I saw few questions over the Internet regarding the usage of the BASIC compression algorithm in Oracle 12c (if can / can’t be used in SE2) so I’ve decided to write about it.
I might agree that sometimes Oracle documentation couldn’t be explicit enough in some aspects but let’s try to clarify this grey area regarding this matter.
Before read this article:
It’s a good practice keep in touch with your Oracle Account Manager when the subject involves licensing because it may change over time.
So let’s begin to check Oracle 12.2 documentation to understand few things:
Document https://docs.oracle.com/database/122/BRADV/BRADV.pdf page 150 says:
Oracle Database provides two categories of compression algorithms: a default compression algorithm and a group of compression algorithms available with the Oracle Advanced Compression option. The default algorithm is a standard feature of Oracle Database while the Oracle Advanced Compression option is a separately purchased option.
Let’s now checking the licensing for Oracle Advanced Compression information.
Document http://docs.oracle.com/database/122/DBLIC/DBLIC.pdf page 22 says:
RMAN Backup Compression (RMAN DEFAULT COMPRESS does not require the Advanced Compression option)
So what these things mean? Let’s merge these sentences above and put in one sentence.
“The default algorithm is a standard feature of Oracle Database and the RMAN Default compress does not require the Advanced Compression option.“
The default algorithm is a standard feature of Oracle Database (see here?) This is the database engine itself. There is no mentioning regarding Database Editions and you don’t need to buy the Oracle Advanced Compression option to use the default compression as well. Ok, this is not so explicit but if you dig deep in the interpretation you could find out some interesting answers.
This could misunderstand some Oracle documentation reading because the AOC is only available in Oracle Enterprise Edition.
Details in https://docs.oracle.com/database/121/DBLIC/editions.htm#DBLIC109
Reading this the NO or BASIC (both are part of the default algorithm) and both are able to be used Oracle 12c Oracle Standard Edition 2 with no extra cost.
You can also check the MOS 563427.1 (A Complete Understanding of RMAN Compression) that Oracle’s explicit says that “Only BASIC compression is allowed in Standard Edition“.
Regards,
Leonardo Bissoli
