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Building Your First Generative AI Agent with Oracle APEX - Getting Started

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  Introduction Generative AI is transforming how we build applications, and Oracle APEX provides an excellent low-code platform to quickly develop AI-powered solutions. In this first part of our series, I'll walk you through the complete process of setting up your environment and creating your first AI agent using Oracle APEX and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Generative AI Service. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a working AI chatbot that can answer questions and engage in conversations. Prerequisites Before we begin, ensure you have: An Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) account with appropriate permissions Access to Oracle APEX workspace (version 23.1 or later recommended) Basic understanding of APEX application development Familiarity with REST API concepts Step 1: Setting Up Oracle Cloud Infrastructure 1.1 Create an OCI Compartment First, let's organize our resources by creating a dedicated compartment: Log in to your OCI Console ( https://cloud....

Understanding and Implementing Security Zones in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

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  In the evolving landscape of cloud security, prevention is better than cure . With the increasing sophistication of cyber threats, it’s no longer enough to monitor and respond — we must design our infrastructure to avoid misconfigurations in the first place. That’s where Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Security Zones come in — an indispensable feature for ensuring enforced cloud governance and compliance from Day One. ✅ What Are Security Zones in OCI? A Security Zone is a policy-based security boundary within a compartment in OCI that enforces a set of security rules . When you create resources inside a Security Zone, OCI ensures they comply with best security practices automatically. These rules prevent actions such as: Creating public buckets or public databases Using insecure protocols Disabling encryption Assigning overly broad access permissions OCI Security Zones are built around predefined or custom recipes , which contain the rules that are enfor...

Oracle Data Safe in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

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  Overview Oracle Data Safe is a fully managed, cloud-native service provided by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) that helps organizations secure their Oracle Databases both in the cloud and on-premises. It enables database security operations such as user risk assessment, data discovery, sensitive data masking, activity auditing, and security compliance—all without requiring deep security expertise or large operational overhead. Data Safe simplifies database security and helps customers meet compliance requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and others by providing a single pane of glass to manage database security across multiple environments. Key Features of Oracle Data Safe 1. Security Assessment Performs comprehensive checks on your database configurations and compares them against Oracle security best practices. Identifies potential security risks like weak passwords, public database links, users with excessive privileges, and missing security patches. Provides a baselin...

🔍 Build an AI-Powered Image Search Engine Using BLOBs and Oracle Database 23ai

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  Introduction Imagine being able to search for similar images by simply uploading a picture—just like Google Reverse Image Search, but built using Oracle Database 23ai . With the rise of AI-powered vector search and native BLOB support in Oracle, you can now build this capability directly within your database. In this post, we'll guide you through building an AI-powered image similarity search engine using: Oracle Database 23ai Python ( oml4py ) ONNX pre-trained model (EfficientNet / ResNet) Vector embeddings + native VECTOR data type Oracle APEX (optional UI)  What Is Vector Search? Vector search lets you compare data like images, documents, or audio by semantic similarity using high-dimensional vectors. Instead of exact keyword matching, it compares meaning or content. We’ll convert images into vectors (embeddings) using a neural network model, then store and query those vectors using Oracle’s native VECTOR type and approximate nearest neighbor (A...

Implementing Oracle Cloud Disaster Recovery with Autonomous DB and Object Storage

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  Disaster Recovery (DR) is not a luxury—it's a necessity. With the increasing reliance on cloud-native architectures, businesses must ensure high availability, durability, and the ability to recover swiftly from failures. In Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Autonomous Database (ADB) combined with Object Storage provides a powerful and automated foundation for building robust DR strategies. In this blog, we’ll explore how to implement an effective disaster recovery solution in OCI using: Autonomous Database OCI Object Storage Cross-region replication Restore demonstrations 🧱 1. Core Concepts ✅ Autonomous Database (ADB) Oracle’s Autonomous Database is a self-driving, self-securing, and self-repairing database that comes in two main flavors: Autonomous Transaction Processing (ATP) : Ideal for OLTP apps. Autonomous Data Warehouse (ADW) : Ideal for analytical workloads. ✅ Object Storage OCI Object Storage is a durable, secure, and highly available storage...