strategy, comprehensive testing is essential, including data validation, performance testing, and failover scenarios. Testing your applications and workloads in the cloud environment helps preemptively identify and resolve any issues. ## Monitor and Refine Post-Migration Operations Once your database has been migrated to the cloud, continuous monitoring and optimization are critical. While cloud databases offer scalability, they can also cause cost fluctuations. Leverage cloud monitoring, FinOps, and analytics tools to closely track performance, security, and costs, making adjustments to ensure your database consistently meets your business objectives. ## Conclusion In summary, migrating your databases to the cloud can be a strategic decision that brings numerous benefits, including scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness that aid in a successful digital transformation initiative. However, it requires meticulous planning and execution. A well-managed migration can lead to increased scalability, cost reduction, and improved data management, positioning your organization for success in the era of cloud computing. ### FAQs **How do you migrate a legacy database to the cloud?** Migrating a legacy database to the cloud involves evaluating the database environment, running a TCO analysis, choosing DBaaS or self-managed, ensuring high availability, planning disaster recovery, and post-migration monitoring. **What are the best practices for cloud database migration?** Cloud database migration best practices include environment assessment, NVMe-backed performance monitoring, TCO analysis, native backups for portability, data masking, real-time high availability, and cross-region disaster recovery. **What is the difference between lift-and-shift and cloud-native migration?** Lift-and-shift migration moves the entire database to the cloud as-is without changes, while cloud-native migration involves refactoring applications and databases to leverage cloud-specific services for better performance and scalability. **Should you choose DBaaS or self-managed databases?** DBaaS reduces routine maintenance, freeing DBAs to focus on business value, while self-managed databases offer direct security control that may be required for compliance regulations in some industries. **What costs should be included in a database TCO analysis?** A database TCO analysis should include licenses for database, backup, and data masking software, plus compute, storage, egress, administration, and impact on user productivity across all migration scenarios. --- ## what-is-milvus URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/what-is-milvus Last updated: 2026-08-24 Milvus is an open-source vector database designed specifically for handling large-scale vector data, particularly in the realm of machine learning, deep learning, and data similarity searches. It provides efficient storage, indexing, and retrieval of vector embeddings, catering to the needs of AI-driven applications that rely heavily on similarity search and data retrieval based on vector representations. Here’s an in-depth exploration of Milvus and its key concepts: ## Understanding Milvus ### Vector Database Milvus is optimized for managing and processing high-dimensional vector data, allowing storage and retrieval of vectors representing features extracted from images, text, audio, or other sources. ### Similarity Search A core feature of Milvus is its ability to perform similarity searches, finding vectors that are most similar to a given query vector. This capability is crucial in recommendation systems, image and video retrieval, natural language processing, and more. ### Vector Indexing Milvus employs various indexing techniques to efficiently organize and retrieve vector data, including IVF (Inverted File with Vocabulary Tree), HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World), and more, optimizing search performance. ### Scalability and Performance Milvus is designed for scalability, capable of handling vast amounts of high-dimensional data and supporting parallel and distributed computing to ensure high performance in data retrieval. ### GPU Acceleration It leverages GPU acceleration to expedite similarity search operations, significantly enhancing the speed of processing large-scale vector data. ### Multi-Model Support Milvus supports multiple types of vector data, such as dense vectors (numeric values), sparse vectors (containing mostly zero values), and binary vectors, providing flexibility in handling different data types. ### RESTful API and SDKs It offers a RESTful API and software development kits (SDKs) in multiple programming languages, simplifying integration and interaction with Milvus in various applications. ### Community and Open Source Milvus is backed by an active and growing community of developers and users contributing to its development, documentation, and support. Being open-source, it encourages collaboration and innovation. ## Use Cases Milvus, as a specialized vector database, caters to use cases that heavily involve handling high-dimensional vector data. Its focus on efficient storage, indexing, and similarity search makes it particularly suited for various applications in AI, machine learning, and data analytics. Here are some major use cases of Milvus: - **Recommendation Systems:**Milvus is used in recommendation engines for personalized content delivery, enabling efficient similarity search to suggest items based on user preferences and item similarity. - **Image and Video Retrieval:**Applications involving image and video search benefit from Milvus by quickly identifying similar images or frames in large collections, facilitating efficient content retrieval. - **Natural Language Processing (NLP):**Milvus assists in NLP tasks by enabling semantic search and analysis of text embeddings, supporting operations that involve similarity-based text comparisons. - **Biometric Identification:**Milvus aids in biometric identification systems by efficiently comparing vectors representing facial or fingerprint data for identification and authentication purposes. - **Anomaly Detection:**It supports anomaly detection systems that process high-dimensional data, allowing for the identification of deviations from normal patterns by analyzing vector representations. - **Product Recommendation and Cataloging:**E-commerce platforms utilize Milvus for product recommendation engines and cataloging, efficiently matching similar products or items based on vector representations. - **Medical Imaging and Healthcare:**In healthcare, Milvus assists in managing and retrieving medical image data efficiently, enabling similarity-based searches for diagnosing and analyzing images. - **Time Series Data Analysis:**Milvus is employed in time series data analysis applications, where similarity search among large sets of time-stamped vectors is essential for forecasting, trend analysis, and pattern recognition. - **Graph Analytics and Social Networks:**Milvus aids in graph analytics and social network analysis by facilitating similarity-based operations on vector representations of nodes or connections in graphs. - **Financial Services and Fraud Detection:**In financial institutions, Milvus assists in fraud detection systems by analyzing patterns in high-dimensional data vectors to identify suspicious activities or transactions. These use cases highlight the versatility of Milvus in applications that require efficient handling of high-dimensional vector data, similarity search, and retrieval operations. Its ability to perform fast and accurate similarity searches across large datasets makes it a valuable tool in various domains relying on AI-driven technologies and similarity-based analysis. ## Conclusion Milvus stands as a specialized solution tailored for managing and processing vector data, offering efficient storage, indexing, and retrieval mechanisms. Its focus on similarity search and vector operations caters to the growing needs of AI-driven applications, where handling high-dimensional data and performing similarity-based searches are fundamental. With its scalability, performance optimizations, and versatile applications across various domains, Milvus emerges as a valuable tool in the realm of vector database management for AI and machine learning initiatives. ### FAQs **What is Milvus?** Milvus is an open-source vector database designed for storing, indexing, and retrieving high-dimensional vector data, particularly for machine learning, deep learning, and AI-driven similarity search applications. **What is Milvus used for?** Milvus is used for recommendation systems, image and video retrieval, natural language processing, biometric identification, anomaly detection, e-commerce cataloging, medical imaging, time series analysis, and fraud detection. **Is Milvus open source?** Yes, Milvus is open source, backed by an active community of developers and users contributing to its development, documentation, and support across vector database use cases. **What indexing techniques does Milvus support?** Milvus supports vector indexing techniques including IVF (Inverted File with Vocabulary Tree), HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World), and other algorithms optimized for efficient similarity search performance across high-dimensional data. **What types of vectors does Milvus support?** Milvus supports multiple vector types including dense vectors (numeric values), sparse vectors (containing mostly zero values), and binary vectors, providing flexibility for diverse machine learning and AI data formats. --- ## what-is-mongodb URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/what-is-mongodb Last updated: 2026-08-24 MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database that diverges from the traditional relational database model. As an open-source, document-oriented database, MongoDB stores data in flexible, JSON-like documents, providing high performance, scalability, and flexibility for modern applications. Here's a detailed look at MongoDB and its key concepts: ## Understanding MongoDB ### Document-Oriented Structure MongoDB stores data in documents, akin to JSON objects, making it highly flexible. Each document can have its own unique structure, allowing for nested fields and arrays, eliminating the need for predefined schemas. ### NoSQL and Schema Flexibility Unlike traditional SQL databases, MongoDB belongs to the NoSQL family, offering a schema-less approach. This flexibility allows developers to evolve the data model as the application requirements change. ### BSON Data Format MongoDB uses BSON (Binary JSON) for data storage, which provides efficient encoding and decoding of various data types, enabling faster read and write operations. ### Collections and Documents Data in MongoDB is organized into collections, which are akin to tables in relational databases. Each collection contains multiple documents, similar to rows in tables, where each document represents a record and can have varying structures. ### Scalability and Replication MongoDB offers horizontal scalability by distributing data across multiple servers, providing sharding capabilities for managing large data sets. It also supports replica sets, ensuring data redundancy, fault tolerance, and high availability. ### Indexing and Querying MongoDB provides efficient indexing capabilities, allowing for faster data retrieval. It supports rich querying using a query language similar to JSON, making it easy to filter, sort, and project data. ### Aggregation Framework MongoDB’s aggregation framework enables complex data aggregation operations, including grouping, filtering, and performing calculations, providing powerful analytics capabilities. ### Geospatial Capabilities MongoDB has built-in support for geospatial indexing and queries, making it suitable for applications requiring location-based data and spatial queries. ### High Performance and Scalability Due to its architecture and efficient data storage mechanisms, MongoDB offers high performance and scalability, handling large volumes of data and high-throughput operations effectively. ### Change Streams MongoDB's change streams feature provides real-time notifications about changes happening in the database. It allows applications to react to changes immediately, facilitating reactive programming and real-time updates. Change streams enable building event-driven architectures and reactive applications, ensuring synchronization and timely processing of data changes. ### GridFS for Large File Storage MongoDB's GridFS allows efficient storage and retrieval of large files by breaking them into smaller chunks and storing them as separate documents. This feature is useful for managing files that exceed the BSON document size limit. ### Ad hoc Queries MongoDB supports ad hoc queries, allowing users to perform dynamic queries without predefined schema definitions. This flexibility in querying facilitates exploration and analysis of data without strict structures. ### Adherence to ACID Properties While MongoDB offers flexibility, it supports ACID properties for transactions in specific configurations, ensuring data consistency, integrity, and reliability. ## Use Cases MongoDB, being a versatile NoSQL database, finds application across various industries and use cases due to its flexibility, scalability, and performance. Here are some major use cases where MongoDB is commonly employed: - **Content Management Systems (CMS): **MongoDB is used in CMS platforms for its flexible document structure, allowing easy content modeling and management. - **Real-Time Analytics: **Applications requiring real-time data analytics benefit from MongoDB's ability to handle high volumes of data and perform complex aggregations. - **Internet of Things (IoT): **MongoDB is utilized in IoT applications for storing sensor data, managing device information, and handling diverse data types. - **E-commerce and Catalog Management: **MongoDB's schema-less nature is advantageous for cataloging products, managing product information, and handling varying product attributes. - **Mobile Application Backend: **It serves as a backend database for mobile applications due to its ability to store and retrieve JSON-like documents efficiently. - **Social Media and User Data Management: **MongoDB is used in platforms requiring user-generated content management, user profiles, and social interactions due to its scalability and ease of data modeling. - **Log and Event Data Storage: **Applications dealing with log and event data utilize MongoDB for its ability to handle time-stamped data and perform efficient querying. - **Geospatial Applications: **MongoDB's geospatial indexing and querying capabilities make it suitable for applications involving location-based data and spatial queries. ## Conclusion MongoDB's flexibility, scalability, high performance, and document-oriented structure make it a preferred choice for modern applications. Its ability to handle diverse data types, accommodate evolving application needs, and provide robust features for data management positions MongoDB as a powerful NoSQL database solution in today's technology landscape. ### FAQs **What is MongoDB?** MongoDB is an open-source, document-oriented NoSQL database that stores data in flexible, JSON-like documents, offering high performance, scalability, and schema flexibility for modern applications. **What is MongoDB used for?** MongoDB is used for content management systems, real-time analytics, IoT applications, e-commerce catalogs, mobile app backends, social media platforms, log and event storage, and geospatial applications. **What is the difference between MongoDB and SQL databases?** MongoDB is a schema-less NoSQL database storing data as JSON-like documents in collections, while SQL databases use predefined schemas with structured tables, rows, and relational joins for queries. **Is MongoDB ACID compliant?** Yes, MongoDB is ACID compliant in specific configurations, supporting atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability for transactions, ensuring data integrity and reliability across multi-document operations. **What are the key features of MongoDB?** MongoDB key features include document-oriented BSON storage, horizontal scalability through sharding, replica sets for high availability, aggregation framework, geospatial indexing, change streams, GridFS file storage, and ad hoc queries. --- ## postgresql-concepts-benefits-and-use-cases URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-concepts-benefits-and-use-cases Last updated: 2026-08-24 PostgreSQL, often referred to as Postgres, stands as a powerful open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) renowned for its robustness, extensibility, and adherence to SQL standards. Developed by a team of volunteers and overseen by the PostgreSQL Global Development Group, this database system has gained significant popularity for its advanced features and strong community support. ## Core Concepts of PostgreSQL - **Relational Database Management System (RDBMS): **PostgreSQL follows the relational model, organizing data into tables with rows and columns, allowing for the establishment of relationships between tables based on keys. This structure enables efficient data storage, retrieval, and management. - **ACID Compliance: **PostgreSQL ensures ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) compliance for database transactions. ACID properties guarantee the reliability and integrity of data by ensuring that transactions are processed reliably even in the event of system failures. - **Extensibility and Customization: **Postgres is highly extensible, allowing users to create custom data types, functions, and extensions. This flexibility enables developers to tailor the database to specific application requirements. - **SQL Support: **Similar to MySQL, PostgreSQL utilizes SQL (Structured Query Language) for database operations. It complies with the SQL standards and also extends support for advanced SQL features and complex queries. - **Data Types: **PostgreSQL offers a rich set of built-in data types, including numeric, text, date/time, JSON, XML, arrays, and user-defined types. This diversity facilitates efficient storage and manipulation of various data formats. - **Indexes and Query Optimization: **PostgreSQL includes various indexing techniques like B-tree, Hash, GiST, GIN, etc., to optimize data retrieval speed. Additionally, it features a robust query optimizer that enhances query performance by choosing the most efficient execution plans. - **Concurrency Control: **It employs Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC) to manage concurrent access to the database, allowing multiple transactions to occur simultaneously while ensuring data consistency and isolation. - **Advanced Features: **Postgres offers advanced features such as support for geospatial data, full-text search capabilities, native JSON support, and advanced analytics functionalities, making it suitable for a wide range of applications. - **Security Mechanisms: **PostgreSQL provides robust security measures, including role-based access control, SSL encryption, data encryption at rest, and fine-grained access control, ensuring data confidentiality and integrity. - **Replication and High Availability: **It supports various replication methods, allowing for the creation of standby servers and streaming replication for high availability and fault tolerance. ## Features and Benefits - **Advanced SQL Support: **PostgreSQL offers a comprehensive range of SQL features, supporting complex SQL operations like window functions, common table expressions (CTEs), recursive queries, and other advanced constructs. This feature enables developers to write sophisticated and optimized queries for data manipulation. - **Robustness and Reliability: **Renowned for its stability and reliability, PostgreSQL is suitable for mission-critical applications. Its robustness ensures consistent performance and data integrity, making it a preferred choice for enterprises and high-availability systems. - **PostGIS Extension: **PostGIS is a powerful spatial database extender for PostgreSQL, enabling the handling of geospatial data. This feature equips PostgreSQL with geospatial capabilities, making it suitable for GIS applications, mapping, and location-based services. - **JSONB Support: **PostgreSQL's native support for JSONB (binary JSON) allows efficient storage, indexing, and querying of JSON data within the database. JSONB provides additional functionalities like indexing for faster access and retrieval of JSON documents. - **Full Text Search: **PostgreSQL offers robust full-text search capabilities, supporting advanced features like stemming, ranking, and indexing for efficient and accurate searching within textual data. This feature is valuable in applications requiring sophisticated search functionalities. - **Array Support: **PostgreSQL provides comprehensive support for array data types, enabling storage, manipulation, and querying of arrays within the database. This feature is useful when dealing with structured or semi-structured data that involves arrays. - **Table Inheritance: **PostgreSQL supports table inheritance, allowing the creation of child tables that inherit attributes from parent tables. This feature facilitates data modeling and organization, offering a hierarchical structure within the database schema. - **Materialized Views: **PostgreSQL offers materialized views, which are precomputed views stored as tables, allowing faster access to complex query results. This feature improves query performance by avoiding repeated computation of results. - **Community Support: **PostgreSQL benefits from a vibrant and active community of developers and users, ensuring continuous improvements, regular updates, and a wealth of resources for support and guidance. - **Cross-Platform Compatibility: **It is available on various platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, ensuring flexibility in deployment across different environments. - **Cost-Effectiveness: **Being open-source, PostgreSQL offers a cost-effective solution without licensing fees, making it attractive for businesses aiming to minimize expenses without compromising on quality. - **Joins and Relationships**: PostgreSQL supports different types of joins such as INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN, and FULL JOIN, facilitating the combination of data from multiple tables based on defined relationships. - **Views**: PostgreSQL allows the creation of views, which are virtual tables derived from SQL queries. Views simplify complex queries by offering a predefined subset of data or a logical representation of data from multiple tables. - **Stored Procedures and Functions**: PostgreSQL supports stored procedures and user-defined functions written in multiple programming languages, providing flexibility in writing complex procedural code within the database.**‍** - **Triggers**: Triggers in PostgreSQL are database objects that automatically execute actions (e.g., INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) in response to specified events (e.g., data modifications) in a table, ensuring data integrity and enforcing business rules. - **Common Table Expressions (CTEs)**: PostgreSQL supports Common Table Expressions, allowing the creation of temporary result sets within a query. CTEs simplify complex queries and improve query manageability.**‍** - **Window Functions**: PostgreSQL offers a rich set of window functions like ROW_NUMBER(), RANK(), and NTILE(), enabling analytical processing within a specified window or subset of rows. - **Arrays and Composite Types**: PostgreSQL supports arrays and composite types, allowing columns to hold arrays of values or composite data types. This feature enhances data modeling flexibility and enables the storage of structured data within columns. These features represent a portion of PostgreSQL's robust capabilities. Each plays a crucial role in different aspects of database management, development, and performance optimization, contributing to PostgreSQL's reputation as a powerful and versatile database management system. ## Use Cases and Applications PostgreSQL serves a wide array of use cases across different industries due to its advanced features and flexibility. Some major use cases of PostgreSQL include: - **Enterprise Applications:** PostgreSQL is frequently used in enterprise environments for its reliability and data integrity. It handles various business-critical applications such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and HR management systems. - **Web Applications:** Many web applications leverage PostgreSQL for its scalability, support for complex queries, and data integrity. It powers web platforms, content management systems (CMS) like Django and TYPO3, and diverse web-based applications. - **Geospatial Applications:** PostgreSQL's support for geospatial data via extensions like PostGIS makes it a go-to choice for GIS (Geographic Information System) applications, location-based services, and mapping software. It efficiently handles geospatial data storage, indexing, and geospatial querying. - **Data Warehousing and Analytics:** PostgreSQL is used in data warehousing solutions where analytics and complex querying capabilities are required. It's capable of handling large volumes of data and supports OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) workloads. - **Scientific Research and Data Analysis:** PostgreSQL's support for complex data types, rich indexing, and advanced analytics features makes it suitable for scientific research, data analysis, and data mining applications. - **Telecommunications:** PostgreSQL is utilized in the telecommunications industry for managing call detail records, subscriber data, billing information, and network configurations due to its reliability and scalability. - **Financial Services:** The finance sector employs PostgreSQL for managing financial data, transactions, compliance reporting, and risk management applications due to its ACID compliance and data security features. - **Healthcare and Life Sciences:** PostgreSQL finds application in healthcare systems for managing patient records, medical imaging, genomics, and clinical research data, ensuring data integrity and security. - **IoT (Internet of Things) and Embedded Systems:** PostgreSQL's lightweight nature and flexibility make it suitable for embedded systems and IoT devices where data storage and management are essential. - **Content Repositories and Version Control:** It's used in applications that require version control, document storage, and revision tracking, providing a robust backend for content repositories. ## Conclusion: PostgreSQL’s robustness, extensibility, and adherence to standards have made it a popular choice among developers and businesses. Its ability to handle complex workloads, coupled with a strong focus on data integrity, security, and extensibility, positions PostgreSQL as a versatile and reliable database solution for a wide array of applications. Understanding its core concepts empowers users to leverage its capabilities effectively while building scalable and efficient database-driven applications. --- ## fortifying-oracle-databases-unrivaled-protection-and-resilience URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/fortifying-oracle-databases-unrivaled-protection-and-resilience Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the ever-evolving landscape of database management, the significance of robust protection mechanisms cannot be overstated. Among the myriad of solutions, Tessell stands out as a paradigm of excellence, providing unparalleled safeguarding for Oracle databases. Through a comprehensive suite of features and adherence to Oracle's Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA), Tessell emerges as the epitome of reliability and resilience. ## Oracle's Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) Before delving into Tessell's capabilities, understanding Oracle's MAA lays the groundwork. MAA is Oracle's best practices blueprint, designed to ensure high availability, disaster recovery, and overall system resilience. It revolves around four key pillars:*Fault Prevention, Fault Detection and Correction, HA Architectures, and Data Protection.*Tessell meticulously aligns with these pillars to offer a robust protective shield for Oracle databases. ## High Availability Tessell's High Availability solutions are second to none, ensuring uninterrupted database access. Through redundant architecture, load balancing, and intelligent failover mechanisms, Tessell minimizes downtime, guaranteeing continuous availability even during maintenance or unforeseen incidents. ## Disaster Recovery The system's Disaster Recovery capabilities within Tessell are comprehensive and proactive. Leveraging advanced replication technologies and real-time data synchronization, Tessell enables swift recovery in the event of catastrophic failures, safeguarding data integrity and minimizing recovery time objectives. ## Tessell Availability Machine The Tessell Availability Machine encapsulates the pinnacle of database protection. It amalgamates cutting-edge hardware and software components, creating an optimized environment specifically geared towards Oracle databases. This dedicated machine ensures peak performance and resilience, catering to the most demanding business requirements. ## Snapshots and Backups Tessell's snapshot and backup functionalities are robust and versatile. Offering point-in-time recovery options, automated backup schedules, and efficient storage management, it ensures data is consistently safeguarded and recoverable to any desired state. ## Point-in-time Restore and Last Committed Transaction Recovery One of Tessell's standout features is its ability to perform point-in-time restores with precision, allowing users to recover databases to specific moments in time. Additionally, the capability to recover to the last committed transaction ensures data consistency, providing a safety net against inadvertent errors or malicious activities. ## Zero Downtime and Zero Data Loss Failovers Perhaps the pinnacle of Tessell's prowess lies in its zero-downtime and zero-data-loss failover mechanisms. By seamlessly transitioning between primary and secondary systems without disrupting operations, Tessell ensures business continuity, even in the face of hardware failures or maintenance activities. In conclusion, Tessell stands tall as the vanguard of Oracle database protection. Its unwavering commitment to Oracle's MAA, coupled with its array of high availability and disaster recovery features, solidifies its position as the go-to solution for safeguarding critical data. As the digital landscape evolves, Tessell remains steadfast, ensuring databases are not just protected but fortified against any adversity. ### FAQs **What is Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA)?** Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) is Oracle's best practices blueprint for ensuring high availability, disaster recovery, and system resilience, built around fault prevention, detection, HA architectures, and data protection. **What are the four pillars of Oracle MAA?** The four pillars of Oracle MAA are fault prevention, fault detection and correction, high availability architectures, and data protection, collectively ensuring database resilience and continuous operation. **How does Tessell protect Oracle databases?** Tessell protects Oracle databases through Oracle MAA-aligned high availability, disaster recovery, automated snapshots and backups, point-in-time restore, last committed transaction recovery, and zero-downtime, zero-data-loss failover mechanisms. **What is point-in-time restore?** Point-in-time restore is a recovery feature that allows databases to be restored to a specific moment in time, ensuring data consistency and protection against errors or malicious activities. **What is zero data loss failover?** Zero data loss failover is a high availability mechanism that seamlessly transitions between primary and secondary database systems without losing any committed transactions or disrupting business operations. --- ## maximizing-efficiency-consolidating-oracle-databases-on-the-cloud URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/maximizing-efficiency-consolidating-oracle-databases-on-the-cloud Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the realm of database management, efficiency and optimization are paramount. As enterprises navigate the transition to the cloud, the concept of hosting multiple Oracle databases on a single server in a cloud environment is a powerful strategy. This approach not only streamlines operations but also offers a myriad of benefits, including consolidation, license optimization, and enhanced management capabilities. Let's delve into the advantages and explore how Tessell's DBaaS platform facilitates this functionality. ## The Power of Consolidation and License Optimization ### 1.**Resource Optimization** Hosting multiple Oracle databases on a single server in the cloud allows for better resource utilization. Instead of dedicating separate servers to individual databases, consolidation maximizes server capacity, optimizing CPU, memory, and storage usage. This efficiency translates into cost savings and improved performance as resources are shared intelligently among databases. ### 2.**Cost Reduction and License Optimization** Consolidation enables better license utilization. By running multiple databases on a single server, enterprises can potentially reduce the number of licenses required. This not only lowers licensing costs but also simplifies license management and compliance. ### 3.**Streamlined Management** Centralizing multiple databases on a single server streamlines management efforts. Tasks such as patching, updates, backups, and monitoring become more efficient as they can be performed on a consolidated infrastructure rather than across disparate servers. ## Tessell: Enabling Effortless Management Tessell's fully managed database service stands out as a facilitator for hosting multiple Oracle databases on a single server in the cloud, offering a suite of features that simplify and optimize database management. ### 1.**Resource Pooling** Tessell employs robust resource pooling capabilities, allowing efficient allocation of resources among multiple databases. This ensures optimal performance while minimizing resource wastage. ### 2.**Centralized Management** The platform provides a centralized dashboard for monitoring and managing multiple Oracle databases. Administrators can oversee various databases, perform maintenance tasks, and handle configurations from a single interface, enhancing operational efficiency. ### 3.**License Optimization** Tessell helps in optimizing Oracle licenses by effectively utilizing server resources. By intelligently consolidating databases, it enables organizations to make the most out of their licenses, reducing costs and ensuring compliance. ### 4.**Scalability and Flexibility** The platform offers scalability, allowing businesses to adjust resources based on evolving demands. It supports the dynamic scaling of resources to accommodate changing workloads, ensuring optimal performance across multiple databases. ### 5.