Yesterday I noticed an announcement of the latest Oracle Database release: 23ai. A long term support release – so one we will be able to use for many years. I started my career in IT at Oracle – back in 1994 – and a new database release has always been something special. When I started, Oracle7 had just been released. But Oracle 8 (with OO) was a momentous affair, as were 9 and 10 and perhaps most of all 11. In later years I was less focused on Oracle technology even though I still keep track of what is happening and try out new products whenever I can. So this 23c ai release caught my attention – and I had been waiting for it to get my hands on the brand new AI Vector Search feature it brings- about which I had been reading and watching some tantalizing previews.
In this article I will describe how to get started with Oracle Database 23ai – in just a few minutes and completely free of charge. The only thing you need is a free Oracle Cloud (Infrastructure) account. (And for the moment your tenancy has to be in Ashburn, Phoenix, Frankfurt, or London. This will soon expand though).
To get your database up and running, go to the OCI Web Portal at cloud.oracle,.com.
Navigate to Oracle Database and click on Autonomous Data Warehouse (or one of the other flavors)
Then click on Create Autonomous Database:
Provide details on the name of the database:
Then the moment I was waiting for: select the edition/version of the database to be provisioned. I had to enable the switch Show Only Always Free configuration options:
And there it was: 23ai.
I selected it, quickly provided the ADMIN’s password, raced through the other configuration options and hit the create button:
Now I could sit back and relax a little as the provisioning process started:
A few minutes later, the database was there, up and running. Ready for use.
The list of databases makes it abundantly clear: this is a free environment. Running on the cloud on someone else’s computer. I did not have to download (back in the nineties and early 00s downloading alone could take a full working day) any software, install any software, need a laptop big enough with space enough and admin privileges enough, In a few clicks and key strokes and within 5 minutes I have my database up and running.
The SQL Worksheet is easily accessed:
And I can prove that I am running the new 23ai release:
Resources
- Where to get your free Oracle Database 23ai
- Always Free Autonomous Database To take advantage of Always Free Autonomous Database with Oracle Database 23ai, your tenancy must have a home region in Ashburn, Phoenix, Frankfurt, or London. The service will roll out to other regions soon. See the documentation for more details.
- Autonomous Database Free Container Image
- Oracle Database 23ai Free
- Related blogs:
Some of you may have questions how Oracle Database 23ai compares to Oracle Database 23c. Oracle Database 23ai is the new name for Oracle Database 23c.
