Amazon adds more features to Oracle database in the cloud

Amazon Web Services has announced four new features for Amazon RDS for Oracle, including the ability to run the database in a private cloud.

Enterprises can now launch RDS (Relational Database Service) instances running an Oracle database within a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), which gives administrators more control compared to a standard instance or virtual server.

Administrators can, for example, use subnets, routers, and access control lists to create the same type of network that one would find in a traditional data centre, according to Amazon.

The other new features are support for Oracle Application Express (APEX), XML DB, and Time Zone, which allows administrators to consistently store timestamp information when users are spread out across multiple time zones, Amazon said.

APEX is a free web application development tool for the Oracle database. Using the tool even developers with limited programming experience can create develop and deploy applications, according to Amazon.

The declarative development framework of APEX uses wizards and property sheets to build and maintain applications, according to Oracle. RDS supports APEX version 4.1.1.

XML DB is a feature of Oracle's database that provides native XML storage and retrieval capabilities, Amazon said.

With RDS, enterprises can deploy Oracle Database 11g on Amazon's cloud. The service handles database administration tasks such as provisioning, backups, software patching, monitoring, and hardware scaling, according to the RDS for Oracle Database website.

Enterprises can either use their own database licences or let Amazon take care of the licensing, with rates starting at $0.11 per hour and $0.16 per hour, respectively.

Recently, Amazon has made a number of improvements to its cloud-based database services, including lowering the minimum provisioned throughput for DynamoDB and updating the DynamoDB management console.