**Enhanced Security and Compliance** Tessell prioritizes security and compliance. It integrates robust security measures and ensures that data across multiple databases remains protected, meeting regulatory requirements. ## Embracing Efficiency and Optimization In conclusion, hosting multiple Oracle databases on a single server in the cloud holds immense potential for enterprises seeking efficiency, cost savings, and streamlined management. The consolidation of databases not only optimizes resource usage but also enables better license utilization, simplifies management tasks, and enhances overall performance. Tessell stands as a reliable solution, empowering businesses to leverage the benefits of database consolidation effortlessly. With its comprehensive suite of features, including resource pooling, centralized management, license optimization, scalability, and robust security measures, Tessell's platform is tailored to meet the evolving needs of enterprises navigating the multi-database landscape in the cloud. Embrace the power of consolidation and optimization with Tessell, and unlock the full potential of hosting multiple Oracle databases on a single server in the cloud. Streamline operations, reduce costs, and propel your database management into a new era of efficiency. ### FAQs **What is database consolidation?** Database consolidation is the practice of hosting multiple databases on a single server to optimize resource utilization, reduce licensing costs, simplify management, and streamline operations across an enterprise database estate. **What are the benefits of consolidating Oracle databases?** Consolidating Oracle databases benefits enterprises through better CPU, memory, and storage utilization, reduced licensing requirements, streamlined patching and backups, simplified compliance, and centralized monitoring across the database environment. **How does Tessell consolidate Oracle databases?** Tessell consolidates Oracle databases through intelligent resource pooling, centralized management dashboards, license optimization, dynamic scaling, and integrated security measures, hosting multiple databases efficiently on a single server. **How does database consolidation reduce Oracle licensing costs?** Database consolidation reduces Oracle licensing costs by running multiple databases on a single server, lowering total license counts, simplifying license management, and improving compliance tracking across the estate. **What is resource pooling in DBaaS?** Resource pooling in DBaaS is the practice of intelligently sharing CPU, memory, and storage across multiple databases on a single server, maximizing utilization while minimizing resource wastage and operational costs. --- ## embracing-the-data-cloudscape-the-journey-to-multi-cloud-database-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/embracing-the-data-cloudscape-the-journey-to-multi-cloud-database-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the not-so-distant past, enterprises stored their data and ran their applications on on-premises servers, managing their entire IT infrastructure within the confines of their data centers. However, as technology continues to evolve, the business landscape has witnessed a significant shift towards cloud computing. This transition has been more than just a migration; it's been a journey—one that has reshaped the way enterprises store, manage, and leverage their data. ## The Exodus from On-Premise The journey to multi-cloud database management starts with the migration from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud. This migration is not merely a technical shift but a strategic pivot that promises a multitude of benefits, including cost savings, scalability, and flexibility. Here's a brief overview of the key stages in this transformative journey: ### 1. Lift and Shift: The Beginning The initial step for many enterprises involves "lifting and shifting" their existing on-premises applications to the cloud. This is often seen as a quick and cost-effective way to take advantage of cloud infrastructure. While it may not fully harness the cloud's potential, it's a practical starting point for organizations to test the waters. ### 2. Cloud-Native Transition: Embracing New Horizons As enterprises gain confidence and familiarity with cloud environments, they embark on the path of "cloud-native" transformation. This involves rearchitecting applications to leverage cloud-specific services and technologies. It's a shift that encourages innovation and the development of applications optimized for the cloud, rather than simply hosting existing ones. ### 3. The Rise of Multi-Cloud Strategies Once enterprises are firmly established in the cloud, they often find that a single cloud provider doesn't meet all their needs. Different cloud platforms offer unique strengths, and enterprises are drawn to these advantages. This realization is what sparks the adoption of multi-cloud strategies. ## The Why and How of Multi-Cloud Strategies But why would an enterprise decide to manage its data across multiple cloud providers? The reasons are as diverse as the enterprises themselves: 1. **Avoiding Vendor Lock-In**: One of the key drivers for multi-cloud adoption is the desire to avoid vendor lock-in. Enterprises do not want to be dependent on a single provider, which might lead to increased costs or reduced flexibility. By diversifying their cloud services, organizations can maintain control over their data and mitigate the risks associated with vendor lock-in. 2. **Optimizing Cost and Performance**: Different cloud providers offer varying pricing models and service options. By strategically distributing workloads across multiple clouds, enterprises can optimize their costs while ensuring optimal performance for each application. 3. **Enhancing Disaster Recovery**: Diversifying cloud providers can also enhance disaster recovery capabilities. By replicating data and applications across multiple clouds, organizations can better ensure data redundancy and business continuity. 4. **Geographical Expansion**: Some cloud providers have a stronger presence in specific geographic regions. Enterprises looking to expand globally can take advantage of multiple providers to accommodate their global presence more effectively. 5. **Regulatory Compliance**: Data privacy and regulatory requirements differ across regions and industries. Multi-cloud strategies allow organizations to store data in regions that align with their specific compliance needs. 6. **Hybrid Cloud Flexibility**: For enterprises with a mix of on-premises and cloud-based infrastructure, multi-cloud solutions offer the flexibility to create a hybrid cloud environment that seamlessly integrates existing data centers with various cloud platforms. So, how does an enterprise go about devising a multi-cloud strategy? It begins with a comprehensive assessment of their specific needs, followed by careful planning and execution. Key considerations include: 1. **Defining Objectives**: Determine what you hope to achieve with a multi-cloud strategy. Is it cost optimization, improved performance, risk mitigation, or regulatory compliance? 2. **Selecting the Right Providers**: Evaluate which cloud providers align with your objectives and choose them accordingly. 3. **Data Management Solutions**: Implement data management solutions that allow you to seamlessly move data across different cloud environments while maintaining data integrity and security. 4. **Security and Compliance**: Develop robust security protocols and ensure compliance across all cloud platforms. 5. **Monitoring and Management**: Implement tools and systems for monitoring, managing, and optimizing your multi-cloud environment. ## Embracing the Multi-Cloud Future In conclusion, the journey from on-premise infrastructure to multi-cloud database management represents a pivotal shift in how enterprises operate and leverage their data. Multi-cloud strategies offer the agility and flexibility needed to thrive in an ever-changing digital landscape. As technology continues to advance and the cloud ecosystem evolves, enterprises that embrace the multi-cloud approach will be well-prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the world of data management. The multi-cloud future is upon us, and it's a landscape that offers vast possibilities for those ready to explore it. ### FAQs **What is a multi-cloud strategy?** A multi-cloud strategy is the practice of distributing data, applications, and workloads across two or more cloud providers to optimize cost, performance, flexibility, and risk management. **What are the stages of cloud migration?** Cloud migration progresses through three stages: lift and shift (moving existing applications), cloud-native transition (rearchitecting for cloud services), and multi-cloud adoption (distributing workloads across multiple providers). **Why do enterprises use multi-cloud strategies?** Enterprises use multi-cloud strategies to avoid vendor lock-in, optimize cost and performance, enhance disaster recovery, support geographical expansion, meet regulatory compliance, and enable hybrid cloud flexibility. **What is lift and shift in cloud migration?** Lift and shift is the process of moving existing on-premises applications directly to the cloud without rearchitecting them, offering a quick, cost-effective entry into cloud infrastructure. **How do you implement a multi-cloud strategy?** Implementing a multi-cloud strategy involves defining objectives, selecting the right providers, deploying data management solutions, establishing security and compliance protocols, and setting up monitoring and management tools. --- ## navigating-the-skies-multi-cloud-database-and-data-management URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/navigating-the-skies-multi-cloud-database-and-data-management Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the ever-evolving world of cloud computing, multi-cloud strategies have become increasingly popular among enterprises. These strategies involve utilizing a combination of cloud environments and providers to harness specialized capabilities and optimized pricing. However, the complexity of managing a heterogeneous mix of proprietary platforms, services, and interfaces can create chaos in your data management. To bring order to the multi-cloud chaos, many businesses are exploring a concept known as "super cloud" or "sky computing." In this blog, we will explore the world of multi-cloud data management and how super cloud and sky computing are emerging as solutions to tame the multi-cloud beast. ## The Challenge of Multi-Cloud Data Management In today's landscape, the vast majority of enterprises find themselves operating within a multi-cloud environment. According to industry reports, up to 85% of businesses are using two or more cloud platforms, and 25% are utilizing at least five. This trend is unlikely to change anytime soon because businesses want the flexibility to use the best tools for the job, regardless of the cloud in which they reside. This approach allows them to avoid vendor lock-in and potentially negotiate better terms for services. However, many organizations have found themselves in a multi-cloud environment unintentionally. They've added new services ad hoc without a comprehensive strategy, leading to challenges related to redundancy and security. Complexities emerge from managing multiple security configurations and data repositories, which hinder the potential cost savings and operational efficiencies that cloud adoption promises. Issues like paying for redundant services, security vulnerabilities, and difficulties in managing this complex environment have become commonplace. ## Enter the Super Cloud and Sky Computing Forward-thinking business leaders are not content with the confusion created by multi-cloud and the expanding technology footprint. Instead, they are looking for ways to leverage the operational advantages of managing multiple cloud instances while addressing the complexities. This is where the concepts of "super cloud" and "sky computing" come into play. **Super Cloud **involves creating a compatibility layer that provides access to common services like storage, computing, AI, data, security, operations, governance, and application development and deployment. This compatibility layer logically sits above your various cloud platforms and leverages their native technical standards through APIs. The result is that your applications can still benefit from the robust security of each cloud provider, but in a consistent manner with centralized control. Super Cloud does this through a common interface, giving administrators centralized control over their multiple cloud instances. **Sky Computing **is another term used to describe this concept. It essentially achieves the same goals by providing an abstraction layer that allows for more straightforward management of multi-cloud environments. ## Benefits of Super Cloud and Sky Computing 1. **Simplified Workforce**: With an additional layer of abstraction and automation between various cloud platforms, your workforce doesn't need to be highly specialized. Cloud developers can develop more general skills, making your team more versatile. 2. **Enhanced Security**: Each cloud platform usually has robust security standards. However, problems arise when you mix and match these platforms. Super Cloud or Sky Computing can eliminate this problem by allowing developers to configure one security standard from the compatibility layer, which is executed consistently across each cloud platform through its native interface. 3. **Cost Reduction**: By eliminating redundant cloud services and simplifying data management, you can reduce security exposure, enhance user privacy, and lower costs. Teams may become less specialized, allowing them to tackle a broader range of issues more efficiently. ## Challenges of Super Cloud and Sky Computing These concepts aren't without challenges: 1. **Complexity**: Building a widely usable compatibility layer can be technically challenging, and not many vendors offer it as a service. Development teams may need to take the lead in building connections and the ultimate interface. 2. **Market Support**: There are questions about whether the market will fully support a widely usable compatibility layer, as it may lead to the commoditization of cloud providers. 3. **Interim Solution**: History suggests that super cloud and sky computing may only be interim solutions. Over time, efforts to control complexity often result in consolidation, centralization, standardization, and rationalization rather than through middleware or orchestration engines. ## The Future of Multi-Cloud Data Management While multi-cloud data management may seem like a tangled web, it's the world we live in, and it's here to stay. Forward-thinking business and technology leaders should look for ways to reduce complexity and eliminate security and redundancy issues created by maintaining multiple cloud instances. Super cloud and sky computing are emerging as valuable tools in this journey, and they represent the industry's response to the multi-cloud challenge. As technology continues to evolve, so will the strategies for effectively managing multi-cloud environments. Stay tuned, as the future promises even more innovative solutions to tame the multi-cloud chaos. ### FAQs **What is super cloud?** Super cloud is a compatibility layer that sits above multiple cloud platforms, providing centralized access to common services like storage, computing, AI, security, governance, and application deployment. **How does super cloud work?** Super cloud works by creating a compatibility layer above cloud platforms, leveraging native APIs to deliver consistent storage, computing, security, and governance through a single centralized interface. **What is the difference between super cloud and sky computing?** Super cloud and sky computing both create abstraction layers above multi-cloud environments to simplify management; the terms are largely interchangeable, describing the same approach with different naming. **What are the benefits of super cloud and sky computing?** Super cloud and sky computing benefits include a simplified workforce, enhanced security through unified standards, lower costs from eliminated redundancies, and centralized control across multiple cloud platforms. **What are the challenges of multi-cloud data management?** Multi-cloud data management challenges include redundant services, security vulnerabilities from mixed configurations, fragmented data repositories, and operational complexity, with 85% of enterprises now using two or more clouds. --- ## tessell-earns-spot-on-the-crn-r-2023-stellar-startups-list URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-earns-spot-on-the-crn-r-2023-stellar-startups-list Last updated: 2026-08-24 **Tessell**, the database platform for cloud-born and cloud-defining enterprises, announced today that [CRN](https://www.crn.com/)**®**, a brand of [The Channel Company](https://www.thechannelco.com/), has named Tessell to its [2023 Stellar Startups](https://www.crn.com/rankings-and-lists/stellar-startups-2023-details.htm?c=90) list in the Big Data category. This annual list, previously known as CRN Emerging Vendors, recognizes fast-rising technology manufacturers committed to delivering leading-edge solutions that propel innovation and growth in the IT channel. Companies on the 2023 Stellar Startups list are all six years old or younger. They are selected across categories including artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), application development/DevOps, big data, business applications, cloud, data center, Internet of Things (IoT), networking/unified communications, security, and storage. The technology vendors featured on the CRN 2023 Stellar Startups list have a deep understanding of the unique needs of the IT industry, enabling solution providers to overcome complicated market challenges, increase bottom-line revenue, and deliver solutions that will ensure the IT channel’s continued success. Steve Greenberg, CEO of Tessell partner Thin Client Computing, provided the following statement to CRN that indicates why CRN chose Tessell for the Stellar Startups award: > “Tessell heralds a revolution in achieving higher performance at lower costs, offering an improved approach to data management in the cloud. While true game changers are rare in the IT landscape, Tessell is undeniably one of them. Our initial customer experiences have been transformative, and we eagerly anticipate extending this model to the broader industry in the years ahead.” > “*With the 2023 Stellar Startups list, CRN spotlights emerging technology vendors creating groundbreaking products that support customer and solution provider success in the ever-changing IT channel. As a trusted industry resource, the Stellar Startups list empowers solution providers with exclusive insights into the latest cutting-edge IT channel technologies.*”-[Jennifer Follett](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferfollett/), vice president of U.S. Content and Executive Editor of CRN at The Channel Company Steve Kaplan, the Channels Head at Tessell, shared his enthusiasm about their recent achievement. “We are genuinely thrilled to be included in CRN’s prestigious*Stellar Startups*list for 2023,” he said. Kaplan highlighted that it’s a rare occasion for a burgeoning young company to not only enhance capabilities in a broad industry category such as data but also significantly reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for operating databases. “Our channel partners are increasingly recognizing the extraordinary value that Tessell offers for their clients,” Kaplan added. The CRN 2023 Stellar Startups list will be featured in the December 2023 issue of*CRN Magazine*and online at [CRN.com/StellarStartups](https://crn.com/StellarStartups). ## About Tessell Tessell is a cloud-native DBaaS that is revolutionizing data infrastructure and management for cloud-born and cloud-defining enterprises. Tessell works well with both AWS and Azure and offers self-service access based on policies, DevOps integration, full production monitoring, and lifecycle management for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Milvus, and MongoDB database engines. Leveraging the high-performance NVMe storage capabilities of the cloud, Tessell excels in handling demanding production workloads and optimizing database consolidation for maximum economic efficiency. Tessell’s robust, cross-region replication capabilities and high-performance data infrastructure make it the optimal choice for hosting mission-critical databases. With an intuitive deployment process that eliminates manual data management tasks, Tessell liberates developers and data engineers to focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, and driving business triumphs. ## **‍About The Channel Company** The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by nearly 40 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. --- ## tessell-welcomes-oracle-database-azure URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-welcomes-oracle-database-azure Last updated: 2026-08-24 The world's two largest software companies, Microsoft and Oracle, typically fierce competitors, have taken a noteworthy step forward for their mutual customers. Last week, they announced Oracle Database@Azure, signifying a fresh milestone in their collaboration. While previous efforts over the past four years focused on enhancing Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) connectivity to Azure, Database@Azure will bring Exadata infrastructure directly into the Azure datacenters, eliminating latency concerns between the two clouds. Tessell welcomes this initiative as providing customers the choice to run their Oracle database estate either on native Azure or on Exadata Azure. ## The Announcement On September 14, 2023, at a groundbreaking joint event held at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters, Oracle’s Chairman and CTO, Larry Ellison, and Microsoft’s, Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, unveiled Oracle Database@Azure. Ellison underscored the vast amount of data that has yet to migrate from on-premises to the cloud. The collaboration aims to expedite cloud migration for Oracle’s clientele by providing reduced latency and enhanced security within a unified operating environment hosted in Azure. Database@Azure streamlines the acquisition of Exadata infrastructure through the Azure Marketplace, allowing customers to leverage their existing Azure commitments. Once this offering comes to fruition, enterprise Oracle customers can realize their longstanding desire to run mission-critical workloads using Oracle RAC (Real Applications Clusters) on Azure Exadata infrastructure. One of the standout features of this collaboration, as emphasized during the announcement, is that Oracle clientele can easily access Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service. Nadella highlighted the potential to assist organizations in bringing their mission-critical applications to the cloud, unlocking a new era of AI-powered innovation. ## Tessell’s Complementary Platform - Available Today Tessell customers already benefit from running their mission-critical, and other Oracle-powered applications, in the Microsoft cloud. Tessell for Azure hosts high-performance workloads along with multi-availability zone HA and cross-region DR while also providing highly differentiated data management. Tessell is delighted to extend these DBaaS capabilities to include the Exadata infrastructure running on Azure cloud. Tessell offers three distinct advantages: Data Flexibility, Oracle Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Cost Savings. **Data Flexibility (Data@Your Terms)**: Tessell’s mission since inception is to serve as the Switzerland of DBaaS data infrastructure and management across multiple clouds. Tessell empowers organizations to seamlessly transition their databases, including Oracle, SQL, PostgreSQL, and MySQL across public clouds and on-premises environments without the fear of vendor lock-in - even from Tessell. Tessell is in the process of additionally supporting both MongoDB and Milvus - among other databases. Tessell empowers customers with the autonomy to choose how their databases are hosted. The Virtual Private Tessell (VPT) model, similar to Snowflake, is fully managed by Tessell, offering a dedicated cloud account for enhanced flexibility and customization, a choice often favored by startups and smaller enterprises. In contrast, the VPT@Customer model, reminiscent of Databricks, involves hosting the data plane within the customer's Azure tenancy, delivering high levels of customization and flexibility - a preference typically seen among larger enterprises. In addition to the data plane, both large enterprise and government customers can now also operate the Tessell control plane in their preferred cloud environment, whether AWS or Azure. This commitment to flexibility will extend to new environments as Tessell expands its cloud support. **Oracle PaaS in Azure**: Tessell offers a comprehensive managed service for both commercial and open-source databases, including patching, provisioning, cloning, upgrading, and advanced data management capabilities such as automated data masking, FinOps visibility and corresponding cloud compute shape curation, Terraform integration, and policy-driven self-service data access. **Cost Savings**: Oracle customers migrating their on-premises databases to Tessell for Azure have realized significant cost advantages along with IOPS levels comparable to Exadata. Tessell achieves this high performance via its patented utilization of Azure's NVMe compute shapes, making it economically compelling to migrate even resource-demanding mission-critical workloads to native Azure. Tessell further reduces costs by including Oracle database lifecycle management capabilities and eliminating the need for third-party backup and masking solutions. ## Migrating Oracle to Azure with Tessell Tessell for Azure already enables Oracle clientele access to Microsoft’s Azure OpenAPI service. Customers can use their existing Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments (MACCs) to purchase Tessell via the Microsoft Marketplace, receiving a consolidated Azure invoice that simplifies procurement. Furthermore, Tessell collaborates with Microsoft to provide prospective customers with initial assessments and complimentary Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analyses, often including a free Proof-of-Concept (POC), as well as heavily discounted or even no-cost migration from on-premises or other clouds to Tessell for Azure. **TCO Analysis**: Tessell's financial analysts engage with prospective customers to conduct TCO analyses, approaching them with a consultant's mindset. They employ actual customer data whenever possible, and maintain transparency in both their assumptions and calculations. IT leadership can confidently present various on-premises and cloud scenario comparisons to the CFO and board. **POC**: The Proof-of-Concept typically involves replicating an on-premises Oracle database to Tessell for Azure and synchronizing the two databases. Customers can then initiate a 1-click Disaster Recovery failover test at will. They can also utilize the secondary environment to evaluate performance, cost, reporting, analytics, and all the tasks of a production environment - all free of risk. ## Supporting Exadata Azure Exadata is a superbly engineered machine tailored for Oracle databases. While Tessell for Azure provides failover capabilities very close to Oracle RAC, many large enterprises insist on the zero-downtime that only RAC enables. Tessell plans to add Exadata in Azure to its supported platforms, providing Exadata on Azure customers with the benefits of its database management. Tessell's commitment to data flexibility, Oracle PaaS in Azure, and cost savings positions it as a compelling solution for Oracle customers considering their cloud migration options. With Tessell, customers can embark on their cloud journey with confidence, knowing they have a partner dedicated to streamlining and expediting the migration process while delivering a superior cloud experience. ‍ ### FAQs **What is Oracle Database@Azure?** Oracle Database@Azure is a Microsoft-Oracle collaboration, announced September 14, 2023, that brings Oracle Exadata infrastructure directly into Azure datacenters, eliminating latency between the two clouds. **What are the benefits of Oracle Database@Azure?** Oracle Database@Azure benefits include reduced latency, enhanced security, a unified Azure operating environment, simplified Exadata acquisition through Azure Marketplace, and direct access to Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service. **What is the difference between VPT and VPT@Customer?** VPT (Virtual Private Tessell) is fully managed by Tessell in a dedicated cloud account, while VPT@Customer hosts the data plane inside the customer's own Azure tenancy. **How do you migrate Oracle to Azure with Tessell?** Migrating Oracle to Azure with Tessell involves a TCO analysis, free Proof-of-Concept replication, database synchronization, and 1-click disaster recovery failover testing via the Microsoft Marketplace. --- ## extensions-on-tessell-for-postgresql URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/extensions-on-tessell-for-postgresql Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell for PostgreSQL comes with several extensions out of the box that enhance the capabilities of a PostgreSQL instance. Not all extensions are necessary for every database. Each extension is tailored to a specific use case. For instance, if you need to create unique identifiers in PostgreSQL, you can use the "uuid-ossp" extension in your application queries after creating them. If you want to store key-value pairs, you can create the "hstore" extension, which does the job. Tessell for PostgreSQL only supports trusted extensions, which restricts access to the underlying OS from the database. ## Extended Data Types Tessell for PostgreSQL allows the use of the following data types, which provides more convenience to application developers. - citext -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/citext.html This extension in PostgreSQL provides case-insensitive text comparison and storage.\ - cube -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/cube.html This extension in PostgreSQL enables multidimensional indexing and querying support. - hstore -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/hstore.html - This extension in PostgreSQL facilitates storing key-value pairs within a single database column. - isn -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/isn.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL adds support for the storage and manipulation of international serial numbers. - ltree -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/ltree.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides hierarchical tree-like data storage and querying capabilities. - seg -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/seg.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides support for storing and querying ranges of values on a number line. - uuid-ossp -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/uuid-ossp.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL allows for the generation of universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) using various algorithms. ## Query Performance Tessell for PostgreSQL allows the use of several extensions that provide additional index methods. These extensions allow users to create a different set of indexes on the data, which can significantly improve query performance. - bloom -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/bloom.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL implements Bloom filter data structures for efficient membership tests. - btree_gin -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/btree-gin.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL allows GIN (Generalized Inverted Index) indexing on B-tree data types. - btree_gitst -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/btree-gist.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL enables GiST (Generalized Search Tree) indexing on B-tree data types. - dict_int -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/dict-int.htmlThis extension is an example of adding a dictionary template for full-text search. - dict_xsyn -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/dict-xsyn.htmlThis extension is an extended synonym dictionary template for full-text search. - fuzzystrmatch -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/fuzzystrmatch.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides functions for approximate string matching and similarity measurement - pg_trgm -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgtrgm.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL enables trigram-based text search and similarity analysis. - unaccent -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/unaccent.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides functions for removing accents and diacritic marks from text ## Audit & Monitoring Tessell for PostgreSQL comes with auditing and monitoring extensions built-in, ready to use out of the box. By using these auditing and monitoring extensions, users can easily keep track of database activity and performance. This helps identify and resolve issues before they become major problems. - pgaudit -https://github.com/pgaudit/pgaudit.gitThis extension enabled detailed session and object level auditing - pg_stat_statements -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgstatstatements.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides detailed statistics about SQL statements executed in the database ## Observability Tessell for PostgreSQL comes with a set of actions that allow you to dive deep into the database system and understand how the engine works. This helps to troubleshoot the potential database issues by providing detailed insights into the database engine. - pageinspect -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pageinspect.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL allows users to inspect the contents of database pages, providing insights into the internal structure of tables and indexes. - pg_buffercache -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgbuffercache.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL allows users to examine the contents of the shared buffer cache, providing insights into the data that is currently cached in memory. - pg_freespacemap -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgfreespacemap.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides tools for managing and monitoring the free space map, which helps track available space within table and index pages. - pg_visibility -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgvisibility.