Building Future-Ready AI Storage Solutions on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Published On June 23, 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role in the operation of businesses today. Applications using this technology include chatbots, fraud detection, factory management, and even foreseeing when machines may malfunction. All of this enables better decision-making and increased productivity for enterprises.

However, AI needs more than simply fast computers, such as GPUs, to truly achieve all of this. Because AI largely depends on massive datasets that need to be managed effectively, it also requires storage that is fast, reliable, and scalable. In fact, poor storage can slow down or even stop your AI projects, no matter how good your algorithms are. This is where Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Services (OCI) can make a big difference.

In this blog, we’ll explain why storage for AI is different from regular business storage, how OCI helps with this, and how to get started, especially if you’re planning to migrate Oracle databases to OCI or move from on-premise to OCI using Oracle cloud migration tools

Why AI Needs Better Storage?

1.Huge Amounts of Data

AI models need to learn from massive datasets, often petabytes of information, including images, video, text, and sensor data.

2.Fast Access

AI training involves reading and writing large amounts of data quickly. If the storage is slow, the training takes much longer.

3.Multiple Data Types

AI utilizes both structured (such as databases) and unstructured data (like PDFs, images, and logs). Your storage must handle both.

4.Scalability

What works today might not be enough tomorrow. As your AI projects grow, your storage needs to grow quickly too.

5.Flexible Costs

Not all data needs to be stored in high-speed systems. You need options to move older or less-used data to cheaper storage.

6.Hybrid Needs

Some companies want to keep part of their data on-premise while using the cloud for AI. Your storage should support that.

In short, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to AI storage. Your system must be fast, flexible, and built for the future.

Why Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Services is Ideal for AI Workloads?

OCI offers a wide range of storage services that work well for AI workloads of all sizes. These include:

Object Storage: Great for storing large, unstructured data like videos, logs, and images. It’s durable, scalable, and ideal for AI training.
Block Volumes: Offers high-performance storage for workloads that need low latency and fast I/O, such as model training with GPUs.
File Storage: NFS-compliant storage that works well with file-based applications.
Archive Storage: Extremely low-cost option for storing data you don’t need often but can’t delete, such as historical data or backups.

These services are designed to be:

Flexible: You can choose the right storage type for each part of your AI workflow.
Scalable: Automatically grow with your data needs.
Integrated: Work seamlessly with OCI Compute, Networking, and AI/ML services.

By utilizing OCI’s various storage tiers, you can establish a balanced AI storage strategy, maintaining high performance while keeping costs under control.

Migrating Oracle Databases to OCI for AI Projects

Many businesses already use Oracle databases to store important business data. Moving these databases to the cloud can unlock new possibilities, especially for AI. Migrating Oracle databases to OCI offers:

Better performance: OCI offers Oracle Exadata and Autonomous Database options, which are optimized for speed and reliability.
Integrated analytics: Easily connect your data to OCI Data Science and other analytics services.
Better security: OCI is built with enterprise-grade security, compliance, and access control features.
Cost control: Pay only for what you use and scale up or down as needed.

AI systems often require access to both structured (such as sales or inventory data) and unstructured data. Moving your Oracle databases to OCI brings all your data closer together, making it easier to run AI models without delay.

The Benefits of Moving from On-Premise to OCI

Storing all your data on-premise may no longer be practical, especially for AI. It can be expensive, hard to manage, and hard to scale. Moving from on-premise to OCI helps solve these problems:

Better scalability: Easily handle large datasets and growing storage needs.
Faster innovation: Try new AI tools and workflows without investing in additional hardware.
Disaster recovery: Protect your data with cloud-based backups and geo-redundancy.
Global reach: Run AI systems that serve users worldwide.

Even if you’re not ready to move everything to the cloud, hybrid storage models let you keep some data on-premise and use OCI for the rest. Oracle also offers Cloud Lift Services to help you plan and execute your migration, with guidance from Oracle engineers at no extra cost.

Simplifying the Transition with Oracle Cloud Migration Tools

Oracle provides several powerful tools to make your migration journey smooth and safe:

Oracle Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM): Helps move databases to OCI with almost no downtime. Ideal for business-critical systems.
Oracle Data Pump and RMAN: Lets you export and import data easily between systems.
Oracle GoldenGate: Allows real-time data replication from your current environment to the cloud.
OCI Data Integration: Helps transform and clean data as you move it to your new environment, which is perfect for prepping AI datasets.

These Oracle cloud migration tools give you full control over how and when you move your data. They also include features to monitor the process and roll back changes if needed.

Why Build AI Storage Solutions on OCI?

AI technology is evolving fast. New models are more powerful but also more demanding in terms of data and storage. As your projects grow, your infrastructure must be ready. With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Services, you can:

Store massive amounts of training data
Support high-speed AI workflows
Control costs through smart storage tiering
Easily grow your system over time
Keep your data secure and compliant

Don’t let storage become a bottleneck. AI success depends on having the right foundation, and storage is a critical part of that foundation.

Conclusion

If you’re planning to grow your AI capabilities, now is the time to review your storage strategy. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Services offer the flexibility, performance, and tools you need to build a storage solution that’s ready for the future.

Whether you want to migrate Oracle databases to OCI, move from on-premise to OCI, or explore Oracle’s powerful cloud migration tools, RiteSoftware provides everything you need to make that transition smooth and successful.