Understand Key Differences

Oracle Analytics Cloud and Oracle Analytics Server are built on the same technology and offer very similar capabilities. However, there are a few, key differences.

Update Frequency

Oracle Analytics Cloud (every 2 months) - Oracle updates Oracle Analytics Cloud on Gen 2 about every two months with new features and bug fixes. The update process is automatic, making the process seamless for users.
Oracle Analytics Server (every 12 months) - Updates for Oracle Analytics Server are released less often, typically with a 12-month time frame. Customers must upgrade their Oracle Analytics Server environment themselves when an update become available.

If access to the very latest Oracle Analytics features is important, Oracle recommends you use Oracle Analytics Cloud on Gen 2.

Data Modeler

Oracle Analytics Cloud - Enterprise Edition includes Data Modeler, a browser-based semantic data modeler that's easy-to-use, and offers simple modeling features. If you currently use Data Modeler, your semantic models display as subject areas that you can use in visualizations, dashboards, and analyses.

Data Modeler isn’t available in Oracle Analytics Server. In Oracle Analytics Server, you use Semantic Modeler or Model Administration Tool to develop semantic models so you'll need to learn how to use a different tool. However, you don't have to start from scratch, as you can export your current semantic model to a RPD file that both Semantic Modeler and Model Administration Tool understands.

Oracle recommends that you use Semantic Modeler to manage semantic models from the data sources Semantic Modeler supports, and that you use Model Administration Tool to manage semantic models from any data source that Semantic Modeler doesn’t support. For details, see Oracle Analytics Data Modeling Tools.

Configuration File Customization

In Oracle Analytics Cloud, administrators use the Console to configure system-level properties. You use the Console in Oracle Analytics Server too, but you can also modify additional settings by directly editing various configuration files. For example:

NQSConfig.ini (Oracle BI Server)
instanceconfig.xml (Oracle BI Presentation Services)
obijh.properties (JavaHost)
config.xml (JavaHost)
bridgeconfig.properties (Presentation Services Plug-in)

For a full list of files and properties you can configure in Oracle Analytics Server, see Configuration File Settings.

Feature Differences

Oracle Analytics Server includes most of the features available in Oracle Analytics Cloud but there are some differences. For example, Oracle Analytics Server doesn’t support data replication or natural language generation (NLG). For a detailed list, see Feature Availability and Comparison with Oracle Analytics Cloud.