Monitoring Best Practices for Exadata Database Service on AWS Cloud

Oracle’s Exadata Database Service on AWS integrates the power of Oracle Exadata with AWS infrastructure. To keep it running at peak efficiency and reliability, robust monitoring plays a key role. Here's a comprehensive technical guide on how to monitor this service effectively.

Oracle Console / OEM provides in-depth Exadata-specific metrics like Smart Flash Cache efficiency

and offload operations. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring service

AWS CloudWatch captures essential infra-level metrics and can trigger alarms for thresholds.

Go through in detail

Metrics concepts - Amazon CloudWatch    

Learn how to monitor your Oracle Database@AWS resources using AWS CloudWatch

Getting started with CloudWatch automatic dashboards - Amazon CloudWatch

1.Metrics Collection & Monitoring Tools

Metric Category	What to Monitor	Tools & Integration
Compute & Storage	CPU, memory, I/O, disk usage, latency	AWS CloudWatch + Oracle Service Console for metrics
Database Health	Sessions, buffer cache, PGA/SGA utilization	Oracle Database Enterprise Manager / AWR
Exadata Insights	Smart Scan offload, SmartFlash, I/O latencies	Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) / OEM Cloud Control

Detailed Monitoring Metrics Table for Exadata Database Service on AWS

Metric Category	Key Metrics	Monitoring Tools (OCI & AWS)	Proactive Benefit / Issue Mitigation
Compute (CPU/Memory)	CPU utilization, memory usage, CPU steal time	AWS CloudWatch, OEM, Exadata console, OCI Monitoring	Detect resource exhaustion early to avoid node crashes or degraded performance
Storage I/O	Read/write IOPS, throughput, disk latency, ASM usage	AWS CloudWatch, Oracle ASM views, Exadata Metrics	Prevent slow queries or data corruption due to high latency or disk saturation
Exadata Smart Features	Smart Scan offload %, Smart Flash Cache hit rate, storage cell CPU usage	Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM), Exadata CLI	Identify underutilization of Exadata features and tune workloads accordingly
Database Sessions	Active sessions, blocked sessions, session wait events	OEM, AWR/ASH reports, OCI Monitoring (via agent)	Detect blocking sessions, deadlocks, or concurrency issues before outages
Backup & Recovery	RMAN job status, backup duration, FRA usage	OEM, Exadata Console, OCI Logging	Ensure backup success and avoid recovery failure during disaster
Network	Network in/out, TCP retransmits, DNS latency	AWS CloudWatch, VPC Flow Logs, OCI VCN Monitoring	Identify network bottlenecks or latency issues affecting app-DB communication
Database Wait Events	Buffer busy waits, log file sync, db file sequential read	AWR/ASH reports, OEM	Proactively tune queries and I/O systems before performance degrades
Security & Access	Failed login attempts, privilege escalations, IAM role usage	AWS CloudTrail, OCI Audit, Oracle Audit Vault	Detect security breaches or unusual access patterns early
Patching & Versioning	Patch status, software version, known vulnerabilities	OEM, dba_registry_history, OCI Resource Manager	Ensure up-to-date systems to prevent bugs and known exploits
Cluster & HA	Node up/down status, cluster heartbeat, failover readiness	OEM, CRSCTL, Exadata Health Checks	Detect and recover from node or service failures before they impact users

2. Setting Up Alerting & Notifications

• Define alarms in CloudWatch for metrics such as CPU > 80%, disk latency > 5ms, or high IOPS.

• In the Oracle Console, configure thresholds for Exadata-related metrics (e.g., Smart Scan offload rate).

• Forward alerts to SNS, email, or pager services.

• Optionally, integrate with ticketing systems (e.g., ServiceNow, JIRA) via webhook.

3. Real-Time Alerts for Critical Events

• Use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s Events feature to detect Exadata node failures or storage anomalies.

• Trigger automation scripts (via Lambda or OCI Functions) to create support tickets or remediate issues.

• Review alerts regularly with dashboard visibility and proactive incident response.

 4. Trending & Capacity Planning

• Use historical CloudWatch metrics and OEM to:

  • Track CPU usage growth

  • Monitor query performance trends

  • Detect I/O patterns during peak loads

• Generate forecasts and schedule scale-up/scale-down actions for CPU, memory, or disk resource changes.

 

5. Operational Best Practices

• Enable SQL monitoring and review AWR/ASH for slow query optimization.

• Periodically test backup & recovery logs.

• Validate critical Exadata alerts and resource usage thresholds every quarter or after major upgrades.

• Conduct regular maintenance using OEM to clean up old AWR snapshots and archive logs.

 Summary: Why Comprehensive Monitoring Matters

• Ensures Performance & Reliability

  Early detection of spikes and anomalies prevents downtime and resource bottlenecks.

• Enables Proactive Management

  Scheduled scaling and capacity forecasting eliminate surprises during high-demand periods.

• Optimizes Resource Usage

  Insights into cache efficiency and query patterns help fine-tune performance and reduce costs.

  
  

 Quick-Start Checklist

1. Enable CloudWatch monitoring for EC2, storage, and network.

2. Log into Oracle Cloud Console/OEM and activate key metric alerts.

3. Set adaptive thresholds for offload and latency events.

4. Configure alerting downstream to on-call teams or ticketing systems.

5. Review dashboards weekly and plan monthly capacity check-ins.

   
   

Reference links:

Overview of Monitoring

Monitoring Exadata Database Services in AWS

CloudWatch

Metrics concepts - Amazon CloudWatch   

Learn how to monitor your Oracle Database@AWS resources using AWS CloudWatch

Getting started with CloudWatch automatic dashboards - Amazon CloudWatch

By combining AWS CloudWatch with Oracle’s deep Exadata metrics, you can maintain an optimized, secure, and efficient database environment ready to scale on demand.