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL enables the examination of the visibility of tuples (rows) on database pages. - pg_walinspect -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgwalinspect.html(**PG15+**)This extension in PostgreSQL enables us to examine the contents of WAL files, which is useful for debugging, analysis, reporting, or education. - pgrowlocks -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgrowlocks.htmlThe pgrowlocks module provides a function to show row locking information for a specified table. - pgstattuple -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgstattuple.html This extension is a widely known and used PostgreSQL extension that provides statistical information about tables and indexes. ## Procedural Languages Tessell for PostgreSQL also supports several procedural languages. These languages allow developers to write stored procedures and functions in their preferred language, making it easier to integrate with existing codebases and applications. - plperl -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/plperl.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL allows you to use the Perl programming language for creating database functions and triggers. - pltcl -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pltcl.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL permits the utilization of the TCL scripting language for crafting database functions. - plpgsql -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/plpgsql.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL enables the use of the SQL procedural language, allowing you to create custom stored procedures, functions, and triggers. - pg_tle -https://github.com/aws/pg_tleThis extension in PostgreSQL can enable developers to use trusted language extensions for PostgreSQL to create and install extensions on restricted filesystems. ## Foreign Data Wrappers Tessell for PostgreSQL also supports Foreign Data Wrappers, which allow users to access data from external sources as if it were local PostgreSQL tables. This can be very useful for integrating with other data sources and systems, and can simplify the process of working with heterogeneous data. - postgres_fdw -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/postgres-fdw.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL allows you to establish foreign data wrappers, enabling access to stored data. - oracle_fdw -https://github.com/laurenz/oracle_fdwThis extension in PostgreSQL permits access to data stored in remote Oracle databases through foreign data wrappers. ## Data Management Tessell for PostgreSQL provides additional extensions for data management. These extensions enable users to manage large datasets more efficiently, allowing for better organization and analysis of the data. Use these extensions to optimize storage, improve data processing. - lo -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/lo.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL is used to manage large objects (BLOBs), allowing storage and manipulation of binary data like images, audio files, and documents. - pg_partman -https://github.com/pgpartman/pg_partmanThis extension in PostgreSQL is designed to manage and automate table partitioning, making it easier to maintain large datasets by dividing them into smaller ones. - pg_prewarm -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgprewarm.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL helps improve database performance by preloading data into the system cache. - pg_repack-This extension in PostgreSQL aids in optimizing database storage by reorganizing tables and indexes. - pg_surgery -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgsurgery.html** (PG 14+)**This extension should be used cautiously. By using this extension, we can perform surgery on a damaged relationship. This always has to be a last resort when you are unable to recover the table data. - pg_visibility -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgvisibility.htmlThis extension is an internal module used for analyzing the visibility of data within the database. - old_snapshot -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/oldsnapshot.html** (PG 14+)**This extension helps in the inspection of server state that is used in getting the old snapshot threshold. - pg_cron -https://github.com/citusdata/pg_cronThis extension allows you to schedule and run database tasks using cron-like syntax directly within the database. - pgrowlocks -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgrowlocks.htmlThis provides insights into row-level locking information within the database. - pageinspect -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pageinspect.htmlThis provides tools for inspecting and analyzing the internal data structures and contents of database pages. - anon -https://github.com/rap2hpoutre/pg-anonymizerThis extension masks or replaces PII (Personal Identifiable Information) or commercially sensitive data from the PostgreSQL database. - pglogical -https://github.com/2ndQuadrant/pglogicalThis extension allows for the logical replication of specific tables or parts of tables between different PostgreSQL databases. ## Embedding Tessell for PostgreSQL provides the following extensions, which can help generate embeddings for use in generative AI applications. - pgvector -https://github.com/pgvector/pgvectorThis extension supports vector similarity search for PostgreSQL. ## Utilities Tessell for PostgreSQL provides the below developer and administrator sets of extensions. - amcheck -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/amcheck.htmlThis extension supports the integrity verification of relational indexes. - contrib-spi -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/contrib-spi.htmlThese are general-purpose functions that we can easily integrate into any of the relationships. - plperl-funcs -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/plperl-funcs.htmlThis extension provides plperl utility functionalities integrated - earthdistance -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/earthdistance.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL enables geographic calculations, allowing you to compute distances and perform location-based queries. - intagg -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/intagg.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides functions for efficiently aggregating integer values into arrays. - intarray -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/intarray This extension in PostgreSQL introduces support for arrays of integers, enabling operations and optimizations related to integer arrays. - sslinfo -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sslinfo.htmlThis extension provides information about the SSL certificate that the current client provided when connecting to PostgreSQL. - tablefunc -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/tablefunc.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL provides a set of functions that generate tables with various useful structures for analysis purposes, including crosstab tables and pivot tables. - tcn -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/tcn.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL enables asynchronous notifications of changes to database rows through triggers. - tsm_system_rows -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/tsm-system-rows.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL is related to table sampling methods, which can be used in the TABLESAMPLE clause of the SELECT command. - tsm_system_time -https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/tsm-system-time.htmlThis extension in PostgreSQL is related to table sampling methods, which can be used in the TABLESAMPLE clause of the SELECT command. ### FAQs **What PostgreSQL extensions does Tessell support?** Tessell for PostgreSQL supports trusted extensions across categories including extended data types, query performance, audit and monitoring, observability, procedural languages, foreign data wrappers, data management, embeddings, and utilities. **What is pgvector in PostgreSQL?** pgvector is a PostgreSQL extension that supports vector similarity search, enabling embeddings storage and retrieval for generative AI applications, semantic search, and machine learning use cases. **What is hstore in PostgreSQL?** hstore is a PostgreSQL extension that facilitates storing key-value pairs within a single database column, providing a flexible schema for semi-structured data without separate tables. **What is pg_cron used for?** pg_cron is a PostgreSQL extension that schedules and runs database tasks using cron-like syntax directly within the database, automating maintenance, vacuum, reindex, and recurring SQL operations. **What are trusted PostgreSQL extensions?** Trusted PostgreSQL extensions are extensions that restrict access to the underlying operating system from the database, ensuring secure operation in managed environments like Tessell for PostgreSQL. --- ## seamless-operations-in-any-storm-ensuring-business-continuity-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/seamless-operations-in-any-storm-ensuring-business-continuity-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 In a world marked by unpredictability, businesses face a crucial challenge: ensuring uninterrupted operations, even in the face of adversity. This challenge underscores the importance of business continuity – the ability to maintain core functions and essential operations in the midst of disruptions. Enter Tessell, a groundbreaking data management platform that takes the concept of business continuity to new heights. In this blog post, we'll explore how Tessell empowers businesses to weather the storms and uphold seamless operations, ensuring continuity in the face of challenges. ## **Understanding Business Continuity** Business continuity involves a strategic approach to preparing for and responding to unexpected events that could disrupt normal operations. These events can range from natural disasters and hardware failures to cyberattacks and data breaches. Business continuity strategies ensure that essential functions continue, minimizing downtime, data loss, and adverse impacts. ## **Why Business Continuity Matters** - **Operational Resilience:** The ability to quickly recover from disruptions ensures that your business remains operational and responsive, maintaining customer trust and satisfaction. - **Risk Management:** Preparedness reduces the impact of disruptions on your business, mitigating potential financial losses and reputational damage. - **Regulatory Compliance:** Many industries are bound by regulations that mandate a certain level of business continuity planning. Failing to comply can result in legal and financial consequences. ## **Tessell's Role in Ensuring Business Continuity** Tessell's comprehensive suite of features and capabilities is designed with business continuity in mind: ### **High Availability** Tessell's Multi-AZ architecture guarantees high availability. By distributing data across multiple geographically distinct Availability Zones, Tessell ensures that even if one zone experiences a failure, operations continue seamlessly in another zone. ### **Automated Failover** In the event of a failure, Tessell's automated failover mechanisms kick in, shifting operations to a standby zone. This process is rapid and transparent, ensuring minimal disruption to your business. ### **Disaster Recovery** Tessell's disaster recovery capabilities ensure that your data remains safe even in the face of catastrophic events. Automated backups, point-in-time recovery, and data consistency mechanisms protect your critical information. ### **Data Security** Business continuity isn't just about uptime – it's also about data integrity and security. Tessell's robust security measures, including access controls, encryption, and audit trails, safeguard your data from breaches and unauthorized access. ### **Intuitive Management** Tessell's centralized management interface empowers you to monitor the health of your systems, track failover history, and make informed decisions. This user-friendly interface ensures that you remain in control during disruptions. ## **Tessell's Business Continuity in Action** ### **1. Preparedness and Planning** Tessell's architecture and features are designed to ensure that your business is prepared for disruptions. Automated failover mechanisms, data consistency, and disaster recovery strategies are in place to minimize downtime and data loss. ### **2. Rapid Response** When a disruption occurs, Tessell's automated failover ensures that operations are swiftly shifted to a standby zone, minimizing downtime and maintaining business continuity. ### **3. Data Integrity and Security** Even in the face of challenges, Tessell's security measures protect your data from breaches and unauthorized access, ensuring that business continuity doesn't compromise data integrity. ## **Conclusion** In a world where disruptions are inevitable, Tessell emerges as a beacon of business continuity. By offering high availability, rapid failover, disaster recovery, and robust security measures, Tessell empowers organizations to ensure uninterrupted operations and data protection. With Tessell at your side, business continuity isn't just a goal – it's a reality that enables you to navigate the unpredictable and safeguard the foundation of your success. --- ## database-backup-compliance-made-effortless-with-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/database-backup-compliance-made-effortless-with-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the ever-evolving landscape of data management, compliance with industry regulations and best practices is not just a choice—it's a necessity. Database backup compliance stands as a critical aspect of data protection, ensuring that your valuable information remains secure and accessible while adhering to stringent guidelines. Enter Tessell, a cutting-edge data management platform that streamlines database backup compliance like never before. In this blog post, we'll delve into the world of database backup compliance in Tessell and how it empowers organizations to navigate the intricate terrain of data security and regulations. ## **The Importance of Database Backup Compliance** Compliance ensures that your data management practices align with legal requirements, industry standards, and your organization's own policies. Database backup compliance specifically focuses on maintaining proper backup procedures that safeguard data, enable quick recovery, and ensure data integrity. Failure to adhere to backup compliance can result in regulatory fines, reputational damage, and compromised data security. ## **Tessell's Approach to Database Backup Compliance** Tessell understands the complexity of database backup compliance and offers a comprehensive approach that simplifies the process while enhancing data protection: ### **Automated Backup Schedule** Tessell enables organizations to set up automated backup schedules, ensuring that backups are performed consistently and regularly. This automation eliminates the risk of human error and ensures that backups are always up to date. ### **Retention Policies** Compliance often dictates how long backups must be retained. Tessell allows you to define retention policies that align with regulatory requirements. Once the specified retention period is reached, Tessell automatically manages the deletion of old backups, ensuring compliance with data retention regulations. ### **Secure Storage** Tessell ensures that backups are stored in secure, encrypted environments. This protects your data from unauthorized access and ensures that sensitive information remains confidential. ### **Audit Trails** Tessell's audit trail capabilities provide a transparent record of all backup activities. This feature is essential for compliance reporting, as it enables you to demonstrate that proper backup procedures are followed. ### **Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)** Tessell's PITR feature facilitates compliance by enabling you to recover your data to a specific point in time before an incident occurred. This ensures that you can meet recovery point objectives (RPOs) mandated by compliance regulations. ## **Tessell's Database Backup Compliance in Action** ### **1. Automated Backup Execution** Tessell's automated backup scheduling ensures that backups are performed consistently, reducing the risk of data loss due to missed backups. ### **2. Regulatory Compliance** By adhering to defined retention policies, Tessell ensures that backups are retained for the required period, fulfilling regulatory compliance requirements. ### **3. Data Security** Tessell's encrypted storage environments safeguard backup data, preventing unauthorized access and ensuring data confidentiality—a crucial aspect of compliance. ### **4. Transparent Reporting** Tessell's audit trails provide a clear record of backup activities, enabling you to demonstrate compliance efforts during audits. ### **5. Rapid Recovery** Tessell's PITR feature allows you to recover your data to a specific point in time, ensuring compliance with recovery objectives and minimizing data loss. ## **Conclusion** Database backup compliance is a critical facet of data management that cannot be overlooked. Tessell's comprehensive features and automated processes empower organizations to achieve compliance while maintaining data security and integrity. With Tessell as your partner, you can navigate the complex landscape of regulations with confidence, knowing that your database backup practices align with industry standards and best practices. With Tessell, database backup compliance is not a challenge—it's a streamlined process that reinforces your commitment to data security and regulatory adherence. ### FAQs **What is database backup compliance?** Database backup compliance is the practice of maintaining backup procedures that align with legal requirements, industry standards, and internal policies, ensuring data protection, recoverability, and integrity. **Why is database backup compliance important?** Database backup compliance is important because non-compliance can result in regulatory fines, reputational damage, compromised data security, and failure to meet recovery point objectives during incidents or audits. **How does Tessell ensure database backup compliance?** Tessell ensures database backup compliance through automated backup schedules, configurable retention policies, encrypted secure storage, audit trails for transparent reporting, and Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) for incident recovery. **What is Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)?** Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) is a database recovery feature that restores data to a specific moment before an incident occurred, helping organizations meet recovery point objectives mandated by compliance regulations. **What is a backup retention policy?** A backup retention policy defines how long backup data must be stored before deletion, ensuring compliance with regulatory data retention requirements and automating lifecycle management of historical backups. --- ## navigating-the-unpredictable-disaster-recovery-in-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/navigating-the-unpredictable-disaster-recovery-in-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the modern digital landscape, the importance of disaster recovery cannot be overstated. Data breaches, hardware failures, natural disasters – the potential risks to your critical data are numerous. Enter Tessell, an innovative data management platform that takes disaster recovery to a new level of reliability and efficiency. In this blog post, we'll dive into the world of disaster recovery in Tessell, exploring how this platform empowers organizations to navigate the unpredictable and safeguard their valuable data. ## **Understanding Disaster Recovery** Disaster recovery is a comprehensive strategy that involves preparing for and responding to data-related emergencies. It encompasses a range of practices aimed at minimizing data loss and downtime in the face of unforeseen events. Tessell's approach to disaster recovery elevates this concept by providing seamless, automated solutions that ensure business continuity in the most challenging circumstances. ## **Why Disaster Recovery Matters** - **Data is Vital:**Data fuels your business operations and decision-making. Losing critical data can have far-reaching consequences, from financial losses to reputational damage. - **Downtime Costs:**Every minute of downtime translates to lost productivity and revenue. A robust disaster recovery plan minimizes downtime, keeping your business running smoothly. - **Compliance and Regulations:**Many industries are bound by strict regulations regarding data protection and availability. Failing to comply can result in legal and financial repercussions. ## **The Tessell Approach to Disaster Recovery** Tessell's disaster recovery capabilities offer a holistic, proactive approach to data protection: ### **Automated Backups** Tessell automates the backup process, ensuring your data is consistently and regularly backed up. Whether it's structured or unstructured data, Tessell's backups capture the entirety of your valuable information. ### **Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)** Tessell's PITR feature allows you to recover your data to a specific point in time before the disaster struck. This minimizes data loss and lets you resume operations as if nothing happened. ### **High Availability** Tessell's Multi-AZ architecture ensures high availability by automatically shifting operations to a standby zone in the event of a failure. This reduces downtime and ensures business continuity. ### **Rapid Failover** In case of a disaster, Tessell's rapid failover mechanisms kick in, shifting operations seamlessly to a secondary zone. This rapid response ensures minimal interruption to your business. ### **Data Consistency** Tessell maintains data consistency across Availability Zones through synchronous replication. Your standby database is kept up to date, ensuring a smooth transition during failover. ## **Tessell's Disaster Recovery in Action** ### **1. Prevention and Preparation** Tessell's disaster recovery strategies are proactive. Automated backups and constant monitoring minimize risks and prepare your organization for any eventuality. ### **2. Rapid Response** When disaster strikes, Tessell's automatic failover ensures a quick response, mitigating the impact of downtime and data loss. ### **3. Seamless Recovery** Tessell's point-in-time recovery capabilities enable you to recover your data to a specific moment before the disaster occurred. This minimizes disruption and ensures your operations continue smoothly. ## **Conclusion** Tessell's disaster recovery capabilities redefine how organizations handle emergencies. By offering automated backups, rapid failover, and point-in-time recovery, Tessell empowers organizations to protect their data, maintain business continuity, and mitigate the potentially devastating consequences of data loss and downtime. In an unpredictable world, Tessell stands as a beacon of reliability and resilience, ensuring your valuable data remains safe, accessible, and ready to fuel your business's growth. ### FAQs **What is disaster recovery?** Disaster recovery is a comprehensive strategy for preparing and responding to data-related emergencies, minimizing data loss and downtime from hardware failures, breaches, natural disasters, and unexpected outages. **Why is disaster recovery important?** Disaster recovery is important because data fuels business operations, downtime causes lost productivity and revenue, and many industries face strict compliance regulations requiring data protection and continuous availability. **How does Tessell handle disaster recovery?** Tessell handles disaster recovery through automated backups, Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR), Multi-AZ high availability, rapid failover to secondary zones, and synchronous replication for cross-zone data consistency. **What is Multi-AZ architecture in disaster recovery?** Multi-AZ (Multi-Availability Zone) architecture is a disaster recovery design that automatically shifts operations to a standby zone during failures, reducing downtime and ensuring business continuity through synchronous replication. **How does Tessell ensure data consistency during failover?** Tessell ensures data consistency during failover through synchronous replication across Availability Zones, keeping the standby database up to date with primary database changes for seamless transition during disasters. --- ## resilience-redefined-multi-az-ha-database-service-in-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/resilience-redefined-multi-az-ha-database-service-in-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the dynamic landscape of data management, high availability (HA) has become a non-negotiable requirement for organizations seeking to maintain uninterrupted access to their critical data. Tessell, a cutting-edge data management platform, takes HA to new heights with its Multi-AZ HA Database Service. In this blog post, we'll explore the significance of Multi-AZ HA and how Tessell's innovative approach redefines resilience in the world of data management. ## **Understanding Multi-AZ High Availability** High availability is a concept that ensures your systems and data remain accessible and operational even in the face of hardware failures, software glitches, or other unforeseen disruptions. Multi-AZ (Availability Zone) high availability takes this a step further by distributing your data across multiple geographically distinct zones, offering an extra layer of redundancy. Tessell's Multi-AZ HA Database Service embraces this principle, creating an environment where data integrity and accessibility are never compromised. ## **The Key Advantages of Multi-AZ HA Database Service** ### **1. Uninterrupted Access** A single point of failure can disrupt your operations and impact customer experiences. Multi-AZ HA ensures that if one Availability Zone experiences an outage, traffic seamlessly shifts to a standby zone, guaranteeing uninterrupted access to your data. ### **2. Enhanced Data Protection** Tessell's Multi-AZ HA safeguards your data against data center-level failures, natural disasters, and other catastrophic events. With data spread across multiple zones, the risk of data loss due to localized incidents is greatly mitigated. ### **3. Minimal Downtime** In the event of a failure, automatic failover mechanisms kick in, minimizing downtime and ensuring your services are quickly restored. This rapid failover ensures that your business can continue running without prolonged interruptions. ### **4. Improved Performance** Multi-AZ HA doesn't just enhance resilience—it can also improve performance. Tessell's intelligent load balancing distributes traffic across zones, optimizing resource utilization and enhancing user experiences. ## **Tessell's Multi-AZ HA Database Service in Action** ### **1. Deployment Simplicity** Setting up a Multi-AZ HA Database Service in Tessell is seamless. When provisioning a database service, Tessell automatically replicates your data across multiple Availability Zones, ensuring immediate HA benefits without complex configuration. ### **2. Automatic Failover** Tessell's Multi-AZ HA Database Service monitors the health of your database. If a primary zone experiences an issue, Tessell automatically shifts operations to a standby zone, enabling rapid failover without manual intervention. ### **3. Data Consistency** With synchronous replication between zones, Tessell ensures data consistency across Availability Zones. Your standby database is kept up to date with changes from the primary database, maintaining data integrity. ### **4. Simplified Management** Tessell's centralized management interface allows you to monitor the health of your Multi-AZ HA Database Service, view failover history, and receive alerts. This intuitive interface empowers you to stay in control and make informed decisions. ## **The Tessell Advantage** Tessell's Multi-AZ HA Database Service encapsulates the platform's commitment to redefining data management. By providing an environment where high availability is seamlessly integrated and automated, Tessell empowers organizations to focus on their business goals without worrying about data disruptions. ## **Conclusion** In a data-driven world, resilience is paramount. Tessell's Multi-AZ HA Database Service goes beyond traditional HA, elevating data protection and accessibility to new heights. Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, embracing Multi-AZ HA in Tessell ensures your data is always available, protected, and ready to drive your business forward, regardless of unforeseen challenges. With Tessell, resilience isn't just a goal—it's a reality. ‍ --- ## securing-data-with-precision-data-masking-and-sanitization-in-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/securing-data-with-precision-data-masking-and-sanitization-in-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 In an era where data privacy and compliance are paramount, organizations face the challenging task of protecting sensitive information while still harnessing its value. Data masking and sanitization have emerged as indispensable practices, ensuring data security without compromising functionality. In this blog post, we'll delve into the world of data masking and sanitization in Tessell, shedding light on how these practices safeguard sensitive data while allowing organizations to derive insights and maintain compliance. ## **The Crucial Role of Data Masking and Sanitization** Data masking and sanitization are techniques that involve altering or anonymizing sensitive information, making it unreadable or meaningless to unauthorized users. While data masking replaces original data with fictional but realistic values, sanitization involves removing sensitive details entirely. In a world rife with data breaches and regulatory requirements like GDPR and HIPAA, these practices are more relevant than ever. Tessell, with its advanced capabilities, empowers organizations to implement data masking and sanitization seamlessly, striking a balance between security and usability. ## **Data Masking: Guarding Against Unauthorized Access** Data masking transforms sensitive information into fictional data that retains the format and characteristics of the original. This ensures that even if unauthorized users gain access, they can't decipher the actual data. Tessell's Data Masking capabilities offer a plethora of benefits: - **Privacy Protection:**Sensitive information like personal identifiers, credit card numbers, and passwords are masked, rendering them useless to unauthorized eyes. - **Realistic Yet Inaccessible:**The fictional data is carefully generated to be statistically similar to the original, making it suitable for testing, development, or analytics while ensuring privacy. - **Regulatory Compliance:**Data masking aids compliance with regulations by preventing exposure of sensitive information to non-privileged users. - **Secure Collaboration:**Even in collaborative environments, masked data can be shared without risking data exposure, enabling safe data sharing across teams. ## **Sanitization: Ensuring Complete Anonymity** Sanitization takes data protection a step further by permanently removing sensitive data from datasets. This method is particularly useful when data retention is unnecessary, and absolute anonymity is paramount. Tessell's Sanitization features offer remarkable advantages: - **Complete Removal:**Sensitive information is entirely purged, leaving no trace of the original data. This is crucial in scenarios where data must be anonymized beyond recovery. - **Adaptable to Needs:**Tessell's sanitization can be applied to different data types and fields, ensuring customization based on specific requirements. - **Meeting Stringent Regulations:**For industries with stringent data protection regulations, like healthcare and finance, sanitization ensures compliance without compromise. ## **Tessell's Data Masking and Sanitization Capabilities** Tessell empowers organizations to implement data masking and sanitization effectively: - **Flexibility:**Tessell supports various data masking algorithms and techniques, giving organizations the flexibility to choose what works best for their data types. - **Granularity:**You can choose to mask or sanitize entire columns, specific rows, or even elements within structured data. - **Ease of Use:**Tessell's intuitive interface makes implementing data masking and sanitization straightforward, enabling both technical and non-technical users to apply these practices effectively. - **Audit Trails:**Tessell keeps track of all data masking and sanitization activities, ensuring transparency and accountability. ## **A Harmonious Balance** Data masking and sanitization in Tessell strike a harmonious balance between data security, usability, and regulatory compliance. By implementing these practices, organizations can confidently navigate the data landscape, deriving insights and collaborating while safeguarding sensitive information from prying eyes. In a world where data's value and vulnerability are equally significant, Tessell ensures that your data remains an asset without becoming a liability. ### FAQs **What is data masking?** Data masking is a security technique that replaces sensitive information with fictional but realistic values, preserving data format and characteristics so it remains usable without exposing real content. **What is data sanitization?** Data sanitization is a security technique that permanently removes sensitive information from datasets, ensuring complete anonymity with no trace of the original data left behind. **What is the difference between data masking and sanitization?** Data masking replaces sensitive information with fictional but realistic values that retain format, while data sanitization permanently removes sensitive data entirely, leaving no trace of the original. **What are the benefits of data masking?** Data masking benefits include privacy protection for identifiers and credit card numbers, regulatory compliance with GDPR and HIPAA, safe testing and analytics environments, and secure cross-team collaboration. **How does Tessell implement data masking and sanitization?