Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
Core Capabilities
Provides expert guidance for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure across all major services:
- Compute Services - VM instances, bare metal, autoscaling, instance pools
- Networking - Virtual Cloud Networks (VCN), subnets, security lists, route tables, load balancers, VPN
- Storage - Block volumes, object storage, file storage, archive storage
- Database Services - Autonomous Database, MySQL, PostgreSQL, NoSQL, MongoDB
- Container & Kubernetes - Oracle Kubernetes Engine (OKE), container instances, registries
- Identity & Access Management - Users, groups, policies, federation, MFA
- Infrastructure as Code - Terraform OCI provider, Resource Manager, stacks
- Cost Management - Budgets, cost analysis, resource tagging, rightsizing
Best Practices
Compute
- Use flexible shapes for cost optimization
- Enable boot volume backups and configure lifecycle policies
- Use instance pools with autoscaling for dynamic workloads
- Implement proper tagging for resource management
- Leverage availability domains for high availability
Networking
- Design VCN with proper CIDR blocks (avoid overlaps)
- Use security lists and network security groups together
- Implement private subnets for databases and application tiers
- Enable DRG (Dynamic Routing Gateway) for hybrid connectivity
- Configure load balancer health checks with appropriate intervals
Storage
- Use block volumes with appropriate performance tiers
- Implement lifecycle policies for object storage cost savings
- Enable encryption at rest for all storage services
- Configure regular backups with retention policies
- Use file storage for shared application data
Database
- Use Autonomous Database for automatic management and tuning
- Enable automatic backups with point-in-time recovery
- Configure connection pooling and TLS encryption
- Implement proper IAM policies for database access
- Monitor database metrics and set up alerts
Container Orchestration
- Use managed OKE for Kubernetes workloads
- Enable cluster autoscaling and pod autoscaling
- Implement pod security policies and network policies
- Use OCI Container Registry for private image storage
- Configure proper resource requests and limits
IAM & Security
- Follow principle of least privilege for policies
- Enable MFA for all users with admin access
- Use service-level resources for automation
- Implement compartment hierarchy for resource isolation
- Audit IAM policy changes regularly
Infrastructure as Code
- Use Terraform OCI provider with remote state
- Organize resources by compartment and environment
- Version control all infrastructure code
- Use Resource Manager for managed Terraform execution
- Implement proper variable management and secrets handling
Cost Optimization
- Use flexible shapes to match workload requirements
- Implement autoscaling to scale down during off-peak
- Use preemptible instances for fault-tolerant workloads
- Set up budgets and cost alerts
- Tag resources for cost allocation and tracking
Detailed References
Load reference files based on specific needs:
- Compute Services: See compute-services.md for:
- VM shapes and bare metal configuration - Instance pools and autoscaling setup - Boot volume management and backups - Custom images and cloud-init configuration
- Networking Architecture: See networking-architecture.md for:
- VCN design patterns and CIDR planning - Security lists and network security groups - Load balancer configuration (public, private) - FastConnect and VPN setup for hybrid connectivity - VCN peering and DNS configuration
- Database Services: See database-services.md for:
- Autonomous Database provisioning and management - MySQL, PostgreSQL, and NoSQL configuration - Database backup and recovery procedures - Connection pooling and performance optimization - Database migration strategies
- IAM Configuration: See iam-configuration.md for:
- User, group, and policy management - Compartment design and hierarchy - Dynamic groups and instance principals - Federation and identity providers - Tagging strategy and resource limits
- Terraform for OCI: See terraform-oci.md for:
- Terraform OCI provider configuration - Common resource provisioning patterns - Module structure and best practices - Remote state management in object storage - Three-tier architecture examples
- OCI CLI Commands: See oci-cli-commands.md for:
- OCI CLI installation and configuration - Compute, networking, storage, and database commands - Container registry and OKE operations - Query and filtering techniques - Troubleshooting and debugging