You are reading correctly: Premier Support for Oracle Database 21c extended is the headline.
Isn’t it an innovation release?
Yes, you are right. Oracle Database 21c is an innovation release only. And we boldly tell you for a longer while: Move your production estate and everything tied to it from Long Term to Long Term Support Release. This means: Bring everything to Oracle Database 19c, and then later move on to Oracle Database 23c.
An Innovation Release such as Oracle Database 21c should be fine for developments using new features but ideally not used in production since it has such short support periods, and no offering for Extended Support.
Reality is different
But we have customers being live on Oracle Database 21c, or just moving to it right now. And there are multiple reasons to do so. One of my customers, a German insurance, use the JSON features in Oracle Database 21c already. They were keen on it, and could not wait for Oracle Database 23c. Well, and to be frank, Oracle Database 23c on-prem is not available at the moment I write this.
Or another customer we work with needs Oracle Sharding features which are not in Oracle Database 19c but in 21c.
So, there are reasons. And reality sometimes dictates different rules.
Oracle Database 21c Premier Support
Originally, the Premier Support for Oracle Database 21c was supposed to end at the end of April 2024. But since Oracle Database 23c is not available yet, and even when it will be available before this date, the time to move to 23c would be very short.
Hence, we announce now the extension of the Premier Support for Oracle Database 21c until end of April 2025.
See MOS Note: 742060.1 – Release Schedule of Current Database Releases for further details.
–Mike
This is good news also because upgrade from 21c to 23c for e.g. Base Database Service in OCI is not available yet.
Hello Mike,
this is an employee of this German insurance 😉
Personally, I have been bothered by a statement in this post for a while, and now I want to give my feedback.
I would like to refer to your sentence:
“An Innovation Release such as Oracle Database 21c should be fine for developments using new features but ideally not used in production since it has such short support periods, and no offering for Extended Support.”
In our opinion, the note 742060.1 expresses it differently
“Innovation Release: In between Oracle Database Long Term Releases, Oracle delivers Oracle Database Innovation Releases that include many enhancements and new capabilities which will also be included in the next Long Term Release. Innovation Releases are designed to enable customers to continuously use leading-edge technologies to rapidly develop or deploy new applications or augment existing applications. Support for Innovation Releases includes at least 2 years of Premier Support, but there is no Extended Support. Production workloads can be deployed on Innovation Releases if upgrading to the next database release within one year after the next database release ships is factored into the deployment plan.”
It clearly states that new functions can be used with it and that it can also be used for production when switching to the next Long Term Release within a year. We would like to do that when it is released. Oracle would therefore not have to extend support if 23c would have been available in time. As soon as 23c OnPrem is available, we will start the migration.
Best regards,
Christian
Hi Christian,
I agree with your point – so please follow the external guidance.
There may be functionality in 21c which forces you to use 21c – and this is why we extended the Premier Support.
But generally, just because of the very short support timeframe, I will advice against general use of an innovation release for production unless you are fully aware that you must move to the next long term support release with speed.
Cheers,
Mike