** Tessell implements data masking and sanitization through flexible algorithm support, column-row-element level granularity, an intuitive interface for technical and non-technical users, and complete audit trails for accountability. --- ## mastering-data-management-with-tessell-a-comprehensive-guide URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/mastering-data-management-with-tessell-a-comprehensive-guide Last updated: 2026-08-24 In today's data-driven world, businesses are grappling with an unprecedented influx of data from diverse sources. Managing and deriving value from this data is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity for staying competitive. Enter Tessell, an innovative data management platform that empowers organizations to navigate the complexities of data management with ease and efficiency. In this blog post, we'll explore the ins and outs of Tessell's data management capabilities and how it can revolutionize the way you handle your data. ## **Introducing Tessell Data Management** Tessell stands as a testament to the evolution of data management solutions, offering a unified platform designed to handle various aspects of data management seamlessly. Whether it's provisioning, protection, transformation, or insights, Tessell brings it all under one roof. ## **The Data Management Landscape** The landscape of data management is vast and multifaceted. From provisioning databases to safeguarding sensitive information, each facet demands attention and expertise. Traditional approaches often involve using disparate tools, leading to fragmentation and inefficiencies. Tessell, however, reimagines this landscape with a holistic approach, merging tasks into a cohesive framework. ## **Key Features of Tessell Data Management** ### **Unified Data Provisioning** Gone are the days of juggling multiple tools for provisioning databases across different cloud environments. Tessell streamlines this process with automated workflows that allow you to provision database instances effortlessly. Whether it's on-premises or in the cloud, Tessell ensures consistency and accuracy in provisioning. ### **Data Protection and Recovery** Data is the lifeblood of your organization, and Tessell treats it as such. With automated backup and recovery mechanisms, Tessell guarantees the safety of your data. In the event of a data loss scenario, Tessell's point-in-time recovery ensures minimal data loss and rapid restoration. ### **Effortless Data Transformation** Data transformation is a critical aspect of data management, enabling you to manipulate and optimize data for various use cases. Tessell simplifies this process by offering data masking, sanitization, and export capabilities. Whether you're complying with regulations or preparing data for analytics, Tessell has you covered. ### **Data Governance and Compliance** Maintaining data governance and compliance is paramount, especially in today's regulatory environment. Tessell provides apps for access control, audit trails, and encryption, ensuring that your data remains secure and compliant with industry standards. ### **Data Insights and Exploration** Tessell doesn't stop at managing data—it empowers you to extract meaningful insights from it. With interactive visualizations and exploration tools, you can uncover hidden trends, correlations, and patterns within your data, enabling data-driven decision-making. ### **Seamless Data Migration** Transitioning between different database systems or cloud environments can be a daunting task. Tessell simplifies data migration by automating the process, ensuring a smooth transition while maintaining data integrity. ## **The Tessell Advantage** ### **Efficiency Reimagined** Tessell's all-in-one approach minimizes manual intervention and reduces the need for disparate tools, freeing up time and resources for strategic initiatives. ### **Scalability and Consistency** Whether you're dealing with a handful of databases or a complex ecosystem, Tessell's automation ensures consistent processes, scalability, and uniformity across the board. ### **Risk Mitigation** With automated data protection, recovery, and compliance features, Tessell minimizes risks associated with data loss, breaches, and non-compliance. ### **Data-Driven Insights** Tessell transforms data from a raw asset into actionable insights, empowering organizations to make informed decisions and fuel growth. ## **Conclusion** Tessell's data management prowess extends far beyond traditional solutions. By merging crucial data management tasks into a single, integrated platform, it reshapes how organizations interact with and derive value from their data. Whether you're a small startup or an established enterprise, Tessell unlocks the potential of your data, simplifying complexities and opening doors to data-driven success. With Tessell by your side, you're not just managing data—you're mastering it. ‍ ### FAQs **What is Tessell?** Tessell is a unified data management platform that handles provisioning, protection, transformation, governance, insights, and migration across on-premises and cloud database environments. **What is Tessell used for?** Tessell is used for provisioning databases, automating backup and recovery, transforming and masking data, ensuring compliance, generating insights, and migrating workloads across cloud and on-premises systems. **What are the key features of Tessell?** Tessell features include unified data provisioning, automated backup and point-in-time recovery, data masking and sanitization, access controls, audit trails, encryption, interactive visualizations, and automated data migration. **How does Tessell protect data?** Tessell protects data through automated backup and recovery, point-in-time restoration, access controls, audit trails, and encryption, ensuring compliance with industry standards and minimizing data loss. **What are the benefits of using Tessell?** Tessell benefits include reduced manual intervention, consistent automation at scale, lower risk of data loss and breaches, regulatory compliance, and actionable insights for data-driven decision-making. --- ## elevating-mysql-management-with-tessell-a-comprehensive-overview URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/elevating-mysql-management-with-tessell-a-comprehensive-overview Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the dynamic landscape of database management, harnessing the full potential of your MySQL databases demands innovative solutions that streamline operations, optimize performance, and simplify complex tasks. Tessell for MySQL emerges as a powerful platform, redefining how you manage and extract value from your MySQL databases. In this blog post, we'll delve into the remarkable features and benefits of Tessell for MySQL and how it can reshape your database management journey. ## **Introducing Tessell for MySQL** Tessell stands as a beacon of comprehensive data management solutions, and its integration with MySQL marks a transformative step in the evolution of database management. Tessell for MySQL is designed to augment your MySQL databases, revolutionizing the way you interact with, maintain, and optimize your data. ## **The Unified Solution for MySQL Management** Managing MySQL databases involves a multitude of tasks, from deployment and maintenance to data protection and performance tuning. Tessell takes these complexities head-on by offering an integrated solution for MySQL management, effectively eliminating the need for multiple tools and interfaces. ## **Key Features of Tessell for MySQL** ### **Seamless Database Deployment and Scaling** Tessell simplifies the process of deploying new MySQL databases or scaling existing ones. Through automated workflows, you can effortlessly provision new instances or adjust the capacity of existing databases to accommodate changing workloads, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization. ### **Efficient Backup and Recovery** Data is the backbone of your business, and Tessell ensures its safety. The platform automates backup procedures, guaranteeing regular data backups and quick recovery in case of data loss or system failures. With Tessell's point-in-time recovery capabilities, your data is safeguarded and recoverable with minimal disruption. ### **Performance Optimization and Monitoring** Unraveling performance bottlenecks is critical to maintaining a responsive application ecosystem. Tessell offers comprehensive performance monitoring tools, granting insights into MySQL database behavior, query efficiency, and resource consumption. Armed with this knowledge, you can fine-tune your databases for peak performance. ### **Robust Security and Compliance** Security breaches can have dire consequences, making robust security a top priority. Tessell fortifies your MySQL databases with features such as access controls, encryption, and audit trails. These measures ensure your data remains protected against unauthorized access and breaches, aligning with compliance regulations. ### **Data Visualization and Exploration** Turning data into actionable insights is key to making informed decisions. Tessell empowers you to extract meaningful insights from your MySQL databases through interactive visualizations and exploration tools. This enables data-driven decision-making that fuels business growth. ### **Simplified Data Migration** Moving data between MySQL instances or transitioning from other database systems can be daunting. Tessell simplifies the data migration process, minimizing downtime and ensuring a smooth transition while safeguarding data integrity. ## **Advantages of Choosing Tessell for MySQL** ### **Operational Efficiency Redefined** Tessell's automation and centralized management drastically reduce manual intervention, allowing you to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine maintenance. ### **Scalability on Demand** As your business evolves, your MySQL databases need to keep pace. Tessell's effortless scaling ensures your databases can handle increased workloads without a hitch. ### **Data Integrity and Resilience** Tessell's robust backup, recovery, and disaster recovery capabilities guarantee data integrity and provide a safety net against unforeseen failures. ### **Informed Decision-Making** Access to real-time insights and performance metrics empowers you to make data-driven decisions that steer your business towards success. ## **Conclusion** Tessell for MySQL redefines the landscape of database management. By harmonizing critical tasks, automating workflows, and optimizing performance, it propels MySQL management to new heights. Whether you're a seasoned MySQL user or embarking on a new database journey, Tessell opens the gateway to advanced possibilities, allowing you to harness the full potential of your MySQL databases. Complexity and inefficiency become relics of the past – with Tessell for MySQL, you take the reins of your data's destiny, steering it towards efficiency, resilience, and growth. ‍ --- ## unlocking-advanced-possibilities-with-tessell-for-postgresql URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/unlocking-advanced-possibilities-with-tessell-for-postgresql Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the realm of modern database management, the demand for efficient and versatile solutions continues to grow. As organizations increasingly rely on PostgreSQL for their data storage needs, a powerful DBaaS has emerged to take PostgreSQL management to the next level: Tessell. In this blog post, we'll delve into the remarkable capabilities of Tessell for PostgreSQL and explore how it can enhance your database management journey. ## **Introducing Tessell for PostgreSQL** Tessell is a groundbreaking platform that provides comprehensive data management solutions, and its PostgreSQL offering marks a significant leap forward in database management capabilities. Tessell for PostgreSQL is designed to simplify complex tasks, streamline operations, and amplify the performance of your PostgreSQL databases. ## **A Unified Approach to PostgreSQL Management** Managing PostgreSQL databases involves a myriad of tasks, from provisioning and maintenance to backup and performance optimization. Tessell simplifies these processes by offering a unified approach to PostgreSQL management. This means you no longer have to juggle multiple tools and applications to handle different aspects of database management. Tessell brings it all together under one roof. ## **Key Features of Tessell for PostgreSQL** ### **Automated Provisioning and Scaling** Tessell takes the pain out of provisioning and scaling PostgreSQL databases. With automated processes, you can quickly set up new database instances or scale existing ones to accommodate changing workloads. This ensures that your databases are always right-sized and optimized for performance. ### **Effortless Backup and Recovery** Data protection is paramount, and Tessell excels in this area. It automates backup processes, ensuring that your data is regularly backed up and can be swiftly recovered in the event of a disaster. Tessell's point-in-time recovery capabilities guarantee minimal data loss and maximum peace of mind. ### **Enhanced Performance Monitoring** Performance bottlenecks can impact your application's responsiveness and user experience. Tessell provides in-depth performance monitoring, giving you insights into database behavior, query performance, and resource utilization. With this information at your fingertips, you can fine-tune your PostgreSQL databases for optimal performance. ### **Seamless Security and Compliance** Maintaining security and compliance is non-negotiable in today's data landscape. Tessell offers robust security features, including access controls, encryption, and auditing, ensuring that your PostgreSQL databases are safeguarded against unauthorized access and potential threats. ### **Advanced Data Insights** Data is only valuable when it's transformed into insights. Tessell empowers you to extract meaningful insights from your PostgreSQL databases through interactive visualizations and data exploration tools. This enables you to make informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date information. ### **Simplified Data Migration** Moving data between PostgreSQL instances or migrating from other database systems is often a complex task. Tessell simplifies data migration, reducing downtime and ensuring a smooth transition without data loss. ## **Why Choose Tessell for PostgreSQL?** ### **Unparalleled Efficiency** Tessell's automation and centralized management drastically reduce manual intervention, allowing you to focus on strategic tasks rather than routine maintenance. ### **Scalability on Demand** As your business grows, your database requirements evolve. Tessell's seamless scaling ensures that your PostgreSQL databases can handle increased workloads without a hitch. ### **Data Integrity and Resilience** Tessell's robust backup, recovery, and disaster recovery features guarantee data integrity and provide a safety net against unexpected failures. ### **Empowered Decision-Making** Access to real-time insights and performance data empowers you to make data-driven decisions that drive business success. ## **Conclusion** Tessell for PostgreSQL is a game-changer in the world of database management. By unifying critical tasks, automating processes, and enhancing performance, it elevates PostgreSQL management to new heights. Whether you're a seasoned PostgreSQL user or just getting started, Tessell opens the door to advanced possibilities, enabling you to harness the full potential of your PostgreSQL databases. Say goodbye to complexity and inefficiency – with Tessell for PostgreSQL, you're in control of your data's destiny. --- ## why-what-how-of-tessell-availability-machine URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-what-how-of-tessell-availability-machine Last updated: 2026-08-24 With more and more organizations seeing value in deploying their databases to the cloud, there has been an exponential demand for cloud-based database solutions. While most DBaaS services are limited to undifferentiated “heavy lifting” database tasks such as provisioning, backup and restore, and managing high availability, these DBaaS services do not address the various data management needs of organizations. As a result, many organizations are turning to siloed applications to manage their multiple data management needs. This also burdens database administrators as they handle daily operational tasks such as patching, backups, and provisioning databases, along with data management and data protection. Availability Machine, an in-built application in Tessell, aims to eradicate these silos in data management by providing a unified approach for your data management needs, differentiated automation and heavy lifting operations, and data protection - all made possible in a few clicks at no extra cost. The Availability Machine, as the name suggests, lies at the core of Tessell’s data management architecture. When you provision a database service in Tessell, an Availability Machine (AM) gets associated with it which encompasses every possible data management-related aspect of the database service. With the Availability machine, you can: - Protect the associated Database Service (SLA) - Capture data (snapshots, backups, logs) - Transform data (data masking, data sanitization, DB exports) - Manage the data for all environments using access-policies ## Data Protection The primary purpose of an Availability Machine is to protect the data that’s stored in your database service. ### Assign SLA A data protection SLA can be assigned to the database service during creation. The SLA can be changed at any later time. Tessell ships a few out-of-the-box SLA templates. Customers can choose either of them or create a custom SLA of their choice. At a high level, the Availability Machine SLA helps to define either or both of the below requirements: - Point-in-time recoverability - ~ This is specified as the number of days - ~ Example - if a customer specifies 7 days as the PIT recoverability, Tessell would make sure the Database Service is recoverable up to the last 7 days. - Discrete recoverability - ~ This is specified as the number of days - ~ The snapshot capture time can also be specified - ~ Example - if a customer specifies 15 days as the daily recoverability, Tessell would make sure the Database Service has snapshots available for recovery up to the last 15 days (one snapshot per day at the specified time). - ~ In the future, advanced functionality would be added to support recoverability for weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly snapshots. ### Automated Snapshots As per the specified SLA, Tessell captures DB Service snapshots automatically. The snapshots also get deleted automatically, when they are no more required as per the SLA. Optionally, the snapshots can be shared across other cloud regions or users, if required. ### Automated Log Backups To guarantee zero data loss, Tessell continuously takes backups of transaction logs. ### PITR (Point-in-time recovery) or Discrete Recovery With Tessell’s zero data loss guarantee, you can restore your database to the last committed transaction. Customers can also restore their database service using the discrete snapshots. ## Data Management The Availability Machine maintains a catalog of different kinds of data: snapshots, archive logs, database dumps, sanitized data, traditional backups, and more. ### Manual Snapshots Take snapshots at any time with a single click. Once captured, the manual snapshots would be maintained by the Availability Machine unless users explicitly request to delete them. Optionally, the manual snapshots can be shared across other cloud regions or users. The customers can use the manual snapshots to restore the database service or to clone the database service across regions. ### Sanitized Snapshots Tessell would provide a mechanism to sanitize/mask users’ database service data and make it available to specified target cloud regions and users. Users are enabled to bring their own masking script and do the following - Create sanitized snapshots on demand - ~ The user can request sanitization for the system-created (SLA-based) automated snapshot or manually-created snapshots - Create a schedule to produce sanitized snapshots regularly - ~ A user can set a schedule to automatically sanitize new snapshots that get generated as per the SLA - ~ The retention period for sanitized snapshots would also be specified as part of the schedule. At a high level, data sanitization would work as below: 1. The sanitization would happen on top of a database service snapshot. The snapshot can be manual or automated. 2. The user specifies a Sanitization Script. The script has SQL instructions to update the data in the schem 3. The snapshot would be restored, the sanitization script would be applied against the restored DB, and a new snapshot would be created from the processed data. The new snapshot would now contain the state of data post-sanitization. 4. The sanitized snapshot is by default available in the source region of the DB Service 5. Optionally, the sanitized snapshot can be made available to different target cloud regions, as part of one or more Data Access Policy specifications and also be made available to other users ### Data Access Policy (DAP) The Availability Machine helps users define "what,” "where,” "when," “to whom,” and “how much” of their data to be made available based on policies. The core construct to configure it is Data Access Policy (DAP). A DAP helps data-owners to manage the availability of database snapshots, sanitized snapshots for secondary environments, or other use cases like dev, QA, and analytics. The data owner can define what view of data should be made available to the consumers. Below are the supported data views. ### DAP for As-Is Data Share the as-is production snapshots, without explicit processing or masking. The consumer of these snapshots can either restore the snapshot, or create a secondary copy (clone) of the database service. Use-cases: The UAT (User Acceptance Testing) use-case may need access to the as-is state of production data #### Sharing types - **Automated** - ~ The users can configure a DAP to share automated contents - ~ As the newer automated snapshots are captured, they will get made available as per the DAP - ~ The snapshots replicated/shared using the DAP would also get deleted as per the configuration - **Manual** - ~ The users can pick and choose what snapshots to be made available as per the DAP - ~ The manually shared snapshot would get deleted only when users decide to delete them ### DAP for Sanitized Data Due to the security or compliance requirements, users may not be comfortable making sensitive*as-is*data available for all users/user groups. In such cases, the data owner can define a policy and configure how the data should be processed (masked, sanitized) before making it accessible to other users. Using the masked snapshots, the consumers can create a secondary copy (clone) of the database service. Use-cases: As part of usual CI/CD flows, the QA or dev teams might request a copy of production data, not necessarily in an as-is view. #### Sharing types - **Automated** - ~ The users can configure a DAP to share automated contents - snapshots generated from a given sanitization schedule - ~ As the newer sanitized automated snapshots are created, they will get made available as per the DAP - ~ The snapshots replicated/shared using the DAP would also get deleted as per the configuration - **Manual** - ~ The users can pick and choose what snapshots to be made available as per the DAP - ~ The manually shared snapshot would get deleted only when users decide to delete them ## Sharing and Access Controls An Availability Machine can be shared across users, with different supported access levels. The currently supported access levels are: 1. **Co-owner**: The users with co-owner access can: 2. ~ Share/revoke Availability Machine access with other users 3. ~ Create a Snapshot 4. ~ Create a Sanitized Snapshot 5. ~ Create a Sanitization Schedule 6. ~ Create a DAP 7. ~ Update SLA and snapshot time 8. **Read-only**: The users with read-only access can: 9. ~ View-only the SLA and snapshot time 10. ~ View-only Sanitization Schedules 11. ~ View-only DAPs ## Dataflix The Availability Machine is the producer’s view of the data, while the Dataflix is the consumer’s view of the data. Anyone with access to the Availability Machine can actually consume the data to create clones, etc. The consumption will be exposed in the Dataflix app. For a given user, Dataflix shows an intuitive and interactive view of the data available to him/her. A Dataflix view provides complete insights about below aspects: - Whether or not the continuous recovery regions are enabled - What are the accessible as-is snapshots and their availability across clouds, and regions - What are the accessible sanitized snapshots and their availability across clouds, and regions - For every snapshot, show the insights: - ~ Number of databases - ~ Number of tables - ~ The timestamp when the snapshot is captured The snapshots and PIT recoverability which is available in Dataflix can be used to create a database service clone. We'll cover Dataflix in more detail in a separate blog post. --- ## whats-new-in-postgresql-15 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/whats-new-in-postgresql-15 Last updated: 2026-08-24 Recently, Tessell [announced](https://release-notes.tessell.com/en/postgresql-15-is-now-available) support for PostgreSQL 15. There is quite a lot of exciting new features released in PostgreSQL 15, where developers can now unlock a multitude of new features and enhancements designed to elevate their experience. With a strong focus on developer experience, PostgreSQL 15 introduces a host of optimizations and tooling improvements. Whether you are a seasoned PostgreSQL user or just starting your journey, there is a bit for everyone. PostgreSQL 15 has many new and valuable enhancements and we thought it would be great to deep dive into these for our users. While we may not be able to look at all of them in one go, we thought to filter and curate the best ones as part of this article. So, let’s have a look. ## **Tooling** It great to see the focus coming back to enhance peripheral tooling around Postgres. ### **1. Improvements to pgbench ** The [bundled performance](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgbench.html) testing tool pgbench can now retry serialization errors, including deadlocks. This is good news if you want to test workloads, which occasionally do deadlock or have other serialization violations that could be fixed by re-running the transaction. For example the standard TPC-C tests define that 10% of transactions are aborted. Now this should be possible to be tested using pgbench with custom scripts. ### **2. Improved psql experience** While [psql](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-psql.html#:~:text=psql%20is%20a%20terminal%2Dbased,and%20see%20the%20query%20results.) is already quite amazing, PostgreSQL 15 managed to add even more features for advanced users. #### **a. Multi-statement commands** Now psql will return results for all statements in a multi-statement query string. Pre-15 versions of psql emulated the behavior of sending the whole string to the server and returned only the result of the last statement, even though psql does parse the strings given to it and sends them as separate statements. Now results for each individual statement are returned. To get old behavior, set SHOW_ALL_RESULTS psql variable to off. (The only way to ask psql to send "select 1; select 2; select 3;" as a single string is to escape the ;, so "select 1\; select 2\; select 3;" will be sent as a single string) #### **b. Faster \copy** Now the \copy command in psql uses larger chunks to send data thus improving the speed of the copy. #### **c. Easier way to show a set of server variables** A new command \dconfig is added to show server variables. This can also handle wildcards, so now \dconfig *log* shows all variables with 'log' in their names. Earlier you had to manually run SELECT name, settings unit FROM pg_settings WHERE name like '%log%' to get this. ## **Developer experience** There are quite a few good ones here. ### **1.  Merge** Merge finally comes to PostgreSQL. Postgres 15 now provides the [SQL standard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merge_(SQL)) command [MERGE](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-merge.html) for delegating to the database the decision of whether to INSERT a new or UPDATE an existing row. As an example let’s do the famous [FizzBuzz exercise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fizz_buzz) using MERGE. 1. Create a Table with all numbers from 0 to 15 which are multiples of 3 with line number in field "i" and string 'fizz' as value of field "say". `CREATE TABLE fizzbuzz AS SELECT i, (CASE WHEN i % 3 = 0 THEN 'fizz' ELSE i::text END) as say  FROM generate_series(0,15,3) f(i); SELECT *  FROM fizzbuzz ORDER BY 1; i  | say ----+------ 0 | fizz 3 | fizz 6 | fizz 9 | fizz 12 | fizz 15 | fizz (6 rows)` 2. Next let's MERGE in new lines with line number and 'buzz' in the "say" field and let's remove any lines where i <= 0. `WITH buzzes AS (     SELECT i,            (CASE WHEN i % 5 = 0 THEN 'buzz' ELSE i::text END) as say       FROM generate_series(0,15) f(i) ) MERGE INTO fizzbuzz f USING buzzes b ON f.i = b.i WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN   INSERT (i, say)   VALUES(i, say) WHEN MATCHED AND f.i <= 0 THEN   DELETE WHEN MATCHED AND b.say = 'buzz' THEN   UPDATE SET say = f.say || b.say ; SELECT *  FROM fizzbuzz ORDER BY 1; i |   say   ---+---------- 1 | 1 2 | 2 3 | fizz 4 | 4 5 | buzz 6 | fizz 7 | 7 8 | 8 9 | fizz 10 | buzz 11 | 11 12 | fizz 13 | 13 14 | 14 15 | fizzbuzz (15 rows)` PostgreSQL already has a way to do some of this in the form of [INSERT … ON CONFLICT DO INSTEAD](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-insert.html) but this is a [non-standard](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/features.html) PostgreSQL-specific extension and it also has some "interesting" handling of transaction isolation levels where the behaviour there does not follow exactly any of the SQL-standard isolation levels. Also it depends on Unique Key violations, and it can not do multiple conditional actions. So even after adding the PRIMARY KEY to the table, we still can’t remove the row 0 : `CREATE TABLE oldfizzbuzz AS SELECT i, (CASE WHEN i % 3 = 0 THEN 'fizz' ELSE i::text END) as say FROM generate_series(0,15,3) f(i); ALTER TABLE oldfizzbuzz ADD PRIMARY KEY (i); WITH buzzes AS (   SELECT i,          (CASE WHEN i % 5 = 0 THEN 'buzz' ELSE i::text END) as say     FROM generate_series(0,15) f(i) ) INSERT INTO oldfizzbuzz SELECT * FROM buzzes ON CONFLICT (i) DO UPDATE SET say = 'fizzbuzz' WHERE EXCLUDED.say = 'buzz'; SELECT *  FROM oldfizzbuzz ORDER BY i; i  |   say     ----+----------  0 | fizzbuzz  1 | 1  2 | 2  3 | fizz  4 | 4  5 | buzz  6 | fizz  7 | 7  8 | 8  9 | fizz 10 | buzz 11 | 11 12 | fizz 13 | 13 14 | 14 15 | fizzbuzz (16 rows)` **Conclusion**: [**MERGE**](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-merge.html)is much more versatile and powerful than the old way, this was long due to bring parity with other SQL engines . ### **2. New implementation of CREATE DATABASE** The [**CREATE DATABASE**](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/15/sql-createdatabase.html) command was rewritten to WAL-log all the writes it does when it makes a new database as a copy of the template database. It does much more WAL writing than the old version but as it avoids the CHECKPOINT at the start and end of the command, it is in most cases faster and has less impact on concurrent workloads. This can be slower than the old version in case of a very large template database — for example in a multi-tenant cluster where the template has lot of schemas, tables and initial data — so the old way of doing it is still available and can be selected by specifying STRATEGY = FILE_COPY in the CREATE DATABASE command. The default of STRATEGY = WAL_LOG is the better one to use in most cases. ### **3. ICU collations can be set as the default for clusters and databases ** Previously, only libc-based collations could be selected at the cluster and database levels. ICU collations could only be used via explicit COLLATE clauses. Now you can do the following to have new database use a specified ICU locale: `CREATE DATABASE test_icu_collation    LOCALE_PROVIDER 'icu'    ICU_LOCALE 'fr-LU-x-icu'    TEMPLATE template0 ; \l test_icu_collation List of databases -[ RECORD 1 ]-----+------------------- Name              | test_icu_collation Owner             | postgres Encoding          | UTF8 Collate           | en_US.UTF8 Ctype             | en_US.UTF8 ICU Locale        | fr-LU-x-icu Locale Provider   | icu Access privileges |` ### **4. Multirange improvements** One of the big improvements in PostgreSQL 14 was support for[multirange](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/rangetypes.html)types. Multirange is a set of non-overlapping ranges and they were needed to make support for range types complete. For example before multiranges you could not add range(1,3) + range(4,7) as the result was not a single range. With multirange you can. And you can then add range(2,5) to the previous range to get back to a single range(1,7). When multiranges were added to PostgreSQL 14, somehow the support for the range union aggregator function rang_agg() was left out. This was fixed in PostgreSQL 15, so now you can:   `CREATE DATABASE test_icu_collation    LOCALE_PROVIDER 'icu'    ICU_LOCALE 'fr-LU-x-icu'    TEMPLATE template0 ; \l test_icu_collation List of databases -[ RECORD 1 ]-----+------------------- Name              | test_icu_collation Owner             | postgres Encoding          | UTF8 Collate           | en_US.UTF8 Ctype             | en_US.UTF8 ICU Locale        | fr-LU-x-icu Locale Provider   | icu Access privileges |` ## **Performance ** Let's look at the most interesting Performance improvements that has come to Postgres 15. ### **1. Faster sorting** First, the handling of cases where the sorted data did not fit in work_mem is improved by switching to disk-based sorting with more sort streams. #### More cases where sorting can be avoided Second, improvement for sorting is the ability to allow ordered scans of partitions to avoid sorting in more cases than before so sorting can be replaced by already pre-ordered index scans. Previously, a partitioned table with a DEFAULT partition or a LIST partition containing multiple values could not be used for ordered partition scans. Now they can be used if such partitions are pruned during planning. ### **2. Smarter postgres_fdw** [Postgres_fdw](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/postgres-fdw.html) is a "foreign data wrapper" which allows exposing tables from other PostgreSQL databases as local tables. In PostgreSQL 15 there are a few new options: First, now the query optimizer can send CASE expressions to be executed in the foreign database, lowering the need to fetch more data or even more rows for local processing. There already was support for pushdown of simpler filters and joins when the wrapper could prove that it was possible to process them fully on the remote side. This, together with the ability to have foreign tables as partitions of local partitioned tables, opens up more ways to use PostgreSQL with distributed data. Another new feature related to above is the ability to do commits in all foreign servers involved in a transaction in parallel. This will be really helpful in cases of large numbers of foreign tables, which can easily happen in the case of partitioned tables with foreign partitions. This is enabled with the CREATE SERVER option parallel_commit. Yet another new option, this time not performance related, for foreign tables is postgres_fdw.application_name, which allows setting the **application_name **used when establishing connections to **foreign servers**. This lets DBAs and users easily see which connections are opened by postgres_fdw. There are even escape sequences available for customization of the application_name used. Previously the remote session's application_name could only be set on the remote server or via a postgres_fdw connection specification. ### **3. New options in logical replication** Native logical replication has been improved in multiple ways. First, it now has support for [row filtering](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/logical-replication-row-filter.html#LOGICAL-REPLICATION-ROW-FILTER-RULES) and [column lists](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/logical-replication-col-lists.html). While row filtering has a set of rules you have to follow for different replication strategies, at a high level, it is specified the same way as one would do for a query: `CREATE PUBLICATION pub2 FOR TABLE table1 WHERE (name like 'TX%');` And just rows who have TX in their name will be replicated. Column lists work in a similar way, allowing one to specify a subset of table columns that are replicated:  `CREATE PUBLICATION pub1 FOR TABLE table1 (id, a, c);` Also new is the option FOR TABLES IN SCHEMA, which publishes all current and future tables in a specified schema. Earlier the ALL option was available only database-wide. And we now have support for proper two-phase commits. For this the replication slot needs to be created with an option called TWO_PHASE. One sample user of this is pg_recvlogical, which has added a --two-phase option to be used during slot creation. Logical replication also no longer sends empty transactions. When it finds that there are no DML statements in a decoded transaction for a certain slot, it sends nothing and moves directly on to the next transaction. It also now detects the case of a partially streamed transaction which has crashed on source and sends info about this to the subscriber. Before, this case caused subscriber to keep such transactions open until the subscriber restarted. There are now functions to monitor the directory contents of logical replication slots: `pg_ls_logicalsnapdir(), pg_ls_logicalmapdir(), and pg_ls_replslotdir().