Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2) is now available and includes the much anticipated “In-memory” feature, along with several other improvements.
Some important features introduced –
- In-memory Column Store – Storing of objects in memory in a Columnar format, with much better performance for scans, joins and aggregates
- In-memory Aggregation- improves performance of star queries and reduces CPU usage
- Advanced Index Compression
- APPROX_COUNT_DISTINCT() – significantly faster than exact aggregation for large volumes of data, with negligible deviance
- Attribute Clustering- allows storing logically related data in close physical proximity. Can greatly reduce amount of data to be processed and lead to better compression ratios
- Full-Database Caching- Can be used to cache the entire database in-memory when the cache size is greater than the whole database size
- JSON Support- Support for storing, querying and indexing JSON data, and allowing the database to enforce that the JSON stored conforms to the JSON rules
Kevin Closson points out that the In-Memory feature, which is licensed separately, could be used accidentally since it is on by default after the upgrade, and recommends caution.
You can read the “new features” guide for a detailed list of improvements in this release.