Autonomous Data Guard Support for JSON & APEX Workloads in Autonomous Database Serverless

Introduction

Oracle has announced a significant capability update to Autonomous AI Database:
Autonomous Data Guard is now fully supported for JSON and APEX workloads, enabling organizations to build highly available, resilient, and disaster-ready applications-without complex configurations or additional operational overhead.

Release Date: November 11, 2025

Service: Autonomous Database Serverless (Autonomous AI Database)

This enhancement strengthens Autonomous Database as a leading platform for mission-critical, cloud-native workloads that demand continuous availability, near-zero downtime, and cross-region protection.

Whether you're deploying modern JSON-based applications or low-code solutions on Oracle APEX, this release makes enterprise-grade disaster recovery easier, faster, and more robust.

What’s New?

You can now enable Autonomous Data Guard on Autonomous AI Databases that run:

• JSON workloads

• APEX workloads

This support applies to both:

• Local standby databases, and

• Cross-region standby databases

This allows organizations to achieve full business continuity for applications built on Autonomous JSON Database or APEX workloads.

Why Autonomous Data Guard Matters

Before this release, JSON and APEX workloads relied solely on the built-in local backup copy peer, which provides automated backups but not real-time standby failover.

With Autonomous Data Guard, you now get:

✔ Lower Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Real-time redo apply ensures faster failover compared to backup restoration.

✔ Automatic Failover (Zero or Minimal Data Loss)

Supports configurable data loss limits.

✔ Support for Both Local & Cross-Region Standby

Protect against:

• local failures,

• regional outages,

• zone failures.

✔ No Downtime for Primary

The primary database remains fully available for read/write operations while the standby is being provisioned.

How It Works

Autonomous AI Database already includes a local backup copy peer by default.
To enable Autonomous Data Guard, all you need to do is upgrade the disaster recovery type from “local backup copy peer” to “Autonomous Data Guard”.

From there, OCI provisions a fully managed standby database that stays in sync with your primary.

You also get an optional second layer of protection:

• Add a cross-region Autonomous Data Guard standby, or

• Add a cross-region backup copy peer

This gives you a comprehensive DR strategy with multiple levels of protection.

How to Enable Autonomous Data Guard - Step-by-Step

Follow these steps in the OCI Console:

1. Open OCI Console

Navigate to:
Oracle Database → Autonomous AI Database

2. Select Your Database

Choose the JSON or APEX database you want to protect.

3. Update Disaster Recovery Settings

Under Disaster recovery → Local, click ⋮ → Upgrade to Autonomous Data Guard.

4. Select Autonomous Data Guard

In the configuration page:

• Choose Autonomous Data Guard

• Set the Automatic Failover data loss limit (default = 0 seconds)

• Click Submit

5. Provisioning Begins

• Lifecycle state → Updating

• Standby is created → Provisioning

• Final state → Available

You can track progress under:
Work Requests → “Enable Autonomous Data Guard”

Important Notes

During standby provisioning, the following actions are temporarily disabled:

• Move Resource

• Stop

• Restart

• Restore

Primary database continues running normally without downtime.

Final Thoughts

This release significantly enhances resilience for JSON and APEX workloads running on Autonomous AI Database. With Autonomous Data Guard now available:

• Developers can build highly available APEX apps

• JSON-based microservices can achieve enterprise-grade DR

• Businesses gain confidence in cross-region continuity

• Operations teams get seamless, fully managed data protection

Oracle continues to expand the Autonomous Database ecosystem, reinforcing its position as the cloud database of choice for modern, highly available workloads.