` They can be run by members of the predefined pg_monitor role. And although partitioned tables can have foreign tables as partitions, replicating **into **such a partition isn't currently supported. The logical replication worker used to crash if it was attempted. Now, an error is thrown. ## **Observability ** ### **1. Monitoring and new monitoring roles** A new [statistics view](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/15/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-SUBSCRIPTION-STATS) pg_stat_subscription_stats is added for monitoring subscriptions. Also a [view](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/15/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-RECOVERY-PREFETCH) pg_stat_recovery_prefetch which tracks pre-fetching in recovery. Now pg_stat_statements has new fields for [temporary file I/O and JIT counters](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/pgstatstatements.html). And lastly there are two new server variables: shared_memory_size to check the size of allocated shared memory shared_memory_size_in_huge_pages for the number of huge memory pages required. ### **2.  Large data volumes unit ** As an interesting feature, the functions to pg_size_pretty() and pg_size_bytes() were updated to be able to convert to Petabytes. Before version 15 the largest unit they knew about was Terabytes :   `select pg_size_pretty((2^54)::bigint); pg_size_pretty ---------------- 16 PB` ## **Security ** ### **1. Schema `public` is now private by default** While historically PostgreSQL has had good security defaults when it comes to connecting to the database, the default for new databases was to have the schema 'public' open to everybody. Also the PostgreSQL superuser who created the cluster was the owner of the schema 'public', so if the database owner was not a superuser they were unable to change the schema access grants or drop the schema. Starting PostgreSQL 15 this default access is set to "database owner only" and also the schema is owned by the database owner. This is done using the role pg_database_owner which always resolves to the owner of the current database and not through changing the owner of the schema "public" during database creation. If the database is upgraded from the older version via pg_upgrade or loaded from a pg_dump archive, the access rights stay as they were in the previous version of PostgreSQL. Also, nothing has changed for the pseudo-role 'public' which still means "all users". ### **2. New role to run CHECKPOINT manually** Before PostgreSQL 15, only superusers could run the CHECKPOINT; command. Now any user granted the pre-defined role pg_checkpoint can too. This is part of an on-going push for more fine-grained control of who can do what. Other similar predefined roles added over last few versions granting previously superuser-only abilities are pg_read_all_settings, pg_read_all_stats, pg_stat_scan_tables and pg_signal_backend. ### **3. SECURITY INVOKER Views** Another security-related improvement is a new option for a [view](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-createview.html) to *not* act as a security provider where any user who has SELECT rights on the view will automatically have the rights of the owner of the view for any data accessed through this view. This option is activated using option 'security_invoker' when creating the view.   `CREATE VIEW … WITH ( security_invoker ) AS ;` Conceptually this is similar to SECURITY INVOKER functions, except that the default for functions in PostgreSQL has always been SECURITY INVOKER and SECURITY DEFINER had to be explicitly specified. For views the default is reversed. Another difference from functions is that in the function call of a SECURITY DEFINER function, the system fully switches to the security context of the definer / owner of the function and anything accessed inside the function will have privileges of the definer. For the views the behaviour is different — even if the main view is not defined as 'security_invoker' any sub-views used by that view can still be and so any object access in such views will be checked against callers privileges. ## **Summary** PostgreSQL continues to innovate and deliver much needed features for the most demanding applications getting better with every release. **PostgreSQL 15 **is no different and we’re very excited to support it in [Tessell](https://release-notes.tessell.com/en/postgresql-15-is-now-available). [Schedule](https://tessell.com/contact-sales?query=PostgreSQL 15) a demo today to try Postgres 15 & more on Tessell. **References** [PostgreSQL 15 release notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/release/15.0/) [PostgreSQL 15.1 release notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/release/15.1/) [PostgreSQL 15.2 release notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/release/15.2/) ### FAQs **What's new in PostgreSQL 15?** PostgreSQL 15 introduces the MERGE command, faster sorting, improved logical replication with row filtering and column lists, ICU collations as default, a private public schema, and a rewritten CREATE DATABASE. **What is the MERGE command in PostgreSQL 15?** MERGE in PostgreSQL 15 is a SQL-standard command that conditionally inserts, updates, or deletes rows in a target table based on matching conditions with a source table. **What is the difference between MERGE and INSERT ON CONFLICT in PostgreSQL?** MERGE is SQL-standard and supports multiple conditional INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE actions, while INSERT ON CONFLICT is PostgreSQL-specific, relies on unique key violations, and cannot perform conditional deletes. **Is the public schema private by default in PostgreSQL 15?** Yes, the public schema in PostgreSQL 15 is private by default, accessible only to the database owner, and owned via the pg_database_owner role instead of the cluster superuser. **What is row filtering in PostgreSQL 15 logical replication?** Row filtering in PostgreSQL 15 logical replication lets publishers replicate only rows matching a WHERE condition, defined per table using CREATE PUBLICATION FOR TABLE name WHERE (condition). --- ## announcing-tessellator URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/announcing-tessellator Last updated: 2026-08-24 I started writing comic books about technology 25 years ago when I ran a Citrix Platinum Partner business. I sent my first comic book, RYNOMan and the MetaFrame Adventure, to the CEO of Citrix, Mark Templeton. He was out of the office and his Admin opened his mail. When he returned, she told him, "Now I finally understand what we do." Next up was the VirtualMan comic book series I wrote for my VMware partner business. VMware animated VirtualMan and brought him to life on the VMworld 2004 keynote screen with Jerry Chen providing the voice. Today, I am very pleased to introduce the first adventure of our new comic superhero, The Tessellator, and her sidekick, AM (Auto-Mask) in The Tessellator Crushes Cloud Costs. The intention, as with my earlier comic books, is to help educate the reader about a new disruptive technology while hopefully providing some chuckles along the way. By the way, I wrote this well before I had heard of ChatGPT (you'll understand when you read the book). As a young company, Tessell is rapidly evolving. The Tessellator is rapidly evolving as well. Stay tuned for an upcoming redrawing of the book with more modern, edgier characters. And, I'm also working on the next edition, tentatively titled -*Tessellator Waltzes Oracle Databases to Azure*. In the meantime catch up on the Tessellator's past [adventures...](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/6495fb2d40a401bef2d4d790/64d1e2aaa72928ba3c5922da_Tessellator%20Book%201.pdf) --- ## aws-tessell-privatelink URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/aws-tessell-privatelink Last updated: 2026-08-24 AWS PrivateLink is an AWS service that you can configure in Tessell. This service allows the resources in Tessell Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to connect securely to AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) using private IP addresses, without the connectivity traversing the public internet. To configure AWS PrivateLink for your database service, perform the following steps: 1. Log into Tessell and click **My Services **from the left menu bar. 2. On the My Services page, select the provisioned database service that is hosted on AWS cloud. The database service opens up in a new page. 3. On the Overview tab of the database service page, find the **AWS Private Link **option and click the pencil icon next to it. 4. In the Create Private Link dialog box, enter the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of AWS principals which allows service consumers to connect to your endpoint service. This is because your endpoint service is not available to service consumers by default. After entering the ARN, press **Enter**. 6. Click **Save**. The status of AWS PrivateLink changes to 'Updating'.Wait for the service endpoint appears. Make a note of this service endpoint. 6. Create an interface endpoint using the AWS console to connect to your service securely by performing the following steps: i. Open the Amazon VPC console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/vpc/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/vpc/). ii. Log into the AWS account where you want to run your client service. iii. In the navigation pane, choose **Endpoints**. iv. Choose **Create endpoint.** v. From the Service category options, choose **Other endpoint services.** vi. In the Service name field, enter the name of the service endpoint that you noted in step 5 above. For example, enter com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0e123abc123198abc. vii. Click **Verify service.** viii. In the VPC field, select the VPC where your client machine resides and where you want to create the endpoint. ix. For Subnets, select the subnets from which you will access the service. It is recommended that you select all subnets. x. Select **IPv4 **for IP address type. xi. Click Save. It may take a couple of minutes for the endpoint service to become available. 7. Let's connect to the database service from the VM for which we have configured the AWS PrivateLink. i. In the AWS console, after the status of the interface endpoint service changes to 'Available', go to the VPC Details tab. ii. From the DNS names section, make a note of the DNS name that does not have any region name in it. This DNS name typically appears on the top of the list. iii. Use SSH to connect to your database service using the DNS name and enter the command in the following syntax: `psql postgresql://master:@:5432/postgres` With this configuration, the traffic to your service is sent to the endpoint services that you created. The endpoint service uses a Network Load Balancer to distribute traffic. Traffic destined for the endpoint service is resolved using DNS. ### FAQs **What is AWS PrivateLink?** AWS PrivateLink is an AWS service that enables resources in different Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) to connect securely using private IP addresses, without connectivity traversing the public internet. **How do you configure AWS PrivateLink in Tessell?** Configuring AWS PrivateLink in Tessell involves selecting the database in My Services, entering the AWS principal ARN, saving, and creating an interface endpoint via the AWS console. **What is an AWS interface endpoint?** An AWS interface endpoint is created in the AWS VPC console to securely connect to PrivateLink-enabled endpoint services, with traffic routed through Network Load Balancers via DNS resolution. **How does AWS PrivateLink secure database connections?** AWS PrivateLink secures database connections by routing traffic between VPCs through private IP addresses, eliminating exposure to the public internet, using Network Load Balancers and DNS-based service resolution. **What is needed to create an AWS PrivateLink interface endpoint?** Creating an AWS PrivateLink interface endpoint requires the service endpoint name, target VPC selection, subnet selection across availability zones, IPv4 address type, and verification of the service before creation. --- ## the-why-and-how-of-cloud-databases URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/the-why-and-how-of-cloud-databases Last updated: 2026-08-24 > At this time, Wikibon cannot recommend running large-scale Oracle Database mission-critical workloads... on AWS According to [Gartner](https://blogs.gartner.com/merv-adrian/2022/04/16/dbms-market-transformation-2021-the-big-picture/), the total Database Management System (DBMS - Oracle, SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc) market hit $80B in 2021, up 22.3% from the previous year. Of this total, 49% has already shifted to the cloud, and it is predicted to grow at an astounding 53.6% CAGR until 2026, according to the [360 Research Reports](https://www.360researchreports.com/global-cloud-based-database-market-15067871). The primary reason for the rapid increase in cloud databases is that organizations are increasingly attempting to move everything to the cloud. While databases tend to be the biggest obstacle to achieving this objective, successfully running databases in the cloud increases scalability, enhances reliability, and reduces, in some circumstances, costs.  Let's see how this is achieved: - **Scalability: **The cloud platform eliminates the need to purchase and stand up new hardware, which enables rapid scalability and in turn accelerates business agility, and faster time-to-market. - **Reliability:**The top cloud providers offer great uptime capabilities that minimize or eliminate disruptions. - **Resource Accessibility:**The ability to draw on cloud resources such as AI or big data capabilities and to always run up-to-date on hardware and operating systems makes resources easily accessible. - **Reduce (some) costs:**Zero hardware costs or costs of administering the host machine operating system lead to a possible reduction or elimination of data center costs. - **Security:**The public cloud is typically as, or more,[secure](https://www.connectria.com/blog/key-business-benefits-of-the-public-cloud/)than traditional on-premises data centers. The cloud, however, is not a panacea; it has its challenges. Additionally, moving to the cloud itself entails a big decision - Should a company self-manage its databases or rely on a cloud management service such as AWS RDS or Azure SQL Database? ## The Problem with Running Databases on Cloud Today According to the Forrester [State of Public Cloud Migration (2022)](https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/googlecloudmigrationsnapshotreportfinal2022.pdf) report, the second-biggest challenge (that amounts to 38%) of migrating to the public cloud is “performance issues with workloads migrated to the cloud.” The cloud infrastructure built for general-purpose workloads has been repurposed for databases that demand consistent high performance. To deliver high performance at scale, the clouds have introduced an expensive meter called provisioned IOPS and capped it (with very few exceptions) at 80K IOPS. This is a relatively low upper limit on the IOPS when compared with on-premises infrastructure, which makes today's cloud DB infrastructure extremely sensitive to workload IOPS requirements. As mentioned in the Forrester survey and other reputed surveys, security is the biggest concern about migrating to the cloud. Though the cloud providers maintain dedicated security experts focusing on deploying world-class security architecture, this benefit is negated when it comes to databases because of the inability to easily and securely share them. The only way an administrator can share a database is by giving the user access to the database account, including the credentials. This creates an obvious vulnerability. Another challenge with databases in the cloud (and one not mitigated by managed database services) is the lack of hierarchical ownership for both databases and compute instances. For example, if the DBA gives someone the authority to create VMs but wants to limit them to 32 vCPUs, the DBA has no way to verify if the person is following the directive. Similarly, if the DBA gives someone the authority to duplicate databases, that person can only clone a  snapshot of the DBA's existing databases. This limitation can create security concerns while also meaning that there is no simple way to share databases for developers, testing teams, Quality Analysts, UAT, etc. ## The Pros of Existing Managed Database Services Both AWS RDS and Azure SQL Database offer significant advantages, especially for monitoring and patching. They reduce the need for DBAs and SREs to configure and monitor databases or create snapshots, security patches, and updates. This, in turn, reduces the probability of human error. Scaling a self-managed database in the cloud requires a sequence of steps that the DBA needs to perform manually. RDS or Azure SQL Database goes through these steps in the backend, whereas the customer experiences scalability just with the click of a button. ## The Cons of Existing Managed Database Services The first big disadvantage of RDS or Azure SQL Database is the cost. In addition to the IOPS metering for self-managed databases, assume a 70% - 100% price premium for the managed service. The managed database services do little to mitigate the limitations of cloud database performance. In February 2022, Oracle produced a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwicyfJbYD4) poking fun at running databases on AWS RDS. Another big limitation with existing managed database services is the inability to create database backups. These services provide storage snapshots, which are essentially a picture of a disk. Unlike a backup that is universally known regardless of where it was created, a storage snapshot can only be understood by those who created the snapshot. This means that the data isn't yours; it belongs to the cloud providers, which makes it taxing to move data back to your on-premises environment or a different cloud. The complete reliance on snapshots entails additional security issues because of the need to grant users access to snapshots to share data. From an administrative perspective, managed database services take away control, which is the exact opposite of how DBAs are accustomed to managing databases on-premises. On the cloud, DBAs can access their data but can't take backups - all they see is metadata of the snapshots. They can't control the VMs or where the data resides, which means that they can't comply with compliance requirements to demonstrate VM/database high availability failover. Finally, the managed DB services do not offer anything in the way of differentiated data management. If DBAs want to sanitize data before providing it to stakeholders, they need to integrate with third-party services. There are limited dashboards for monitoring both cost and performance. Also, there is no way to curate the cloud to resolve the lack of hierarchical ownership for database and compute instances. ## How Tessell is Disrupting Database As a Service *Enter Tessell to the rescue!* Tessell is a managed database service that utilizes breakthrough technology to enable customers to both reduce costs and enhance business agility. Tessell has a patent-pending technology that provides the performance benefits of NVMe storage on AWS and Azure. Tessell's technology innovation is of the same magnitude as Citrix virtualizing Windows Server, VMware virtualizing compute, and Snowflake separating compute from storage. Tessell's underpinning technology advancement gives it a competitive edge on the performance and price factors. ## Competitive Performance and Cost Tessell provides up to 2 million IOPS and eliminates all cloud metering. Even for small instance shapes and low IOPS requirements, Tessell easily beats AWS RDS and Azure SQL Database in terms of cost. As IOPS demands increase, this delta becomes much more significant. Tessell offers 10X the performance and at one-half the cost of the two current leaders. Going to reserved instances makes the delta even starker. ## Governance @ your terms Tessell allows DBaaS @ your terms. Tessell gives you the option of bringing your own existing cloud infrastructure (networks, security policies, and the cloud account itself). You are not locked into a specific data cloud but can move between clouds. You are not even locked into Tessell - you can download backups (something that AWS or Azure don't allow). ## Cloud Curation Tessell allows granular cloud management so organizations can further optimize for performance while minimizing costs. You can perform a variety of curations. Here are a few examples: - Limit the size of instance shapes that developers can provision with a click of a button - Automatically sanitize and limit the data passed on to the stakeholders - Standardize database deployments by customizing database parameters - Customize SLAs per compliance needs - Minimize license requirements by restricting subscriptions to only Production or QA at a time or specify data locality to enable European employees only for creating or accessing databases in EMEA for GDPR compliance and other purposes. ## Data Management Automation Just like any consumer-grade application, Tessell understands, optimizes, reports, and forecasts your database costs based on a utility-like consumption model. Tessell also introduces a new concept of utilizing data apps (both Tessell and soon 3rd party apps) to effect a level of management not offered in any other database realm. These apps provide rich reporting and in-depth performance and financial analytics. They allow the automatic sanitizing of data and sharing with different user groups such as Dev, QA, UAT, etc. ## Tessell Makes Life Easier Tessell makes life both easier and better. It incorporates not only all the advantages of AWS RDS and Azure SQL but also provides hourly compute metering by letting you pay only for what you use. You can either pay Tessell directly or through the AWS or Azure marketplaces. ### FAQs **What is the difference between Tessell and AWS RDS?** Tessell delivers up to 2 million IOPS at half the cost of AWS RDS without IOPS metering, while RDS caps IOPS at 80K and charges a 70-100% premium. **What are the challenges of running databases in the cloud?** Cloud database challenges include performance issues (38% per Forrester 2022), IOPS metering capped at 80K, credential-sharing security risks, lack of hierarchical ownership, and inability to create true backups. **What are the limitations of AWS RDS and Azure SQL Database?** AWS RDS and Azure SQL Database limitations include 70-100% managed service price premium, IOPS metering, loss of administrative control, inability to download real backups, and reliance on storage snapshots. **Can you download backups from AWS RDS or Azure SQL?** No, AWS RDS and Azure SQL Database don't allow downloading real database backups—they provide only storage snapshots tied to the cloud provider, making data portability difficult. **How large is the global DBMS market?** The global Database Management System (DBMS) market reached $80 billion in 2021, up 22.3% year-over-year, with 49% in the cloud and a projected 53.6% CAGR through 2026. --- ## postgresql-benchmark URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-benchmark Last updated: 2026-08-24 With the surge in the number of Database-as-a-Service providers in the market today, many DBaaS providers claim to offer competitive database performance for your applications. The only true way of evaluating the performance of the database is by running performance benchmarks for the databases running on the cloud. In this article, we run performance benchmarks to evaluate, analyze, and compare the performance of PostgreSQL database engines running on the AWS cloud for Tessell. We have used the PGIO benchmarking tool for the benchmarking process. Before starting the benchmarking process, you need to get your environment ready. ## Prepare your environment To prepare the environment for the benchmarking process, perform the following high-level tasks: 1. Provision a Tessell for PostgreSQL instance to benchmark the performance testing. We are using the Tessell shape “tesl_8h_a” on the AWS cloud. This shape comes with 8 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM. While provisioning the instance, note down the username and password to connect to your database instance. 2. Launch or create an Amazon EC2 instance to install the [PGIO](https://kevinclosson.net/2019/09/21/announcing-pgio-the-slob-method-for-postgresql-is-released-under-apache-2-0-and-available-at-github/) benchmarking tool, and set up the load. It is recommended that you create the instance in the same Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) as your Tessell RDS instance to keep the latency minimum. 3. Set up the security groups for the client and server machines in a way that the client machine can connect to the server machine over the database port TCP:5432. For more information, see [Default security groups for your VPC](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/userguide/VPC_SecurityGroups.html). The following diagram shows the recommended environment for running the benchmarking process. The VPC located in the AWS cloud contains the Tessell for PostgreSQL instance and the PGIO client installed in the Amazon EC2 instance. ### Provision the PGIO client machine Image: Amazon Linux 2 Kernel 5.10 AMI 2.0.20221210.1 x86_64 HVM gp2 Shape: m5.2xlarge VPC: Same as the DB Service ### Download PGIO and configure PostgreSQL Secondly, download the PGIO benchmarking tool on the provisioned instance and configure PostgreSQL. To do so, perform the following steps: 1. Configure the yum repository by running the following command:   `sudo amazon-linux-extras install epel -y # Create file pgdg.repo [pgdg14] name=PostgreSQL 14 for RHEL/CentOS 7 - x86_64 baseurl=http://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/14/redhat/rhel-7-x86_64 enabled=1 gpgcheck=0 EOF` 2. Install the PostgreSQL binaries: `sudo yum makecache sudo yum install postgresql14 postgresql14-server -y` 3. Download the PGIO source code by using  git. - Install the git tool and clone the PGIO project to your instance. `cd /home/ec2-user sudo yum install git -y git clone https://github.com/therealkevinc/pgio.git` - Extract the PGIO source code files. `cd pgio tar xvf pgio-2019.09.21-v_1.0.tar.gz cp -r pgio/sql .` 4. Configure the PostgreSQL connection parameters by setting the following environment variables. `export PGPASSWORD= export PGHOST= export PGUSER= export PGPORT=5432 export PGDATABASE=` For example, enter the following values:   `export PGPASSWORD=MyPassw0rd export PGHOST=myslob.console.tessell.com export PGUSER=master export PGPORT=5432 export PGDATABASE=slob` 5. Test the  psql  connection by running the following command: `[ec2-user@ip-10-0-4x-1xx ~]$ psql psql (9.2.24, server 14.2) WARNING: psql version 9.2, server version 14.0. Some psql features might not work. Type "help" for help. slob=#` ## Run the benchmark Before you run the benchmark, configure the PGIO configuration file and start the Setup (load schemas), and - Open the  /home/ec2-user/pgio/pgio.conf  file and replace the default parameter values with the following values:     `UPDATE_PCT=15 RUN_TIME=7200 NUM_SCHEMAS=32 NUM_THREADS=4 WORK_UNIT=200 UPDATE_WORK_UNIT=8 SCALE=10G DBNAME=slob CONNECT_STRING="slob" CREATE_BASE_TABLE=TRUE` For more information about the PGIO configuration parameter, see the[README](https://github.com/therealkevinc/pgio/blob/master/README). - Start setting up PGIO and load schemas by running the following command:    `cd /home/ec2-user/pgio sh ./setup.sh` This loads approximately 320 GB of slob database. - Run the performance test with the following command: `cd /home/ec2-user/pgio sh ./runit.sh` ## Results When the performance test completes, the IOPS achieved from the database transaction is displayed on the last line. When we ran our test on Tessell RDS and AWS RDS, we got the following results: On Tessell RDS `DBNAME: slob. 32 schemas, 2 threads(each). Run time: 7200 seconds. RIOPS >165521< CACHE_HITS/s >403962<` On Amazon RDS   `DBNAME: slob. 32 schemas, 2 threads(each). Run time: 7200 seconds. RIOPS >35840< CACHE_HITS/s >77488<` ## Conclusion It is, therefore, safe to conclude that Tessell for PostgreSQL produced 460% higher IOPS as compared to AWS RDS for the identical SLOB workload at the same cost. The image below depicts the visual comparison of the performance benchmark results that Tessell for PostgreSQL and AWS RDS produce: ### FAQs **What is PGIO?** PGIO is an open-source PostgreSQL benchmarking tool that measures database input/output operations per second (IOPS) under workloads with configurable schemas, threads, runtime, and update percentages. **How does Tessell PostgreSQL perform compared to AWS RDS?** Tessell for PostgreSQL produced 460% higher IOPS than AWS RDS in PGIO benchmarks at the same cost, delivering 165,521 RIOPS versus 35,840 RIOPS on identical SLOB workloads. **How do you benchmark PostgreSQL performance using PGIO?** Benchmarking PostgreSQL with PGIO involves provisioning a database instance, launching an EC2 client, installing PGIO from GitHub, configuring connection parameters, loading SLOB schemas, and running the performance test. **What instance was used for the Tessell PostgreSQL benchmark?** The Tessell PostgreSQL benchmark used the tesl_8h_a shape on AWS with 8 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM, paired with a PGIO client on m5.2xlarge EC2 in the same VPC. **What PGIO configuration was used for the benchmark?** The Tessell PGIO benchmark used 32 schemas, 4 threads, 7200-second runtime, 15% update percentage, 200 work units, 10G scale, loading approximately 320 GB into the SLOB database. --- ## azure-tessell-oracle-dbaas URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/azure-tessell-oracle-dbaas Last updated: 2026-08-24 Microsoft and Oracle have long worked together to help enterprise customers build their business-critical technology stacks. Most Fortune 2000 companies rely on Microsoft as a key strategic partner because of Microsoft's specialized offerings in the areas of security, infrastructure, data/AI, and modernizing business applications. Most of these enterprises run their mission-critical applications, COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) applications, or custom applications on Oracle Databases for their market-leading performance, scalability, reliability, and security. Over the past couple of decades, enterprises have been looking to modernize their apps and data estates as part of their digital transformation journeys. Many such enterprises with large amounts of data in Oracle databases use Microsoft Azure as their cloud platform of choice. According to Gartner, Oracle Databases and Related Products accounted for $18 billion in 2021 with the majority of revenue coming from on-premises deployments. Enterprises frequently migrate their Oracle databases to Azure as part of their database modernization initiative. The objective is to enable higher productivity across the organization and a corresponding ability to focus on new ideas. But self-managing Oracle databases on Azure leaves enterprises facing requirements such as patching, provisioning, configuring, availability, OS management, and backups. These daily operational tasks combine with a silo data management experience that is far from seamless, that undermines productivity, and limits the resources available for innovation. The lack of a fully-managed service for Oracle on Azure is a key roadblock in the modernization journey. Tessell remedies this challenge by providing a fully-managed database service for Oracle and other database engines on Azure. ## Tessell for Azure Tessell makes deploying Oracle databases on Azure extremely simple, elegant, and hassle-free. Tessell for Oracle is a fully managed database-as-a-service (DBaaS) for Azure that handles your data infrastructure and data management needs whether you're running*Oracle Enterprise Edition*or*Oracle Standard Edition 2*. Tessell provides a comprehensive suite of in-built apps for data management. And because Tessell automates the daily manual and monotonous database tasks, developers and data engineers can focus on driving business success. Let's see how Tessell delivers an end-to-end fully managed database service. ### Unlimited Performance In addition to the standard Azure infrastructure (Azure VMs and premium disks), Tessell can run your Oracle databases on high-performance Azure compute infrastructure such as Lsv3, delivering up to 1 million IOPS at low latency. One of Tessell's major strengths is its utilization of high-performance compute on Azure to support mission-critical database instances with more than 1 million IOPS and low latency. Tessell leverages the benefit of directly attached NVMe storage to meet the most demanding database workloads with ease, even the massive workloads that today run on engineered systems like Exadata on-premises. With an in-built (repeatable and verifiable) benchmarking app, you have the flexibility to benchmark the platform with the load that is expected from your application. Enterprises can now power their applications with Tessell to deploy their mission-critical Oracle database workloads on the Azure cloud infrastructure. ### Easy Backup & Recovery Tessell has achieved enterprise-grade data protection and data availability for Oracle databases on Azure. With regular automated snapshots and log backups, Tessell's Availability Machine ensures a zero data loss infrastructure. Customers can also convert cloud snapshots into native Oracle RMAN backups for long-term storage and compliance, and to avoid being locked into the cloud. In the event of an incident or an urgent business requirement, DBAs can use 1-click recovery to recover their database up to the last committed transaction (maximum), perform a point-in-time recovery, or recover a snapshot of the database. With so many options for backup and recovery at your disposal, your data will never run the risk of being lost or untraceable. ### Patching Patching was never easier! Patches for minor version upgrades are applied automatically. Based on your preference of the patch version to apply, you can either schedule patching or run on-demand patching with a single click. ### Multi-AZ High Availability (HA) and Cross-Region Disaster Recovery (DR) A key differentiation that sets Tessell apart is the out-of-the-box Multi-Availability Zone (AZ) HA and cross-region DR services. Since Oracle workloads are mission-critical and need reliable HA and DR, the Multi-AZ HA and cross-region DR are key to achieving business continuity plan (BCP) for mission-critical databases. Tessell delivers seven nines availability for your DB service (the way you enjoy it today in current on-premises deployments). ### Delightful Data Management Oracle DBAs are burdened with additional administration activities including masking, sanitization, and cloning data. With the Tessell Availability Machine, any user can, with just a few clicks, create and store all formats of data including snapshots, native backups, sanitized snapshots/backups, and database dumps (logical exports). Data access policies (DAP) enable the secure sharing of data with secondary environments such as UAT, QA, and dev spread across geographies. ### Flexibility At Customers' Terms While Tessell offers out-of-the-box features designed to meet enterprise requirements without customization, Tessell also is flexible. The DBaaS supports the bring-your-own-X (BYOX) architecture for the following types of services: - Bring your own cloud account (BYOA) - Bring your own network (BYON) and security settings - Bring your own keys (BYOK) - Bring your own identity providers (BYOI) - Bring your own software images (BYOS) - Bring your own licenses (BYOL) - Bring your own database parameters (BYOP) ### Migrations Many cloud database deployments are brownfield and may need migrating databases to leverage the Tessell Service on Azure. Migration can be a tedious, time and resource-consuming exercise. Tessell has you covered. Whether your existing databases are on-premises, self-managed in the cloud, or you are using a managed cloud database service provider, Tessell owns and delivers complete Oracle migration support with in-house expertise. ## Tessell-Azure partnership: IP co-sell incentive Tessell co-sells with Microsoft. The mutual customers of both organizations access an advanced and innovative cloud database-as-a-service (DBaaS) platform, as well as the expertise and support of Microsoft's world-class sales and technical teams.  