# Oracle Database

Oracle Database (commonly referred to as Oracle DBMS, Oracle Autonomous Database, or simply as Oracle) is a proprietary multi-model database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation.
It is a database commonly used for running online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing (DW) and mixed (OLTP & DW) database workloads. Oracle Database is available by several service providers on-premises, on-cloud, or as a hybrid cloud installation. It may be run on third party servers as well as on Oracle hardware (Exadata on-premises, on Oracle Cloud or at Cloud at Customer).
Oracle Database uses SQL for database updating and retrieval.

## History

Larry Ellison and his two friends and former co-workers, Bob Miner and Ed Oates, started a consultancy called Software Development Laboratories (SDL) in 1977. SDL developed the original version of the Oracle software. The name Oracle comes from the code-name of a CIA-funded project Ellison had worked on while formerly employed by Ampex.

### Releases and versions

Oracle products follow a custom release-numbering and -naming convention. The "ai" in the current release, Oracle Database 23ai, stands for "Artificial Intelligence". Previous releases (e.g. Oracle Database 19c, 10g, and Oracle9i Database) have used suffixes of "c", "g", and "i" which stand for "Cloud", "Grid", and "Internet" respectively. Prior to the release of Oracle8i Database, no suffixes featured in Oracle Database naming conventions. There was no v1 of Oracle Database, as co-founder Larry Ellison "knew no one would want to buy version 1". For some database releases, Oracle also provides an Express Edition (XE) that is free to use.
Oracle Database release numbering has used the following codes:
Legend:Old version, not maintainedOld version, still maintainedLatest versionLatest preview versionFuture version LTR = Long-Term Release, IR = Innovation Release :
| Oracle Database Version | Initial Release Version | Initial Release Date | Terminal Version | Marquee Features |
| class="templateVersion c swatch-latest" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Latest version" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 23ai LTR" | Latest version: Oracle Database 23ai LTR | 23.4.0 | On May 2, 2024, Oracle Database 23ai was released on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) as cloud services, including OCI Exadata Database Service, OCI Exadata Database Cloud@Customer, and OCI Base Database Service. It is also available in Always Free Autonomous Database. Oracle Database 23c (previously released in 2023) was renamed to Oracle Database 23ai (23.4) due to the significant additional engineering effort to add features that bring AI capabilities to the data in Oracle Database. Oracle Database 23c (23.2 and 23.3) was released in 2023: April 2023 (Linux) Oracle Database Free - Developer Release September 2023 Oracle Database on Base Database Service | | AI Vector Search (includes new Vector data type, Vector indexes, and Vector SQL operators/functions), JSON Relational Duality, JSON Schema Validation, Transactional Microservices Support, OKafka, Operational Property Graphs, Support for SQL/PGQ, Schema Privileges, Developer Role, In-database SQL Firewall, TLS 1.3 Support, Integration with Azure Active Directory OAuth2, True Cache for mid-tier caching, Readable Per-PDB Standby, Globally Distributed Database with active-active RAFT-based replication, Real-time SQL Plan Management, Priority Transactions, SQL Syntax Simplification, Schema Annotations, Data Use Case Domains, Column Value Lock-free Reservations |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-maintained" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, still maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 21c IR" | Old version, still maintained: Oracle Database 21c IR | 21.1.0 | December 2020 (cloud) August 2021 (Linux) | | Blockchain Tables, Multilingual Engine - JavaScript Execution in the Database, Binary JSON Data Type, Per-PDB Data Guard Physical Standby (aka Multitenant Data Guard), Per-PDB GoldenGate Change Capture, Self-Managing In-Memory, In-Memory Hybrid Columnar Scan, In-Memory Vector Joins with SIMD, Sharding Advisor Tool, Property Graph Visualization Studio, Automatic Materialized Views, Automatic Zone Maps, SQL Macros, Gradual Password Rollover |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-maintained" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, still maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 19c LTR" | Old version, still maintained: Oracle Database 19c LTR | 19.1.0 // 12.2.0.3 | February 2019 (Exadata) April 2019 (Linux) June 2019 (cloud) | | Active Data Guard DML Redirection, Automatic Index Creation, Real-Time Statistics Maintenance, SQL Queries on Object Stores, In-Memory for IoT Data Streams, Hybrid Partitioned Tables, Automatic SQL Plan Management, SQL Quarantine, Zero-Downtime Grid Infrastructure Patching, Finer-Granularity Supplemental Logging, Automated PDB Relocation |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 18c IR" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle Database 18c IR | 18.1.0 // 12.2.0.2 | February 2018 (cloud, Exadata) July 2018 (other) | 18.17.0 January 2022 | Polymorphic Table Functions, Active Directory Integration, Transparent Application Continuity, Approximate Top-N Query Processing, PDB Snapshot Carousel, Online Merging of Partitions and Subpartitions |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 12c Release 2" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle Database 12c Release 2 | 12.2.0.1 March 2017 | August 2016 (cloud) March 2017 (on-premises) | 12.2.0.1 March 2017 | Native Sharding, Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance, Exadata Cloud Service, Cloud at Customer |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 12c Release 1" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle Database 12c Release 1 | 12.1.0.1 | July 2013 | 12.1.0.2 July 2014 | Multitenant architecture, In-Memory Column Store, Native JSON, SQL Pattern Matching, Database Cloud Service |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 11g Release 2" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle Database 11g Release 2 | 11.2.0.1 | September 2009 | 11.2.0.4 August 2013 | Edition-Based Redefinition, Data Redaction, Hybrid Columnar Compression, Cluster File System, Golden Gate Replication, Database Appliance |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 11g Release 1" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle Database 11g Release 1 | 11.1.0.6 | September 2007 | 11.1.0.7 September 2008 | Active Data Guard, Secure Files, Exadata |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 10g Release 2" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle Database 10g Release 2 | 10.2.0.1 | July 2005 | 10.2.0.5 April 2010 | Real Application Testing, Database Vault, Online Indexing, Advanced Compression, Data Guard Fast-Start Failover, Transparent Data Encryption |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle Database 10g Release 1" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle Database 10g Release 1 | 10.1.0.2 | 2003 | 10.1.0.5 February 2006 | Automated Database Management, Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor, Grid infrastructure, Oracle ASM, Flashback Database |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle9i Database Release 2" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle9i Database Release 2 | 9.2.0.1 | 2002 | 9.2.0.8 April 2007 | Advanced Queuing, Data Mining, Streams, Logical Standby |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle9i Database" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle9i Database | 9.0.1.0 | 2001 | 9.0.1.5 December 2003 | Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), Oracle XML DB |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle8i Database" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle8i Database | 8.1.5.0 | 1998 | 8.1.7.4 August 2000 | Native internet protocols and Java, Virtual Private Database |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle8 Database" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle8 Database | 8.0.3 | June 1997 | 8.0.6 | Recovery Manager, Partitioning. First version available for Linux. |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle 7.3" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle 7.3 | 7.3.0 | February 1996 | 7.3.4 | Object-relational database |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle 7.2" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle 7.2 | 7.2.0 | May 1995 | | Shared Server, XA Transactions, Transparent Application Failover |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle 7.1" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle 7.1 | 7.1.0 | May 1994 | | Parallel SQL Execution. First version available for Windows NT. |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle7" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle7 | 7.0.12 | June 1992 | | PL/SQL stored procedures, Triggers, Distributed 2-phase commit, Shared Cursors, Cost-Based Optimizer |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle 6.2" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle 6.2 | 6.2.0 | | | Oracle Parallel Server |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle v6" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle v6 | 6.0.17 | 1988 | 6.0.37 | Row-level locking, scalability / performance, online backup and recovery, B*Tree indexes, PL/SQL executed from compiled programs (C etc.). First version available for Novell Netware 386. |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle v5" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle v5 | 5.0.22 (5.1.17) | 1985 | 5.1.22 | Support for client/server computing and distributed database systems. First version available for OS/2. Correlated sub-queries |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle v4" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle v4 | 4.1.4.0 | 1984 | 4.1.4.4 | Multiversion read consistency. First version available for MS-DOS. |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle v3" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle v3 | 3.1.3 | 1983 | | Concurrency control, data distribution, and scalability. Re-written in C for portability to other operating systems, including UNIX. |
| class="templateVersion co swatch-unsupported" style="color: var(--color-base, #202122); " title="Old version, not maintained" data-sort-value="Oracle v2" | Old version, not maintained: Oracle v2 | 2.3 | 1979 | | First commercially available SQL RDBMS. Basic SQL queries, simple joins and CONNECT BY joins. Written in assembly language for the PDP-11 to run in 128KB of RAM. Ran on PDP-11 and VAX/VMS in PDP-11 compatibility mode. |
| Legend:Old version, not maintainedOld version, still maintainedLatest versionLatest preview versionFuture version LTR = Long-Term Release, IR = Innovation Release ||||||
The Introduction to Oracle Database includes a brief history on some of the key innovations introduced with each major release of Oracle Database.
See My Oracle Support (MOS) note Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID 742060.1) for the current Oracle Database releases and their patching end dates.

