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What You'll Learn
Oracle Exadata has been the industry leader in providing high-performance databases for many years. Organizations with complicated OLTP and analytics workloads have relied on Oracle Exadata as their database primarily because of its optimized hardware and fully integrated database engine. But now times are changing. In today’s cloud-first environment, the benefits of running Exadata are turning into obstacles. Its high licensing expenses, strict on-premises infrastructure, and tough barriers to use unstructured and semi-structured data are becoming difficult for organizations demanding agility. Enter Databricks, the Lakehouse platform that puts structured and unstructured data together. And, to simplify the transition from Exadata to Databricks, Fivetran provides fully automated, trustworthy, and near real-time data integration for users.
In this blog, we will cover:
- Why organizations are moving away from Exadata
- Why Databricks is the best choice as a platform
- How Fivetran simplifies the transition
- How to migrate step-by-step
- Challenges, best practice options
- The LumenData Advantage
Limitations of Oracle Exadata
Exadata was created to provide extreme database performance with custom hardware and Oracle Database optimization. Nonetheless, the acknowledged limits of Exadata are surfacing:
- High Total Cost of Ownership – Costs include premium licensing, hardware, and annual maintenance. As data volumes grow, costs increase linearly.
- Inflexible Architecture – On-prem or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure lock-in limits flexibility. Compute and storage cannot scale separately.
- Limited Artificial Intelligence and Unstructured Data Support – Exadata is designed for relational data. Video, sensor, Internet of Things, or real-time streaming workloads do not work well.
- Innovation Bottleneck – Oracle’s release cycles dictate upgrades. It’s challenging to integrate in the new data stack with products like dbt, Fivetran, or Snowflake
Why Databricks
Databricks provides a Lakehouse Platform that combines the advantages of both data lakes and data warehouses. Its platform is built on the cloud, is elastic, and is designed to address data challenges.
Lakehouse Architecture
Unified platform for structured, semi-structured and unstructured data.
Cloud-Native Scalability
Scale compute and storage elastically on AWS, Azure, GCP.
AI/ML Native Support
Support for MLflow, notebooks, and LLM for advanced analytics.
Reduced TCO
Pay-as-you-go pricing avoids expensive hardware lock-in.
Governance with Unity Catalog
Fine-grained access control, data lineage, and compliance.
Ecosystem Integrations
Full integration with dbt, Informatica, Fivetran, and BI tools.
Fivetran’s Role in Migration from Oracle Exadata to Databricks
Transitioning away from a tightly coupled system such as Exadata necessitates automation and reliability. This is where Fivetran shines.
- Automated Connectors: Fivetran’s prebuilt connectors for Oracle handle both incremental and batch replication of data. Continuous synchronization keeps near-zero downtime during the migration process.
- Handling Schema Evolution: Fivetran automatically adjusts for schema changes in Oracle while ensuring that the pipelines continue to run.
- Scale: The Fivetran platform is optimized to migrate terabyte and petabyte scale workloads with minimal friction.
- Simplicity: No operations required for pipeline maintenance, as there are no servers to maintain or custom ETL scripts/dependencies to manage.
- Integration with Databricks: Fivetran loads data directly into Databricks Delta Lake. This offers ACID and reliability.
Migration Framework: Exadata to Databricks with Fivetran
A phased approach guarantees business continuity and lowers risks.
Phase 1: Assess your workload thoroughly
Inventorying Oracle Exadata tables, workloads, and schemas is the first step. Identify high-priority business pipelines. For instance, operations, risk, finance, and more.
Phase 2: Configure the Fivetran Pipeline
Connectors between Oracle and Databricks must be built. Reduce downtime by automating incremental replication.
Phase 3: Perform Transformations and Schema Mapping
Convert Oracle PL/SQL transformations to Databricks SQL or DBT. Use Databricks Unity Catalog to track lineage and perform governance.
Phase 4: Perform Validation of Data
Make row-level comparisons between the Databricks schema and the Oracle source schema. For quality control, use DBT tests.
Phase 5: Execute Timed Optimization & Cutover
Transfer the Exadata workloads to Databricks. Use the Photon execution engine and Delta caching to optimize the Databricks queries.
Challenges and Solutions Related to Exadata to Databricks Migration
#1 Challenge: Exadata workloads can be terabytes to petabytes.
Solution: Fivetran’s incremental sync allows data to remain fresh without needing to constantly reload data entirely.
#2 Challenge: Oracle’s PL/SQL logic does not directly convert to SparkSQL.
Solution: Refactor the query with the Databricks SQL platform and utilizing dbt models.
#3 Challenge: Sensitive workloads like BFSI, healthcare need to comply with an audit or physical posture.
Solution: Unity Catalog to deliver secure access and access lineage; Informatica IDMC add-ons for quality data.
#4 Challenge: Migrating a critical system with a 24/7 uptime requirement.
Solution: Utilization of a parallel run procedure while continuing a Fivetran sync.
Best Practices for Databricks Migration from Oracle Exadata Using Fivetran
- Do Parallel Operations – Run Exadata and Databricks in parallel until you feel confident.
- Automate Everything – Leverage Fivetran for ingestion, dbt for transformations, and CI/CD for deployment.
- Have Governance Built-In – Employ Unity Catalog on Day 1.
- Test Early, Test Often – Validate data continually using dbt tests.
- Ensure Business Stakeholder Involvement – Involve end-users for validation of business-critical reports after migration.
Why Databricks & Fivetran
By migrating to Databricks with Fivetran, you position yourself for:
- Transforming with AI - Train and transform enterprise data directly on large language models and ML algorithms.
- Analytics in Real-Time - Support IoT and streaming to facilitate real-time decisions.
- Scalable Governance - Unified governance utilizing Unity Catalog and integrations with Informatica.
- Generative AI on Workflows - Construct AI copilots, recommendation engines, and autonomous agents on governed data.
The LumenData Advantage
LumenData’s expert consultants can help in modernizing legacy platforms like Exadata into the Lakehouse ecosystem. We provide you with:
- Pre-built frameworks and 6-12 weeks quickstart programs for faster migrations.
- Fivetran expertise to build automated, reliable data ingestion pipelines.
- Expertise in deploying modern data platforms like dbt, Informatica, Snowflake, and Databricks.
- Compliance, lineage, and security built into every migration.
- AI-Readiness to prepare for generative AI and advanced analytics from day one.
Wrapping Up
Transitioning from Exadata to Databricks isn’t solely a cost argument, it’s about real-time insights, AI innovation, and scalability that Exadata cannot provide. With Fivetran automated pipelines and Databricks Lakehouse, you can modernize without business disruption. Finally, LumenData, as a strategic partner, provides governance-first, AI-ready framework for your migration. Reach out today.
About LumenData
LumenData is a leading provider of Enterprise Data Management, Cloud and Analytics solutions and helps businesses handle data silos, discover their potential, and prepare for end-to-end digital transformation. Founded in 2008, the company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with locations in India.
With 150+ Technical and Functional Consultants, LumenData forms strong client partnerships to drive high-quality outcomes. Their work across multiple industries and with prestigious clients like Versant Health, Boston Consulting Group, FDA, Department of Labor, Kroger, Nissan, Autodesk, Bayer, Bausch & Lomb, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Cummins, Gilead, HP, Nintendo, PC Connection, Starbucks, University of Colorado, Weight Watchers, KAO, HealthEdge, Amylyx, Brinks, Clara Analytics, and Royal Caribbean Group, speaks to their capabilities.
For media inquiries, please contact: marketing@lumendata.com.
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