Whether you are looking to improve your cloud data infrastructure, optimize your data management processes, or accelerate your digital transformation journey, Tessell and Microsoft Azure provide an exceptionally compelling solution. Tessell is the only fully-managed database service for Oracle on Azure. Tessell makes running even the most critical applications at scale on Azure seamless enabling you to focus on delivering application services that matter to your business. ### FAQs **Is there a fully managed Oracle service on Azure?** Yes, Tessell is the only fully managed Oracle database service on Azure, handling patching, provisioning, backups, high availability, and disaster recovery for both Oracle Enterprise and Standard Edition 2. **How large is the Oracle Database market?** According to Gartner, Oracle Databases and Related Products accounted for $18 billion in 2021, with the majority of revenue still coming from on-premises deployments rather than cloud services. **What is BYOX architecture in DBaaS?** BYOX (bring-your-own-X) architecture in DBaaS lets enterprises bring their own cloud account, network, security keys, identity providers, software images, licenses, and database parameters into a managed database service. **What Oracle editions does Tessell support on Azure?** Tessell supports both Oracle Enterprise Edition and Oracle Standard Edition 2 on Azure, delivering fully managed services across both editions with consistent performance, security, and data management capabilities. **How does Tessell achieve 1 million IOPS for Oracle on Azure?** Tessell achieves over 1 million IOPS for Oracle on Azure using Lsv3 high-performance compute infrastructure with directly attached NVMe storage, supporting mission-critical workloads previously run on on-premises Exadata. --- ## tessell-soc2-type1 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-soc2-type1 Last updated: 2026-08-24 **March 31st, 2023. **Tessell, the leading multi-cloud DBaaS (Database-as-a-Service), today announced its Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type I compliant status. With Tessell's commitment to empowering DBaaS (Database-as-a-Service) for database administrators, DevSecOps and developers comes an understanding of how important it is to protect data. Tessell demonstrates its ongoing commitment to the security, availability, and processing integrity of our platform by securing this SOC 2 Type I compliance certification. Our SOC 2 report came with zero exceptions noted, which is a testament to Tessell's established and rigorous focus on technology security and processes for handling data. ## What Does Our SOC 2 Type I Compliance Mean to You? The SOC 2 Privacy Trust Service Criteria (TSC), developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) establishes the criteria for evaluating controls that relate to how personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed, and disposed. The scope of the SOC 2 Type I Privacy report includes information about how Tessell handles data and how data is protected in the services and locations that are in scope for the latest Tessell SOC reports. Achieving SOC 2 Type I compliance demonstrates Tessell's commitment and ability to secure customer data in the cloud over a period of time. In short, SOC 2 Type I compliance is an independent verification of Tessell commitment to keep your data safe based on the technology and processes we've put in place. About Tessell: Tessell operates in both AWS and Azure as a cloud-native database-as-as-service (DBaaS). Tessell provides customers running PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle database engines with policy-driven self-service access, DevOps integration, production monitoring and intuitive cloud curation capabilities without having to deploy and manage the underlying infrastructure. Tessell disrupts the DBaaS market by providing predictable, instance-based pricing, improved data resilience and fleet-management. Tessell uses the cloud's fastest storage for the most demanding production workloads and to enable the full economic benefit of database consolidation. - As always, we value your feedback and questions. Want to learn more? Customers and prospective clients can** request a copy **of the new SOC 2 report. Feel free to reach out to the compliance team through the [Contact Us](/contact-sales) page.[‍](https://scheduling.tessell.com/meetings/tessell/request-demo) - [Request a Tessell Demo](https://scheduling.tessell.com/meetings/tessell/request-demo). --- ## tessell-azure-marketplace-availability URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-azure-marketplace-availability Last updated: 2026-08-24 *Microsoft Azure customers worldwide can now gain access to Azure Tessell for Oracle PaaS to take advantage of the scalability, reliability, and agility of Azure to drive application development and shape business strategies.* **Tessell, a DBaaS platform for cloud-born and cloud-defining enterprises**, today announced the availability of Azure Tessell PaaS for Oracle in the [**Microsoft Azure Marketplace**](https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/tessellinc1655919615020.tessell_database_service?tab=Overview), an online store providing applications and services for use on Azure. Tessell customers can now take advantage of the productive and trusted Azure cloud platform with streamlined deployment and management. Azure Tessell is the only PaaS for Oracle that is available on Microsoft Azure. Customers can deploy fully-managed Oracle databases on both standard and high-performance Azure infrastructure in their own Azure subscription and achieve up to 1 million IOPS at a predictable, fixed cost. From the Azure Marketplace, customers can use their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), pay-as-you-go, or deploy on reserved instances. Now, high-performance Oracle workloads that were previously stranded, can be moved and modernized to Azure. Customers can modernize with hybrid or Azure-native architectures. Large monolithic Oracle databases that were considered “out of bounds” from a cloud perspective can now be migrated seamlessly to Azure while saving on Oracle licenses and overall hosting and administration costs. Furthermore, customers can achieve zero data loss protection and point-in-time recovery with the Tessell Availability Machine, which supports native database backups for longer-term retention, compliance, and avoiding cloud lock-in. Azure Tessell helps customers set up HA/DR across regions to achieve a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for their mission-critical databases. Tessell facilitates continuous FinOps and Operations Optimizations by creating data anonymization policies and spinning up/down secondary environments like UAT, QA, and Dev with just a few clicks. With 10x performance potential compared to any on-premises or competing cloud technologies, Azure Tessell is the preferred landing zone for your mission-critical databases. Tessell is fully integrated with Azure Active Directory, Azure Key Vault, Azure Network Security Groups, Azure Monitor, Azure Managed Disks, Azure Blob Storage, and Azure Data Services. With each Azure-native integration, customers experience even greater value in their digital transformation journey powered by Microsoft Azure. > “*Customers have made Tessell the leading Oracle DBaaS for Azure, benefiting from high-performance infrastructure with 10X Performance/Price, governed data management and sharing. In addition to being a fully managed DBaaS, Tessell’s ‘@ Your Terms’ enables you to bring your own custom management and security stack to your Azure tenancy. As a one-stop-shop for database and data management, Tessell simplifies operations and the integration with Azure Data Services such as Synapse.*”-[**Bala Kuchibhotla**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bala-kuchibhotla), CEO, Tessell > “*We’re pleased to welcome Tessell to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, which gives our partners great exposure to cloud customers around the globe. Azure Marketplace offers world-class quality experiences from global trusted partners with solutions tested to work seamlessly with Azure.*”-[**Jake Zborowski**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakezbo), General Manager, Microsoft Azure Platform The Azure Marketplace is an online market for buying and selling cloud solutions certified to run on Azure. The Azure Marketplace helps connect companies seeking innovative, cloud-based solutions with partners who have developed solutions that are ready to use. Tessell was conceived with the vision to create a database engine agnostic PaaS offering in the cloud that delivers unprecedented performance, availability, flexibility, and cost efficiencies delivered at customer terms. All our innovations are brought to fruition while keeping the customer at the epicenter of the design without any form of lock-in. To enable enterprises to fully capitalize on the potential of Microsoft Azure by simplifying the movement of large Oracle databases to a comprehensive and heavily differentiated Oracle PaaS on Azure. Azure Tessell for Oracle can deliver up to 10x more performance compared to any other public cloud PaaS on Oracle at a fractional cost while enabling RDS+++ capabilities. Tessell’s offering is available on the Azure Marketplace; it is Microsoft co-sell incentivized, and Azure customers can use their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) to procure it. Azure Tessell for Oracle also acts as a FinOps supplement, which drives instant cost savings that can be redirected to Azure to fund net-$0 innovation, thus enabling companies to do “more with less,” as emphatically emphasized by Satya Nadella, earlier this year during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ### FAQs **What is Azure Tessell for Oracle?** Azure Tessell for Oracle is the only fully managed Oracle PaaS on Microsoft Azure, letting enterprises deploy Oracle databases on Azure infrastructure within their own Azure subscription. **How do you purchase Tessell on Azure Marketplace?** Tessell on Azure Marketplace can be purchased using Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), pay-as-you-go billing, or reserved instances, with Microsoft co-sell incentives available for qualified customers. **What performance does Azure Tessell deliver for Oracle?** Azure Tessell delivers up to 1 million IOPS at predictable fixed cost and up to 10x performance compared to on-premises or competing cloud Oracle PaaS technologies. **What Azure services does Tessell integrate with?** Tessell integrates with Azure Active Directory, Azure Key Vault, Azure Network Security Groups, Azure Monitor, Azure Managed Disks, Azure Blob Storage, and Azure Data Services for unified deployment. **How does Tessell support Oracle disaster recovery on Azure?** Tessell supports Oracle disaster recovery on Azure through the Tessell Availability Machine, offering zero data loss protection, point-in-time recovery, native database backups, and cross-region HA/DR for business continuity. --- ## tessell-joins-aws-isv-accelerate-program URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-joins-aws-isv-accelerate-program Last updated: 2026-08-24 [Tessell Inc ](/)today announced that it has joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS)[ Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Program](https://aws.amazon.com/partners/programs/isv-accelerate/), a co-sell program for AWS Partners that provide software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS. The program helps AWS Partners drive new business by directly connecting participating ISVs with the AWS Sales organization. > *Tessell's AWS ISV Accelerate Program membership allows AWS customers to quickly onboard the Tessell DBaaS from AWS Marketplace and start taking costs out and improving database operational efficiency. Additionally, customers can bring their own custom management and security stacks to their AWS tenancy, what Tessell calls '@ Your Terms.' As a one-stop shop for database and data management, Tessell simplifies operations and integration with AWS data services such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon Redshift. Our mission is to delight customers with predictable, instance-based DBaaS pricing with 10X Performance/Price leveraging the power of AWS high-performance compute infrastructure.* ” - [Bala Kuchibhotla](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bala-kuchibhotla), CEO, Tessell The AWS ISV Accelerate Program provides Tessell with co-sell support and benefits to meet customer needs through collaboration with AWS field sellers globally. Furthermore, customers can use their existing Enterprise Discount Program commitments for Tessell DBaaS, accelerating database workload movement to AWS. Joining the AWS ISV Accelerate Program further validates [Tessell's ](/aws/oracle)DBaaS for AWS. Tessell's database-as-a-service seamlessly integrates with AWS cloud-native services, allowing enterprises to deploy and manage their entire database IT estate (both production and non-production) without having to provision & maintain the underlying infrastructure. Highlights of the Tessell solutions include: 1. Run your production Oracle workloads on AWS high-performance compute shapes (i4i, i3en) that can offer up to 2 million IOPS 2. Improve availability with Multi-AZ HA and Cross-Region DR 3. Mask & redact data for non-production instances and organizational data-sharing 4. Take cost out: enjoy predictable instance-based pricing without IOPS metering [Tessell DBaaS on AWS](/aws/oracle) supports database self-service and DevSecOps automated Terraform provisioning. Customers take cost out by leveraging Tessell infrastructure shape templates, ensuring minimal cost for development and test instances. Tessell unlocks NVMe-backed high-performance storage that previously didn't have the durability for cloud-native DBaaS. Now customers can run their most demanding production workloads with high IOPS on AWS with stringent SLAs. Day two operations include database monitoring, patching, upgrades, and lifecycle management. Furthermore, Tessell enables customers to bring their own security and management agent infrastructure, providing operational consistency across environments regardless of where they reside. You can find and procure Tessell solutions in [AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-h2caqujt4pp3q?sr=0-1&ref_=beagle&applicationId=AWSMPContessa). Tessell is a proud sponsor of AWS re:Invent 2023 on November 27th in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit the Tessell booth or schedule a 1:1 CVC meeting using [Tessell's AWS site](/aws/oracle). ## About Tessell Tessell is on a mission to change Database-as-a-Service economics for both startups and established enterprises. Tessell brings together the benefits of cloud elasticity, simplified management, and enterprise-level governance and security. Tessell offers AWS customers PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle databases without having to deploy and manage the underlying infrastructure. With its high-performance, durable data infrastructure and cross-region replication capabilities, Tessell is perfect for hosting production databases. The platform's intuitive and streamlined approach to deploying cloud databases eliminates the need for manual and repetitive data management tasks, freeing up developers and data engineers to concentrate on creating great products, satisfying customers, and driving business success. --- ## microsoft-partner-of-the-year URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/microsoft-partner-of-the-year Last updated: 2026-08-24 Tessell today announced it has been named a finalist for Open Source Software on Azure 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. > “*Customers have made Tessell the leading Oracle DBaaS for Azure, benefiting from high-performance infrastructure with 10X Performance/Price, governed data management and sharing. In addition to being a fully managed DBaaS, Tessell’s ‘@ Your Terms’ enables you to bring your own custom management and security stack to your Azure tenancy. As a one-stop-shop for database and data management, Tessell simplifies operations and the integration with Azure Data Services such as Synapse.*”-[Bala Kuchibhotla](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bala-kuchibhotla), CEO, Tessell The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognizes Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft-based applications, services, and devices during the past year. Awards were classified into various categories, with honorees chosen from a set of more than 4,200 submitted nominations from more than 100 countries worldwide. Tessell was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in Open Source Software on Azure. The Open-Source Applications & Infrastructure on Azure Partner of the Year Award recognizes an exceptional partner who excels in delivering outstanding open source-based applications or infrastructure solutions on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. They have successfully met customer interoperability needs, using at least one significant, globally recognized open-source project in combination with Microsoft Azure. The winner demonstrates innovation, competitive differentiation, and customer value, while showcasing the benefits of using Microsoft Azure services alongside open-source software. > “*Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards!. The innovative new solutions and services that positively impact customers and enable digital transformation from this year's winners demonstrate the best of what’s possible with the Microsoft Cloud.*”-[Nicole Dezen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoledezen), Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President of Global Partner Solutions The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are announced annually prior to the company’s global partner conference, Microsoft Inspire, which will take place on July 18-19 2023. Additional details on the 2023 awards are available on the Microsoft Partner blog: [https://aka.ms/POTYA2023_announcement](https://aka.ms/POTYA2023_announcement) [‍](https://aka.ms/POTYA2023_announcement)The complete list of categories, winners and finalists can be found at: [https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/inspire/awards/winners](https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/inspire/awards/winners) Tessell is on a mission to change Database-as-a-Service economics for both startups and established enterprises. Tessell brings together the benefits of cloud elasticity, simplified management, and enterprise-level governance and security. Tessell offers Azure customers PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle databases without having to deploy and manage the underlying infrastructure. With its high-performance, durable data infrastructure, and cross-region replication capabilities, Tessell is perfect for hosting production databases. The platform's intuitive and streamlined approach to deploying cloud databases eliminates the need for manual and repetitive data management tasks, freeing up developers and data engineers to concentrate on creating great products, satisfying customers, and driving business success. --- ## tessell-soc2-type2 URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/tessell-soc2-type2 Last updated: 2026-08-24 We are thrilled to announce that Tessell, the leading multi-cloud DBaaS (Database-as-a-Service) provider, has achieved SOC 2 Type II certification today. This significant milestone underscores our unwavering commitment to data security, compliance, and trust for our valued customers. This achievement further solidifies Tessell's position as a leading provider of secure and reliable managed database services in the cloud. Our SOC 2 report came with zero exceptions noted, which is a testament to Tessell's established and rigorous focus on technology security and processes for handling data. ## What is SOC 2 Type II? SOC 2 Type II certification is a globally recognized auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that validates the effectiveness of security controls, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of customer data. SOC 2 Type II certification requires a rigorous assessment of an organization's controls over an extended period, typically six to twelve months. During this period, an independent auditor evaluates whether the organization's systems and processes are designed effectively and operating efficiently to meet the predefined trust service criteria. ## What does this mean for you? By achieving this certification, Tessell has demonstrated its robust security practices and commitment to protecting your valuable data. With Tessell SOC 2 Type II certification, you can rest assured that your relational databases are housed within a secure environment that adheres to stringent industry standards. We understand the importance of data security, especially for organizations operating in regulated industries, and this certification reinforces our dedication to meeting your compliance requirements. ## The Path Ahead: We extend our gratitude to our customers for their trust and support as we continuously strive to deliver exceptional database services. As we move forward, we remain committed to building on our achievements and expanding our portfolio of security and compliance certifications. We will continue to invest in innovative solutions, robust infrastructure, and world-class security practices to provide our customers with the best possible experience. To learn more about Tessell's SOC 2 Type II certification and how it strengthens our commitment to data security, visit our website or get in touch with our team. We are excited to support you in your cloud journey and help you leverage the power of our DBaaS solution to accelerate your applications' performance and scale. ## About Tessell: Tessell is a cloud-native Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) that functions seamlessly on both AWS and Azure. It offers policy-driven self-service access, DevOps integration, production monitoring, and user-friendly cloud management features to customers using PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle database engines. With Tessell, users can enjoy these benefits without the hassle of deploying and maintaining the underlying infrastructure. Additionally, Tessell leverages the high-performance storage capabilities of the cloud to handle demanding production workloads effectively and maximize the economic advantages of database consolidation. - As always, we value your feedback and questions. Want to learn more? Customers and prospective clients can *request a copy*of the new SOC 2 report. Feel free to reach out to the compliance team through the [Contact Us](/contact-us) page.[‍](https://scheduling.tessell.com/meetings/tessell/request-demo?__hstc=258392085.73a0a6316e7ccce534ae097b58b8a803.1687956538887.1689199505309.1689201761837.13&__hssc=258392085.1.1689201761837&__hsfp=2440748363) - [Request a Tessell Demo](/book-demo). ### FAQs **What is SOC 2 Type II certification?** SOC 2 Type II certification is a globally recognized auditing standard from AICPA that validates the effectiveness of security controls, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of customer data. **What does SOC 2 Type II cover?** SOC 2 Type II covers five trust service criteria: security controls, system availability, processing integrity, data confidentiality, and customer privacy, evaluated through independent auditor assessment of organizational systems. **How long does a SOC 2 Type II audit take?** SOC 2 Type II audits typically take six to twelve months, during which an independent auditor evaluates whether an organization's systems and processes are designed and operating effectively to meet trust criteria. **Is Tessell SOC 2 Type II certified?** Yes, Tessell is SOC 2 Type II certified with zero exceptions noted in the audit report, validating security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy controls across its DBaaS platform. **Who develops the SOC 2 standard?** The SOC 2 standard is developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the professional body responsible for auditing standards that validate organizational security and data protection. --- ## why-tessell-for-enterprises URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-tessell-for-enterprises Last updated: 2026-08-24 More and more enterprises are actively evaluating and migrating vast portions of their infrastructure to the cloud to meet the demands of the rapidly changing markets, to keep up with the growing data volumes, and for greater business agility. Traditional databases running on dedicated servers create an application divide that keeps businesses from faster deployments and resource sharing. Admittedly, there is worth in migrating the database workloads to the cloud for a seamless and efficient experience for users. Though many vendors offer database-as-a-service (DBaaS) to help enterprises manage their databases on the cloud, these offerings are only a piecemeal solution. The existing DBaaS solutions, built for general-purpose workloads, often fall short of meeting the database demands of large, cloud-defining, enterprises. Tessell, the only fully-managed DBaaS solution, was launched with the sole mission of addressing the challenges of running relational databases on the cloud and converting them into strengths. Let's see how Tessell tackles the challenges faced by large enterprises as they migrate their database workloads to the cloud. The biggest challenges that mission-critical, complex databases are often met with on the cloud are performance and cost. Existing cloud database services are typically built on elastic compute and distributed storage architecture. Distributed storage can churn out high IOPS but they come at exorbitant prices. The higher the database workload, the more you spend to achieve the desired performance. Consequently, maintaining a high-performance operational database on the cloud digs way deep into the pockets of enterprises than their budgets can handle. Tessell's high-performance compute can support mission-critical database instances with more than 1 million IOPS and low latency. Leveraging the benefit of directly attached NVMe storage, the Tessell platform can meet the most demanding database workloads with ease, even the massive workloads that today run on engineered systems like Exadata on-premises. Even if you're happy to pay the premium price for the convenience of DBaaS, the complication of compromised security is real for enterprises. According to the [Forrester State of Public Cloud Migration 2022 report](https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/googlecloudmigrationsnapshotreportfinal2022.pdf), the number one concern for enterprises migrating to the cloud is security and protecting data from unauthorized access to internal and external users. The Tessell platform is designed to keep the security-first architecture at the fore. You can leverage the in-built industry-leading security policies and practices to ensure that teams can securely access relevant data while enforcing your own data governance policies. Our security framework comes with a strong identity and access management engine, SSO integration with popular identity providers, and encryption of data at rest and in transit. It provides an efficient access control mechanism that when coupled with encryption can help enterprises share data securely among users. To add to this, enterprises can leverage Tessell's Bring Your Own Architecture (BYOA) model to bring your own keys, networks, security policies, or identity provider to use your own security infrastructure that suits your needs best. Another prevalent challenge with managed database services today is that the data masking process is manual and cumbersome and these services do not provide undifferentiated data management. As a result, many organizations end up providing unauthorized access to the database snapshot - thereby creating a vulnerability. Tessell, with its undifferentiated data management, allows you to upload sanitization scripts and create sanitized snapshots so that masking sensitive data and sharing sanitized snapshots among users becomes easy. In addition, there's no need to manually perform complex tasks such as backup and recovery, or manually capture snapshots. Because all these tasks can be automated. In exchange for the ease of use that enterprises get with a DBaaS, enterprises may find themselves locked into the cloud infrastructure, whether they like it or not. They look for database deployment options that are not rigid and that best copes with their requirements for data security, compliance, workloads, control over the data, and more. At Tessell we understand that there can never be a one-size-fits-all when it comes to choosing the right deployment option for enterprises. To offer complete cloud vendor independence to enterprises, Tessell separates the control plane from the data plane, offering transparent choices of deployment. A customer can either choose the 100% SaaS model where the database is hosted and managed by Tessell or, choose to host the database in their infrastructure and let Tessell manage it. Thanks to the flexible choices of deployment, enterprises needn't worry anymore about data security, compliance issues, and rigid lock-in terms. Existing services provide high availability in multiple availability zones in a region. But how should enterprises handle region failures for mission-critical databases? Tessell to the rescue! Enterprises needn't worry about data loss or downtime with Tessell's agile infrastructure. With the Availability Machine app, enterprises can set up Multi-Availability Zone (AZ) high availability and cross-region disaster recovery to achieve zero data loss and business continuity plan for mission-critical databases. Are you worried about the hassle of migrating your existing database? Well, Tessell has you covered. Whether your existing databases are on-premises, self-managed in the cloud, or you are using a managed cloud database service provider, our migration services will help you seamlessly migrate the databases to Tessell. Our Support experts will help you every step of the way so that you experience a seamless transition. Choose Tessell to supercharge your enterprise with 10x cloud database performance at 7x lower costs. With Tessell's unmatched performance, security, and fully-managed database infrastructure, you can run your most critical applications on the cloud with confidence. --- ## why-tessell-for-startups URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-tessell-for-startups Last updated: 2026-08-24 Cloud has revolutionized the way information is delivered and consumed. The demand for easy-to-use applications that evolve and scale rapidly has led to organizations deploying most of their infrastructure on the cloud. But what about databases? To reduce the latency between the application and the database, it naturally follows that databases also reside on the cloud. Especially, when you're building a new application or technology from the ground up, you need a strong foundation for hosting and managing your databases so that you can better compete and innovate. Pulling this off usually requires a database-as-a-service (DBaaS) solution. There are dozens of vendors offering DBaaS solutions in the market. So, why choose Tessell? For startups, time is the most precious thing, but database administrators typically burn that time administering and managing databases on the cloud. Database administrators (DBAs) are usually swamped with routine, manual tasks. Owing to the evolving roles of DBAs, startups are constantly looking for ways to automate the repetitive, administrator-dependent database management tasks so that DBAs can focus on developing strategic business solutions. The ability to provision databases quickly, automate repetitively mundane administrator tasks, and make the application easy to use - lies at the heart of Tessell. The benefits of a fully-managed DBaaS solution with automation ripple through the