Introducing ZSTD Compression Support in DBMS_CLOUD for Autonomous Database Serverless


Oracle continues to innovate and enhance its cloud services portfolio, and the May 2025 update to Autonomous Database Serverless brings another powerful addition to your data management toolkit — support for Zstandard (ZSTD) compression in DBMS_CLOUD APIs.

This update is not just another feature release — it’s a leap forward in how organizations can manage large-scale data ingestion with greater speed, lower storage footprint, and improved performance.

What’s New?

Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless now allows users to ingest data compressed with ZSTD format using the DBMS_CLOUD package. Whether you’re working with data lakes, object stores, or cloud-native data pipelines, you can now directly load ZSTD-compressed files, making your workflows faster and more cost-effective.

Why ZSTD?

Zstandard (ZSTD) is a modern lossless compression algorithm that provides:

  • Fast compression and decompression speeds

  • High compression ratios — often better than gzip

  • Low CPU overhead, especially useful for scalable cloud operations

Compared to traditional formats like gzip or bzip2, ZSTD is more efficient, especially when handling large volumes of structured or semi-structured data in the cloud.

How It Works

You can now use DBMS_CLOUD.COPY_DATA and DBMS_CLOUD.CREATE_EXTERNAL_TABLE with files compressed in .zst or .zstd formats. This update simplifies external table creation and data ingestion for:

  • Oracle Object Storage

  • Amazon S3

  • Azure Blob Storage

  • Any compatible HTTPS-based storage

Example usage:

BEGIN
  DBMS_CLOUD.CREATE_EXTERNAL_TABLE(
    table_name => 'ZSTD_EXT_TABLE',
    file_uri_list => 'https://objectstorage.us-phoenix-1.oraclecloud.com/.../data_file.zst',
    format => json_object('compression' VALUE 'zstd', 'type' VALUE 'csv')
  );
END;
/

Business Benefits

  1. Reduced Storage Costs: ZSTD's higher compression ratio means you store more data in less space.

  2. Faster Data Loading: ZSTD’s rapid decompression helps speed up data pipelines.

  3. Optimized Performance: Lower I/O and CPU overhead result in smoother ETL operations.

  4. Cloud-Native Efficiency: A better fit for modern object store workflows and cloud integration strategies.

When to Use ZSTD?

  • When ingesting high-volume CSV, JSON, or log data into Autonomous Database

  • When working in cost-sensitive cloud environments where storage and performance matter

  • When optimizing external table loads and hybrid data warehouse architectures

Availability

This feature is available starting with the May 2025 release of Autonomous Database Serverless across all supported regions.

👉 No additional configuration needed — just use the compression => 'zstd' format setting in your DBMS_CLOUD calls.

Final Thoughts

Oracle’s continuous evolution of the Autonomous Database platform is centered on developer productivity, operational efficiency, and customer value. With ZSTD support, Oracle customers can now handle cloud-scale data ingestion with greater flexibility and efficiency than ever before.

So go ahead — compress smarter, ingest faster, and build Oracle-smart solutions that scale.

Reference
Support ZSTD Compression in DBMS_CLOUD – Oracle Release Note

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