### Patch updates and security alerts

Prior to Oracle Database 18c, Oracle Corporation released Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) and Security Patch Updates (SPUs) and Security Alerts to close security vulnerabilities. These releases are issued quarterly; some of these releases have updates issued prior to the next quarterly release.
Starting with Oracle Database 18c, Oracle Corporation releases Release Updates (RUs) and Release Update Revisions (RURs). RUs usually contain security, regression (bug), optimizer, and functional fixes which may include feature extensions as well. RURs include all fixes from their corresponding RU but only add new security and regression fixes. However, no new optimizer or functional fixes are included.

### Competition

In the market for relational databases, Oracle Database competes against commercial products such as IBM Db2 and Microsoft SQL Server. Oracle and IBM tend to battle for the mid-range database market on Unix and Linux platforms, while Microsoft dominates the mid-range database market on Microsoft Windows platforms. However, since they share many of the same customers, Oracle and IBM tend to support each other's products in many middleware and application categories (for example: WebSphere, PeopleSoft, and Siebel Systems CRM), and IBM's hardware divisions work closely with Oracle on performance-optimizing server-technologies (for example, Linux on IBM Z). Niche commercial competitors include Teradata (in data warehousing and business intelligence), Software AG's ADABAS, Sybase, and IBM's Informix, among many others.
In the cloud, Oracle Database competes against the database services of AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
Increasingly, the Oracle database products compete against open-source software relational and non-relational database systems such as PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Couchbase, Neo4j, ArangoDB and others. Oracle acquired Innobase, supplier of the InnoDB codebase to MySQL, in part to compete better against open source alternatives, and acquired Sun Microsystems, owner of MySQL, in 2010. Database products licensed as open-source are, by the legal terms of the Open Source Definition, free to distribute and free of royalty or other licensing fees.