organization - from developers to DBAs. With Tessell's self-service portal, application developers can spin up any database engine of their choice on their choice of cloud instead of depending on the DBA to do it for them. Your service can be up and running in minutes without the need for investing in maintaining and purchasing costly hardware. Moreover, your DBAs can use their time to focus on developing strategic business solutions. Being a startup, we understand that you need to be on top of your game to bring your products and technologies to market as quickly as possible. Automation plays a key role in accelerating the time-to-market. Once the database is up and running, you needn't have to worry about managing the infrastructure. With Tessell, you can automate routine tasks such as provisioning and de-provisioning databases, scaling resources up or down, applying patches, creating backups, and taking snapshots. In terms of automation, Tessell provides the code equivalent of UI to create and manage databases on the cloud with Terraform. Terraform lets developers write their database infrastructure in code. Along with support for Terraform, developers can also manage the service with in-built APIs that they can call with the click of a button. What gives Tessell a competitive edge over other DBaaS services is that it offers highly differentiated data management compared to other cloud database vendors who can only provide undifferentiated heavy lifting. The in-built Availability Machine and Dataflix apps together combine to offer enterprise-grade data management for prod, QA, and dev environments in one place. Along with automated backups and snapshots, the Availability Machine lets you export databases, tables, and rows out of your database instance that you can share in a policy-driven manner with the intended users in the region of your choice. The exported database dumps can then be imported into another database to restore data. This scenario is ideal for developer environments. If you're thinking that all these conveniences of a fully-managed DBaaS solution come with a heavy price, then Tessell is here to prove you wrong. We understand that for an organization in its infancy, it is crucial to keep costs minimal to reduce capital expenditure. Tessell is the most beneficial when it comes to running performance-heavy databases at unmatched costs. You can be assured to easily turn your CapEx into ongoing savings in more ways than one with Tessell. Choose from our flexible database deployment options to suit your requirements of data security, compliance, workloads, control over the data, and price. What you get is a flexible pricing model that allows you to start small, pay only as per usage, and grow with your service. With the simple-to-use monitoring app, you can analyze spends, track usage, and get clear visibility and predictability of your spending in real-time. Are you worried about the hassle of migrating your existing database? Well, Tessell has you covered. Whether your existing databases are on-premises, self-managed in the cloud, or you are using a managed cloud database service provider, our migration services will help you seamlessly migrate the databases to Tessell. Our Support experts will help you every step of the way so that you experience a seamless transition. Strong structures are built on solid foundations. We believe that Tessell provides that steady foundation to catapult your business to success. Fuel your business with Tessell's unmatched performance, cost, and experience the benefit of investing in a truly fully-managed database infrastructure. --- ## why-tessell URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/why-tessell Last updated: 2026-08-24 In the last few decades, tech organizations, both enterprises and startups, have adopted the cloud journey. It is, then, no surprise that cloud has become the de-facto infrastructure for organizations of all sizes. As part of the cloud adoption journey, the need for a fully-managed infrastructure for running and managing high-performance relational database workloads on the cloud has become indispensable. Today's database-as-a-service (DBaaS) solutions let you manage and run your databases on the cloud but come with multifold challenges. The biggest challenge is that you end up paying exorbitant prices for running your high-performance database workloads on the cloud. Each IT business is unique and so are the database requirements for each business. Traditional or cloud-defining enterprises turn to DBaaS to find a solution that helps them automate administrative tasks while also meeting the demands of their high-performance databases. Enterprises also need a robust security architecture to mitigate threats and protect sensitive customer data, ensure business continuity without any data loss, share data securely, and get flexible deployment options. Cloud-born startups, on the other hand, look for a DBaaS solution that is easy-to-use, agile in terms of quickly spinning up databases, and cost-effective to bring down the capital; all this with a minimal learning curve in adopting the technology. Though there are umpteen DBaaS solutions in the market today, not a single solution addresses the core challenges of running relational database workloads on the cloud. Nor does any solution offer a fully-managed DBaaS that you can customize to meet the demands of both large enterprises and startups alike. With a strong conviction to address these challenges and convert them into strengths, the founders of Tessell, with over 50+ years of collective experience in databases and data management, decided to leverage their pedigree to reimagine a fully-managed cloud DBaaS from scratch. Thus, Tessell was born. Why the term 'Tessell' and what it means? Etymologically, Tessell is derived from the term 'Tessellation'. Tessellation means arranging various shapes and objects in a repetitive manner, forming beautiful patterns without any gaps or overlaps. The concept of tessellation is used widely in the fields of arts and science. Going by this definition, Tessell aims to help enterprises manage their data in the cloud in an organized and efficient way, thereby bringing the art and science of 'tessellation' to cloud data management. The 'science' is driven by technology that is used to make databases on the cloud more robust, secure, high-performance, and affordable. The 'art' focuses on breaking the shackles of complexity around cloud data management and­­­ making the experience consumer-grade, intuitive, and user-friendly. But how does Tessell disrupt existing DBaaS in the market? The key differentiation for Tessell in the DBaaS space is that it breaks away from an IOPS-based pricing model and offers a highly-performant, highly durable, cloud infrastructure for your databases at fractional costs. And how does Tessell do this? A simple answer is, exactly how Snowflake disrupted the data warehouse industry a decade back. By decoupling compute from storage in the cost and resource-heavy traditional data warehouse model, Snowflake offered the data warehouse customers what they really wanted - transparent scaling and a pay-per-usage pricing model. Customers now pay separately for the storage that they consume and the compute resources they use to execute requests. Similarly, Tessell disrupts the cloud DBaaS space by internally segregating primary storage, which is the NVMe local storage, from the secondary storage, which is the EBS cloud volume. While the NVMe-based primary storage is used to handle application workloads, the EBS volume-based secondary storage can be provisioned only on-demand to take backups, and snapshots and manage other secondary needs. By bringing durability and persistence to the ephemeral, high-performance NVMe storage, Tessell offers 10x cloud database performance at 7x lower costs. Tessell's promise is not limited to improved database performance and cost. Today's cloud database management services fail to offer a one-place shop for an end-to-end seamless data management experience. As a result, organizations end up using siloed apps to address their various data management needs, and DBAs are often mired with the day-to-day tasks of handling database operations. Tessell innovatively breaks these silos with a broad spectrum of enterprise-grade in-built apps. You get a unified, delightful data management experience for browsing data catalogs, performing governance activities, sharing data, data masking, analyzing spends, generating reports, and more. For instance, with the provisioning app, you can quickly provision any database engine on your choice of cloud, without any dependency on a DBA. Additionally, you can discover your data efficiently in a Netflix-like fashion, clone, import, or download data in any format across multiple cloud regions, using the simple and elegant data browsing and consumption apps. As Sanjay Singh, an early beta prospect of Tessell, puts it 'We are in the process of transitioning the traditional DBA roles into DBE (Database Engineering) in order to cut down on the mundane, repetitive tasks and shift focus on activities that have a direct business impact. We are exploring Tessell for a silo-free data management experience that lets us automate data management tasks so that the database administrators can spend less time on mired, manual tasks.' Data sharing never got this easy! Tessell easily lets you create a Data Access Policy (DAP) to securely share data with other users. You can clearly define*what*type of data you want to share, with*whom*you want to share the data,*where*or in which region you want to share the data, and*when*you want to share the data. With this, organizations can be assured of maximum protection and security of data. However, learning or adapting to a new technology or a product can be overwhelming. But Tessell liberates you of any such challenges with its consumer-grade user interface which makes the entire user experience stress-free, simple, and convenient. The guided tours at every step of the way on the UI help you come up to speed with the product in no time. Not just the UI, developers can use API code to call the service at the click of a button in Tessell, aggregating to a smooth onboarding experience. So here's a product that is quick to adapt, easy to implement, and needs a minimal learning curve. Tessell's vision is simple yet significant! By making cloud database management easy, affordable, and highly efficient for all, Tessell aims to eradicate complexities and cut down the time that enterprises spend on manual tasks. This, in turn, empowers businesses to reallocate time, re-investing in their customers and business. ### FAQs **How does Tessell compare to Snowflake?** Tessell disrupts cloud DBaaS the same way Snowflake disrupted data warehousing — by decoupling compute from storage, enabling transparent scaling and pay-per-usage pricing instead of bundled IOPS costs. **What database engines does Tessell support?** Tessell supports relational database workloads on the cloud through a fully-managed DBaaS platform designed for both large enterprises and cloud-born startups with high-performance and security requirements. **How does Tessell handle data sharing?** Tessell handles data sharing through Data Access Policies (DAPs) that define what data is shared, with whom, in which region, and when, ensuring maximum protection and security. **What apps are built into Tessell?** Tessell includes built-in apps for provisioning, data catalog browsing, governance, data masking, spend analysis, reporting, cloning, importing, and downloading data across multiple cloud regions. --- ## sql-server-distributed-availability-group-migration-guide URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/sql-server-distributed-availability-group-migration-guide Last updated: 2026-08-24 A step-by-step DAG migration playbook for SQL Server — prerequisites, T-SQL setup, seeding, failover to Tessell, and post-migration cleanup. A Distributed Availability Group (DAG) is a special type of SQL Server availability group that spans two separate, independent availability groups. Unlike traditional Always On Availability Groups that require all replicas within a single Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC), a distributed availability group connects AGs across different clusters, data centers, clouds, or Active Directory domains — without requiring a shared WSFC between them. DAGs are the recommended approach for migrating large-scale SQL Server databases across cloud environments with minimal downtime. They enable continuous data replication between a source environment (on-premises, Azure VMs, or AWS EC2) and a target environment, allowing a controlled cutover with near-zero data loss. This guide covers how to migrate SQL Server databases to Tessell’s managed SQL Server HA service using a distributed availability group, including prerequisites, step-by-step implementation, post-migration tasks, and troubleshooting. ## **What Is a Distributed Availability Group?** A distributed availability group is an enterprise feature introduced in SQL Server 2016 that creates a replication relationship between two independent availability groups. Each availability group operates on its own Windows Server Failover Cluster, with its own set of replicas, listeners, and failover policies. The DAG layer connects them by establishing a transaction log stream from the primary replica of the first AG (the **Global Primary**) to the primary replica of the second AG (the **Forwarder**). The Forwarder is a key concept in DAG architecture. It is the primary replica of the secondary availability group. It receives the log stream from the Global Primary and then redistributes it to its own secondary replicas. This two-tier forwarding model means the Global Primary only maintains a single outbound log stream regardless of how many total replicas exist across both AGs. This is architecturally more efficient than a traditional AG, where the primary must maintain separate log streams to every replica. Because each AG operates on its own WSFC, distributed availability groups eliminate the cluster boundary constraints that limit traditional AGs. There is no requirement for shared Active Directory domains, no need for stretched clusters across data centers, and no dependency on synchronized cluster quorum across sites. This independence makes DAGs ideal for cross-cloud and cross-datacenter scenarios where traditional AG deployment would be impractical or impossible. **Requirements:** SQL Server 2016 or later, Enterprise Edition. The target AG can run a higher SQL Server version than the source, which makes DAGs particularly useful for version upgrade migrations. ## **DAG vs Traditional Availability Group** Understanding how a distributed availability group differs from a traditional Always On Availability Group is essential for selecting the right approach. | Feature | Traditional AG | Distributed AG | | --- | --- | --- | | Cluster | Single WSFC required for all replicas | Independent WSFCs per availability group | | Scope | Single data center or stretched cluster | Cross-datacenter, cross-cloud, cross-region | | Failover | Automatic or manual | Manual only | | Data Movement | Multiple log streams to all replicas | Single stream to Forwarder, then redistributed | | Primary Use Cases | Local high availability within a site | DR, cross-cloud migration, version/OS upgrades | | Version Flexibility | Same SQL Server version required across replicas | Target AG can run a higher version | | Domain Requirement | Same AD domain or trusted domains | No shared domain required; certificate-based auth supported | A distributed availability group is the right choice when the source and target environments cannot share a WSFC, which is the case for virtually all cross-cloud migration scenarios, including migrations to Tessell. ## **When to Use Distributed Availability Groups** Distributed availability groups serve several enterprise scenarios beyond basic replication. The following are the most common use cases. - **Cross-Cloud Migration: **Migrate SQL Server databases from on-premises, Azure VMs, or AWS EC2 to a managed DBaaS platform with minimal downtime. DAG provides continuous replication during the migration window, enabling a controlled cutover with near-zero data loss. For databases exceeding 500GB, DAG is the recommended migration method to Tessell’s managed SQL Server service. - **Disaster Recovery Across Data Centers: **Establish DR between geographically separated data centers without stretching a single WSFC across sites. Each data center operates its own independent cluster, and the DAG provides the replication link between them. - **SQL Server Version Upgrades: **Upgrade from SQL Server 2019 to 2022 (or 2016/2017 to 2019) with zero downtime. Build the new version environment, configure DAG replication, allow it to synchronize, then fail over. The old environment becomes the rollback path. - **Operating System Migrations: **Migrate from an older Windows Server version to a newer one without performing cluster OS rolling upgrades. DAG decouples the OS migration from the database migration by allowing each AG to run on its own OS version. - **Scale Read Workloads: **Extend read capacity across two availability groups, supporting up to 16 readable secondary replicas. This is useful for reporting, analytics, and geographically distributed read workloads. - **Cross-Domain Replication: **Replicate databases between environments in different Active Directory domains or forests using certificate-based endpoint authentication, without requiring domain trust relationships. ## **Prerequisites** Before configuring a distributed availability group for migration to Tessell, verify that the following requirements are met. - **SQL Server Version and Edition: **Both the source and target must run SQL Server 2016 or later, Enterprise Edition. The target can run a higher version than the source (e.g., source on 2019, target on 2022). Standard Edition does not support distributed availability groups. - **Source Availability Group: **The source SQL Server instance must have an existing Always On Availability Group configured with the databases to be migrated. All databases in the AG must use the FULL recovery model. Databases in SIMPLE or BULK_LOGGED recovery model cannot participate in availability groups. - **Listeners: **Both the source AG and the target Tessell AG require configured listeners. On Azure, use an Azure Load Balancer (not DNN — see limitation below). On AWS, use a Network Load Balancer. DNS resolution must be configured so each side can resolve the other’s listener name. - **DNN Limitation: **If the source SQL Server on Azure VM is configured with a Distributed Network Name (DNN) listener, the DAG cannot be configured on top of it. Reconfigure the source AG to use a Virtual Network Name (VNN) listener with an Azure Load Balancer before proceeding. - **Network Connectivity: **Establish connectivity between the source infrastructure and Tessell’s VPC using VPC peering, AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, or site-to-site VPN. Required ports: 5022 (database mirroring endpoint), 1433 (SQL Server), and 59999 (health probe if using Azure Load Balancer). Minimum bandwidth: 100 Mbps. For links with greater than 10ms latency, use asynchronous replication mode. - **Service Accounts and Permissions: **The service accounts running SQL Server on both source and target must have CONNECT permission on the database mirroring endpoints. If the environments are in different domains, use certificate-based endpoint authentication. - **Tessell SQL Server Instance: **Provision a Tessell SQL Server HA instance in the target cloud environment. The instance will be configured with its own availability group and listener by Tessell’s provisioning automation. ## **Migration Process: 3-Step Implementation** The migration follows three phases: provision the target, establish the DAG with data seeding, and execute the failover. The core 3-step process and T-SQL scripts from the original implementation are preserved below with expanded context. ### **Step 1 — Provision Tessell SQL Server and Prepare Target** Provision a Tessell SQL Server HA instance in your target cloud environment. Once provisioned, connect to the instance via SSMS using SA login or sysadmin credentials (available from Tessell Support as “Genie” credentials). **Disable Tessell server-level triggers.** Tessell deploys server-level triggers that restrict direct database creation and modification outside the Tessell UI. These triggers are part of the Availability Machine and Dataflix lifecycle management system — they ensure that all database provisioning, backup, and SLA operations are tracked and managed by Tessell’s control plane. During migration, these triggers must be temporarily disabled to allow the DAG seeding process to create databases on the target. **Important:** Document all disabled triggers before proceeding. You will need to re-enable them after the migration is complete to restore Tessell’s Availability Machine and Dataflix SLA coverage. Remove any existing databases from the target availability group, then drop them. Verify the target AG is empty before proceeding: `-- Verify target AG has no databases` `SELECT ag.name AS ag_name, adc.database_name` `FROM sys.availability_groups ag` `LEFT JOIN sys.availability_databases_cluster adc` `ON ag.group_id = adc.group_id` `WHERE ag.name = 'tessell_ag';` `-- Result should show NULL for database_name` ### **Step 2 — Create Distributed AG and Initiate Seeding** Run the following T-SQL on the **source primary replica** to create the distributed availability group. This script establishes the DAG named tessell_dag, linking the source AG to the Tessell target AG. `CREATE AVAILABILITY GROUP [tessell_dag]` `WITH (DISTRIBUTED)` `AVAILABILITY GROUP ON` `'source_ag' WITH (` `LISTENER_URL = 'tcp://source_listener:5022',` `AVAILABILITY_MODE = ASYNCHRONOUS_COMMIT,` `FAILOVER_MODE = MANUAL,` `SEEDING_MODE = AUTOMATIC` `),` `'tessell_ag' WITH (` `LISTENER_URL = 'tcp://tessell_listener:5022',` `AVAILABILITY_MODE = ASYNCHRONOUS_COMMIT,` `FAILOVER_MODE = MANUAL,` `SEEDING_MODE = AUTOMATIC` `);` Then run the corresponding JOIN on the **Tessell target primary**: `ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP [tessell_dag]` `JOIN` `AVAILABILITY GROUP ON` `'source_ag' WITH (` `LISTENER_URL = 'tcp://source_listener:5022',` `AVAILABILITY_MODE = ASYNCHRONOUS_COMMIT,` `FAILOVER_MODE = MANUAL,` `SEEDING_MODE = AUTOMATIC` `),` `'tessell_ag' WITH (` `LISTENER_URL = 'tcp://tessell_listener:5022',` `AVAILABILITY_MODE = ASYNCHRONOUS_COMMIT,` `FAILOVER_MODE = MANUAL,` `SEEDING_MODE = AUTOMATIC` `);` **Seeding Mode guidance:** Use AUTOMATIC for databases under 1TB — SQL Server performs a full backup and restore automatically. Use MANUAL for databases over 1TB or where database names differ between source and target. Manual seeding requires you to take a full backup with NORECOVERY on the target before joining the DAG. **Monitor seeding progress** using the following query on the target: `SELECT ag.name, ar.replica_server_name,` `ar.availability_mode_desc,` `ars.connected_state_desc, ars.role_desc,` `ars.synchronization_health_desc` `FROM sys.availability_groups ag` `JOIN sys.availability_replicas ar` `ON ag.group_id = ar.group_id` `LEFT JOIN sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states ars` `ON ars.replica_id = ar.replica_id` `WHERE ag.is_distributed = 1;` **Time estimate:** Seeding duration depends on database size and available bandwidth. As a rough formula: [Database Size in GB] / [Network Throughput in Gbps] = hours. Example: a 500GB database over a 1 Gbps link takes approximately 1–2 hours including overhead. Wait until synchronization_health_desc shows HEALTHY and the role_desc of the target shows SECONDARY before proceeding to failover. ### **Step 3 — Failover to Tessell** Before initiating failover, verify that the source and target are fully synchronized by comparing the last hardened LSN on both sides: `-- Run on BOTH source and target` `SELECT ag.name, ar.replica_server_name,` `drs.last_hardened_lsn, drs.synchronization_state_desc` `FROM sys.dm_hadr_database_replica_states drs` `JOIN sys.availability_replicas ar` `ON drs.replica_id = ar.replica_id` `JOIN sys.availability_groups ag` `ON ag.group_id = ar.group_id` `WHERE ag.is_distributed = 1;` Confirm that last_hardened_lsn matches on both sides and synchronization_state_desc shows SYNCHRONIZED. Then stop all transactions on the source primary. **Set the source AG role to SECONDARY** to stop accepting writes: `-- Run on source primary` `ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP [tessell_dag]` `SET (ROLE = SECONDARY);` **Execute failover on the Tessell target:** `-- Run on Tessell target primary` `ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP [tessell_dag]` `FORCE_FAILOVER_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS;` **About FORCE_FAILOVER_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS:** This is the only failover method available for distributed availability groups — manual failover without the force option is not supported for DAGs. Despite the name, no data loss occurs if you have verified that the last_hardened_lsn values match and the synchronization state is SYNCHRONIZED before executing the failover. **Post-failover validation:** - Verify the Tessell target now shows role_desc = PRIMARY using the monitoring query from Step 2 - Test application connectivity to the Tessell HA Service DNS endpoint - Run spot-check queries to validate data integrity on critical tables - Confirm that all databases in the AG are in a SYNCHRONIZED state on the Tessell replicas ## **Post-Migration Tasks** After a successful failover, complete the following tasks to finalize the migration and restore full Tessell platform functionality. ### **Drop the Distributed Availability Group** Remove the DAG from both sides. Dropping the DAG does not affect the underlying availability groups — it only removes the distributed replication link between them. `-- Run on Tessell target (now primary)` `DROP AVAILABILITY GROUP [tessell_dag];` `-- Run on source (now secondary)` `DROP AVAILABILITY GROUP [tessell_dag];` ### **Re-enable Tessell Server Triggers** Re-enable all server-level triggers that were disabled in Step 1. This restores Tessell’s Availability Machine and Dataflix lifecycle management, including automated backups, SLA tracking, and database governance. `-- Validate current trigger state` `SELECT name, is_disabled` `FROM sys.server_triggers;` `-- Re-enable each trigger` `ENABLE TRIGGER [trigger_name] ON ALL SERVER;` Verify with Tessell Support that the Availability Machine is active and SLA coverage has resumed after re-enabling triggers. ### **Update Application Connection Strings** Switch all application connection strings from the source listener to the Tessell HA Service DNS endpoint. Tessell’s HA Service DNS provides automatic failover routing — applications connecting to this endpoint will be routed to the current primary replica without manual intervention during any future failover events. ### **Decommission the Source Environment** Do not decommission the source immediately. Retain the source environment for 7–30 days as a rollback path. Before decommissioning, complete the following checklist: - Verify all applications are successfully connected to Tessell and no traffic is hitting the source - Take a final backup of the source for archival purposes - Document the source configuration for reference - Schedule decommissioning with the infrastructure team after the retention period ## **Monitoring and Troubleshooting** ### **Monitoring Queries** Use the following queries to monitor DAG health during and after the seeding process. **DAG synchronization status** (run on either side): `SELECT ag.name, ag.is_distributed,` `ar.replica_server_name,` `ars.role_desc, ars.synchronization_health_desc,` `ars.connected_state_desc` `FROM sys.availability_groups ag` `JOIN sys.availability_replicas ar` `ON ag.group_id = ar.group_id` `LEFT JOIN sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states ars` `ON ars.replica_id = ar.replica_id` `WHERE ag.is_distributed = 1;` **Log send queue and redo queue** (run on source primary — indicates replication lag): `SELECT ar.replica_server_name,` `drs.log_send_queue_size, drs.redo_queue_size,` `drs.last_hardened_lsn,` `drs.synchronization_state_desc` `FROM sys.dm_hadr_database_replica_states drs` `JOIN sys.availability_replicas ar` `ON drs.replica_id = ar.replica_id;` ### **Common Issues and Solutions** | Issue | Solution | | --- | --- | | Seeding stuck at INITIALIZING | Check network connectivity between source and target. Verify firewall allows port 5022. Confirm sufficient disk space on the target for the full database restore. | | Error 1478: Insufficient log data | Ensure all databases are in FULL recovery model. Take a full backup on the source before creating the DAG. Verify that log truncation has not occurred since the last full backup. | | NOT SYNCHRONIZING state | Verify listener DNS resolution from both sides. Check endpoint permissions (CONNECT grant). Review the SQL Server error log for detailed connection failure messages. | | High log_send_queue_size | Indicates network bandwidth saturation. Throttle write-heavy workloads on the source during seeding, or upgrade the network link. Consider scheduling seeding during off-peak hours. | | Instance name mismatch errors | Use SEEDING_MODE = MANUAL instead of AUTOMATIC. Manually restore the database with matching names on the target before joining the DAG. | ## **Conclusion:** *Distributed availability groups are the most reliable method for migrating SQL Server databases across cloud environments with minimal downtime and near-zero data loss. By establishing continuous replication between independent availability groups on separate clusters, DAGs remove the WSFC boundary constraints that make traditional AGs impractical for cross-cloud scenarios.* *The migration process follows a straightforward three-step pattern: provision the target, establish the DAG with automatic or manual seeding, and execute a controlled failover after verifying synchronization. Post-migration, re-enabling Tessell triggers restores full Availability Machine and Dataflix lifecycle management, and switching connection strings to the Tessell HA Service DNS completes the cutover.* *For teams planning SQL Server migrations to the cloud, the key success factors are thorough prerequisite validation (version, edition, listeners, network connectivity, recovery model), proper seeding mode selection based on database size, and pre-failover LSN verification to guarantee zero data loss despite the FORCE_FAILOVER_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS command name.* *Tessell's managed SQL Server service simplifies this process by automating target provisioning, HA configuration, and ongoing lifecycle management across AWS, Azure, and GCP. To plan your SQL Server migration using distributed availability groups, contact the Tessell team or start a free trial at tessell.com.* ### FAQs **What is the difference between a distributed availability group and a traditional availability group?** A traditional AG requires all replicas within a single Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC). A distributed AG connects two independent AGs, each on its own WSFC, enabling cross-cluster, cross-cloud, and cross-domain replication without a shared cluster dependency. **Can distributed availability groups use synchronous replication?** Yes. DAGs support both synchronous and asynchronous commit modes. However, synchronous mode is only practical when network latency between the two AGs is consistently below 10 milliseconds. For cross-cloud or cross-region scenarios, asynchronous commit is recommended. **What is a Forwarder in a distributed availability group?** The Forwarder is the primary replica of the secondary availability group in a DAG. It receives the transaction log stream from the Global Primary and redistributes it to its own secondary replicas. This means the Global Primary only maintains one outbound log stream, regardless of total replica count. **Do both availability groups need to run the same SQL Server version?** No. The target AG can run a higher SQL Server version than the source. This is one of the key advantages of DAGs for version upgrade scenarios — you can migrate from 2019 to 2022 using DAG without downtime. However, the target cannot run a lower version than the source. **Can I fail back to the source after migration?** Yes, as long as the source environment is still running. After failover to Tessell, you can create a new DAG in the reverse direction (Tessell as Global Primary, source as target) to replicate data back. This is why retaining the source for 7–30 days post-migration is recommended. **How long does DAG seeding take?** Seeding time depends on database size and network bandwidth. As a rough estimate: [Database Size GB] / [Network Throughput Gbps] = hours. A 500GB database over a 1 Gbps link takes approximately 1–2 hours. Larger databases on slower links may take significantly longer. Monitor progress using the sys.dm_hadr_automatic_seeding DMV. **What happens if the network fails during seeding?** If the network connection drops during automatic seeding, SQL Server will attempt to resume seeding once connectivity is restored. If the interruption is prolonged, you may need to restart the seeding process. For very large databases where restart cost is high, consider using MANUAL seeding mode with a pre-staged backup. **Does SQL Server Standard Edition support distributed availability groups?** No. Distributed availability groups require SQL Server Enterprise Edition on both the source and target instances. Standard Edition supports basic availability groups but not the distributed AG feature. --- ## dbaas-database-as-a-service URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/dbaas-database-as-a-service Last updated: 2026-08-24 Database as a Service explained — architecture, benefits, deployment models, security, SLAs, pricing, and how to choose the right provider. **DBaaS (Database as a Service) **is a cloud computing service model where a third-party provider hosts, manages, and maintains databases on behalf of customers. Users access the database over the internet and pay based on usage or subscription, while the provider handles provisioning, backups, security, patching, and scaling. DBaaS eliminates the need to manage underlying infrastructure, freeing engineering teams to focus on building applications rather than administering databases. As enterprises accelerate cloud adoption, DBaaS has emerged as the default database delivery model for organizations that want enterprise-grade performance without the operational overhead of self-managed deployments. The global DBaaS market was valued at $17.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $66.46 billion by 2030, reflecting a compounding shift away from on-premises database management. ## **How DBaaS Works** DBaaS platforms operate on a cloud-native, internet-delivered architecture. A provider provisions and manages all underlying compute, storage, and networking infrastructure. Customers interact with the database through a web console, API, or CLI, without needing to access or configure the infrastructure layer directly. The provider is responsible for the full operational stack: - Provisioning database instances across one or more cloud environments - Automated backups, point-in-time recovery, and replication - Software updates, security patching, and version upgrades - Performance monitoring, alerting, and log management - Scaling compute and storage resources in response to demand Enterprise-grade DBaaS platforms like Tessell extend this model to multi-cloud orchestration, enabling unified provisioning and management across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI from a single control plane. This architecture eliminates the need to manage separate toolchains per cloud. ## **Key Benefits of DBaaS** - **Cost efficiency:** DBaaS converts capital expenditure on hardware and licenses into predictable operational spend. **Pay-as-you-go and subscription **billing eliminate the need to overprovision for peak workloads - **Elastic scalability:** Storage and compute can be scaled independently and in real time. Tessell supports up to 2M IOPS on durable NVMe infrastructure for high-throughput workloads - **Reduced operational overhead:** Automated provisioning, patching, and monitoring eliminate routine DBA tasks. Teams can redirect capacity from infrastructure management to data engineering and analytics - **Faster deployment:** Databases that previously required days of setup can be provisioned in minutes, with no manual configuration on individual servers - **High availability and disaster recovery:** Built-in failover, replication, and backup automation provide continuous availability. Tessell's architecture supports zero RPO/RTO for mission-critical workloads - **Expert-managed infrastructure:** Providers maintain dedicated expertise across database engines, cloud platforms, and compliance frameworks — reducing reliance on internal specialists for routine infrastructure tasks - **Multi-cloud flexibility:** True multi-cloud DBaaS platforms eliminate single-vendor dependency, enabling workload portability across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI without re-architecting ## **DBaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS vs Traditional DBMS** Understanding where DBaaS fits relative to other service models is essential for selecting the right deployment approach. | Service Model | Infrastructure Mgmt | Database Mgmt | Scalability | Cost Model | Best For | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | DBaaS | Provider | Provider | Automatic / Elastic | Subscription / Usage | Teams wanting managed databases without ops overhead | | PaaS | Provider | Shared / Partial | Platform-dependent | Usage-based | App development platforms needing broad cloud services | | IaaS | Shared | Customer | Manual / Customer | Compute + Storage | Teams requiring full OS and infra control | | Traditional DBMS | Customer | Customer | Manual | CapEx license + hardware | On-premises workloads with full customization needs | DBaaS occupies a distinct position: it delivers the convenience and managed operations of PaaS, but with specialization in database provisioning, compliance, and performance that generic platform services do not offer. ## **Common DBaaS Use Cases** 1. **Application development and testing:** DBaaS enables developers to spin up isolated database environments instantly, run tests, and tear them down without IT provisioning cycles. This accelerates CI/CD pipelines significantly. 2. **SaaS applications:** Multi-tenant SaaS products rely on elastic, highly available databases that scale with their customer base. DBaaS removes the infrastructure management burden from product engineering teams. 3. **Data analytics and business intelligence:** Analytical workloads require high-throughput, low-latency database access. DBaaS platforms with NVMe-backed storage and automatic scaling support BI tools and data warehousing pipelines without manual tuning. 4. **AI and machine learning workloads:** Vector databases and AI-native extensions are increasingly essential for LLM applications. Tessell supports pgvector on PostgreSQL and Milvus for teams building retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines and AI-enabled applications. 5. **IoT and time-series data:** High-frequency sensor and telemetry data requires purpose-built time-series engines. Tessell's TimescaleDB support on PostgreSQL handles IoT, finance, and monitoring use cases at scale. 6. **Packaged enterprise applications:** Mission-critical applications like Oracle E-Business Suite demand consistent SLAs and application-aware database management. DBaaS platforms with deep engine support reduce risk in these deployments. ## **Database Types and Engines in DBaaS** Enterprise DBaaS platforms support both relational and non-relational database engines, covering the full spectrum of modern application data requirements. ### **Relational Databases** Relational databases use structured schemas and SQL for transactional workloads. They are the default for ERP systems, financial applications, and any workload requiring ACID compliance. - Oracle: Enterprise-grade relational database for mission-critical and high-throughput OLTP workloads. Tessell provides fully managed Oracle on AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, including Exadata support. - PostgreSQL: Open-source relational engine with extensive extension support (pgvector, TimescaleDB, PostGIS). Preferred for modern application development and AI workloads. - MySQL: Widely adopted for web applications and SaaS platforms. Tessell provides managed MySQL across multiple clouds. - SQL Server: Microsoft's enterprise relational engine, commonly used in Windows-centric enterprises and .NET application stacks. ### **Non-Relational Databases** NoSQL and vector databases handle unstructured data, high-velocity writes, and AI embedding workloads that relational engines are not optimized for. - MongoDB: Document-oriented database suited for flexible schemas and developer-centric application architectures. - Milvus: Vector database purpose-built for AI similarity search, embedding storage, and LLM application backends. Tessell supports all six of these engines across AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, providing a consistent management and operations experience regardless of engine or cloud. ## **DBaaS Deployment Models** DBaaS platforms support multiple deployment patterns to match enterprise cloud strategies: - **Public cloud: **Databases deployed on shared cloud infrastructure managed by the provider. Offers the fastest provisioning and highest elasticity. - **Private cloud: **Dedicated infrastructure deployed within the customer's cloud account or data center. Tessell's BYOA (Bring Your Own Account) model deploys entirely within the customer's own cloud account, ensuring data never leaves the customer's control. - **Hybrid cloud: **Production databases run on-premises or in a private cloud while non-production environments run on public cloud. DBaaS platforms with unified management consoles simplify hybrid operations. - **Multi-cloud: **Databases are distributed across two or more cloud providers. This eliminates single-vendor dependency and enables workload placement optimization by cost, latency, or compliance jurisdiction. Tessell is the only DBaaS platform covering AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI with a unified control plane. Within these deployment models, organizations can choose between dedicated instances (customer-exclusive compute and storage) and serverless patterns (auto-scaling pay-per-request billing). Multi-cloud deployment is the most effective strategy for avoiding vendor lock-in, as it preserves the ability to migrate workloads without re-architecting applications. ## **Security and Compliance in DBaaS** Security is a shared responsibility in cloud deployments. DBaaS providers secure the infrastructure and platform layer, while customers retain control over data access policies, encryption key management, and compliance configuration. Enterprise DBaaS platforms deliver the following security capabilities: - Encryption at rest and in transit for all database traffic and stored data - Role-based access control (RBAC) and integration with enterprise identity providers via SSO - Native integration with cloud IAM services (AWS IAM, Azure Active Directory, GCP IAM) - Automated security configuration and continuous compliance monitoring - Network isolation through VPCs and private endpoints, eliminating public internet exposure Tessell's BYOA (Bring Your Own Account) model is a significant differentiator for regulated enterprises. Rather than placing data in a shared provider environment, Tessell deploys the entire data plane within the customer's own cloud account. The customer owns the infrastructure, and Tessell provides the orchestration layer on top. This model satisfies data sovereignty requirements and simplifies compliance audits. Tessell holds the following compliance certifications: ISO 27001, ISO 27701, PCI DSS v4.1 (Service Provider Level 1), and SOC 2. These certifications cover financial services, healthcare, and global data protection requirements, including GDPR and HIPAA-eligible workloads. ## **DBaaS Management and Operations** A fully managed DBaaS platform automates the operational tasks that consume the majority of DBA time in traditional environments: - **Monitoring and alerting:** Real-time performance dashboards, live log access, and configurable alerting across all database instances and cloud environments. - **Automated patching:** Scheduled and emergency patches applied during customer-defined maintenance windows, with zero manual intervention. - **Elastic scaling: **Compute and storage scaled independently on demand, without downtime or manual reconfiguration. - **High availability:** Automatic failover, cross-region replication, and load balancing ensure continuous availability even during infrastructure failures. - **Disaster recovery:** Automated backups, cross-region replication, and tested recovery procedures. Tessell supports zero RPO/RTO configurations for workloads where any data loss or downtime is unacceptable. - **API-first architecture: **All management operations are available via REST APIs and Terraform providers, enabling infrastructure-as-code workflows and GitOps integration. ## **DBaaS Support and SLAs** SLA terms define the provider's accountability and should be evaluated carefully before vendor selection. Key SLA components include: - **Uptime SLA: **Guarantees a minimum availability percentage for database services (typically 99.9% to 99.99%). - **RPO (Recovery Point Objective): **Maximum acceptable data loss in the event of a failure. Tessell supports zero RPO for qualifying configurations. - **RTO (Recovery Time Objective):** Maximum acceptable downtime following a failure event. Tessell supports zero RTO through automatic failover. - **Support response times: **Premium support tiers provide dedicated response windows with named support engineers. SLA terms vary by service tier. Enterprises running mission-critical workloads should prioritize providers that offer contractual RPO/RTO guarantees with financial remedies for SLA breaches, not just best-effort commitments. ## **DBaaS Pricing Models** DBaaS billing is structured around a consumption-based model that replaces traditional CapEx database licensing and hardware procurement: - **Subscription-based: **A fixed recurring fee (monthly or annual) covering access to a defined service tier. Predictable costs suit stable production workloads. - **Pay-as-you-go: **Billing based on actual resource consumption (compute hours, storage GB, data transfer). Suits variable or unpredictable workloads. - **Reserved capacity:** Pre-committed resource blocks at discounted rates. Appropriate for workloads with predictable baseline demand. Usage metrics typically include compute (vCPUs and memory), storage (GB provisioned or consumed), I/O operations, and data transfer costs. Comparing DBaaS total cost of ownership (TCO) against on-premises deployment requires accounting for hardware refresh cycles, software licensing, DBA labor, and facilities costs, not just cloud compute pricing. Tessell's FinOps capabilities include consolidated cost visibility across cloud providers, database consolidation recommendations, and license optimization for Oracle workloads, reducing total database spend without sacrificing performance. ## **Challenges and Limitations of DBaaS** A balanced evaluation of DBaaS requires acknowledging its constraints alongside its benefits: - **Reduced infrastructure control: **Customers cannot directly access or configure the underlying hardware. This is a constraint for workloads requiring custom kernel parameters or specialized hardware configurations. - **Vendor lock-in risk: **Single-cloud DBaaS deployments create dependency on a specific provider's APIs, pricing, and availability. Multi-cloud deployments with a provider-agnostic DBaaS layer mitigate this risk. - **Data sovereignty concerns: **Regulated industries must verify where data is stored and processed. Providers without regional deployment options or BYOA models may not meet data residency requirements. - **Customization limits: **Some DBaaS platforms restrict access to advanced database configuration parameters. Verify engine-level customization capabilities before committing to a production deployment. - **Compliance responsibility:** While providers maintain certifications at the platform level, customers remain responsible for configuring their own compliance posture within the platform. Tessell addresses the most critical of these concerns: BYOA eliminates data sovereignty and control concerns, four-cloud support removes vendor lock-in risk, and deep engine-level access enables the customization that enterprise Oracle and PostgreSQL workloads require. ## **How to Choose a DBaaS Provider** Use this framework when evaluating DBaaS vendors for enterprise deployments: 1. **Supported database engines:** Confirm the provider supports your current and planned database engines (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and vector databases) 2. **Cloud provider coverage:** Single-cloud DBaaS creates lock-in. Prioritize platforms with certified support across multiple clouds (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI) 3. **Security and compliance certifications:** Verify certifications relevant to your industry: ISO 27001/27701, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and HIPAA eligibility. Confirm data residency and BYOA options 4. **SLA terms:** Review uptime, RPO, and RTO commitments. Distinguish contractual guarantees with financial remedies from best-effort SLAs 5. **Performance guarantees:** Evaluate storage I/O, network throughput, and supported instance types. For high-throughput workloads, confirm NVMe or equivalent storage availability 6. **Pricing transparency:** Validate that all cost components — compute, storage, I/O, egress, and support — are clearly documented. Request TCO modeling for your specific workload profile. 7. **Migration and onboarding support:** Evaluate tooling for migrating from on-premises or other cloud environments without extended downtime. 8. **API and automation coverage:** Confirm REST API, Terraform provider, and CLI availability for infrastructure-as-code workflows. 9. **Vendor lock-in mitigation:** Assess portability of data and configurations across clouds. Multi-cloud providers with standardized APIs reduce migration costs significantly. 10. **Support quality:** Review support tier options, response time SLAs, and access to senior engineers for production incidents. ## **DBaaS Market Trends and Future Outlook** The DBaaS market is at an inflection point driven by enterprise cloud adoption, AI workload growth, and the increasing complexity of multi-cloud data architectures. - **Market growth: **The global DBaaS market is projected to grow from $17.2 billion in 2023 to $66.46 billion by 2030, representing a CAGR of over 21%. - **AI and vector database adoption:** The rise of LLM applications is driving demand for vector-capable databases. pgvector on PostgreSQL and dedicated vector databases like Milvus are becoming core DBaaS offerings for enterprises building AI pipelines. - **Serverless databases: **Usage-based serverless billing models are gaining adoption for variable workloads, enabling automatic scale-to-zero for non-production environments. - **Multi-cloud as default: **Enterprise buyers are increasingly requiring multi-cloud portability as a baseline requirement, not a premium feature. Providers limited to a single cloud are at a structural disadvantage. - **Edge computing:** As latency-sensitive applications push compute and data closer to end users, DBaaS platforms are extending to edge and regional deployment models. Tessell is positioned at the intersection of these trends: recognized as a Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management (2025), supporting AI-native database extensions, and delivering the only DBaaS platform with certified support across all four major clouds. ## **Conclusion** DBaaS is the operational standard for enterprise database management in cloud environments. It eliminates infrastructure overhead, delivers elastic scalability, and gives engineering teams the operational leverage to move faster without compromising reliability or security. The most important distinction when evaluating DBaaS platforms is not whether to adopt DBaaS, but which provider can deliver the engine coverage, cloud flexibility, and compliance posture your workloads require. Single-cloud, single-engine platforms introduce risk as enterprise data estates grow more complex. Tessell provides fully managed DBaaS across Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and Milvus, on AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, with zero RPO/RTO, BYOA security, and ISO 27001/27701, PCI DSS, and SOC 2 certifications. Enterprises looking to modernize their data estate and transform DBAs into Data Engineers should evaluate Tessell for their multi-cloud database requirements. **Ready to see Tessell in action?** Book a demo at [tessell.com/book-a-demo](http://tessell.com/book-a-demo) ### FAQs **What is the difference between DBaaS and SaaS?** SaaS delivers complete applications over the internet (CRM, ERP, productivity tools). DBaaS delivers database infrastructure as a managed service, accessed by developers and engineers to build and run their own applications. DBaaS is a foundational infrastructure layer; SaaS is the application layer above it. **Is DBaaS secure for enterprise workloads?** Yes, when the provider holds the appropriate certifications and the deployment model matches your compliance requirements. Look for ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS certifications, and evaluate whether BYOA (Bring Your Own Account) deployment is available for data sovereignty requirements. Tessell is certified across all four frameworks and supports BYOA on all major clouds. **How much does DBaaS cost?** DBaaS costs vary based on database engine, instance size, storage, I/O, and support tier. Most enterprise platforms offer subscription and pay-as-you-go billing. Total cost of ownership is typically lower than on-premises when accounting for hardware, licensing, facilities, and DBA labor. Contact Tessell at tessell.com/pricing for workload-specific TCO modeling. **What databases are available as DBaaS?** Most enterprise DBaaS platforms support relational engines (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server) and NoSQL options (MongoDB). Newer platforms add vector databases (Milvus) and specialized extensions (pgvector, TimescaleDB) for AI and IoT workloads. Tessell supports all six of these engine types. **Can I use DBaaS for production workloads?** Yes. DBaaS platforms designed for enterprise use offer contractual SLAs covering uptime, RPO, and RTO that are suitable for mission-critical production workloads. Evaluate SLA terms, HA architecture, and disaster recovery capabilities before committing. Tessell supports zero RPO/RTO configurations for production deployments where any downtime is unacceptable. --- ## postgresql-vector-database-with-pgvector URL: https://www.tessell.com/blog/postgresql-vector-database-with-pgvector Last updated: 2026-08-24 Turn PostgreSQL into a production vector database — pgvector setup, HNSW indexing, RAG architecture, and comparisons to Pinecone and Weaviate. PostgreSQL becomes a vector database by installing the pgvector extension, which adds a native vector data type, similarity search operators, and index support directly within PostgreSQL tables. This allows developers to store vector embeddings alongside relational data, run nearest neighbor queries using SQL, and build AI applications without introducing a separate database system. This guide covers how pgvector works, how to set it up for production use, how to build a RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) application, and how pgvector compares to dedicated vector databases like Pinecone and Weaviate. All code examples use Python with OpenAI embeddings and PostgreSQL with pgvector. ## **What Is a PostgreSQL Vector Database?** **A PostgreSQL vector database is a standard PostgreSQL instance with the pgvector extension installed, enabling it to store, index, and query high-dimensional vector embeddings using familiar SQL syntax.** pgvector adds a vector column type that stores numerical arrays representing the semantic meaning of text, images, or other data. Developers can then perform similarity searches to find the closest matching vectors using cosine distance, L2 (Euclidean) distance, or inner product operators. The primary advantage of using PostgreSQL as a vector database is operational simplicity. Teams already running PostgreSQL do not need to provision, learn, or maintain a separate vector database. pgvector inherits PostgreSQL's ACID compliance, backup and recovery capabilities, access control, and ecosystem integrations. For most enterprise RAG workloads with fewer than 50 million vectors, pgvector with HNSW indexing delivers production-grade performance. ## **How pgvector Works** Understanding how pgvector works under the hood helps you make better decisions about distance metrics, indexing strategies, and query performance. This section covers the two foundational concepts: how vector embeddings enable similarity search, and how pgvector's index types (HNSW and IVFFlat) make that search fast at scale. ### **Vector Embeddings and Similarity Search** Vector embeddings are numerical representations of semantic meaning. An embedding model (such as OpenAI's text-embedding-3-small) converts text, images, or other data into fixed-length arrays of floating-point numbers. Semantically similar content produces vectors that are close together in high-dimensional space. Similarity search finds the nearest neighbors to a query vector, retrieving the most semantically relevant results. pgvector supports three distance metrics for similarity search: | Metric | Operator | Best For | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Cosine | <=> | Text embeddings (most common) | Normalized; measures angle between vectors | | L2 (Euclidean) | <-> | Image embeddings, spatial data | Measures absolute distance | | Inner Product | <#> | Pre-normalized vectors | Fastest; requires unit vectors | ### **HNSW vs IVFFlat Index Types** pgvector supports two approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) index types. Without an index, pgvector performs exact (brute-force) search, which provides perfect recall but becomes impractical beyond a few hundred thousand vectors. | Feature | HNSW | IVFFlat | | --- | --- | --- | | Search Speed | Faster at query time | Slightly slower | | Recall | Higher (better accuracy) | Lower (depends on nprobe) | | Build Time | Slower (graph construction) | Faster (centroid clustering) | | Memory | Higher | Lower | | Best For | Production RAG, real-time search | Batch workloads, memory-constrained | | Recommendation | Default for most workloads | Use when build speed is critical | HNSW is the recommended index for production LLM workloads. pgvector 0.8.x introduced iterative scan (hnsw.iterative_scan), which improves recall by rescanning the index graph when initial results are insufficient. ## **Architecture: Building a RAG App with PostgreSQL and pgvector** ### **The Three Components of a pgvector RAG System** Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) is a pattern that enhances LLM responses by providing relevant context retrieved from a knowledge base. Instead of relying solely on the LLM's training data, RAG retrieves the most relevant documents from a vector database and includes them in the prompt, enabling the model to answer questions about private, domain-specific, or recent information. A pgvector RAG system consists of three components: - **Generate embeddings: **Convert source documents (PDFs, web pages, internal docs) into vector embeddings using an embedding model (OpenAI text-embedding-3-small, Cohere, or open-source alternatives). Chunk documents into sections of 500-1000 tokens before embedding. - **Store in pgvector: **Insert the embeddings into a PostgreSQL table with a vector column, alongside the original text and any metadata (source, date, category). Create an HNSW index on the vector column. - **Retrieve for RAG: **When a user asks a question, embed the query, run a similarity search against the vector table to find the top-k most relevant chunks, and pass them as context to the LLM for answer generation. LangChain and LlamaIndex are common orchestration libraries that automate this pipeline. Both support pgvector as a vector store backend. Tessell for PostgreSQL works with both libraries. ## **Setting Up pgvector on PostgreSQL** Before writing any code, you need a running PostgreSQL instance with pgvector enabled. There are two paths to get there: installing and managing everything yourself, or using a managed DBaaS that handles provisioning and extension setup automatically. The right choice depends on your team's operational capacity and production requirements. ### **Self-Managed vs Managed PostgreSQL for pgvector** There are two paths to running pgvector: - **Self-managed: **Install PostgreSQL, compile and install the pgvector extension manually, configure indexing parameters, and manage backups and scaling yourself. This works for development but adds operational overhead in production. - **Managed DBaaS: **Use a managed PostgreSQL service that provisions pgvector as a first-class integration. Tessell for PostgreSQL provisions pgvector-ready databases on AWS and Azure from a single control plane, with no manual extension installation. NVMe-backed storage delivers the low-latency I/O that vector search requires at scale. ### **Python Environment Setup** Install the required Python packages: pip install openai psycopg2-binary pandas tiktoken For LangChain users, install langchain-postgres (requires psycopg3): pip install langchain langchain-postgres psycopg Set your OpenAI API key as an environment variable and configure your PostgreSQL connection string pointing to your Tessell instance or self-managed database. ## **Storing Vector Embeddings in PostgreSQL with pgvector** ### **Create a PostgreSQL Database and Install pgvector** Connect to your PostgreSQL instance and enable the pgvector extension: CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector; On Tessell for PostgreSQL, pgvector is pre-installed. The CREATE EXTENSION command is a one-time activation step. ### **Create the Vector Table and Ingest Data** Create a table with a vector column sized to match your embedding model's dimensions. OpenAI text-embedding-3-small produces 1536-dimensional vectors: CREATE TABLE documents ( id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, content TEXT NOT NULL, metadata JSONB, embedding vector(1536) ); Generate embeddings using the OpenAI API and insert them into the table using psycopg2 or your preferred PostgreSQL client. For bulk inserts, use the COPY command or batch INSERT statements for best performance. ### **Add an HNSW Index for Production Performance** Without an index, similarity search performs a full table scan. For production workloads, create an HNSW index: CREATE INDEX ON documents USING hnsw (embedding vector_cosine_ops) WITH (m = 16, ef_construction = 200); **Parameter guidance:** m controls the number of connections per node (higher = better recall, more memory). ef_construction controls index build quality (higher = better recall, slower build). The defaults (m=16, ef_construction=64) work for most workloads under 10 million vectors. For larger datasets, increase ef_construction to 200. Set maintenance_work_mem to at least 1GB before building the index on large tables. ## **Similarity Search and RAG Retrieval with pgvector** ### **Cosine Similarity Search** Query the vector table to find the most similar documents to a user's question: SELECT content, 1 - (embedding <=> query_embedding) AS similarity FROM documents ORDER BY embedding <=> query_embedding LIMIT 5; Pass the retrieved content as context to the LLM along with the user's question. The LLM generates an answer grounded in the retrieved documents rather than relying solely on its training data. ### **Hybrid Search: Combining Vector and Full-Text Search** Pure vector search finds semantically similar content but may miss exact keyword matches. Hybrid search combines pgvector similarity search with PostgreSQL's native full-text search (tsvector) to capture both semantic and lexical relevance. This is a 2025-2026 production best practice for RAG applications. SELECT content, (1 - (embedding <=> query_embedding)) * 0.7 + ts_rank(to_tsvector('english', content), plainto_tsquery('english', 'search terms')) * 0.3 AS combined_score FROM documents ORDER BY combined_score DESC LIMIT 5; The weighting (0.7 vector / 0.3 keyword) can be tuned based on your use case. Tessell for PostgreSQL supports both query types with no additional configuration. ## **pgvector vs Dedicated Vector Databases** Choosing between pgvector and a dedicated vector database depends on your scale, operational requirements, and existing infrastructure. | Criteria | pgvector | Pinecone | Weaviate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Best For | Teams already on PostgreSQL, <50M vectors | Fully managed vector-only, any scale | Multi-modal search, GraphQL API | | Scale Limit | Practical to ~50M vectors per table | Billions (managed sharding) | Hundreds of millions | | Ops Overhead | Low (if already on PostgreSQL) | None (fully managed SaaS) | Moderate (self-hosted or cloud) | | ACID Compliance | Full PostgreSQL ACID | Eventual consistency | Eventual consistency | | Cost Model | PostgreSQL instance cost | Per-vector pricing | Infrastructure or SaaS | For most enterprise RAG workloads with fewer than 50 million vectors, pgvector with HNSW indexing delivers production-grade performance, especially when managed via Tessell with NVMe-backed storage and enterprise security (BYOA, zero RPO/RTO). ## **pgvector Use Cases Beyond RAG** - **Semantic search: **Search knowledge bases, documentation, and support tickets by meaning rather than keywords. Users find relevant results even when their query uses different terminology than the source content. - **Recommendation systems: **Store user preference vectors and product/content embeddings in the same PostgreSQL database. Query for the nearest products to a user's preference vector to generate personalized recommendations. - **Image and multi-modal similarity: **Store CLIP or other multi-modal embeddings to enable image-to-image or text-to-image search. E-commerce platforms use this for visual product search. - **Anomaly detection: **Embed normal system behavior patterns as vectors. New observations that are distant from the normal cluster in vector space indicate potential anomalies or security threats. - **Duplicate detection: **Identify near-duplicate documents, support tickets, or records by finding vectors with high cosine similarity. Useful for data deduplication and content moderation. ## **Conclusion** PostgreSQL with pgvector is the most practical path to a production vector database for teams already invested in the PostgreSQL ecosystem. It eliminates the operational complexity of running a separate vector database while delivering ACID compliance, familiar SQL syntax, and production-grade similarity search with HNSW indexing. For enterprise teams building RAG applications, semantic search, or recommendation systems, Tessell for PostgreSQL provisions pgvector-ready databases on AWS and Azure with NVMe-backed performance, enterprise security (BYOA), and zero RPO/RTO. No manual extension installation, no infrastructure management. Start a free trial at tessell.com or book a demo to evaluate pgvector on Tessell. ### FAQs **What is a PostgreSQL vector database?** A PostgreSQL vector database is a standard PostgreSQL instance with the pgvector extension enabled. pgvector adds a vector data type, similarity search operators (cosine, L2, inner product), and index support (HNSW, IVFFlat), allowing developers to store and query vector embeddings using SQL. **How do I use pgvector with LangChain?** Install langchain-postgres (pip install langchain-postgres) and configure PGVector as your vector store with your PostgreSQL connection string. LangChain handles embedding generation, storage, and retrieval automatically. Tessell for PostgreSQL works with LangChain without additional setup. **What is the difference between HNSW and IVFFlat indexes in pgvector?** HNSW builds a hierarchical navigable small world graph that provides faster queries and higher recall. IVFFlat clusters vectors into cells and searches nearby cells, offering faster index builds but lower recall. HNSW is recommended for production RAG workloads; IVFFlat suits batch workloads where build speed is the priority. **Is pgvector good enough for production RAG applications?** Yes, for most enterprise workloads with fewer than 50 million vectors. pgvector with HNSW indexing delivers sub-10ms query latency at this scale. For workloads exceeding 100 million vectors requiring ultra-low latency, a dedicated vector database may be more appropriate. **How does pgvector compare to Pinecone?** pgvector runs inside PostgreSQL, providing ACID compliance, SQL access, and no additional infrastructure. Pinecone is a fully managed vector-only SaaS with built-in sharding for billion-scale workloads. Choose pgvector if you are already on PostgreSQL and have fewer than 50M vectors; choose Pinecone for massive scale with no ops overhead. **Can I use pgvector on a managed PostgreSQL service?** Yes. Tessell for PostgreSQL provisions pgvector as a first-class integration on AWS and Azure. AWS RDS for PostgreSQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL also support pgvector. Tessell is the only managed service that provides pgvector on both AWS and Azure from a single control plane. **What is the maximum number of dimensions pgvector supports?** pgvector supports vectors with up to 2,000 dimensions by default. This covers all major embedding models including OpenAI text-embedding-3-small (1536 dimensions) and text-embedding-3-large (3072 dimensions, requires recompiling pgvector with a higher VECTOR_MAX_DIM). Most production workloads use 1536 or fewer dimensions. ---